Pierre-Arnaud Barthel is senior project manager and lead expert in the Local Governments and Urban Development Division in charge of operations at the French Agency for Development (AFD) in Paris. Focal point in charge of digital issues in urban development, he is also dealing with a portfolio of urban operations in Egypt, Ethiopia and Myanmar that AFD is financing. He was previously a senior lecturer in urban planning at the Institut Français d’Urbanisme (University of Paris-East) and wrote several papers and edited collective publications focusing on Arab Mediterranean Countries such as: Expérimenter la « ville durable » au Sud de la Méditerrannée (Éditions de l’Aube, 2011, co edited with Lamia Zaki) and “Arab cities, sustainable cities?” (Urban Environment, vol. 7, 2013, special issue co-edited with Éric Verdeil).

Pierre-Arnaud Barthel
Senior project manager and lead expert in the Local Governments and Urban Development Division
2 published articles

Interview
Insecure settlements: 3 billion slum dwellers by 2050
In the world’s poorest countries, up to 90% of the population live in insecure settlements. The development of slum areas is a direct consequence of poor city planning and a lack of affordable accommodation.

Opinion
Digital revolution(s): Cities on the front line
Digital data has become a key resource to build sustainable and smart cities. For AFD’s Gwenael Prie and Pierre-Arnaud Barthel, development actors must step up efforts to integrate this new paradigm.