[sustran] Cities and towns need sustainable development (Dhaka)

[Eric Britton]

>From today's Kyoto Blog of the Kyoto World Cities 20/20 Challenge at
http://kyotocities.org <http://kyotocities.org/> .  Have you checked it out
yet? 

 

 

Editor's note: Where can we look for lessons and guides in the struggle to
sustainable cities? What about the following commentary coming in today from
Dhaka, a city of 10, 11, 12 million people half of whom living in slums and
shanties, most of whom living "off the economy" and with average income on
the order of a dollar a day. To get around in their city most people today
simply walk or take rickshaws (bicycle taxies). But both these forms of
transport, sustainable thought they may be, are coming under pressure from
many directions. In order to put the "transportation policy paradox' into
contact, we suggest that in parallel with the following you have a look at
the challenging synopsis prepared by a joint task force including
representatives of the Work for a <http://wbbtrust.org>  Better Bangladesh
project (www.wbbtrust.org),  <http://www.itdp.org/> the Institute for
Transportation  <http://itdp.org> & Development Policy (www.itdp.org), and
the World Carfree <http://www.worldcarfree.net>  Network
(www.worldcarfree.net) - "Dhaka's Rickshaws Under Threat: Stop the
<http://worldcarfree.net/dhaka/>  World Bank's War on the Poor"
(http://worldcarfree.net/dhaka/). But here is what our friends from Dhaka
want us to understand - that whatever we do in the area of transportation
must be deeply understood in its full context:

"Around the world, environmentalists say that a strong civil society and
grassroots initiatives are considered important for lasting solutions to
poverty and environmental degradation. Urban transformation cannot take
place without changing the old incentive systems. Local innovations can
never achieve scale without cross-sectoral partnerships involving
government, business, NGOs, academia, media, and grassroots groups. A
climate conducive to experimentation, mutual learning, and collaboration
needed to be created. The sustainable city of the 21st Century must have
social justice, political participation, economic vitality, and ecological
regeneration. Only with all these social elements our cities can be truly
sustainable."

 

*************************************************************

 

Cities and towns need sustainable development

Syed Ishtiaque Reza, financialexpress.com, 4/28/2005

http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=4/28/2005&section_id=4&new
sid=19971&spcl=no 

CITY planners on many occasions said that Dhaka is becoming unlivable
because of its chaotic growth. Overpopulation, poor civic amenities and
environmental degradation are cited as the main problems of the city.

 

The inevitable process of urbanisation has brought with it environmental
degradation affecting the quality of life and striking at the root of
sustainable development of cities and towns. This is more pronounced in the
developing countries like Bangladesh.

 

In such a context, the World Environment Day 2005 will be observed June 5.
The slogan of the day this year is "Green Cities: Plan for the Planet".
Robust urbanism has resulted in migration of people from villages to cities.
Now half of the world population of six billion lives in cities and by 2030
the share will go up to 60 per cent. So it is clear that society's future
will largely depend on how urban environmental problems will be addressed. 

 

Cities today are the breeding grounds of pollution, poverty, disease and
despair and, with careful planning, they can be turned into flagships of
sustainable development. This sort of observation is heard from the United
Nations and other international bodies. In fact, this is not only a warning,
but also a declaration of faith in the ability of nations to turn the
expansion of urban centres into an effort that would benefit all. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) believes that providing
improved sanitation to the slums will protect freshwater resources and the
sea into which all rivers flow, besides helping save the lives of many of
the thousands of children who die every day from preventable diseases
associated with the lack of safe water and poor hygiene.


The challenges presented by growing urbanisation are daunting. But it is
also felt that these challenges are not unbeatable. In towns and cities,
cars, trucks and industries are causing climate change. These emissions can
be drastically cut by a combination of clean energy technologies coupled
with enlightened city planning. 

 

The degree of urbanisation in Bangladesh has been one of the fastest in the
world. The rise of urban population is staggering. The number of towns has
risen while Dhaka itself turned into a mega city with more than 10 million
people. Yet there seems a sort of complacency everywhere about the
consequence of such fast urbanisation. 

 

The adverse impact of unregulated growth in urban population on urban
infrastructure and services is evident in worsening water quality, excessive
air and noise pollution and the problems of disposal of solid wastes and
hazardous wastes. In official documents most of the urban households are
provided with water supply. But, in reality, the water supply system is very
poor and irregular.

 

There is also inequity in distribution. Within cities, poor citizens face
the worst environmental consequences. In low-income settlements, services
such as water, sewage, drainage and garbage collection are often
non-existent. The poorer sections, the slum-dwellers, are the worst
sufferers. There is also contamination of water supply owing to poor
maintenance and mixing with drainage and sewerage water. Water supply is an
important function for a city as sanitation plays a crucial role in public
health. The poor sanitary conditions, particularly in slums, lead to
outbreaks of cholera and gastroenteritis. It is well known that water-borne
diseases are a major cause of mortality.

 

A huge number of urban households, especially slums, are without latrines or
connections to septic tanks or sewerage. For them, low-cost sanitation can
be a better solution. This is useful not only for the majority of urban
centres but also for places where the costly option of underground drainage
is not feasible. 

 

There should be sufficient awareness among policymakers and administrators
about the importance and urgency of taking up measures to improve the
management of urban waste water and solid waste. It is recognised that there
is no proper system of collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of
solid waste in most cities and towns. This has become a cause for concern.


Air pollution in cities has been on the increase due to increased number of
vehicles and consequent increase in the emission of pollutants. To reduce
vehicular pollution, emission standards are being prescribed by donors and
international environment bodies.

 

Inadequate housing stock and increase in the number of slums have added to
environmental concerns in urban areas. The shortage of housing in urban
areas resulted in providing some amount of civic amenities in a
non-coordinated fashion. 

 

Admittedly, tackling the innumerable problems of urbanisation requires
effective urban governance, which is beset by problems such as fragmentation
of responsibility, incomplete devolution of functions and funds to the
elected urban local bodies, unwillingness to progress towards municipal
autonomy, adherence to outmoded methods of property tax and reluctance to
levy user charges. The central government (the secretariat based ministries)
lacks faith in the capability of urban local bodies to meet their
obligations as institutions of local self-governance. 

 

Urban environmental, social and economic sustainability is essential for the
country's sustainability. Concentrating human population in cities is an
environmental necessity to create resource efficiencies. Alleviating urban
poverty is essential to ensure urban environmental regeneration. The urban
poor tend to occupy the most ecologically fragile and service-deprived areas
of our cities. Without alternative locations to settle and sufficient
income, their survival will increasingly be eroded against environmental
needs. 

 

Around the world, environmentalists say that a strong civil society and
grassroots initiatives are considered important for lasting solutions to
poverty and environmental degradation. Urban transformation cannot take
place without changing the old incentive systems. Local innovations can
never achieve scale without cross-sectoral partnerships involving
government, business, NGOs, academia, media, and grassroots groups. A
climate conducive to experimentation, mutual learning, and collaboration
needed to be created. The sustainable city of the 21st Century must have
social justice, political participation, economic vitality, and ecological
regeneration. Only with all these social elements our cities can be truly
sustainable.



--
Posted by Eric Britton to Kyoto
<http://kyoto-compliance.blogspot.com/2005/04/280405-cities-and-towns-need.h
tml>  World Cities 20/20 Challenge at 4/28/2005 09:44:00 AM 

 

 

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