Inside the UK’s £70 million Green Cities, Infrastructure and Energy Programme: insights from the front line

20 April. 2026

By Andreas Beavor (Managing Partner) and Mpho Katjiuongua (Sustainability Consultant)

The scale of urban development challenges

Cities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face a growing paradox: they are on the frontline of climate impacts and rapid urbanisation, yet often lack the finance, capacity and tools to plan and deliver the sustainable infrastructure their residents need. At the same time, private investors and infrastructure developers struggle to find pipelines of bankable projects that meet their risk–return expectations while delivering genuine climate and social impact, with ticket sizes, transaction costs and municipal creditworthiness all cited as key constraints.

This mismatch between available capital and investable, inclusive projects is a recurring theme across international initiatives, and too often leaves promising ideas stranded before they secure the support they need.

Our work with GCIEP

As part of addressing these global challenges and remaining true to our values, UrbanEmerge has been at the centre of the design and delivery of the UK’s flagship Green Cities, Infrastructure and Energy Programme (GCIEP) for the past two years.

GCIEP is a £70 million, multi‑country initiative that works with governments across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean to catalyse investment in sustainable infrastructure, improve the policy and regulatory environment for green cities and infrastructure, and strengthen municipal finance and public services. By addressing key barriers such as a lack of prepared, high‑quality, financeable projects and weak urban governance and planning, the programme aims to create jobs, increase productivity and enhance climate resilience in LMICs, while supporting more inclusive, low‑carbon urban development at scale.

GCIEP is managed by a PwC‑led alliance including Adam Smith International, Mott MacDonald, Engineers Against Poverty and MDY Legal, and UrbanEmerge is a proud partner, contributing specialist expertise on sustainable cities, climate finance and inclusion as part of this wider consortium effort. A unique aspect of GCIEP is its ability to harness additional world-class expertise from UK agencies such as Crossrail International, Transport for London, Ofgem and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA).

UrbanEmerge’s role in GCIEP

As part of this alliance, UrbanEmerge has contributed across a range of workstreams, including:

• Programme design: We initially led the design of GCIEP’s “deep offer” programmes in Indonesia and Vietnam, helping national and sub-national government partners in areas such as transit-oriented development (TOD), infrastructure project financing options, flood risk management and building information modelling (BIM) for urban rail infrastructure.

• Guidance on socially inclusive TOD: Focusing on how to maximise social development and inclusion in Transit Orientated Development (TOD) in LMICs.

• Contributing to GCIEP’s GEDSI Lens Toolkit for Infrastructure Project Developers: Integrating gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) into infrastructure planning and delivery, including tools and practical recommendations.

• A.I. for Sustainable cities and Infrastructure: One of our associate experts, Dr Stephen Lorimer, led the GCIEP AI Accelerator which aims to harness UK AI capabilities to address complex infrastructure challenges, support evidence-based decision making and showcase the UK as a global leader in AI-driven innovation. The team explored a arange of usecases including: how AI could support geospatial intelligence and digital mapping; where it could be used to improve infrastructure decision‑making, project preparation, and funding; as well as improving financing choices across cities, energy and transport systems.

• Infrastructure Toolkit development: Contributing to content development linked to the Infrastructure Professional Development (IPD) Toolkit which is designed to raise awareness and capacity of FCDO staff in topics related to infrastructure and climate action.

• Learning on GCIEP’s Feasibility Study work: Helping to improve feasibility approaches for infrastructure projects that can be adapted to different country and city contexts.

• Learning and communications: GCIEP leads learning and communications on GCIEP, helping partners share what works across cities and countries while staying grounded in local realities. You can access a wider range of Learning Notes, news articles and blogs on the website.

We are here to help you

This work sits squarely within UrbanEmerge’s vision of inclusive, ecological and circular development, supporting cities and regions to become more accessible, low‑carbon and resilient while expanding opportunities for people who are often left behind.

We will continue to support partners and clients in the public and private sectors, development finance institutions, development partners, civil society and academia to develop solutions to the increasingly urgent challenges related to rapid urbanisation, climate change and ecological breakdown.