Regen Cities : A systemic framework for regenerative urban development

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Regen Cities is a flagship program developed by Regenopolis in 2022 to support the emergence of regenerative urban ecosystems across Africa. It aims to bridge the gap between impactful local solutions and investment capital by building enabling infrastructure for project origination, incubation, and financing. The program is structured around three integrated pillars : Regen Hubs (local project incubators), Regen Tech (access to vetted solutions), and Regen Capital (a blended finance platform).

Challenge

Africa’s rapid urbanization offers both an urgent challenge and a historic opportunity. While cities drive the continent’s environmental footprint, they also concentrate innovation and community resilience. Yet, there is a persistent mismatch : global capital earmarked for climate and biodiversity fails to reach locally grounded, bankable urban projects. Regen Cities was born to flip this system – building pipelines of regenerative infrastructure, circular economy, and nature-based projects that can deliver both ecological restoration and inclusive growth.

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How Regenopolis helped

Approach

  • Establishment of Regen Hubs in cities such as Dakar, Abidjan, Casablanca and Addis Ababa
  • Origination and incubation of urban projects aligned with regenerative criteria: nature-based solutions, social inclusion, circular systems
  • Design of capacity building methodology for local actors based on pro bono expert pool via the RegenTimeBank™
  • Co-design of blended finance mechanisms to support the “missing middle” of project financing
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Our impact

The project resulted in significant outputs and outcomes

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Conceptualization of the Regen Cities model

and piloting of initial hubs

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Identification of more than 15 regenerative urban projects

across Africa

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Design of tools and frameworks

for impact measurement, project structuring, and investor engagement

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Case studies

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700’000 heures Impact: Pioneering Regenerative Hospitality

700’000 heures Impact is a transformative hospitality initiative co-founded by Thierry Teyssier (700’000 heures) and Diane Binder (Regenopolis), designed to harness the power of hospitality as a force for regeneration. Combining immersive, ultra-curated guest experiences with systemic place-based development, it redefines luxury through simplicity, connection, and purpose, while preserving natural ecosystems, safeguarding cultural heritage, and revitalizing local economies in remote and often overlooked regions.

Read this case study

unlocking pathways for land restoration in the sahel 2

Unlocking pathways for land restoration in the Sahel

Regenopolis, commissioned by the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org initiative, conducted a strategic assessment to develop commercially viable pathways for land restoration in the Sahel. This project aimed to enhance tree-based agricultural value chains, supporting the African Union’s Great Green Wall initiative in ecological restoration, climate resilience, and local development.

Read this case study

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CityLab Africa : Co-Creating the Cities of Tomorrow

CityLab Africa was an initiative launched in 2019 by the French Presidential Council for Africa (CPA), in partnership with makesense Africa. The project was designed and coordinated by Diane Binder, informed by the emergence of Regenopolis. It aimed to catalyze collaborative innovation for sustainable African cities by bridging local ecosystems and French stakeholders through multi-stakeholder project design and acceleration.

Read this case study

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