Environment

For example, in a recent incident in Manila, the Philippines, a wall of refuse collapsed on squatters’ houses in Manila’s biggest dump (Payatas dump); at least 60 people were killed and dozens were missing (Washington Post, July 11, 2000). Such sites are often the only ones available for housing of the poor because they are unattractive to other potential users and land use policies make other locations unaffordable. The poor may have less fear of eviction in such marginal areas, but they are at much greater risk from natural and man-made disasters and from pollution. Noise pollution is also very high in certain locations. Among people living close to the suburban railway tracks (as close as ten feet away), medical doctors have recorded cases of neurosis caused by unbearable levels of noise. Poor environmental conditions lead to poor health, which aggravates poverty and often results in lower educational levels, as well as loss of income owing to sickness, disease, and increased spending on health care, which may deplete household savings. Poverty prevents people from moving to safer areas or investing in improved environments where they live. Hence, it is necessary to improve the environmental conditions of the urban poor. Population growth and physical expansion, however, are outstripping the ability of many cities to provide basic health and environmental services. By 2025, it is estimated, almost 65 percent of the world population (and an even larger share of total national economic wealth) will be concentrated in cities and towns, making it an enormous challenge to ensure that such growth is managed without seriously damaging the urban environment or the health of urban residents.

Linkages between environment and development are not limited to conditions within cities. Urban growth can have profound effects on surrounding areas, particularly in relation to land conversion, water abstraction, and discharges of wastewater and solid waste. Urban environmental strategies need to address the effects of urbanization on peri-urban and rural populations, as well as the likely effects of urban and rural economic decisions on each other.

Possible Interventions:

• Solid waste management:Large municipalities and metropolitan regions are encouraged to undertake city-wide strategic planning to design and implement integrated solid waste systems that are responsive to dynamic demographic and industrial growth. Strategic planning starts with the formulation of long-term goals based on the needs of a particular municipality, followed by a medium and short term action plan to meet the goals. The city-wide strategic plan should match service levels to user demand and affordability especially for the urban poor. (See Solid Waste Management web site).

• Water supply, sanitation, and wastewater management: Poor cities and poor neighborhoods suffer disproportionately from inadequate water and sanitation facilities. These issues are central to the environmental agenda and among the prime responsibilities of city governments. (Also see slum upgrading programs in sector-based program examples).

• Industrial pollution management: Efforts should focus on guidance for good practice in pollution management, on support for integrating environmental elements into the privatization of highly polluting industries, and on facilitating the application of innovative regulatory instruments (See Pollution Prevention Abatement Handbook, 1999).

• Cleaner fuels: indoor pollution due to household level energy sources is also a major cause of health poverty in cities. In may Central European countries switching from coal to gas in household eating and cooking has been effective in improving air quality.

 

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