Sustainable And Inclusive Urbanization In Asia Pacific:
Introduction:
Urbanization in Asia Pacific is proceeding at a scale and speed unprecedented in human history. It took Latin America over 210 years for urbanization rates to rise from 10% to 50%. In Asia and the Pacific it will take 95 years. For some countries in the region it will be less than 60 years5 . While the growth of cities in Asia Pacific has been driven by and underpins economic growth, this continued rapid urban growth is creating many challenges – especially how to improve the quality of life in cities as they accommodate an additional 1.3 billion people projected to be living in the region’s cities by 2050.
The future prospects for cities in Asia Pacific will be determined by the management of three closely interrelated aspects of their sustainability:
(i) economic sustainability – the ability of cities to attract profitable businesses and grow as centers of production – to attract investment, create jobs, facilitate efficient communications and linkages, and enable continuing improvements in productivity and standards of living
(ii) environmental sustainability – the ability of cities to provide resilient habitat – shelter, safe water, air quality, waste management, energy efficiencies, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures – necessary for healthy, productive, satisfying lives for their citizens now and into the future
(iii) social sustainability – the ability of cities to provide a safe, vibrant community where the opportunities and benefits of economic growth are equitably shared, broad community views are incorporated in decision-making, community leaders are accountable, laws are applied impartially and which is inclusive of women, marginalized, vulnerable and diverse ethnic and religious groups. Cities must create opportunities and vertically bridge different sectors of the population, enabling individuals and groups to interact, thereby strengthening social cohesion.
Analysis Of Urbanization And Urban Development Challenges:
A key factor in focusing attention on cities has been their role in the social and economic transformation of the Asia Pacific region. A result has been a blossoming of research on urbanization and development over the past fifteen years and the development of more sophisticated strategies for urban development by national governments and multilateral institutions. The most recent comprehensive reports and information encompassing the Asia Pacific region are:
• “The State of Asian Cities 2010/11
• “The State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013: Prosperity of Cities”
• “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision”
• “Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century”
• “The State of Pacific Towns and Cities: Urbanization in ADB’s Pacific Developing Member Countries”
• “The World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography”
• “Planning, Connecting, and Financing Cities—Now; Priorities for City Leaders”
Overcoming The Challenges Of Urbanization:
Meeting the challenges of urbanization is a daunting task for governments. The stakes are also very high since, as is illustrated in the previous section, the growth of cities in the region is driven by and underpins economic growth. Successfully managing city growth is therefore central to improving development outcomes. Many local governments in the region, faced with limited resources, capacity, and capabilities, simply muddle through the management of it as best they can.
Conceptualize The Challenges Of Urbanization:
The challenges of urbanization across countries in the region occur at enormously different scales, scope, geography and levels of impact. The biggest challenge, as is illustrated below, is that its causes and effects are multi-dimensional. The core problem is that the management of urban systems in all their dimensions is failing to deliver sustainable development outcomes for cities.
Issues Of Urban Governance:
Urban governance is defined “as the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, plan and manage the common affairs of cities. It is a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative actions can be taken. It includes formal institutions as well as informal arrangements and the social capital of citizens”. Many of the ideas and approaches to urban governance are shaped by beliefs, paradigms and practices, much of which is enshrined in public policy documents. These ideologies, beliefs etc. have a key role in shaping the physical form, management and development of cities.
Changing the Anti-urbanization Policies of Governments:
Many governments in the region still have strong anti urbanization policies. For example, several South Asian countries have only recently embraced the positive benefits of urbanization. Urbanization is often seen by policymakers as a problem rather than the solution to the development of a country.
Responding To The Opportunities And Challenges Of Rapid Urbanization:
While cities now occupy center stage in Asia’s economic growth and development, the opportunities and challenges posed by rapid urbanization are not yet reflected in most national policies and plans114, or in the development priorities or strategies of UNDP. This was born out by feedback from UNDP’s country offices that uniformly welcomed this initiative for UNDP to possibly re-engage in urban activities under its four focus areas.
Conclusion:
While countries across the Asia Pacific region are obviously unique and very diverse in the scale and pace of their urbanization, the above-cited issues are broadly consistent with the analysis of urban development challenges outlined in the first part of this report. At the same time, as is described below, there are several good examples of UNDP initiatives at the country level that are responding to these challenges. However, with urban development priorities still missing or marginalized in most UNDAFs and UNDP country programs, it is clear that to assist governments to respond to the challenges and opportunities of rapid urbanization, UNDP does indeed require a more strategic approach.
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