Sustainable, Inclusive & Prosperous Cities

Gora Mboup, Ph.D., President & CEO, Global Observatory linking Research to Action

gmboup@gora4people.org

www.gora4people.org

Inclusive Urban ProsperityMadras Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Chennai, India, 10 November 2014

Events and Milestones since 2000• 2000, the Millennium Development Slum Target• 2010, The MDGs Slum Target has been reached• 2012, Introduction of the notion of prosperity – The City Prosperity Index

• 2013, Introduction of Streets as Public Spaces and Drivers of Urban Prosperity

• 2014 – Holistic approach of sustainability, social inclusion and prosperity of CitiesIn response to feedback from the implementation of the CPI in cities and in response to the post 2015 development agenda (sustainable development goals) and the theme of the third conference of Habitat in 2016 (Housing and Sustainable Urban Development)

19th Century: the Rural Century with 98% living in villages at the beginning and 90% at the end of the century

Urbanization in the World: from a rural century to a urban century

20th Century: the Urban Transition Century with only 10% living in cities and towns at the beginning and 47% at the end of the century

21th Century: the Urban Century with half of the world living in cities at the beginning and 70% by 2050

Urban context of sustainability, Inclusiveness and Prosperity

1990 2000 2010 2015 —

2,000

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28,000Cities with a population size near 10 million or more in 2015,

AhmadabadBangaloreChennai (Madras)DelhiHyderabadKolkata (Calcutta)Mumbai (Bombay)

1990 2000 2010 2015 —

2,000

4,000

6,000

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10,000

12,000 Cities with a population size near 10 million or more in 2015

AhmadabadBangaloreChennai (Madras)Hyderabad

Endless growth of cities in the periphery Growing inequalities between rich and poor Serious distortions in the form and functionality of cities Grave damage to the environment

Urbanization trends:

Urbanization and slum expansion

33% of urban population live in slums

864 million of urban population in developing countries live in slums

Global responses- The Millennium Development Goals

For the past fifty years, under the umbrella of the United Nations, states and governments met to discuss, negotiate and finally endorse global agenda.

One of the latest global agenda is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), endorsed in the year 2000, where – member states agreed on eight global goals and eighteen global targets for the next fifteen years.

MDGS Slum Target

One of the global targets was the slum target (as part of Goal 7, originally named Target 11 and lately renamed target 7D), which was to achieve “ a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020”.

Countries were encouraged to monitor the slum target using the secure tenure indicator (indicator 32) under the coordination of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

Lack of data- Disconnection between the MDGs slum target and people’s lives

While the number of 100 million was meant to lead to a urban world without slums, it was just a tiny fraction of the 1 billion urban dwellers who were living in slum conditions at that time. Indeed, three years after the millennium declaration, information from people showed that 924 million urban dwellers were living in slum conditions; they lacked either safe water, adequate sanitation, durable housing, or sufficient living area.

Slum Target has been reached - Celebration and disappointment in 2010 Urbanization continues to outpace improvements in slum conditions

1990 1995 2000 2005 2007 2010 20120

100200300400500600700800900

1000

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

46.2 42.939.4

35.634.3 32.6 32.7

Population living in slums and proportion of urban popu-lation living in slums, developing regions, 1990-2012

Urban Slum population(millions) Proportion of urban population living in slums

Proportion of urban pop-ulation in slums (Percent-age)

Urban slum population (mil-lions)

Improvement of 200+ million slum dwellers: more access to improved water, to improved sanitation, durable housing, sufficient living area

The Paradigm shift – The people agenda, an agenda by the people for the people

Disconnection between targets and people’s lives calls for a bottom-top approach where global agenda are set to globalize people agenda, not the opposite. This also calls for another paradigm shift, whereby instead of technicians producing information and decision makers defining policies, and setting goals and targets, all must work together to link key findings to policies. The only way to prevent disconnection between people’s lives and policies is to move away from the solo environment and link key findings to policies for people’s wellbeing.

Voices from Slums

Giving voices to slums shall first mean recognizing that there are one billion people living without access to basic services and without the right to security of tenure in the world. This must guide the post 2015 development agenda as well as the third Habitat conference. Slum manifests at three levels: People level as expressed by lack of basic services; Place level by living in unplanned, informal settlement with high risk exposure to disaster; and Policy level without secure tenure and high exposure to eviction. The three Ps of slum must guide any future development agendas to become an agenda by the people for the people.

Slums – People, Places and Peoples

Contribution to the debate on Sustainable Urban Development

Concepts and measurement of sustainability, inclusion and prosperity of cities

Sustainable, Inclusive & Prosperous Cities

Sustainable, Inclusive & Prosperous CitiesFor a city to be sustainable, inclusive and prosperous, it must promotes a people-centered approach on various dimensions such as: city foundation, infrastructure, environment, economy development, social development, social inclusion, disaster exposure, resilience, peace & security, and institutions & laws

Sustainable, Inclusive & Prosperous City Index is finally a combination of three main components:

- Multiple Slum Index that must be reduced- City Prosperity Index that must be maximized- City foundation with social inclusion Index that must be sustained as

core of any city

Sustainable, Inclusive & Prosperous Cities

Sustainable city foundation

Urban Planning, Basic infrastructure, Policies

Urban Planning – streets as public spacesA sustainable city foundation must have a well connected street network with sufficient land allocated to streets that reduce travel time and encourage walking, cycling and social interactions. Well planned streets enhance infrastructure development, environment sustainability, economic development, social development, and social inclusion. They make cities resilient and prepared to overcome natural disasters.

Spatial inequalities – The Urban divide

Many social inequalities observed in cities are the result of the way cities are planned. Some areas have many and wide streets while other areas have few and narrow ones. This is the main criticism of urban plans of new cities or expanding cities that are based on master plans that divide the city according to the social or economic status of residents.

http://mirror.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=3513

Author: Gora Mboup, Ph.D., goramboup@yahoo.com

Key findings for Sustainable & Inclusive Prosperity for Cities

Key Findings

• Change in street design and planning

• Reduction of share of streets in city

• Low street connectivity is obstacle to sustainable & inclusive prosperity for cities affecting:-Infrastructure development-Environmental Sustainability-Productivity-Quality of life-Social inclusion-People are reclaiming streets as public spaces – livable streets – complete streets, …..

Land allocated to streets (percent)City core & Sub-urban areas

0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.0000.000

0.300

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f(x) = 0.450303803891565 x + 0.571767354542009R² = 0.433329332815332

Figure 5.7 Relationship between Street connectivity and Basic services

CSCI

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In addition to accommodating all kinds of users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists), streets promote connections to services such as clean water, sewerage facilities, drainage systems, power supply, and information and communication technologies.

Well connected streets contribute to infrastructure development

0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.0000.300

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f(x) = 0.184244930542563 x + 0.716349503641969R² = 0.181363350030908

Figure 5.10 Relationship between Street connectivity and Outdoor Pollution (PM10)

CSCI

PM10

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By promoting walkability and cycling, streets contribute to the reduction of air and water pollution and to the preservation of biodiversity. Streets should be considered and planned as “green” public spaces.

Well connected streets safeguard environmental sustainability

0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.0000.000

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f(x) = 0.430573181547252 x + 0.421881934393065R² = 0.428025682790964

Figure 5.8 Street Connectivity and Productivity

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Well connected streets promote productivity

Prosperous streets harness the benefits of agglomeration economies; they improve access to productive advantages in providing sufficient public space for circulation of goods and people and easing adequate infrastructure.Efficient and fast transport, in turn, can increase labour productivity by reducing commuting times, and increasing worker productivity.

0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.0000.000

0.100

0.200

0.300

0.400

0.500

0.600

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0.800

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f(x) = 0.241411694001605 x + 0.614348293398646R² = 0.330681353832425

Figure 5.9 Street connectivity and health

CSCI

Heal

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The ways in which we design and build streets have significant implications for health and quality of life Many important quality-of-life benefits arise when streets promote non-motorized transport. Increased outdoor activity and reduced air pollution translate into better public health.

Well connected streets enhance quality of life

Well connected streets enhance equity and social inclusion

No city can claim to be prosperous when large segments of the population do not have access to streets. Prosperous streets ease equity and social inclusion in cities.

Streets facilitate the creation of mixed neighbourhoods with a diversity of jobs and housing options; promote mixed-used land development, ensure involvement of marginalized groups; and improve connectivity between neighbourhoods and access to services.

Streets as public spaces also promote social inclusion by providing the opportunity for communities to interact and discuss various issues of common interest.

Stimulates local job creation Reduces disaster risks and vulnerabilities Build resilience to adverse forces of nature Creates harmony between the different dimensions of prosperity Recognizes the importance of streets as public spaces.

THE CITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY

- HIGHER PROVISION OF STREETS AS PUBLIC SPACES - MORE COMPACT FORM- GREATER HETEROGENEITY AND FUNCTIONALITY- SAFEGUARDS AGAINST NEW RISKS- MORE ‘HUMAN SCALE’

Citizens are Reclaiming Streets as Public Spaces

• Livable streets

• Complete streets

• Streets for all

Need for reliable, up-to-date informationlinking Research to ActionRole of Observatories

" Better Information for better people centered polices” is the primary goal of GORA

Observatories are institutional homes for development of urban indicators with quantitative as well as qualitative sources, from classical sources of information (population and housing censuses and household surveys) as well as GIS, Big data. They serve monitoring, evaluation and result-based management. They promote an agenda by the people for the people. .

What Observatories Do?

• Develop, collect and analyze indicators at local level to monitor a range of local or national priority issues – e.g. social development, economic performance, service delivery

• Establish permanent mechanisms for monitoring development agendas and disseminate information to strengthen transparency in planning process

• Translate data to knowledge and knowledge to planning and policy-making at local and national level

• Build awareness and improve the decision making mechanism for sustainable urbanization

Level of Intervention

The level of intervention refers to the geographic area that the observatory is covering.  The level is determined by the institutions involve, the thematic focus, the scope and the problems that is addressing. 

Observatories could cover different political-administrative areas:

•Regional Level

•National Level

•City Level

Plan of Sustainability

Institutional support means government commitment to:

i) endorse the observatory; ii) establish horizontal linkages; iii) ensure the use of information to

strengthen decision-making and policy formulation.

Financial support is the provision of funds for the day-to-day functioning of the observatory by one or different stakeholders.

§    Observatories would be sustainable if:

a)     there is a clear political commitment from the national government and the local authorities; b)    they are conceived through participatory process involving local stakeholders (private sector, NGOs, community organizations, );

It is recommended to enlist the institutions that may provide financial support in terms of funding for data collection and analysis and experts.

Observatory linking Research toAction

CentralGovern-ment

Gen-der

Educ

Parlia-Ment-arians

Infra-struct-ure

NSO

Loc.Auth.

LandHous-ing

Aca-demia

Univ.

Train-ing

Res-earch

CivilSociety/Media

Press

Priv.Sect. NGOs

RadioTV

Youth

ExternalSupportAgencies

UN

Donors

Bilat-erals

INGOs

LocalAuthorit-ies

Munic-palities

Assoc-iations

Reg.Auth.

Sub-Reg

Voc.Tr.

Prof.Soc.

Wom-en’sGrps

Vul-Nerable-grps

Cont.Educ.

City-Citycoop

Para-statals

Stakeholders consultation

From Research to Actions – Development of Policy/Action

The policy/action toolkit combines research analysis, impact assessment and learning practices and policies to assist for policy formulation and action plan development for a people agenda

Visualize, analyse and participate - Advocacy & Communication

Key findings must be taken to people and institutions through user friendly platform of advocacy and communication accessible to the people as well as to institutions. Observatories promote Open data through data visualization and revolution technology including social media, open portal, workshops and conferences.

Needs for training & capacity development in the development and use of indicators for policy formulation

A major weak link between research and action is in the difficulty of people, government employees and other stakeholders to use indicators for policy formulation. People and technicians as well as managers, and decision-makers, must be equipped with instruments on the development and use of indicators to empower themselves and inform policies and programmes.