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Imagine Durban is a council-led project on integrated, long-term planning. It is being implemented in conjunction with Sustainable Cities, an NGO from Vancouver, Canada and the PLUS Network (a network of 35 cities sharing experiences in sustainability planning) who have received funding from the Canadian International Development Agency to support the project.

Imagine Durban is a process that will start with mobilizing each of us (from government to non-government, civil society organizations, faith based groups, tertiary institutions, business organizations and ordinary folk) to imagine where we want to be in the future. It is also about realizing that the choices we make today will affect our children and grandchildren tomorrow. So if we are committed to handing down a safe, healthy and prosperous world to future generations, we need to make the right decisions today. Of course the best way to make the right choice is to make an informed choice, and this is where the ideas and the knowledge of the people of Durban come in.

The Imagine Durban process began by asking some key questions of people from all walks of life, namely:

1. What do you like about the neighbourhood where you live?
2. What do you NOT like about your neighbourhood?
3. What changes would you most like to see in your neighbourhood?
4. Describe your hopes and dreams for:
   1. Your neighbourhood in the future
   2. Durban in the future
5. What can YOU do to make these dreams a reality?

While Imagine Durban is about capturing the imagination of the people, it must also be about taking action, as there is no point in daydreaming if this does not result in positive change. To that end, the team at Imagine Durban will be working hard to take the ideas of the people and turn them into action.

This will be accomplished with the help of municipal staff, representatives from the private sector, academia, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, and a variety of people from civil society. These actors  were invited to series of theme workshops  that took the ideas of the people and turned  them into goals, strategies and programs. Imagine Durban  has also be hosting regular Open Forum discussions on some of the key themes to provide  everyone  with an opportunity to enter into debate and discussion about solutions to some of Durban's challenges.

 Imagine Durban is now in the process of putting together a first draft of an Action Plan. More than a set of principles, the  Action Plan  will be the driver of change for the municipality to ensure that all its plans are now aligned with the spirit and goals of Imagine Durban. Similarly captains of industry and leaders from academia and civil society organizations will  be invited to ensure that their programmes are in concert with the  Action Plan. Additionally, the average citizen will have a role to play too: the opportunity to get informed, get involved, and to live in a way that does not inhibit the ability of future generations to also enjoy a high quality of life.

Just Imagine!

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