Introduction
UN-Habitat has partnered with the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and the government of Tajikistan, through the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), to undertake the ‘Integrated Spatial Plan for Environmental and Socio-Economic Resilience’ in Khorog Tajikistan.
The objective of the project is to create an integrated spatial plan for the environmental and socioeconomic resilience of the city of Khorog in Tajikistan. The project aims to provide planning direction to enhance the resilience, and to strengthen the social stability of Khorog’s communities, while sustainably accommodating the city’s growing population. These goals are developed in two strands: first, on a tangible level, generating strategies, masterplans, and specific interventions and regulations on the ground; and second, in a non-tangible manner, through knowledge production, capacity building, and guideline development.
This project is the result of a resilience assessment conducted in Khorog in 2017 and 2018 by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Holinger, in collaboration with entities from the international community and aims to promote Khorog as a model example of a resilient city in the country and Central Asia Region. 
Context and Background
Tajikistan is a country found in Central Asia. Despite a declining poverty rate and an average economic growth of 7% in recent years, the country is still one of the poorest in Europe and Central Asia, and job creation is one of its main challenges.
The city of Khorog is the administrative capital of Tajik’s autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan. As a result of poor planning, land scarcity, and oversized infrastructure, Khorog’s growing population has continued to encroach on habitats that are at considerable risk from natural hazards and have limited access to services.
To address these challenges, UN-Habitat, in collaboration with AKAH, will support and contribute to long-term national and regional strategies to achieve the SDGs by improving urban, socioeconomic, and environmental resilience in Khorog. The planned interventions and city-wide strategies will provide spatial recommendations that could be scaled up to address broader challenges at the regional level. 
Plan and process
The Our City Plans (OCP) Toolbox was used by the UN-Habitat team throughout the overall implementation of Khorog’s project which ensured a continuous community and stakeholder involvement through workshops, design charrettes, and expert group meetings. In addition, the Habitat Planning Framework developed by AKAH, along with the Resilience Framework for Action, also formed an integral part of the planning process.
The project was divided into two phases that included planning instruments such as the City Plan Assessment Tool, the Spatial Profiling Tool, and a Rapid Planning Studio engagement strategy. Also, part of the process were the City Resilience Profiling Tool and Resilience Framework for Action, as well as the Site-Specific Assessment Tool and Planning Law Assessment framework. Finally, and the main innovative component of the project, a Spatially Informed Capital Investment Planning prioritisation process was developed in which a list of priority areas for investment was identified and consolidated into investment cards.