Dr B K Mukhopadhyay
(The author is a Professor of
Management and Economics, formerly at IIBM (RBI) Guwahati. He can be contacted at m.bibhas@gmail.com)
We’re just passing one of the great milestones in human history. It is fundamental, in the sense that the Industrial Revolution in Britain was fundamental. For the first time in history, a majority of the world’s six billion people are living in cities. Between 2000 and 2025, the world’s urban population will double. (Sir Peter Hall, 2005)
What a change! From ham let to village, semi-urban, urban, metropolitan and now finally to megalopolis!! With these sweeping changes, problems also galore – housing, transportation, water supply, garbage disposal and what not!! Policies prescribed from time to time have virtually been getting obsolete in spite of having a number of inherent qualities. This age is the age of innovention – innovation plus invention – where one technology has fast been replaced by the other. And naturally big challenges loom large before the Urban Competent Planners. As such there is no snap shot prescription and a lot depend on how to ensure change management –spatially, functionally, sectorally and hierarchically – keeping in view regional dimensions, gaps, peculiarities.
Urbanization Unstoppable!
A big challenge ahead!! Urban populations are expected to surge ahead heavily and much of this growth will happen in developing countries.
In fact in many countries, urbanization is not considered a national development opportunity. In general, the overall understanding of cities in national development is also very limited, and so is the appreciation of the structural transformations represented by the dynamics of growth in urban centres. It is often forgotten that framing a national urban policy is the key step for reasserting urban space and territoriality and for providing the needed direction and course of action to support urban development.
A forward-looking national urban policy should provide the general framework to orient public interventions in urban areas and be a reference for related ministries and service providers and should also be the key reference for legislative institutional reform. Such a realistic national urban planning policy is also a good instrument for public and political awareness of the gains to be obtained from sustainable urban development, as well as an opportunity to promote consultation with urban stakeholders. In a word: national urban policy provides an overarching coordinating framework that address the most pressing issues related to rapid urban development (including slum prevention and regularization, access to land, basic services and infrastructure), urban legislation, delegation of authority to subnational and local governments, financial flows, urban planning regulations, urban mobility and urban energy requirements, as well as job creation.
In fact, an appropriate regional growth strategy sets a vision for how the region can manage growth sustainably for the next decades, aiming at improving liveability, protecting the environment and getting the right infrastructure in place. The requirement is to identify priority areas for implementation; refine the classification of centres, business areas and corridors; complete plan changes; develop and trial new approaches to encourage quality residential and business intensification and large-scale urban transformation; coordinate infrastructure planning and investment; improve communication, monitoring and information sharing among others. The aim is to help our region secure a better quality of life, and at the same time create a sustainable future socially, culturally, economically and environmentally.
In order to be able to plan effectively the need is there to continuously monitor. For example, the growth rates of population and economic growth may change considerably from what is currently predicted which, in turn, could alter the nature and intensity of the region’s sustainability challenges quite radically and would require current responses to be reviewed. Scenarios planning thus come into play in order to identify the circumstances that may trigger a review.
Reference on this score may be made of the Auckland Sustainability Framework which has reinforced the importance of the core principles of the growth strategy - a more compact settlement pattern and focusing growth in a network of vibrant, walk able, centres offering a diverse range of services and facilities connected by high quality passenger transport. Significant progress has been made there - development of supporting strategies and plans, legislative and governance changes, huge investment in infrastructure, and a strong market for more intensive urban living and increase in passenger transport use.
The Auckland experience reveals the range of challenges inclusive of barriers to comprehensive quality centres-based development (such as current planning and approval processes and infrastructure constraints), limited good development examples, community opposition, limited tools and uncertainty as to the sequencing and nature of future growth and investment. The range of actions that has been recommended are: identify priority areas for implementation; refine the classification of centres, business areas and corridors; complete plan changes; develop and trial new approaches to encourage quality residential and business intensification and large-scale urban transformation; coordinate infrastructure planning and investment; improve communication, monitoring and information sharing.
Clearly, successful national urban policies has the ability to yield multiple results: the identification of urban development priorities towards socially and economically equitable and environmentally friendly urban and national development; future development of the national urban system and its spatial configuration concretized through national and spatial plans for regional development; coordination and guidance of actions by national functionaries vis-à-vis lower levels of government in all sectors; and, of course, increased and well coordinated private and public investments in urban development, which, in turn, lead to consequent improvement of cities’ productivity, inclusiveness, environmental conditions and people’s participation in the development process .
In South Africa, Brazil, among others, a clear urban policy has reflected to be a key tool to orient action, address inequality and at the same time energize the development process itself. Mention may be made of UN-Habitat that has supported several urban policy development processes (even in Burundi, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Mongolia). India, with its well-qualified techno-savvy trained city and regional planners (excepting the cultureless corrupt non-performer who misuses the power, misbehaves with the public and reluctant to sit on a discussion table to update the age-old knowledge level), can do the same thing in a better manner on this score.
Undoubtedly, housing has been the biggest problem and the way it is encountered in some cases goes beyond description. Globally, a number of different measures have been tried to eliminate or improve areas of substandard housing. One of such result-oriented-methods is to clear out the entire run-down section of a city, demolishing the existing housing and replacing it with government or privately funded modern housing. Though this has been done in many parts of the world, yet some countries have issues with “squatter rights,” (which means law enforcement cannot force inhabitants of the slums to move out so that they can clear the area). In addition to this solution, urban planners are expected to work to locate schools, hospitals, and other socially beneficial and job-producing establishments near the slums in order to improve the economic climate of the area.
Urban planners in coordination with other city officials have to work to eliminate or improve existing slums and to ensure that new ones do not develop. This is a challenge, however, as many different social, political, and economic factors are involved not only in the development of such areas, but in their continued existence. Every wing has the responsibility to ensure liveable environment and optimal use of funds.
The utmost need is there for integration of urban development in national sustainable development policies. Such policies serve as enabling frameworks for transport corridors, job creation and at the same time development of (within and between) cities. Plus, they can also empower local authorities to work more closely with national government. The importance of developing national urban policies as levers for sustainable development remains beyond any shade of doubt.