One in three city residents in developing countries lives in slums
World Urban Forum looks at how to manage rapid urbanization
New World Bank strategy to incorporate both environmental and energy efficiency considerations into urban design
October 30, 2008—How can “heartbreaking” slums become cleaner, kinder, greener places even as more and more people move to cities?
That’s a key question for policy-makers, development practitioners and non-governmental organizations seeking sustainable solutions to urban dilemmas at the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China, November 3 to 6.
While cities have become engines of growth for developing countries and a magnet for people seeking better economic opportunities, one in every three city residents in developing countries now lives in a slum. The highest-incidence of slum-dwellers (62 percent) is in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new UN-Habitat report, “State of the World’s Cities 2008/9: Harmonious Cities.”
A Billion People in Slums
“A billion people in the world live in slums today, and that in itself is a startling fact,” says Abha Joshi-Ghani, Manager of the World Bank’s Urban group. “The quality of life and livability of these areas is really heartbreaking.”
Most people in slums don’t have drinking water, sanitation, health, or education services, she says.
“While the poverty rate is generally higher in rural areas, the actual number of poor is higher in urban areas” says Joshi-Ghani.
“Slums are a function of successful labor markets and failed land markets.”
The problem could worsen if, as projected, three-quarters of the world’s population is living in cities by 2013. About 90 percent of urban growth is expected to take place in developing countries.
Poverty Increasingly Urban Phenomenon
Megacity Manila grew by 1.62 million people in seven years as people migrated from rural areas.
“Poverty is increasingly an urban phenomenon,” says Chii Akporji, Communications Officer of the Cities Alliance, a coalition of cities and development partners including the UN and World Bank whose secretariat is housed at the World Bank.
Akporji says cities are under “tremendous pressure” as people arrive from rural areas or other countries for economic and cultural reasons, or because of natural disasters or conflict.
“A lot of developing countries are unable to handle these masses of people coming in. That’s why you have a deficit of infrastructure, a deficit of finance, and a deficit in so many key areas, which only exacerbates an already bad situation.”
Cities Should Plan Ahead
Cities should not turn a “blind eye” to slum-dwellers or evict them, Akporji adds. They should instead plan ahead for natural growth, as well as for people migrating from the country to the city, and when slums emerge, upgrade them rather than try to eradicate them.
“We advocate that slum-dwellers are citizens, and should be properly integrated into city planning.”
Slums should be turned into livable places where residents have the opportunity to build a “decent roof over their head” and basic amenities like water and sanitation, she says.
Progress has been made in megacities Cairo, Ekurhuleni, Lagos, Manila, Mumbai and São Paulo, collectively home to over 70 million people. The six cities have all taken innovative approaches to slum upgrading, according to a new book, Slum Upgrading Up Close: Experience of Six Cities, co-published this week by Cities Alliance and the Municipality of São Paulo .
World Bank Plans New Urban Strategy
Rapid urbanization is expected to increase the built areas in cities by 30 percent, straining service delivery in land and housing, says Joshi-Ghani.
The goal of the forum is to get people brainstorming about how to manage this kind of urban growth and turn challenges into opportunities.
“It’s a meeting of peers where the gloves are off, where people are not afraid to speak their minds, and where we can learn from others,” says Joshi-Ghani.
The World Bank plans to gather information and feedback for its new urban strategy, which will offer a new way of looking at cities through an economic lens, as well as an ecological lens, she says.
The Bank is pioneering a new approach in East Asia in the ECO2 Cities Model, which incorporates both environmental and energy efficiency considerations into urban design. Such city-wide designs of infrastructure systems aim to enhance recycling and use of alternative energy solutions. They would also employ more efficient transport systems to improve city performance.
The urban strategy will also promote adoption of a framework that enables global city comparisons and performance measurement through the use of standardized indicators, including governance, competitiveness, service delivery, financial management, among other criteria.
“We want to get a sense of what are the new horizons that might be open to us, what have we neglected?” Joshi-Ghani says. “We also want criticism of what we’re not doing right. We really think it is a huge opportunity to brainstorm.”
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