Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Urban Development in Asia-Pacific: Towards a New Urban Agenda 2-3 December 2014, Bangkok, Thailand Session 4: Priority Issues for Sustainable Urban Development in Asia-Pacific: Governance
What is the Cities Alliance? Cities Alliance is a global partnership for the promotion of the role of cities in sustainable development and poverty reduction. Members Local Authorities: United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG); Metropolis; Governments: Brazil; Ethiopia; France; Germany (BMZ); Italy; Nigeria; Norway; Philippines; South Africa; Sweden (Sida); Switzerland (SECO) United Kingdom (DFID) Non-Governmental Organisations: Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI); Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI); The Ford Foundation; Multi-lateral Organisations: UN-Habitat; UNEP; UNICEF; World Bank
Business Lines 1 Country Programmes 2 Catalytic Fund 3 Communications and Advocacy 4 Knowledge and Learning
Country Programme Members and Partners UGANDA MLHUD, 14 municipalities, ACTogether/SDI, UAAU, Makerere University, World Bank, ICMA GHANA MLGRD, 8 municipalities of GAMA, ILGS, Peoples Dialogue/SDI, AFD, GIZ, World Bank VIETNAM MOC, ACVN, 20 cities, AMCC, VIAP, GIZ, UN- Habitat, World Bank, ACHR, ISET, BTC MOZAMBIQUE MAE, ANNAM/UCLGA, Maputo, Nampula, Brazil, DFID, Italy, GIZ, Norway, Swiss Coop., UN- HABITAT, USAID, World Bank, AVSI Foundation, Urban LandMark BURKINA FASO MHU, AMBF / UCLGA, 5 municipalities, Laboratoire Citoyennetés, French Cooperation, SDI, UN-Habitat
Key Outputs and Activities from Country Programmes National policy frameworks developed and/or enhanced to address urban development needs Local pro-poor and climate resilient strategies and plans developed and resources mobilized Mechanisms to engage citizens in city/urban governance developed Capacities of cities in governance and management strengthened Develop national urban policies Establish national forums Develop methodology for CDS and slum upgrading Develop CDS and slum upgrading plans in selected cities Consolidate linkages between planning and investment Establish city upgrading funds Establish city and settlement level forums Support organisations of the urban poor Profile and map settlements Build regional and national networks of the urban poor Build capacity to train urban planners Enhance city management capacity Strengthen city associations
Key Results Active national urban fora in Uganda, Ghana and Vietnam formulating national responses to rapid urbanisation. Mobilised membership involvement: AfD, Brazil, GIZ, Italy, Norway, SDI, UCLG, UN-Habitat and the World Bank. Ghana Alternative solutions to forced relocation of large settlements are being sought. Uganda Slum dwellers and local governments working together to release land and develop city Vietnam Process of scaling up community-led upgrading underway; Strategic city planning Have leveraged $700 million in investments from major development organisations for cities and services.
Why Asia? Urbanisation in Asia is happening in the peri-urban areas and informally through the unregulated growth of informal economy and informal settlements The growth opportunities offered by urbanisation in the region cannot be harnessed at present due to lack of planning and steering (regulatory) mechanisms, nonfunctional land markets and poor urban infrastructure
Urban Governance Challenges are Cross Cutting Community Engagement Economic Governance Urban Management Social Dev Systems Environmental Governance Lack of: participatory democracy, coordinated project mgt & budgeting, urban mgt capacity, transparency and efficiencies, efficient land administration and mgt and permitting process Lack of: logistic and supply chain management, incentives to raise public and private capital and collect taxes to fund basic social services, capacity to manage and capitalize land and property assets Lack of: basic WASH services, road access, poor regional transport and logistics, waste and water treatment, energy to support industrial production, efficient revenue collection Lack of: skills to support the dev of the econ, capacity to use advanced technology, access to knowledge mgt systems, consideration for human rights, gender, and marginalized groups Lack of: potable water, sanitation, open space and park land, flood protection, planning against impact of climate change High levels of: corruption, inefficiency, bureaucracy, political interference, insecurity High levels of: personal debt, corruption, business transaction costs, dependency on remittances High levels of: inefficient urban service delivery, congestion and rising cost, inefficiency High levels of: migration for employment, unemployment and underemployment, GBV, discrimination High levels of: destruction of natural habitat and loss of env services, risk to property and life from NR disaster, increase in health issues
Asia-Pacific has the Highest Number of Forced Evictions Figure: Notified Forced Evictions in 2007-2008 Source: COHRE (2009)
Toward More Inclusive and Effective Urban Governance in Asia Active citizenship through improved governance and formalisation Communities can deliver better and more transparent targeting of those in need and better matching of interventions with needs on the ground Build closer ties between community structures and town planning mechanisms is key Mainstream informal settlement and economy data into town level planning supports evidence based policy making Establish networks of resource institutions for cities NGOs and academic institutions Improve qualitative and quantitative access to municipal services Fragmented institutional arrangement in cities Limited autonomy, accountability, incentives or client orientation of city institutions Weak and unpredictable financing framework of municipalities Weak technical and managerial capacity of city institutions The scope of social protection must be widened Communities when organized can be service providers Build skills and transferring ownership to the Local Government Institutions
Know Your City! Profiles cover location, problems, evictions, demographics, sources of water, Sanitation, garbage removal, Electricity, work life, transport, Services, education, organisations, Leadership and commercial establishment
Access to land and affordable housing Land tenure security and access to affordable housing is essential Fragmented planning framework that constrains the supply of both land and infrastructure Strengthening institutional arrangements in cities - Inclusive urban management practices and review of city planning regulations and strengthening institutional capacity in strategic urban planning Raising the profile of cities in national and international decision making Unclear national policy framework - Lack of clear policy framework that acknowledges, anticipates and proactively addresses the challenges, and capitalizes on opportunities offered by urbanization Participatory reviews and formulation of national urban policies and urbanization strategies Urban policy forums a means to put urban governance on the policy agenda Habitat III and Post 2015/SDG engagement
Asia-Pacific Country Positions are Overall in Favour of a Cities SDG
What are the milestones until Habitat III? What are the Asia-Pacific milestones until Habitat III? 2015 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Habitat III 2nd Prep com 3rd Prep com World Summit Post 2015/SDG Global Dialgoue on Financing Post 2015, New York UN General Assembly will ratify final SDGs Third International Conference on Financing for Development,Ethiopia UNFCC/ CLIMATE CONF. Conference of the Parties 21, Paris OTHER ICLEI Resilience Cities Conference Sendai Dialogue, World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Japan APUF 6 Africities
Thank You!
Cities Alliance Asia Emerging Programme Focus Raising the profile of cities in national development Participatory review and formulation of national urban policies and urbanization strategy Strengthening institutional arrangements in cities Establish networks of resource institutions for cities NGOs and academic institutions Review of city planning regulations and strengthening institutional capacity in participatory inclusive city planning Knowledge exchange inter and intra region Good urban management practices Knowledge from partnership activities CA support to the World Bank Country Focus Consolidate existing Cities Alliance portfolio in Asian Countries: India, Philippines and Vietnam Assessments, with members and potential partners, to find Cities Alliance niche in other countries: Bangladesh, Myanmar Establish partnership with Republic of Korea and China as a knowledge resource for the fast urbanizing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America