2001 a World of Cities

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AWO

RLDO

FCITIES

A WORLD OF LIGHT AND DARK

ith just under half of its population

living in cities, the world is already

urbanized. When measured in

knowledge, attitude, aspiration,

commercial sense, technology, trav-

el and access to information, even

the most rural societies on earth are, to one extentor another, woven into a global network of cities.

Thus, the Songye people of the Congo produce

masks and statues for purchase in Nairobi by the

owner of a Milanese Africana shop. A Cana dian

ran cher flies his own plan e to Vancouver to meet a

friend from San Francisco. A Br azilian placer miner

uses his cell phone to m onitor g old prices in Lon don

through a broker in So Paolo. A Kaza kh folk singer

places her music on the Internet in Alma Ata for

downloading by a scholar in Shang hai. And a

Peruvian expatriate in Perth responds with help to a

call, again over the Internet, from the priest in a

flooded village in Peru.

The industrial revolution of the late 18th century

began the current phase of globalization . In less

than one hundred years, the steam engine, tele-

graph, telephone and elevator were conveying peo-

ple, goods and ideas both horizontally and vertically

at an unprecedent ed volume and velocity. Now, in

less than another century, low-cost international air

transport, digital telecommunication and liberalized

trade have the global economy moving at warp

speed.

The focal point of global economic activity has

invariably been the city, a place of deals and deci-sions, take-offs and land ings - a pla ce less concerned

with the rhythms of nature, where everything can be

Wbought and sold, especially ones ideas and labour.

During the past two hundred years of global eco-

nomic expansion, the collective population of the

worlds cities grew from less than 30 million to 3 bil-

lion - from one in thirty of the earths inhabitants to

every other person on earth . Now at the beginnin g

of the new century and millennium, the planet hosts

19 cities with 10 million or more people; 22 cities

with 5 to10 million people; 370 cities with 1 to 5 mil-

lion people; and 433 cities with 0.5 to 1 million.

Anoth er 1.5 billion p eople live in urb an areas of less

tha n half a million people. The process of urbaniza-

tion will continue well into the 21st century and, by

2030, over 60 percent of all people (4.9 billion out of

8.1 billion) will live in cities1.

As isolated seats of power from which to govern rura l

holdings, cities were, throughout most of recorded

history, exceedingly small islands in a vast ocean of

rural culture and tr ad ition. With the advent of the

industrial age, humanity rapidly evolved into a city-

dwelling species that is intensely competitive but atthe same time cooperat ive, specialized yet adap table.

H omo urbanusis ident ified by dense living p attern s, a

200 MILLION PEOPLE


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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

2000

1900

1800

1700

1600

(Popula

tionin

Billio

ns)

TOTAL P

OPUL

ATIO

N

URBA

N POPU

LATION

Mega-cities in the developing worldThe rise of the mega-city (cities of at least 10 million peo-

ple) in d eveloping countries over the past t wenty years is

of concern because of incap acity to increase the provision

of housing an d basic services at the same pace. There is

currently an extremely rapid displacement of developed

country cities2

on the list of the worlds 30 largest cities

by those in developing countries. Between 1980 and

2000 Lagos, Nigeria, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Cairo, Egypt,

Tianjin, China, Hyderabad and Lahore, India, along

with several others in developing countries, were added

to the list. By 2010 Lagos is projected to become the

third largest city in the world.

World urbanization rates from 1950-2020

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Oceania Northern America

Latin America and the Caribbean

Europe

Asia Africa

World

2025

-2030

2020

-2025

2015

-2020

2010

-2015

2005

-2010

2000

-2005

1995

-2000

1990

-1995

1985

-1990

1980

-1985

1975

-1980

1970

-1975

1965

-1970

1960

-1965

1955

-1960

1950

-1955

Percen

tage

1 21.9 Tokyo 25.1 Tokyo 26.4 Tokyo 26.4 Tokyo

2 15.6 New York 16.1 New York 18.1 Mexico City 23.6 Bombay

3 13.9 Mexico City 15.1 Mexico City 18.1 Bombay 20.2 Lagos

4 12.5 So Paulo 15.1 So Paulo 17.8 So Paulo 19.7 So Paulo

5 11.7 Shanghai 13.3 Shanghai 16.6 New York 18.7 Mexico City

6 10.0 Osaka 12.2 Bombay 13.4 Lagos 18.4 Dhaka

7 9.9 Buenos Aires 11.5 Los Angeles 13.1 Los Angeles 17.2 New York

8 9.5 Los Angeles 11.2 Buenos Aires 12.9 Calcutta 16.6 Karachi

9 9.0 Calcutta 11.0 Osaka 12.9 Shanghai 15.6 Calcutta

10 9.0 Beijing 10.9 Calcutta 12.6 Buenos Aires 15.3 Jakarta

11 8.9 Paris 10.8 Beijing 12.3 Dhaka 15.1 Delhi

12 8.7 Rio de Janeiro 10.5 Seoul 11.8 Karachi 13.9 Los Angeles

13 8.3 Seoul 9.7 Rio de Janeiro 11.7 Delhi 13.9 Metro Manila

14 8.1 Moscow 9.3 Paris 11.0 Jakarta 13.7 Buenos Aires

15 8.1 Bombay 9.0 Moscow 11.0 Osaka 13.7 Shanghai

16 7.7 London 8.8 Tianjin 10.9 Metro Manila 12.7 Cairo

17 7.3 Tianjin 8.6 Cairo 10.8 Beijing 11.8 Istanbul

18 6.9 Cairo 8.2 Delhi 10.6 Rio de Janeiro 11.5 Beijing

19 6.8 Chicago 8.0 Metro Manila 10.6 Cairo 11.5 Rio de Janeiro

20 6.3 Essen 7.9 Karachi 9.9 Seoul 11.0 Osaka

21 6.0 Jakarta 7.7 Lagos 9.6 Paris 10.0 Tianjin

22 6.0 Metro Manila 7.7 London 9.5 Istanbul 9.9 Seoul

23 5.6 Delhi 7.7 Jakarta 9.3 Moscow 9.7 Paris

24 5.3 Milan 6.8 Chicago 9.2 Tianjin 9.4 Hyderabad

25 5.1 Teheran 6.6 Dhaka 7.6 London 9.4 Moscow

26 5.0 Karachi 6.5 Istanbul 7.4 Lima 9.0 Bangkok

27 4.7 Bangkok 6.4 Teheran 7.3 Bangkok 8.8 Lima

28 4.6 Saint Petersburg 6.4 Essen 7.2 Teheran 8.6 Lahore

29 4.6 Hong Kong 5.9 Bangkok 7.0 Chicago 8.2 Madras

30 4.4 Lima 5.8 Lima 6.9 Hong Kong 8.1 Teheran

1980 1990 2000 2010

Trading Places on the Top 30 List(population in mill ions)

At the same time Milan, Italy, Essen, Germany,

and London, United Kingdom have all disap-

peared from among the top 30 cities, and New

York, U SA, Osaka, J apa n a nd Pa ris, Fran ce will

have slipped farther down the list by 2010.

Amon g d eveloped cou ntr ies, only Tokyo will

have held its place - as the largest urban

agglomeration in the world - for 30 years.

It should be noted tha t none of th ese great

cities, with the possible exception ofLondon, will have lost population over

the 30 year span. Mega -cities are still

growing, but in the developed world

they are part of the gen eral slowdown of

urban growth rates to a global rate of

about one-third of one percent per

year. The overall urbaniza tion rate in

Asia, in contrast, is four times that

and is reflected in the growth of its

mega-cities.

Source: U N, World U rbanizati on Prospects, 199 9

Source: UN , World U rbanization Pr ospects, 1999


7/2412

ub-Saharan Africas urban population will

approach 440 million, or 46 percent of its

projected total of 952 million, by 2020.3

Toda y, urba n a reas account for 34 percent of

the total population of 611 million and are

credited with 60 percent of the regions

G DP. Municipalities, however, capture only a small

percentage of GDP - US$14 per capita - in revenue,

creating disparity between the requirements for

municipal governance and available resources.

Definitions of urban and rural vary widely across

Africa. Many African countries use a popula tion fig-

ure of 2,000 to distinguish between rural and urban

settlemen ts. H owever, the figure varies from 100 in

U gan da to 20,000 in Nigeria and Mauritius. Almost

half th e countries in Africa use a numerical definition

to indicate the areas that qualify as urban.

The p attern of urba nization in West Africa differs

somewhat from that in East Africa. In ma ny West

African countries there are few secondary cities, so

the population is concentrat-

ed in o ne or a few large cities.

Population growth in East

Africa is more evenly distrib-

uted over secondary and ter-

tiary cities. But there, also,

primary cities are going

through a period of rapid

growth. By 2015, it is expect-

ed that one city in Sub-

Saharan Africa (Lagos) will

have a population of more

than 10 million inhabitants,

and 70 cities will have popu-lations of more than 1 mil-

lion. The most importa nt

contributor to urba nization in b oth West and Ea st

Africa was until recently migration from rural areas.

In Southern Africa natural population increase is

already the most importan t cause of urbanization.

Global economic processes have stalled in Sub-

Saha ran Africa with severe consequences for its urbanareas. Africa is the only region of the world without a

true newly industrializing economy. The failure to

industrialize can partly be explained by external fac-

tors, but a variety of domestic factors must also be

taken into account, including economic policies, the

effects of personal rule, historical legacy, the role of

the stat e an d low levels of literacy.

Structural adjustment, which created shortages of

imported materials, reduced investment, retrenched

the public sector and led to declining effective

demand , ha s badly affected urban-based ma nufactur-

ing. Large-scale man ufacturing, which created animpressive volume of jobs in Asia and Latin America,

has generated only a small number of employment

opportunities in urban Africa.

In many countries of Africa, states are pitted against

their cities, abetted by a pro-rural bias among most

aid agencies. As populat ion shifts toward urban

areas, parliaments become disproportionately

weight ed in favour of rural constituen cies. Where sys-

tems of governance are still centralized, this can

result in nationa l neglect of urban areas. This neglect

can translate into a failure to supply and maintain

essential infrastructure and services required by

urban populations and potential investors.

Noneth eless, there is forward movement. In recent

years, national governments across Africa are adopt-

ing decentralization as one of their primary strategies

for developmen t. Africa has also spawned an asso-

ciative sector built on local solidarity movements.

Many of these have been support ed by external aid in

developing and testing innovative bottom-up

approaches to service delivery in both rural and

urban a reas. To increase the involvement of disad-

vantaged groups in economic, social and political

decision making processes, countries in Africa have

revised constitutions and passed legislation that sup-ports the participation of excluded and disadvan-

taged groups, especially women.

Anti-urban bias amongaid agenciesSeveral international development agencies in

Africa still have no department specifically in

charge of urban development. In several agen-

cies, the ruralist lobby is so strong that urban

poverty is hardly recognized as such and urban

development has to walk in disguise behind the

imperatives of health, education, gender, family

planning, micro-enterprise promotion, environ-

ment . Aid organizations tend to ignore the

city as an engine of social and economic devel-

opment that can also contribute to sustainable

rural development.

A

FRICA

AWORLDOFCITIES

(Popu

lation

000's)

Africa Sub Sahara RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

URBANP

OPULAT

ION

TOTA

LPOP

ULATION

20202010200019901980

82,781(23.2%)

132,888(28.1%)

209,472(34.3%)

310,347(40.4%)

440,035(46.2%)

S

(Popu

lation

000's)

Ten Largest Cities - Africa RegionPopulation: 1980-2015

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Nairobi - Kenya

Johannesburg - South Africa

Dar Es Salam - Unit ed Republic of Tanzania

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Luanda - Angola

Cape Town - Sout h Africa

Maputo - Mozambique

Abidja n - Cte d'Ivoire

Kinshasa - DemocraticRepublic of the Congo

Lagos - Nigeria

20152010200019901980


Source: UN , World U rbanization Prospects, 1999


8/2413

he Arab States urban population is pro-

jected to be 260 million, or 66 percent of

its estimated total of 395 million, by

2020. Tod ay, urban area s account for 56

percent of the total population of 270

million. Municipalities capture about

U S$46 per capita in revenue per year.

The Arab States comprise a great diversity of socio-

economic and human settlement profiles and char-

acteristics: from least developed, th rough d evelopingto oil rich countries; conflict and post-conflict situa-

tions; from very open economies to economic isola-

tion; and highly urbanized to predominantly rural.

The regions considerable internal disparities are

reflected in the conditions in its cities and have

resulted in widely varying domestic needs and prior-

ities: rehabilitation and reconstruction (Iraq,

Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia); poverty alleviation

(Egypt, Jorda n, Syria, Morocco and Yemen); urban

mana gement and housing needs (Egypt, Jordan a nd

Algeria); an d capacity building (Gulf countries).

Rapid population growth remains a ma jor challenge.

Some countries have annual population growth rates

between 3 and 5.5 percent, while some urban g rowth

rates are even high er: 6.4 percent (Iraq ), 5.9 percent

(UAE), and 4.1 percent (Oman and Ba hrain). Urba n

growth rates will remain higher than total population

growth rates in the foreseeable future. In the

regions more diversified economies, urban growth

has been the result of rural-to-urban migration as

well as high fertility and declining rates of mortality.

In some countries, however, high rates of urbaniza-

tion have been stimulated by transnational migration

as well as by nat ural increase.

Urban population is greatest in the smaller states(Kuwait 97 percent, the Gaza Strip 95 percent, and

A

RA

B

S

TATES

Ba hrain and Qata r 92 percent). Saudi Arabia, one of

the largest Arab States, is 86 percent urban, and is

projected to rise to 89 percent urba n by 2010.

Egypt is 45 percent urban and Sudan 36 percent.

Both countries will remain among the regions least-

urbanized in the years to come.

Although rural populations have declined in most of

the regions countries during the 1990-2000 period

and will continue to do so during 2000-2010, six

countries need to deal not only with high urban

growth rates, but also with rapidly expanding rural

populat ions between now a nd 2010: Yemen 38.5 per-

cent, the G aza Strip 31.1 percent, Syria 13.7 percent,

Iraq 11.1 percent, Jordan 11.8 percent, and Egypt

9.9 percent.

Thus, several Arab States need to prepare for both

urban and rural growth. U rban ag glomerations such

as the Amman-Zarqa urban corridor, Jordan, in

which most of the countrys industrial activity and

social and educational facilities are concentrated,

serve as major pulling forces for rural-to-urban

migration. Likewise, Dam ascus, Cairo and

Alexandria can also expect further strong rural-to-

urban migration. Many cities are now going through

a critical phase of development, marked by dwin-

dling resources, increasing poverty, and serious envi-

ronmental degradation.

AWORLDOFCITIES

(Popu

lation0

00's)

Arab States RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

URBA

NPOP

ULATION

TOTA

LPOP

ULATION

20202010200019901980

259,963

(65.8%)

204,446(61.4%)

152,382(56.4%)

109,529(51.2%)

71,475(44.9%)

T

The regions considerable internal dispari-

ties are reflected in the conditions in its

cities and have resulted in widely varying

domestic needs and priorities

(Popu

lation

000's)

Ten Largest Cities - Arab States RegionPopulation: 1980-2015

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

Beirut - Lebanon

Aleppo - Syrian Arab Republic

Damascus - Syrian Ar ab Republic

Arbil - Iraq

Khartoum - Sudan

Riyadh - Saudi Ara bia

Casablanca - Morocco

Alexandria - Egypt

Baghdad - Iraq

Cairo - Egypt

20152010200019901980

Source: U N, Worl d Ur banization Prospects, 1999

Source: U N, World U rbanization Pr ospects, 1999


9/2414

he urban population in the Asia and

Pacific region is expected to be 1,970 mil-

lion, or 46 percent of its projected tota l of

4,298 million , by 2020. By 2025 the

majority of the regions population will

live in urban areas. Urba n areas today

account for 35 percent of the total population of

3,515 million. On averag e, municipalities secure

about U S$153 per capita in revenue per year.

In recent years, the Asia and the Pacific region has

been known for extremely high rates of industrializa-

tion, linked to increased international and regional

trad e. An average urban growth rate of about 2.7

percent per year is nearly 27 percent greater tha n the

global a verage (2.11 percent), and th e absolute num-

ber of urban residents is nearly triple that in the

highly industrialized countries. Both China (2.47)

and India (2.84) are close to the regional average

rate of urban growth in the past five years.

Southeastern Asia has the highest urban growth in

the region at 3.57 percent, followed by Southcentral

Asia at 2.97 percent. Eastern Asia and O ceania ha ve

the lowest urban growth rates at 2.02 percent 1.21

percent, respectively.

Amidst this aggregate increase, urban growth in sev-

eral Asian countries was, at times, negative. These

countries, where national population policies have

often been applied ruthlessly, include Sri Lanka

(1975-1985), Cambodia (1970-1975), East Timor

(the last 40 years), Vietnam (1990-1995) and the

Ma ldives (1990-1995).

Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific raises red flags,

particularly because an increasing number of poor is

living in urban areas. The size and urgency of the

problem requires different ways of managing cities

and their related infrastructure and service require-

ment s. Recently, ma cro-economic an d finan cial

crises have cast doubt on conventional concepts and

app roaches. Coun tries tha t had achieved well-func-

tioning cities in a steady process of improvement

over a period of twenty to thirty years have seen the

collapse of urban functions in the wake of the finan-

cial crises of the 1990s.

The economic contraction affected the lives of mil-

lions, agg ravatin g social vulnerabilities. It has had

many dimensions - falling incomes, rising absolute

poverty and malnutrition, declining public services,

threats to educational and health status, increased

pressure on women, and increased crime and vio-

lence. In Ea st and South east Asia, the social conse-

quences of the financial crisis continue to linger in

spite of recent indications of recovery. Its impact ha s

been felt m ore in cities, reflected in in creased p over-

ty brought about by cutbacks in both public and pri-

vate employment as well as in public expenditures

for health and education.

Yet, m any cities have been able to achieve significant

success, which can be built upon, scaled up and repli-

cated. The increased pace of urban ization and its

linkages to economic globalization have reinvigorat-

ed interest in the process of governance and its linksto economic growth.

In Asia and the Pacific, decentralization and local

autonomy are gaining more momentum and, with

this, the interest in building t he capa city of local gov-

ernm ent s is growing. While several Asian countr ies

have adopted decentralization policies, excessive

controls are still exercised by higher levels of govern-

ment on the functional, financial and administrative

responsibilities of local government . As a result,

there is a mismatch between the functional p owers of

local governments and the financial resources avail-

able to them.

A

SIA

A

N

DT

H

E

PA

CIFIC

AWORLDOFCITIES

(Popu

lation

000's)

Asia and Pacific RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

URBANPO

PULATION

TOTAL P

OPULAT

ION

20202010200019901980

657,481(25.9%)

943,431(31.0%)

1,229,835(35.0%)

1,572,425(40.0%)

1,970,010(45.8%)

T

urban growth rate of about 2.7 percent

per year is nearly 27 percent greater

than the global average

(Popu

lation

000's)

Ten Largest Cities - Asia & Pacific RegionPopulation: 1980-2015

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Metro Manila - Philippines

Osaka - Japan

Jakarta - Indonesia

Delhi - India

Karachi - Pakista n

Dhaka - Bangladesh

Shanghai - China

Calcutta - India

Bombay - India

Tokyo - Japan

20152010200019901980


Source: UN , World U rbanization Prospects, 199 9


10/2415

he urban population in the Highly

Industrialized Countries (HIC) is project-

ed to be 547 million, or 84 percent of its

total population of 649 million, by 2020.

Toda y, urba n a reas account for 80 percent

of the total population of 597 million. On

average, municipalities receive about US$2,906 per

capita in revenue per year.

In most highly industrialized countries, the urban

tran sformation has near ly stabilized. Therefore,

cities no longer deal with the effects of rapid urban-

ization, but rather with a combination of other demo-

graphic issues and the impacts of global trends:

increasing internationalization of metropolitan

regions; chan ges in the d istribution of responsibilities

between the public and the private sectors; a general-ly stronger role for a few major cities within each

country; ageing populations and the related prob-

lems of access to health care and pensions; interna-

tional migration; and the highly detrimental impacts

of social and economic polarization. In several indus-

trialized countries these trends are compounded by

the mo vement of jobs to newly industrializing regions

and by rising urban poverty among vulnerable

groups, further fuelling polarization trends.

In nearly all industrial countries, rural populations

are still decreasing; a trend expected t o continue over

the coming decades. In the past half-century, cities

have changed from fairly concentrated and identifi-

able entities into amorphous areas, sprawling into

their hinterlands without visible borders between

town and country. The autom obile may be the facili-

tator, but causes of this dispersal include consump-

tion-driven capitalism, the desire for more modern

and spacious housing in open landscapes, the archi-

tectural and planning ideals of modernists and the

developers preference for cheap greenfield sites.

Currently, half the urban population of Europe lives

in small towns of 10-50,000 people, a quarter in

medium sized towns and cities of 50-250,000, and a

quarter in cities with more than 250,000 people.4

Projections for 2020 do not indicate much change in

the pattern of population distribution over city-size

classes. In 2020, there will be five urban a gglom era-

tions larger than 5 million inhabitants in Europe:

Par is, Moscow, Lon do n, Essen/Ruhrgebiet an d St.

Petersburg. In Nort h America, cities of more than 5

million will be New York, Los Angeles and Ch icago.

For the past two decades, the industrialized countries

committed themselves to economic policies aimed at

encouraging macroeconomic stabilization, structural

adjustment and the globalization of production anddistribution. Although t hese policies have in general

been effective in promoting short-term economic

growth, low inflation, and lower current-account

imbalances, negative longer-term societal implica-

tions are now emerging as major political and socio-

economic dilemma s. G rowing political disenchant-

ment arising from widening income gaps, declining

political participation, and wide-spread social exclu-

sion is manifesting itself in cities across North

America and Europe alike. Social exclusion, urban

segregation and violence have become phenomena

common to man y cities and, in the U nited States, the

National League of Cities says racial tension is the

number one issue facing cities.5

West European an d N orth American cities are

wealthy with generally well-educated populations. In

1998, the industrialized countries were among those

with the highest GD P per capita - more than three

times the world average. Noneth eless, persistent

pockets of destitution continue to exist in cities

throughout the entire region and poverty certainly

has not yet been overcome. Around 17 percent of all

urban households in the highly industrialized coun-

tries are income poor. But access of women to

employment, literacy rates and school enrolmenthave a ll increased in Western Europe an d N orth

America.

AWORLDOFCITIES

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

URBAN

POPULA

TION

TOTAL

POPUL

ATION

20202010200019901980

(Popu

lation

000's)

Highly Industrialized RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

404,725(77.7%)

439,695(78.9%)

480,089(80.4%)

513,769(82.2%)

547,476(84.3%)

T(Popu

lation

000's)

Ten Largest Cities - Highly IndustrializedRegion Population: 1980-2015

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

Milan - Italy

Philadelphia - United States of America

Toronto - Canad a

Essen - Germa ny

Chicago - United States of Ameri ca

London - United Kingdom

Istanbu l - Turkey

Paris - France

Los Angeles - United Stat es of America

New York - Unit ed States of America

20152010200019901980

H

IG

H

LY

IN

DU

STRIA

LIZED

Source: UN , World U rbanization Prospects, 1999



11/2416

atin America and the Caribbean is the

most urbanized region in the developing

world. In 1930, Latin America had just

over 100 million inhabitants. Now, its

populat ion stan ds at 519 million. With

75 percent, or 391 million, of its people

living in cities, it h as an urban/rural ra tio similar to

tha t of the highly industrialized countries. The pro-

portion of urban population is particularly high in

Argen tina (89.8%), the B ah am as (88.5%), U rug uay

(91.3%) an d Venezuela (86.9 %). Moreo ver, urban

agglomerations of Buenos Aires, So Paulo, Rio de

Janeiro, Mexico City and Lima are already among

the 30 largest in the world. The urban population

in the Latin America and Caribbean region will

approach 539 million, or 81 percent of its projected

tota l population of 665 million, by 2020. On a ver-

age, municipalities capture about US$87 per capita

in revenue per year.

Urbanization patterns in the region, with Brazil

being a notable exception, typically involve a single

very large city per country. For example, the Lima

metropolitan area has over 7.4 million inhabitants -

almost 30 percent of Perus total population. The

second largest city, Arequipa, has fewer than 700,000

inhabitants.

In recent years, a more broadened urban hierarchy

has developed in the region with a host of fast grow-

ing intermediate cities because of the penetration of

global economy to new levels and t he increasingly

specialized functions that smaller cities are perform-

ing. The region now has 51 cities with more than

one million inhabitants - 14 of these are in Brazil

alone. The growth of these intermediate cities has a

dampening effect on the number of mega-cities.

Nonetheless, secondary cities have not necessarily

gained enough political power or improved govern-

ment services despite their growth. They still tend t o

lack the economic diversity, urban services, and the

cultural life that the regions prima te cities offer.

Despite general economic growth, deep inequalities

persist in most countries of the region. Much pover-

ty is concentrated in the urban areas, and a massive

40 percent of the population of Mexico City and a

third of So Paulos population is at or below the

poverty line. These poor urban dwellers mostly live

in substandard housing within informal settlements

and with limited or no a ccess to ba sic services. Man y

of the regions urban residents have to deal with a

host of societal shortfalls: insecurity of tenure; ina de-

quate access to affordable transportation; environ-

mental degradation; high levels of violence; andincreasing social and spatial segrega tion. Poverty is

often the result of social position, depending on eco-

nomic class, ag e, ethnicity or gen der. As the num ber

of poor people in th e region rose from 44 to 220 mil-

lion between 1970 and 2000, so did the number of

women in poverty. More than one-third of the poor-

est households are headed by women.

LATIN

AM

ERICA

AND

THE

CAR

IBBEAN

AWORLDOFCITIES

(Popu

lation

000's)

Latin America and the Caribbean RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

URBA

NPOP

ULATION

TOTA

LPOP

ULATI

ON

20202010200019901980

234,634(64.9%)

312,714(71.0%)

390,921(75.3%)

467,431(78.5%)

539,100

(81.0%)

In 1930, Latin America had just

over 100 million inhabitants.

Now, its population stands at

519 millionL

(Popu

lation

000's)

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Porto Alegre - Brazil

Guadalajara - Mexico

Belo Horizont e - Brazil

Santiago - Chile

Bogot- Colom bia

Lima - Peru

Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Buenos Aires - Argent ina

So Pau lo - Brazi l

Mexico City - Mexico

20152010200019901980

Ten Largest Cities - Latin American RegionPopulation: 1980-2015




12/2417

he urban population in the countries with

economies in tra nsition (ET) will app roach

420 million, or 78 percent of its projected

total population of 541 million, by 2020.

Toda y, urba n a reas account for 70 percent,

or 382 million of the total population of

543 million. The urban share of total populat ion

ranges from 40 percent in most of the central Asian

republics to nearly 75 percent in Russia, about the

same as the HI C and Latin American countries. Of

the central Asian republics that were part of the for-

mer Soviet Union, four - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,

Tajikistan a nd Turkmen istan - recorded n ega tive

urban g rowth rates between 1990 and 1995. The

aggregate urban populations in the first and last of

these countries is still decreasing. On averag e,

municipalities of the ET countries capture about

U S$275 per capita in revenue per year.

It is primarily the former centrally planned

economies of Eastern and Central Europe, plus the

CIS countries, that have become known as economies

in transition. Some of these were amo ng the first

industrialized urban societies in the world but in

recent decades have failed to modernize their cities.

The enormity of the task of their transforming to

market economies and upgrading their cities is now

man ifesting itself to a full extent. At present, there

are very few ETs whose tran sition is complet e.

Although the transition from centralized to free mar-

ket economies ha s delivered considerable social ben-

efits, it ha s also proven a costly process. Tran sition

started with general impoverishment in 1996, real

wage levels in ma ny ETs had fallen to half or less

compared to 1989. Next came rises in unemploy-

ment, followed by sharp increases in poverty and

inequality, a striking deterioration of public services

and a fall in the provision of educational services.

The elderly often sentenced to poverty - became

major losers in the tra nsition process, as well as manymidd le-aged people, since retirement was widely used

to reduce unemployment . H alf the regions poor cit-

izens live in cities.

There are, indeed, sharp differences among the vari-

ous countries with economies in tra nsition, not ably in

criminality, corruption an d democracy. Some, partic-

ularly in Central Europe, have clearly started to

ad just to the m arket economy promoted by the West.

But, although the laissez-faire model was assumed by

many experts to be the solution, experience during

the past decade indicates that this does not necessar-

ily hold true for all. The informa l sector in a number

of countries will play an increasing role, as a conse-

quence of growth in the labour force without a mat ch-ing response in the level of formal employment

opportunities.

In several of the regions countries, newly enfran-

chised city governments often have neither the expe-

rience nor the capacity to deal with the huge defi-

ciencies built up over the years. In spite of quant ita-

tive transfer of tasks to local autho rities, dema nd s fre-

quently overshadow administrative and financial

capacities. It is, therefore, importa nt to strengthen

both the institutional and financial bases of local

auth orities to enable them to part icipate effectively in

the development process. Local government income

figures suggest that decentralization has not been

achieved since the national government transfers are

still very high. There are, however, capacity building

programmes ongoing in such countries as Poland and

Romania, a nd, in the Balkans, cities are undergoing

not o nly reconstruction but re-invention.

Sustainable urban development in ET countries will

depend upon the creation and maintenance of effi-

cient land and property markets; the development of

housing finance; a greater emphasis on municipal

finance and institution building; the strengthening of

urban utility systems; a growing int erest in th e preser-

vation of cultural assets and heritage; and the respon-siveness to such emergencies as earthquakes and

flooding.6

AWORLDOFCITIES

(Popu

lation

000's)

Transition RegionPopulation: 1980-2020

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

URBAN

POPULA

TION

TOTALPOPULATION

20202010200019901980

305,977(61.3%)

354,035(66.3%)

382,296(70.5%)

404,534(74.2%)

419,690(77.5%)

T

www.undp.org/hdro/www.worldbank.org/wdr/

(Popu

lation

000's) Ten Largest Cities - Transition Region

Population: 1980-2015

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Minsk - Belarus

Budapest - Hungary

Baku - Azerbaijan

Bucharest - Roman ia

Tashkent - Uzbekista n

Warsaw - Poland

Kiev - Ukraine

Katowi ce - Poland

Saint Petersburg - Russian Federati on

Moscow - Russian Federatio n

20152010200019901980

ECO

N

O

M

IE

S

IN

TRA

NS

ITIO

N

Source:U

N,

Wor

ldUrban

izat

ion

Prospec

ts,

1999



13/24


14/2419

Another hazardJust as it is becoming clear that poverty reduction demands more effective local response and more supportive en-

abling policies at th e nationa l level, the urban poor fa ce addition al risk. In th e 1970s, the world emba rked on a p hase

of globalization aimed at deregulating labour markets, privatizing government functions and liberalizing finance.

Finan cial liberalization was supposed to move savings from d eveloped to d eveloping countries, lower the costs of bor-

rowing, reduce risk through n ew finan cial instruments, an d increase economic growth. Much the opposite material-

ized: savings have flowed from poor to richer countries, interest rates have generally increased, risk has risen and

economic growth throughout the world has slowed for the vast majority of countries, rich and poor.2

With global liberalization, job and income security worsened in both rich an d poor countr ies. Com petition for for-

eign investment and the greater ability of employers to shift production to other locations have undermined job se-

curity and collective bargaining . Mergers and acquisitions, now the most prevalent form of foreign domestic

investment (FDI) in developing countries, have commonly produced corporate restructuring and massive layoffs.

Then, in 1997-1998, the economic crisis in Asia struck a blow against economies in the developing world that had

been held up as mo dels of liberalized success. The crisis was caused in p art by poorly regulated financial systems that

allowed an excessive flow of credit to weak borrowers and to high risk projects.3 Banks were weakened by growing

levels of unreported n on-performing d ebt. In m id-1997, market confidence collapsed.

In one country after another, starting in Thailand a nd spreading to Malaysia, Ind onesia, th e Philippines and the Re-

public of Korea, th e Asian crises exposed th e risks inherent to close integration of na tiona l economies with th e global

financial ma rkets. H uman impacts were severe and will persist long a fter economic recovery.

In the two decades prior to the crises, East and Southeast Asian countries made spectacular welfare gains, primarilybecause growth was largely inclusive - the poor shared the benefits. The numb er of poor people ha d fa llen and the

severity of poverty had declined. Life expectan cy at birth, infa nt mort ality, and literacy all improved. The economic

crisis in Asia caused th e biggest setback for poverty reduction in several d ecades. It caused lay-offs, real wage declines,

weak demand for new labor market entrants, and falling margins in the informal sector.

In Thailand , unemployment increased by 50 percent. In th e Republic of Korea, unemployment reached t wo million

people during 1998, up from one-ha lf million the year before. In th e Philippines, one million addition al people

joined the r anks of th e jobless.

Job losses hit women, youth a nd unskilled workers hard est. Families under stress were taking children out o f school.

Increasing d omestic violence, street crime a nd suicides were reported in m ost of th e countries as a result of increased

social stress and fa mily fragm entat ion. More people live in poverty toda y in Asia than in the m id-1990s.

Lessons in governanceIn Asia, cities became the locus of bad debt generated in large part by a vast over-

supply of middle and upper-class housing estates, condominiums, hotels and office

towers. The Asia crisis revealed the destru ctive side of glob aliza tion . The prospect of

global markets fueled the desire of many entrepreneurs and some government offi-

cials to cash in quickly. It increased the oppor tunities for crony capitalism and cor-

ruption. Expecting a rising tide to float all ships, it diverted att ention from the basic

needs of those who are normally excluded or could not participate.

As the Asian crisis and those that occurred in Mexico, Brazil and Russia have demon-

strated, a ll urban commun ities, not o nly the poor - who are always at greatest risk - are

vulnerable to malfunctions of global economic system. It is only a ma tter of time be-

fore another systemic shock shakes investor confidence and capital abandons even

stronger economies. At th is moment, r ising oil prices, falling stock prices and a series

of global food supply problems are causing politicians an d investors no small concern.

Local auth orities, who know the micro-realities of poverty an d a re on th e front line in

respond ing t o all social, economic and environmental crises, urgently require different

and more effective tools for securing the lives of their citizens and ensuring that the

urban poor have some protection against global market hazards.

The silver lining is that the increased pace of urbanization and its linkages to eco-

nomic globalization have reinvigorated interest in good urban governance and its

links to economic growth. The combined effect of economic foibles and failures is

helping to define the fundamentals of good governance, made conspicuous by their

absence: fiscal discipline, fair and tran sparent resource allocation, effective and p re-

dictable regulatory systems, fiduciary responsibility, strategic planning, independent

and just mecha nisms for conflict resolution, p articipator y decision-making , safety andsecurity for all, open information flows and ethical behaviour.

Hobbling local governmentIn t he name of a g lobal economy, international

institutions are taking steps to liberate ma rkets

from the regulatory authority of nations and

their autonomous subdivisions - the provinces

and cities. That aut hority can be pre-empted

by such instruments as the proposed Multilat-

eral Agreement on Investment (MAI), which

was read by many local authorities as re-

stricting their abilities to: (1) condition new

major investments within their jurisdictions onperformance requirements in support of local

economic development; (2) prohibit contracts

with entities that violate international human

rights, labour and environmental laws; and (3)

prohibit public entities from conditioning the

receipt of public funds on compliance with

human rights laws or other criteria reflecting

community values. Local Ca nad ian and

U nited Sta tes officials noticed tha t the MAI put

in question the ability of municipalities, acting

in the public interest, to limit the use of prop-

erty through zoning, among other instru-

ment s. An intern ation al coalition, using

Internet to organize opposition, scuttled the

MAI.

www.tradewatch

.org/otherissues/MAI/

www.w

towatch.org/

www.socialwatch.orb/2000/

www.id21.org/insights26/

www.unchs.org/(HabitatDebate,December2000)

www.apsanet.or

g/PS/dec99/waltz.cfm

www.

epinet.org/


15/24

A Tale of

20

he urban poor have seen globalization be-fore, whether in the name of Civilization,

Empire, Industrialization or Moderniza-

tion: all terms used to describe the web of

international forces - in finance, trade, mi-

gration, governance and culture - that have

shaped na tional and global history.

On e hund red an d seventy years ago, such forces were

at work in Victorian England, the first industrialized

society on earth. Through out the 19th century, Eng -

lands expansion of national wealth and consumer

purchasing power continuously outpaced the rise in

population, so there was much to be said for indus-

trialization. The promise of employment in the fast-

growing cities ensured that rural-to-urban migration

rapidly transformed England into an urban society.

However, the contrast of living conditions between

rich an d poor in the city remained glaring.

Eventually, politicians and reformers realized thatsomething had to be done about the growing

human and environmental tragedy, whether by reg-

ulating the price of bread, for example, or offering

poverty relief backed up by punitive forms of social

regulation. It took decades for the institutions of

government to temper the Industrial Revolution

with social justice, often only in response to the

threat p osed by rad ical political movements such a s

The Chartists (1837 1848) or the public outcry

caused by writers such as Kingsley, Mayhew and

Dickens.

Even though the cost to those who lived in th e over-

crowded cities was inhumanly high, within a few

decades the d omestic benefits of the Ind ustrial Rev-

olution were indisputable: reduced cost of bread,

meat, coffee, tea and coal; an 80 percent reduction

in the cost of cloth; factory working hours reduced

from 74 to 60 hours per week for adults

and from 72 to 40 hours for children; five

years added to the average life span;

criminal law reformed and per capita

taxes reduced by fifty percent. On e can

see how difficult it must have been to

convince those with power and wealth,

the main architects and beneficiaries of19

th century globalization, that swifter

prog ress toward social justice was need ed.

British slums in the 1850sThen, as now, these slums existed in part because they

were profitable for land lords. A lodgin g house of eight

rooms might take on a hundred boarders, each paying a

shilling or two a week to live in hugger-mugger promis-

cuity, sleeping with as many as twenty members of thesame or opposite sex in the same room.

Mi chael Crichton, T he Great Trai n Robbery

Dickenss London

Cities

A Tale Of2

One of the notoriously

over-crowded slum areas

of London. Sheets dr y ona makeshi ft pole poked

from the window of a

lodging house and a

woman emerges from a

cell ar. Cellar dwell ings

were il legal at thi s time. T


16/24

RiissNew York

21

American

slums in the 1890s

As a result of this laissez-faire

philosophy of private enterprise,

of the weak municipal authori-

ties of the n ew state-centered po-

litical system, an d of th e political

tenets and antiurban biases of

the ag raria n philosophy, some of

the worst housing and living

conditions experienced by

modern man were created in

America during the coming half

century .On the congested

streets of the city - frequently of

mud and often strewn with

garbage - the contrast between

the personal wealth of the few

and the abject poverty of the

many was startling.

I nternati onal City Managers Associati on,

The Practice of L ocal Government Plann ing

In the latter half of the

19 th century, New

York, the main

gateway to the New

World , grew to be-

come the largest city on

earth. Many immigrants

arrived from th e crowded

slums of Europe and set-

tled in conditions just as

bad or worse than those

they had left. The ra il-road flats, 5 to 7 storey

versions of the London

slum, were a standard so-

lution to unprecedented

demand for city space.

Parked together like

crates in a warehouse,

these elongated walk-up

flats had no side win-

dows, water supply or

sanitary facilities. A small rear yard conta ined a commun al latrine, and some-

times a well, creating appalling public health conditions.The second ha lf of the 19

thcentury, often called th e G ilded Age , nevertheless

witnessed th e failure of American g overnance to provide any relief to th e poor,

urban or rura l. Ind ustrial growth seemed like an unlimited blessing - but the

depression of 1893 and other events began to change all that. 1

The willingness of industrialists - heroes of virtue, hard work and success - to

fire workers, shut down plants and use violent means to suppress strikes, tar-

nished their reputation.2 Then, the eyes of the other half were opened to the

filth, disease and squalor of Americas slums through the ph otogra phs and writ-

ings of journalists such as Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens - the latter, for ex-

ample, writing a series of influential articles on corruption in six major

American cities for McClures Magazine in 1902 and 1903. 3

Such popular accounts of the living conditions of the poor awakened a society

that had hitherto believed th at m ost social problems emana ted from the moral

defects of the people them selves - par ticularly immigra nts. Out of th is flood of

exposs came a series of reforms, including the founding of the National Mu-

nicipal League in 1894 as a citizens campaign for the reform of the state and

local government.

In 1909, legislation was passed giving municipalities the right to engage in city

planning. Among man y other local, state and national reforms of the Progres-

sive Era were housing codes and zoning to regulate construction; civil service

legislation that curtailed patronage; protection for women; development of fire

codes; laws setting reserve requirements of banks; licensing laws for profes-

sionals; laws regulating disposal of sewage and garbage as well as food pro-

cessing in restaurants; and laws regulating hours and working conditions of

women and children.Thus two different countries - and cities - responded to the harsher effects of

globalization: through public awareness, and democratic reform.

Five Cents a Spot, Lodgers in a Bayard Street Tenement

Photograph

1889 M useum of the City of New YorkJacob A. Ri is Coll ection # 155

Two Cities


17/24

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

(Popu

lation000's)

TOKYO

2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

985

1

98

0

1

975

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

955

1

95

0

6,9

20

26,4

44

MUMBAI

2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

985

1

980

1

97

5

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

95

5

1

95

0

(Popu

lation000's)

2,9

01

26,1

38

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

MEXICOCITY2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

985

1

980

1

97

5

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

95

5

1

95

0

(Popu

latio

n000's)

2,8

85

19,1

80

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

SOPAULO2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

985

1

98

0

1

97

5

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

955

1

95

0

(Popu

lation000's)

2,4

23

20,3

97

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

NEWYORK2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

985

1

98

0

1

975

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

955

1

95

0

(Popu

lation000's)

12

,339

17,4

32

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

2

01

5

2

01

0

2

005

2

000

1

995

1

990

1

98

5

1

98

0

1

97

5

1

97

0

1

965

1

960

1

95

5

1

95

0

(Popu

lation000's)

LAGOS288

23,1

73

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

NUMBER OF AGGLOMERATIONS OF

MORE THAN 1MILLION PER REGION, 2000

0

50

100

150

200

250

Polynesia

Micronesia

A

ustralia/New

Zealand

Ocean

ia

NorthernAmerica

Middle

Africa

WesternAfr

ica

SouthernAfr

ica

NorthernAfr

ica

EasternAfr

ica

Africa

Caribbean

CentralAmerica

South

America

La

tinAmericaandtheCaribbean

NorthernEur

ope

SouthernEur

ope

WesternEur

ope

EasternEur

ope

Europe

South-

easternAsi

a

WesternAsi

a

South-centralAsia

EasternAsi

a

As

ia

Popu

lation

(inm

illions)

206

109

61

2115

64

2620

117

51

33

135

43

129 8 8 6

41

6 60 0 0

Toronto

So Paulo

Santiago

RiodeJaneiro

PortoAlegre

Philadelphia

NewYork

MexicoCit y

LosAngeles

Lima

Guadalajara

Chicago

BuenosAires

Bogot

BeloHorizonte

4,651

17,755

5,538

10,582

3,708

4,402

16,640

18,131

13,140

7,443

3,908

6,951

12,560

6,288

4,170

THESIXWORLD'SLARGESTCITIES

A WORLD OF CITIESTHE WORLDS LARGEST CITIES


18/24

1000

500

250

100

50

25

5

1

Populat ion Density(persons/km2)

2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

Fewerthan

500,0

00

500,0

00

to1million

1to5

million

5to10

million

10million

ormore

(%)

9.8%6

.

5%

26.3%

9.8%

47.6%

Fewerthan

500,0

00

500,0

00

to1million

1to5

million

5to10

million

10million

ormore

9.

2%

6.1%

26.7%

10.1%

47.9%

2000

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

Fewerthan

500,0

00

500,0

00

to1million

1to5

million

5to10

million

10million

ormore

4.4%8

.

2%

21.2%

11.4%

54.8%1975

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

(%)

Source: World Popula tion Prospects: The 1999 Revision, Unit ed Nations Populat ion Division

THE TEN LARGEST CITIES IN EACH REGION, 2000 (in 000's)

THE WORLD'S URBAN POPULATION, BYCITY SIZETHE WORLD'S URBAN POPULATION, BYCITY SIZE

TokyoTashkent

Shanghai

Saint Petersburg

Riyadh

Paris

Osaka

Nairobi

MoscowMinsk

Milan

MetroManila

Maputo

Luanda

London

Lagos

Kinshasa

Kiev

Khartoum

Kat owice

Karachi

Johannesburg

Jakarta

Istanbul

Essen

DhakaDelhi

DarEsSalam

Damascus

Casablanca

CapeTown

Calcutta

Cairo

Budapest

Bucharest

Bombay

Beirut

Baku

Baghdad

ArbilAlexandri a

Aleppo

AddisAbaba

Abidjan

26,4442,148

12,887

5,133

3,324

9,624

11,013

2,310

9,3211,772

Warsaw2,269

4,251

10,870

3,025

2,677

7,640

13,427

5,064

2,670

2,731

3,487

11,794

2,335

11,018

9,451

6,541

12,31711,695

2,347

2,335

3,541

2,993

12,918

10,552

1,825

2,054

18,066

2,055

1,936

4,797

2,3694,113

2,173

2,639

3,305


19/24

20002000

19501950

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

UrbanPopulationas%ofWorld'stotal,1998

OECD

EastAsia

SouthA

sia

LAC

EasternE

urope

andt

heC

IS

Sub

-SaharanA

frica

Sout-EastAsia

andt

heP

acific

Arab

States

percen

tage(%)

5%7% 7%

10%

14%15%

17%

31%

Source: UNDPHuman Development Report2000

A WORLD OF CITIESTHE WORLDS URBANIZED AREAS


20/24

0 - 10

10 -20

20 -30

30 -40

40 -50

50 -60

60 -70

70 -80

80 -90

90 - 100

% of urbanpopulation,by country

URBANIZATION RATESURBANIZATION RATESSource: World Popula tion Prospects: The 1999 Revision, Unit ed Nations Populat ion Division

20302030


21/24


22/24

Source:W

orl

dPopu

lation

Prospec

ts:T

he

1999Rev

ision,

Un

ited

Na

tions

Popu

lation

Division

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

3.9

7

2.6

7

0.3

4

2.1

1

1.1

1

1.2

6

6.00

(%)

Polynesia

Micronesia

Melanesia

Australia/NewZ

ealand

allOceania

NorthernAmerica

South

America

CentralAmerica

Carib

b

ean

allLatinAmerica&Caribbean

WesternEurope

SouthernEurope

NorthernEurope

EasternEurope

allEurope

WesternAsia

South

-easternAsia

South

-centralAsia

EasternAsia

allAsia

WesternAfrica

SouthernAfrica

NorthernAfrica

Middle

Africa

EasternAfrica

allAfrica

Urban populationgrowth ratesin countries,

byregion,1995-2000

6

Average annual rat eof change of theurban population (%)

Source: World Populat ion Prospects: The 1999 Revision, United Nations Population Division

URBANPOPULATIONGROWTHRATES, 1995-2000


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T H E S T A T E O F T H E W O R L D S C I T I E S 2 0 0 1

HOUSING

SECURITY OF TENURE

WOMENS PROPERTY RIGHTS

LAND

HOUSING FINANCE

BASIC SERVICES

TRANSPORT

his chapter looks at the conditions of

shelter throughout the world, and the

trends likely to determine whether

shanty towns become the prevailing icon

of urban life, or whether we shall indeed

see a world of cities without slums.

An enabling strategy

Around these issues, Habitat II broke new ground.Member States committed themselves to working

with local authorities, the private sector and with or-

ga nizations of civil society as genuine p artn ers in sus-

taina ble urban development. The essence of this

new consensus is an enabling strategy in which the

state no longer assumes the role of direct provider,

but creates a legislative and administrative environ-

ment in which shelter an d services can best be deliv-

ered by a wide range of actors.

This reappraisal coincides with two other global

trends:

the unprecedented rate of urbanization, particu-

larly in the developing world; and

the devolution and decentralization of power and

authority.

Within an en abling environment , the role of national

or local government moves from the direct delivery

of services to the creation of appropriate and effec-

tive mechanisms to facilitate delivery by the private

and community sectors, along with new standards of

accountability.

Human rights and sustainabledevelopment

A significant trend in the past decade has been thegrowing awareness of the relationship between

human rights and sustainable development. In the

field of shelter, this has led to a decline in human

rights a buses, such as ma ss forced evictions, an d con-

frontation is being replaced by negotiation an d par-

ticipation.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the most ur-

banized region of the developing world, organized

land invasions and mass evictions have declined

ma rkedly. As a result, energies ha ve been chan nelled

into negotiating security of tenure and the up-

grading of settlements, mainly through self-helpconstruction.

Elsewhere in the d eveloping world, th e experience is

mixed. Post-apa rtheid South Africa has one of the

clearest policies for preventing forced evictions,

whereas in some other Sub-Sahara African countries

arbitra ry and violent evictions still ha ppen. In south

Asia, there have been significant settlements in the

battles over shelter, but there are still instances of

forced evictions.

Women are taking the leadThe growing role of women offers one of the most

significant policy opportunities in this field, not only

as a matter of political equity but as a key imperative

for development. Women have demon strated their

contribution through the m anag ement of credit pro-

grammes, as well as by assuming positions of urban

leadership. The Habitat Agenda has helped increase

awareness of the tenure rights of women, and of their

role in the management of community services.

Water, land, finance andsecure tenureRising water demand and water scarcity are rapidly

becoming a major challenge, particularly in water-scarce regions like West Asia. The provision of water

typically highlights issues of access and cost re-

garding basic services, with the general rule being

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that the urban poor - unable to wield sufficient political power or develop alter-

native sources of supply - pay the highest prices, while suffering from inade-

quate provision in many parts of the world.

Two of the mo st importa nt comp onents of a sustaina ble shelter policy are land

and finan ce. Without a ssured access to either, the poo r will continue to find

their own - usually illega l and un health y - solutions. Action plann ing for infra -

structure, title registration a nd micro-credit schemes offer the poor m ore effec-

tive solutions, though in ma ny developing countries improved access to housing

finance is also needed even for mod erate-to-upper income g roups.

In all regions of the world, extending urban citizenship to the poor, through the

granting of secure tenure for example, is one of the most far-reaching decisions

that can be taken in promoting a sustainable shelter strategy.

Local delivery of servicesToda y, local auth orities are increasingly providing or m ana ging the m ost essen-

tial urban services. In La tin America and th e Caribbean , where 150 million

people do not have access to safe water and an estimated 250 million lack

proper sanitation, experience has shown that city-wide programmes of support

to low-income settlements can have considerable impact on daily living condi-

tions, an d th at decentralization has helped ensure the implementation of com-munity development programmes, especially the provision of water, sanitation

and other basic health measures.

Similar lessons emerge from Asia, though the trend towards decentralization is

not without pitfalls and has at times resulted in a mis-match between the finan-

cial resources and skills of local auth orities and their n ew responsibilities.

TeddyA.Su

yasa/TophamPicturepoint/UNEP

S q u a t te r s in se le c t e d c it ie s

Guayaquil Ecuador 49.00%

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia 48.40%

Monrovia Liberia 42.00%

Tacna Peru 30.00%

Mysore India 18.90%

Lima Peru 18.80%

Bangkok Thailand 17.90%

Phnom Penh Cambodia 16.40%

Jinja Uganda 16.00%

Pokhara Nepal 14.00%

Camaguey Cuba 10.30%

San Salvador El Salvador 9.50%

Cajamarca Peru 8.50%

Vientiane Lao 7.40%

Bishkek Kyrghyzstan 6.00%

Algiers Algeria 5.90%

Buenos Aires Argentina 5.70%

Cebu Philippines 5.00%

Vina del mar Chile 3.90%

Cienfuegos Cuba 3.30%

Belgrad Yugoslavia 2.30%

Valparaiso Chile 1.67%

Katowice Poland 1.50%

Kuwait Kuwait 0.80%

Ljubljana Slovenia 0.10%

Yerevan Armenia 0.04%

Gdansk Poland 0 02%

City Country% of house-holds living as

squatters

some regional variations In highly industrialized countries, demographic

trends - including smaller families and an age-

ing population - are increasing the demand for

smaller housing units closer to social servicesand amenities.

Falling birth rates are expected to lead to a

gradual decrease in the urbanization rate in

many developing countries.

In most European countries the conservation,

renovation and modernization of existing stock

is a higher priority than the provision of new

housing.

In Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of

Independent States (CIS), where the quality of

old d wellings is generally inferior to th e housing

stock in Western Europe, m odern ization of

existing stock is a key requirement.

In Turkey, as well as the Russian Federation and

the Central Asian republics, overall demand for

new housing stock remains high.

In the United States, a strong economy has

pushed the price of housing in many cities out

of reach not just for the poor, but for young

midd le class families also.www.urbanobservatory.org

2001 a World of Cities

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