Development Choices: Sustainable Development Trajectories for Rapidly Growing Cities

 Rapidly growing cities and towns are faced with a range of developmental choices that will shape their growth and long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. Many of these are complex choices with differing short-term versus long-term cost and benefits. These choices are seldom determined by individual actors or agencies, but emerge out of the complex interplay of decisions made by a range of actors across national and local governments, investors and entrepreneurs in the private sector, and a range of local community and civil society voices. The outcome of one set of choices often influences outcomes in other dimensions also, further increasing the complexity of the decision processes and overall development pathways for cities. Some of the choices are briefly described below, categorized under UNDP’s sustainable urbanization approach –

Sustainability, Inclusiveness and Resilience.31

 

SUSTAINABILITY

Transportation and mobility systems Traffic is one of the major development problems of any major city of the developing world and a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The development options to ease traffic include mass transit public transport, increased car-centric road transportation or shared economy solutions. Mass transit public transport has higher up-front costs in terms of initial infrastructure investments and service integration. with existing transport options, although these costs can be mitigated through innovative approaches such as bus rapid transit. Car-centric road transportation, on the other hand, has lower up-front costs, as roads can be constructed and improved incrementally, as exemplified by Dakar’s approach, which uses paving stones and small scale contractors for road construction. Finally, there is a growing recognition of the potential benefits of shared economy solutions such as carpooling and bike schemes in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, in helping cities save costs and protect the environment.

 

In many cities of the developing world, the default choice has been expansion of the road network for cars. However, in the longer term, investments in road building to reduce congestion induces more cars onto the road and creates a cycle of car dependency that spurs urban sprawl. The lack of an integrated and efficient public transport system, meanwhile, severely hampers mobility and accessibility to social and economic activities

(particularly for those unable to afford private cars), while also increasing pollution, traffic

hazards and costs to deliver public services. The lower short-term costs of focusing on car-centric road transportation rather than mass transit results in higher long-term. costs in gridlock, fossil fuel dependence and pollution with its increased costs related to health care, and consequently a decrease in productivity. The challenge for cities is to overcome the short-term infrastructure investment costs of efficient mass transit systems, which requires political will, effective planning and implementation and access to suitable financing.

 

Energy systems

Cities face a trade-off in energy generation systems between options that have lower up-front costs but are often polluting and inefficient (e.g., diesel generators and coalfired plants) and investments in renewable sources (solar, wind or hydro) that may have higher capital costs but are less polluting, produce fewer GHG emissions and often have lower life-cycle costs. Energy efficiency measures in buildings, businesses and industries can provide additional benefits including cost-savings and increased income. Sustainable energy solutions can also contribute to other urban issues such as air quality, waste management, more efficient transport, better health and safety. Developing cities also face the choice to draw their energy production from a single energy source or to develop more diversified energy systems, making them more resilient to shocks such as natural disasters or sudden fuel price hikes.

 

These choices raise the question not just about the financial calculus of these investments in sustainable and resilient energy systems, but also about the added policy and technical complexity of planning for and instituting municipal codes for energy efficiency and incentive mechanisms or policies for renewable energy investments such as feed-in-tariffs. These complexities often lead capacity-constrained developing countries to opt for well-tested solutions such as grid systems and coal or diesel power plants, even when these have much higher total long-term costs. Yet, cities play a major role in transforming the current energy systems towards a more sustainable energy future, providing urban populations with access to affordable, reliable, zero-carbon and climate resilient energy solutions.

 

Environmental protection

and waste management

Many developing countries cite the need to modernize at the cost of environmental degradation. Pollution and water contamination and depletion may be seen as necessary

side effects to rapid modernization, with the assumption that, once cities become more developed, the rate of pollution and environmental destruction will decrease and eventually recede. Public officials may be tempted to allow pollution for immediate economic growth. However, this incurs long-term costs for clean-up and remediation, as many developing countries are now facing. Yet, cities also present unique opportunities for developing innovative waste management such as waste-to-energy technologies (e.g., methane from landfills), reusing and recycling as an economic opportunity and ecosystem-based sewage treatment. Solid waste management measures including composting and generating energy from methane combustion can also help reduce methane emissions in landfills, increase forest carbon sequestration and contribute to overall reduction of greenhouse gases.

 

INCLUSIVENESS

The geography of urbanization:

compact cities vs. sprawl

The spatial growth of cities can vary, depending on the policy choices made by decision makers as well as variables such as the availability of cheap land in surrounding areas. Older cities that developed before the advent of car transportation tend to have more compact city centres. However, as cities have grown over the last century, car ownership and the availability of cheap land encouraged the development of cardependent suburbs.

In the short term, such urban sprawl was an attractive option for municipal authorities due to the low costs of converting surrounding agricultural land; the availability of more affordable housing; affordability of automobile transportation due to low fuel costs; and the dispersion of concentrated poverty, crime and associated social problems. In many instances, however, these benefits mainly accrued to those who lived in those suburban communities, leading to crime and poverty being concentrated in core urban areas. Yet, relocation of low income groups away from inner city slums to the outskirts of the city can reduce their access to employment and livelihoods opportunities in the city centre, as has

occurred in Mumbai. In other cases, poverty ridden and sometime ghettoized suburbs  tend to be hubs of social problems.

 

In other cities, the choice to invest in public transport rather than car-centric road networks encouraged the development of more compact cities, particularly when surrounding land was scarce. These compact cities are more energy-efficient (due to lower per capita transportation costs and to lower heating or cooling costs), encourage greater upward mobility as people from different economic strata mingle and associate, and provide greater access to social services and employment. Compact urban development also provides greater scope to maintain key ecosystem services in surrounding hinterlands, such as watersheds for water supply and agricultural land for food to be grown for these cities.

 

Spatial equality and social equality

Cities are confronted with increased spatial inequalities within cities and between cities. With rapidly growing populations and limited land, the spatial planning choices cities make

can risk creating ‘ghettos’ of concentrated poverty, crime, unemployment and limited basic services. Consequently, developing well-off neighbourhoods can create gated communities that privatize the space they occupy and exacerbate the socio-economic gaps between communities and disparities in access to education, health and employment opportunities. Even where physically gated communities are not in use, more

subtle forms of exclusion and inequality are evident. A recent analysis demonstrated how poorer districts in Cairo receive proportionately lower per capita local development budgets, despite demonstrating greater need for service provision. In many developing countries, the links between periurban and urban areas are important, where local landholders participate in subsistence activities but try to utilize proximity to markets and services. These peri-urban areas are often excluded from landuse planning and governance systems and present significant challenges for poverty reduction and contribute to inequality.

 

Public space and land development

Countries urbanize to accommodate a growing population by building sewage conduits, water pipes, optic fiber and electricity lines; increasing security and fire fighters; and building and staffing local clinics and primary schools. All of this is done in a much more extensive territory with a proportionally much smaller fiscal base. Public space therefore remains an important urban development choice in which officials must confront short-term gains in economic growth from land development with long-term losses in social inclusion of urban populations. Cities can be made more inclusive by choosing to provide greater access to public spaces that offer opportunities for interaction and would enhance the social and cultural development and integration for families of various cultures and diverse backgrounds. These long-term social development concerns are viewed with less importance when land is initially developed to house much needed residential, commercial or industrial properties.

 

Governance systems:

openness and participation

Developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions has become a key target under SDG Goal 16, signalling the significance of a functioning public service. The urban governance approach focuses not only on the spatial boundaries (‘where’ governance systems are applied), but also on ‘how’ and ‘by whom’ governance and local development processes are promoted, such as supporting the role of elected mayors. Such an approach would need to be holistic and strongly risk-informed. It also needs to consider the long-term climate change and disaster risks that cities are likely to be exposed to and to envision a role for municipal authorities and mayors as champions and facilitators of action rather than as reactive administrators of change. Many forward-thinking city leaders around the world are already shifting to such forms of governance, as has been seen in cities as diverse as Medellin in Colombia,40 Makassar in Indonesia41 and Seoul in South Korea.

 

The influence of economic actors such as outside investors and local economic elites is often disproportionately high in developing cities, where mechanisms for the countervailing voice of local communities and neighbourhoods are underdeveloped. Participatory governance systems are good for long-term social cohesion and effective public service systems and challenge the capture, collusion and influence of the political system by elites. The compact size of cities makes the creation of mechanisms to promote collective action and to institutionalize negotiations between disparate societal interests easier than is possible at the national level. Cities offer the greatest potential for the development of inclusive institutions for managing political conflict rather than suppressing it. They are critical spaces for institutionalized forms of political debate and participation.

 

Effective urban governance requires better integration across the different levels of government policymaking processes. Greater decentralization and devolution of power using multilevel governance approaches also increase responsiveness and efficiency. Government agencies, in particular line ministries, and other national actors, public and private, are implementing their strategies and plans at local level, where policies meet people. Hence, government’s choice of policies, programmes and plans should be based on people’s demand and coordinated across the different levels of governance. It is also important to foster cooperation amongst actors that operate at the local level, based on local demand. This helps to prevent the risk of fragmentation and overlap of actions and

to build complementarities among actors and coherence between local processes and national strategies.

 

Migration

Many developing cities continue to grapple with burgeoning migrant populations from rural areas and foreign countries who move to cities in the hope of finding greater opportunity and peaceful societies. Cities can integrate these migrants and other minority

communities into the social fabric of a city or isolate them in camps, temporary settlements or other transient arrangements. Urban migrants can contribute greatly to the economic growth, cultural diversity, entrepreneurial culture and economic dynamism of a city, providing long-term benefits that will often outweigh the short-term costs of inclusion. Many major cities worldwide have benefited from waves of migration, including global capitals such as New York, Hong Kong, Berlin and Sydney.

 

Integration can pose huge challenges and opportunities. Inclusiveness is particularly difficult in the contexts of crises and sudden massive displacements, as seen with the Syrian crisis. Even where integration is attempted, cities need to consider the obstacles that migrants face in finding employment, learning the culture and language of their host country and navigating public service systems. Any interventions to address these obstacles need to be balanced by the sentiments of host communities, as they may feel threatened by increased competition for social services and economic opportunity and might view migrants as draining social

service programmes.

 

Job creation, informality

and entrepreneurship

Cities actively promote local economic development by creating employment opportunities that build on the comparative advantages and unique qualities of their localities. Some cities are hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship, such as Bengalore, while others are centers of manufacturing, such as Dhaka. In all instances, the choices cities make to create an enabling environment for development and growth should depend on dialogue and partnership among local-level stakeholders (e.g., employers, workers’ organizations, entrepreneur organization and informal workers), based on an understanding of business opportunities and the labour environment to target skills training, support local enterprises to thrive, and extend social security coverage to informal workers.

 

In many places, the informal economy provides financial services and social safety nets, for instance through moneylending, mutual savings groups and informal and indigenous health care. Yet, some cities perceive informal businesses such as street vendors, hawkers and streetside food stalls as nuisances that disrupt orderly environments needed to encourage tourists and businesses to invest. Others choose to recognize informal businesses as essential drivers of growth and providers of goods and services, particularly for poor and working-class residents. They also see these informal businesses as critical entry-points for the poor, migrants and other marginalized groups to earn livelihoods and assimilate into cities. The degree to which cities allow space for and encourage informality is important to consider when fostering a climate of entrepreneurship. Allowing space for informality encourages a business climate that drives job creation and innovation. Balancing the vibrancy and diversity of informal businesses against the need for structure and efficiency is a delicate choice that many growing cities grapple with.

 

RESILIENCE

Managing risk and

investing in resilience

Rapid growth often results in development on hazard-prone sites (coastlines, river beds, hill-slopes), which increases exposure and vulnerability to climate and disaster risk. Vulnerability to climate and disaster risks in urban areas is also shaped by socioeconomic

variables like poverty, security of tenure, access to social safety nets, livelihoods and ecosystem services, and other inequities. Decisions to integrate measures such as disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into national development planning are critical for cities to build sustainability and resilience against future climate and disaster risks.

 

Cities must institute effective planning and administrative systems to avoid continued development on these vulnerable and disaster-prone areas and the pressure for land for growing populations. Informal settlers often settle on these locations, causing other policy challenges related to relocation, compensation and the use of these informal settlements as political bargaining chips. Cities must also contend with the short-term vs. the longer-term disaster risk management strategies. The short-term responses such as better building codes and emergency action plans are most often not well integrated into long-term disaster risk strategies. Many local governments in developing cities are limited by financial or technical know-how in administering effective building codes and zoning regulations.

 

Urban conflict, violence and crime

Political violence and civil wars increasingly ignite in cities, as they are the locus of political

and economic power and social tensions and inequalities. Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are increasingly drawn to cities and towns, where they seek better access to basic services and livelihood opportunities.

 

In a context where national structures and authorities cease to operate or become too fragile and weak, local-level structures and municipal administrative systems can be the only means to reach out to local communities. In Bogota and Medellin, urban violence has been reduced due to better urban governance policy choices, in particular through their ability to establish inclusive coalitions between elites and popular groupings. The choice to engage at this level, though, needs to be done in a risk-informed and conflict-sensitive manner so as to avoid doing harm to local communities.

 

CONCLUSION

The choices and dimensions above are complex in and of themselves. Adding to the complexity is the fact that these choices or development pathways are interconnected in multiple ways. For example, whether cities develop in smart, compact ways or through suburban sprawl depends in part on the availability of efficient public transport infrastructure (which encourages compact development around public transportation hubs) or on whether transportation is car-dependent, which allows for and encourages sprawl. This also links to the issue of spatial inequality, livability and hence potential to attract entrepreneurs and inbound investment. Hence, decisions around infrastructure drive the degree to which inequality and pockets of poverty may arise, affecting in turn outcomes in economic development, social cohesion, conflict and crime.

 

Source: Development Choices: Sustainable Development Trajectories for Rapidly Growing Cities. SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION STRATEGY: UNDP’s Support to Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Cities in the Developing World. United Nations Development Programme 2016