Luang Prabang City Smart and Integrated Urban Strategy

Luang Prabang City, home to the first World Heritage Site in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and a renowned tourist destination, wants to achieve a long-term, sustainable urban growth trajectory that protects its built, natural, and intangible cultural heritage. The Luang Prabang Smart and Integrated Urban Strategy outlines specific initiatives and projects to realise this ambition and create a more liveable heritage city for all.

Infused with local Buddhist culture and traditions, Luang Prabang’s heritage boasts a unique mix of distinctive vernacular, Buddhist, and French colonial architecture set in a tropical riverine landscape. Since Luang Prabang’s inclusion on the World Heritage List in 1995, its tourism and population growth has triggered outward city expansion and new economic opportunities. Growth has also brought urban challenges like traffic congestion, littering, crowded tourism sites, and loss of wetlands. All of which affect the city’s liveability and heritage. As the population and visitor numbers continue to grow, these challenges may worsen, exacerbated by structural issues such as funding shortages, fragmented decision-making, and weak coordination between urban management agencies.

The Luang Prabang Provincial Government led the preparation of the strategy following a three-stage process, with support from the Australian Government-financed and Asian Development Bank (ADB)-managed ASEAN Australia Smart Cities Trust Fund (AASCTF). Ramboll was engaged as the main implementing partner.

In the urban assessment stage, existing plans, documents, and data were analysed to identify the city’s current challenges and opportunities.

In the next urban scenario stage, population and visitor projections were prepared, along with estimates of the land required for housing, tourist accommodations, and other supporting amenities considering the city's likely growth scenarios.

The integrated strategy was then formulated based on the information and analysis produced in previous stages, including prioritisation of smart city solutions.

Every step of the process involved broad stakeholder engagement to ensure local ownership and mainstream gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) perspectives.

Three strategic pillars guide the specific strategies that will help Luang Prabang realise its liveable heritage city ambition:

1. to be an integrated tourism and heritage destination
2. to achieve a clean and safe environment, and
3. to incorporate sustainable villages and a 15-minute city.

Each pillar includes strategic objectives and smart city projects, supported by integrated spatial planning, a data management and governance framework, and crosscutting GEDSI considerations.

The strategy prioritises 50 projects, out of which six have been selected as pilots. Two sanitation improvement pilots – smart gross pollutant traps and smart septic tanks – are included in the ADB-financed Urban Environment Improvement Investment Project, which was approved by the ADB Board in December 2023. The project will contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – the strategy’s Clean and Safe Environment pillar aims to provide clean water and safe sanitation and includes the smart gross pollutant trap and smart septic tank pilots.
• 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation – the strategy will empower urban and tourism management agencies to promote sustainable and resilient infrastructure, while fostering innovative urban, heritage, and tourism management approaches.
• 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries – gender equality, disability, and social inclusion considerations are embedded in the strategy to ensure development benefits communities.
• 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable – the strategy protects built, intangible, and natural heritage, promotes sustainable transport and urban services, and strengthens disaster preparedness as a means of making Luang Prabang a liveable city for all.

The strategy will be implemented under the supervision of a steering committee chaired by the provincial governor and supported by multisector working groups, overseeing one of the three strategic pillars.