[sustran] Re: Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium:

[Paul Barter]

The original of this message from Kisan Mehta was too long to get
through, so I have removed reduntant material (which was lengthy HTML
code in the messsage to which this was a reply) and now forwarding to
the list.
Paul

-----Original Message-----

Dear Sustran Colleagues and Eric,

Thank you Eric for taking interest, so instant, in our request=20 to you
to advise and help us in reaching out to the World Bank=20 on Mumbai
Urban Transport Project (MUTP) worked out by=20 Mumbai's transport
authorities and approved by Bank on 18=20 June 2002 by sanctioning a
loan of $ 850 million in the=20 estimated cost of Rs 60 billion (more
than $ 1,200 million-=20 figures are unsubstantiated as we do not know
the official=20 figures shown in the MUTP and amount Bank
sanctioned).=20

We were anxious to take the help of our Sustran friends however=20 could
not do so for reasons not anymore relevant at this juncture.=20 The MUTP
by any standards is a plan for promoting motorisation=20 in a city
having an average population density of 27,000 per sq=20 km (by far the
highest in the world) and against the highest road=20 fatality rate in
the world.  Pedestrians form 81% of all dead. =20 Public road and
railway transport provide 88% of total journeys=20 with motor cars
accounting for 7%.  The Bank has approved it.  =20

Auto exhaust form 75% of total emissions in tons. Some of the pollutants
= present in the air exceed national emission norms =20 that are set
much higher than levels acceptable for minimum=20 public health.
Incidence of cardio-vascular and cancer in=20 Mumbai is much higher than
national incidence.

Citizen groups prepared Community Transport Project for
Mumbai (CTPM),a sustainable alternative, including good=20
MUTP components finetunined to citizen needs, and=20
adding essential components badly required for improving=20
air quality and reducing accidents resulting in cutting down=20 commuter
hardship.=20

We must admit that our CPTM failed to reach the concerned=20 Sustran
members and the Bank before 18 June when the Bank approved the MUTP.

We vaguely know that the Bank policy provides for inviting =
suggestions/objections worldwide on approved projects within 30 days. We
have no specific info on this aspect at all. We are=20 frantically
looking for guidance and help on the procedure for making
representations, officer/department receiving objections,=20 email nos,
etc so that we do not fail again to promote community cause.  =  We urge
upon our members to guide us on highest=20 priority as there has to be a
timelimit for making representations and we do not wish to miss this
timelimit on a project that will=20 continue impacting for another 20
years and increase per capita=20 public debt of Rs 5,000 (slightly
higher than $ 100) in a country=20 having annual per capita income of Rs
2,900.  About 65% of=20
Mumbai residents staying in slums face auto exhaust directly.    =20

Your prompt help will be highly appreciated by the community.=20 Best
wishes.

Kisan Mehta  President
Priya Salvi  Hon Project Coordinator
Save Bombay Commitee  kisansbc at vcsnl.com =20
620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East,
Mumbai 400 014 India
Tel:   00 91 22 414 9688
Fax:  00 91 22 415 5536

****************************************
----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Eric Britton=20
  To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org=20
  Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 12:04 AM
  Subject: [sustran] Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium:


  Dear Sustran Friends and Colleagues,



  More than once in this terrific and collegial list we have heard from
= people and projects that need some form of support or counsel in order
= to do battle with interests that seem to be going against the
principles = of sustainability and social justice to which I believe
every one of us = on this list are deeply attached.  The tough messages
that we have just = received from Mumbai are but the latest case in
point.



  Now, while I am trying to figure out how my colleagues and I might be
= able to be of some help in this case, I would like to draw your =
attention to an effort which is currently getting under way which is =
aiming to develop a flexible structure of long term peer support for =
sustainability initiatives in and around cities.  We are calling the =
program The World Sustainable Cities Consortium: 2002-2022, and you will
= find full details on it at http://ngroups.com/stockholm.  And if you
go = there you will also see how both to access and use the considerable
= content that is already in hand, and, if you chose to, how to add your
= name to the lists of Sustainability Advocates and Sustainable City =
Projects.



  You will also note that there is a slot there for 'Issue Papers' for =
consideration and discussion, and it is there where I think we might =
want to consider posting some sort of composite piece on The "Enron" Of
= Road Development for information and comment.  If you click to =
http://www.ngroups.com/stockholm/index.php? =
body=3Ddisplay&showid=3D1024776799-839168088 and then page down to the =
section entitled "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit", you will =
see the first in this series, which, since I had it in hand, is a piece
= that I have prepared to get the ball rolling.  It consists of a
certain = number of observations and recommendations, and opens with a
short = section on "The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief "
which I = have sliced out and attached to this note.



  I would normally hesitate to bring all this to your attention, but I =
think it is germane both to the immediate issues at hand in Mumbai and =
to our work and cooperation more generally.  So thanks for being patient
= with me on this, and I do hope that you will not only turn to the site
= at http://ngroups.com/stockholm when you have the chance, but that you
= will also decide to sign in and join us in this long term push toward
= sustainable cites and sustainable lives.  Bear in mind though, that we
= are talking about the period out to 2022 for now.  And when we get
there = we can then all take stock of the situation and decide what
needs to be = done next.



  And in the meantime and as always,=20



  With all good wishes,



  Eric Britton



  The Commons __ technology, economy, society__

  Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France

  Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79

  24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866

  http://ecoplan.org/   IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 =20

  Email: ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr    URL www.ecoplan.org



  =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=20

   "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit",=20



  Here are my personal draft recommendations for consideration in the =
context of the Message to Johannesburg. They are by no means original, I
= should point out. They are rather the result of my work with the city
of = Stockholm and all I have seen and learned on this challenging topic
over = all these months. They are, above all, the message which I have
been = able to discern from the 228 project teams and others involved in
this = great group learning experience.=20



  The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief=20



  We have some tough years ahead, there can be no doubt about that. And
= our sustainable cities strategy, whether at the level of a single
place = or project, or from a global world perspective, needs to be
framed with = these tough realities starkly on the screen before us as
we try to = figure out what and how to manage change. Here is a simple
listing for = now of what I regard as some of the main features of the
future cities = landscape - a future that is already well on us but
which has as yet to = be taken seriously by leaders and policy makers,
if results are to be = our guide:=20



             Global Warming gets worse (a lot)=20

    a.. Massive overcapacity of world industry=20
    b.. Corruption continues to be endemic, working systematically in =
favor of larger projects and transactions, whether they are what is most
= needed or not.=20
    c.. Massive population migrations and pressures internationally and
= locally become a major menace to peace, well-being and society=20
    d.. International community continues lukewarm approach to world =
development, sustainability and social justice=20
    e.. Organizational and decision structures continue to be so tightly
= defined as to constrain best outcomes (leading instead to systematic
and = deleterious sub-optimization).=20
    f.. Unaccountable bureaucracies continue to dominate decision =
making, with all the downsides that this evidently entails.=20
    g.. 'In the box' thinking continues to dominate public sector =
decision making, rendering sustainable outcomes somewhere between =
unlikely and impossible=20
    h.. Technology offers enormous potentials which continue to be =
massively underexploited=20
    i.. The downside of technology continues to be systemically =
unaddressed=20
    j.. The rhetoric of development increasingly favors women, children,
= and the disadvantaged - but the actual decisions and acts by and large
= continue in the old mold.=20
    k.. =20
  This for better or worse is the base-line reality of the situation =
that our cities and towns across the planet are going to face in the =
years ahead. Our decision and action environment. There will thank god =
be exceptions to this, and these are going to need to be recognized, =
applauded and integrated into the new patterns which are so badly =
needed. Which in the meantime puts the emphasis on local initiatives of
= just the sort that the teams, groups and people assembling here can do
= something about. But to succeed, we must not only be smart, hard
working = and capable on our individual projects and efforts, but also
ready to = work together both to learn and to provide strategic support
for each = other at critical times. Which is precisely what this WSCC is
all about.



  ---- piece continues from there with short sections on Observations =
and Recommendations to Johannesburg. ---