The PSUP approach is based on the recognition that slum upgrading is an important strategy for improving living conditions of the urban poor and contributing to the social, economic and environmental sustainability of cities. However, in order to effectively improve living standards in slums and contribute to sustainable urbanization, slum upgrading has to go to scale.

Sustainable slum upgrading is achievable through concerted and coordinated efforts by all relevant urban stakeholders using a programmatic, rights-based and gender sensitive approaches that seek to understand, and devise strategies to improve, the urban slum challenges at the national, city and neighbourhood levels.

The PSUP approach seeks to encourage an inclusive environment where all stakeholders are empowered to participate in defining the future of their cities and meeting the needs of their citizens, with a special focus on the empowerment of communities of slum dwellers.

In order to institutionalize participatory approach into policies and planning strategies, PSUP is currently being implemented in three phases, based on the PSUP principles:

(1) Participatory Urban Profiling

(2) Participatory Action Planning and Programme Formulation

(3) Participatory Pilot Project Implementation

http://unhabitat.org/initiatives-prog…