Customer: The Iraqi Ministry of Planning
Project Date: June-August 2010
Reconstructing a country that has been at war is a lengthy process. The country of Iraq and its population are still suffering greatly – physically, mentally and financially – from the destruction of war and the troubled times that have followed. The infrastructure needs to be returned to working order, but buildings, roads and town squares must be restored too. Fortunately, Iraq is on the right path, not least due to the significant reconstruction that is being aided by the international community.
NIRAS has considerable experience in the development of holistic and master plans and, over the course of just three months, we have succeeded in developing a framework for Iraq’s future physical planning. The project was developed in close cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and formed part of a contract between NIRAS and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs relating to the reconstruction of Iraq. The project involved more than 30 of NIRAS’ consultants from a variety of specialist disciplines as well as colleagues from the UK and Iraq. An Outline Spatial Strategy for Iraq is an overall spatial development plan for the country. Together with the recently adopted National Development Plan, the plan is to form the basis for the future overall physical planning in Iraq. The plan comprises detailed national reports on Iraq's economy, demography, geography, urban development, traffic, health, infrastructure, industry, tourism, agriculture and natural resources. For each of these elements the primary challenges as well as an implementation strategy have been described.