A Study on Policy and Institutional Arrangements for Urban Green Space Development in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Abstract

Globally, authorities in rapidly growing cities have struggled to find sufficient green space for residents. Ulaanbaatar city of Mongolia has faced a similar situation due largely to drastically shrinking open land, especially after adopting a market-oriented economy in 1990. Amid the escalating urban congestion and growing concerns over pollution that ensued, the concept of urban green spaces began to gain more attention among Ulaanbaatar city officials. In 2014, the national government introduced the Green Development Policy to set aside 30% of the city’s residential area as green space by 2030. The Ulaanbaatar 2020 Master Plan and Development Approach for 2030 similarly set goals to increase green space per capita to 30 m2. However, the current share of green space in the city is only 1.8% and 0.12–5 m2/person. Most case studies on urban green space policies and institutional arrangements focus on large cities in European countries with a relatively low population growth rate compared to those in developing countries. Therefore, this paper attempts to understand why Ulaanbaatar has not been able to increase green space despite its ambitious policy goals for many years. To do so, we examined the policy documents and institutional arrangements. We also conducted personal interviews with government specialists. As a result, we found four main challenges: (1) actions to increase green space were weak; (2) action plans were not clearly laid out for government officials to follow; (3) where stakeholder coordination was needed, administrators did not have sufficient resources and frameworks to do so, and (4) promised plans were not financially feasible. Overall, these findings indicate a necessity to strengthen urban green space monitoring and sufficient budget mobilization.