This is a presentation made for the 3rd stakeholder meeting within the project " Strategy Development for Rehabilitation of Dighomi Floodplains"

1. Dighomi
Floodplains
Rehabilitation
STAKEHOLDERs 3rd MEETING
Options Preparation
11 April 2024
Event Venue : Holiday Inn Tbilisi
address: 1 Twentysix May Square

2. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
PROGRAMME
09:30 Registration and welcoming coffee
09:45 Introduction to the project – Tbilisi Development Fund
09:55 Introduction to the scope of the project and programme –
SMEC Team Leader
1015 Introduction to the SMEC Study Team
10:20 The study area
10:30 Baseline Studies, the Existing Situation
 Ecology
 Hydrology
 Topography
 Environment
 Planning Context
11:15 Coffee Break
11:45 Goals and Objectives of the Study
12:00 Discussion of the conclusions of the Baseline Analysis
 Planning
 Environment and Rehabilitation
 Next Steps
13:00 Workshop closes

3. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
SCOPE OF THE
PROJECT
• Contract Name: Development of Strategy for Dighomi
• Client: Tblisi Development Fund
• Funding: Asian Development Bank
Floodplain Rehabilitation
• Name of the Consultant: SMEC International Pty Ltd (Australia) (Lead) in
association with SMEC Georgia LLC (Georgia) (sub-consultant)
• Office Location 15 Kipshidze, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Date of Award 1st of June 2023
• Date of Commencement 8th of June 2023
• Contract Period 12 months
• Contract End 8th of June 2024

4. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
THE STUDY
TEAM
Team Leader Jim Jessamine
Deputy Team Leader Giorgi Giorgadze
Urban Planner Joseph Salukvadze
Biodiversity Expert Arthur Mitchell
Environmental Expert Lika Bubashvili
Geologist Guram Iashvili
Forestry Expert Niko Karsimashvili
Hydrologist Nika Tsitelashvili
GIS Expert Tamar Tsamalashvili
Financial Analyst Sophio Gelashvili
Tourism Expert Eka Burdiladze
Landscape Planner Simon Bell
SMEC Coordinator Giorgi Tsurtsumia

5. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
PROJECT
• Since November 2016, the ADB has supported the Government of Georgia to
mainstream an integrated and participatory approach to urban development by
improving strategic planning of selected urban area clusters to achieve a more
balanced regional development by preparing Integrated Urban Action Plans.
• Building on this, the government has prioritized crucial urban investments for ADB
to take forward through feasibility studies and safeguards due diligence. Georgia
has received financing from ADB in the form of a loan towards the cost of the
Liveable Cities Investment Program (LCIP) to improve urban and tourism
infrastructure and services across Georgia and Tbilisi.
• TDF, with support from ADB, initiated the process of development of the
Dighomi Floodplain strategy that will be long-term view of and strategic plan for
restoration of the Dighomi floodplain, which needs to be aligned to LCIP and
linked to subprojects implemented under the LCIP.
• The strategic plan shall include short-, medium- and long-term development
concepts. The core principle of the strategy shall be environment protection and
preservation of unique characteristics of the riparian forest
Role of Asian Development Bank and name of the project

6. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
THE VISION
 The overarching vision of the project is to Rehabilitate the
riverside areas of the Mtkvari River, the Dighomi
Floodplains, as:
• An integrated recreational open space;
• A potential tourism resource;
• A sustainable and biodiverse natural place.
vision of the project

7. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Anticipated
Outputs of the
Study
• Since November 2016, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has supported the
Government of Georgia to mainstream an integrated and participatory approach
to urban development by improving strategic planning of selected urban area.
INCEPTION REPORT
BASELINE ANALYSIS REPORT
OPTIONS GENERATION AND EVALUATION
DRAFT FINAL REPORT
FINAL REPORT
ACTION PLAN LONG TERM PLAN
MEDIUM TERM PLAN
STAKEHOLDER
MEETING
STAKEHOLDER
MEETING
STAKEHOLDER
MEETING
strategic planning of selected urban area

8. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
STUDY AREA and
TBILISI CITY
MASTER PLAN
Functional layers from study area and Tbilisi Land Use Masterplan

9. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
GENERAL
The Terms of Reference for the assignment stipulate that the
Consultant shall prepare ‘Problem statement and assessing
solution statement alternatives’. This section describes the
formulation of alternatives, or options, for the rehabilitation
strategy and describe how these options are assessed. This
process involves reference to our earlier Interim Report,
Baseline Analysis, and consultation with all stakeholder
segments to ensure a wide range of support for the identified
preferred option.
It is important that strategic proposals for the rehabilitation of
the study area are based on a set of ultimate desired outcomes
which policy and investment is intended to achieve. We have
therefore defined a high level future vision for the Dighomi
Floodplains, consistent with The Tbilisi City Master Plan 2019
and the Asian Development Bank’s Liveable Cities Program,
followed by a set of high-level (cross-sector) strategic
objectives and a set of more specific operational objectives.

10. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
EVALUATION
CRITERIA
We have identified a total of six evaluation criteria against which to
measure the performance of options, they are.
 Ease of Implementation. Land ownership issues and compliance
with Tbilisi City Master Plan will be taken into consideration along
with
 Cost. Broad orders of construction costs are identified for each of
the proposed options.
 Alignment with ADB Liveable Cities Objectives. Enhancing urban
planning and instituting institutional reforms.
 Social Gain. We examine options to broadly determine the levels of
social gain accruing to each option. Factors that will be considered
include access to open space, and the provision of community
facilities.
 Economic Gain. We will broadly examine the order of economic
gain associated with each option by determining the job creation
and revenue generation potential of each option.
 Sustainability and Biodiversity. A crucial criteria. We will Examine
the long-term sustainability of each option together with its
potential to support and enhance the biodiversity of the Dighomi
Floodplains.

11. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
EVALUATION
Options are scored on a scale of 1 to 4 against individual
evaluation criteria with 1 being ‘poor’ and 4 being excellent.
These scores are then summarised for comparison purposes in
a summary table where the highest total score indicates the
most preferred option. As is often the case in such exercises
strongly performing options may be combined to form a hybrid
option which harvest the best features of other options.

12. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
FORMULATION 1
In considering the formulation of options for the rehabilitation of the study area we have
identified a range of core criteria which will be applied to the construction of options. These
criteria, which are draw from the Baseline Analysis, are set out below in broadly descending
order of importance are.
1. Site Extents.
i. Municipal Land Only. This option would be developed exclusively on land in
the ownership of TCH and would be the simplest to implement as it would
require the approval of a single authority.
ii. Municipal and State Lands. In addition to lands under the ownership of TCH
this option would incorporate state owned lands across the study area.
While all land would be in ‘public ownership’ this option would need to
undergo the more complex process of securing consents across a wide range
of public bodies and ministries, a process which would be perhaps difficult to
achieve in the short term.
iii. Municipal and State Lands with limited Private Sector Lands. Options under
this criteria will in addition to examining the use of municipal and state lands
examine the limited use of private lands through the mechanism of
surrender and development content gain. Such mechanisms involved the
surrender of portions of private lands for specific purposes, such as the
construction of access or green linkages. Development content lost through
this process is then transferred, by negotiation, to the balance of the private
sector landholding.

13. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
FORMULATION 2
1. Biodiversity and Sustainability. The preservation and enhancement
of the study area’s biodiversity is a core requirement of the
rehabilitation strategy. In pusuing this objective we will examine
three broad approaches, namely.
i. No areas as natural reserves. To leave the area in its
present condition, albeit with the addition of the Dighomi
HPP and encourage natural processes to reforest the site.
ii. Critical areas as natural reserves. To identify specific
areas such as the Emerald Site, riverbank and lakes as
high value natural reserve areas.
iii.All areas as natural reserves. To examine the possibility
of declaring the whole area to be a protected natural
reserve, possible under the status of protect forest area.

14. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
FORMULATION 3
1. Landforming.
i. No land forming. site to be left in its present condition with any
illegal or unauthorised structures cleared from the site.
ii. Selected areas to be remodelled. The selective remodelling of fill
areas to stabilise slopes, create riverside areas for planting and
prepare plateau areas for rehabilitation by regrading.
iii. All fill to be removed. We will examine the implications and costs
of removing all fill materials which have been deposited over the
site and returning the floodplains, in as much as is possible, to
their original state. This will also involve the need to identify new
sites for the disposal of inert waste materials.
2. Lakes and Borrow Pits. Leave in present condition. In this option we will
examine the implications of leaving the borrow pits in their present
configuration
i. Reconfiguration. We will examine the possibility of configuring
borrow pits into larger lakes, and possibly creating new island
areas within those lakes.
ii. Fill in. Finally, we will look into the possibility of filling in the
borrow pits to restore the area landscape to its original condition.

15. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
FORMULATION 4
1. Access. The Key Issues section of the Interim Report identified access to the
floodplains as a major issue. At present access to the area is limited and
difficult. We will examine the implications of amending access arrangements
through three scenarios, namely.
i. No access improvements. To leave access arrangements t othe
area in their present configuration and condition.
ii. Local access improvements. To improve access to local areas on
both the left and right banks. In particular to improve access to
both the Olympic Village and Tbilisi Mall areas.
iii. City and hinterland access improvements. In addition to
improving local access to examine linkages to the national parks,
city centre and upstream river areas through the development in
the longer term of strategic trekking and cycle routes.
2. End Use Planning. Under the approved 2019 Tbilisi City Master Plan a range
of zoning proposals are applied to the study area. Under this criteria we will
examine the implications of these proposals and what specific facilities
should be provided across the study area. The basic variations that will be
considered are.
i. Low intensity. Reflecting the development of the area primarily
as a nature reserve
ii. Mixed development. Reflecting the zoning of the area into both
low and high intensity areas.
iii. High intensity. Reflecting the development of the area as an
intensively used urban park.

16. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Land Ownership
309
registered
land parcels

17. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Landscape Zones

18. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Landscape Sub
Zones

19. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Landscape Sub
Zones

20. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Landscape
Assessment
UNIT R2, Sub-unit D
Main features: This area is the slope of the floodplain edge rising behind the
abandoned university building territory. It is generally separated from the
residential area by a public road but there have been some encroachments by
several houses. It comprises a steep slope vegetated, with shrubs, trees and
grass. It forms a green corridor and represents the original vegetation, although
modified over time. Houses and gardens occupy some parts, especially at the
northern end. Ownership status is uncertain.
Opportunities and constraints: As the area is already wooded, close to residential
areas and steep, there are no opportunities to develop it. The main opportunity is
to reinforce the vegetation and to manage it to provide a strong edge to the rest
of the project area and an important green corridor. The boundary between
public and private land needs to be confirmed and identified on the ground to
reduce encroachment
Recommendation: There are opportunities for the basic development strategy
but to protect the ecology any further intensification should be limited.
Basic strategy: Establishing a more secure boundary, preventing encroachment
and restoring and managing the existing vegetation.

21. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Options Key
Determinants
Consolidate
borrow pits Local access link
Municipal park
Otter Island
eco
eco
SERVICE CENTRE

22. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTION HIGH
INTENSITY
Private land surrender to secure links
Pedestrian link to National park
Private development
Extent of municipal and state lands
Pedestrian and cycle link to city cente
Municipal park
Tbilisi Mall HPP
Olympic Village
Fill in borrow pits
Private development
eco
eco
urban park
Eco park
Otter island

23. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Determine
Outline Costs
Outline Costs, Key Elements
• Site Clearance
• Landforming and regrading
• Soft landscaping
• Security fencing and barriers
• Footpaths and cycleways
• Service buildings
• Professional fees
• Contingencies

24. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
OPTIONS
EVALUATION
FORM
Criteria
Ease
of
Implementation
Cost
Alignment
with
ADB
LcP
Social
gain
Economic
gain
Sustainability
and
Biodiversity
Score Notes
Land Parcelling
Municipal Land
Municipal and State Land
Municipal, State and Private
Biodiversity/Sustainability
No Reserves
Critical Reserves
All Reserve
Landforming
No Landforming
Landforming
Remove Fill
Lakes and Borrow Pits
Leave as is
Consolidate
Fill
Access
No improvements
Local access links

25. Dighomi Floodplains
Rehabilitation
Determine
Phasing
Overarching consideration: it will take around
10 yeas to establish an initial tree canopy on
site
PHASE 1 2025-2029
PHASE 2 2030-34
PHASE 3 2035-2039
• Prioritise use of municipal lands
• Where possible incorporate state lands
• Negotiate private land swaps for strategic
links