Urban_Development

WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR GOVERNMENTS TO ACT TO PROMOTE URBAN DEVELOPMENT' INTRODUCTION The progress of a country or region has often been measured by the amount of urban development in its area. Some of the countries in the Asian region according to Dr Phan chang (2006) have been experiencing fast growths of urban development projects in recent years and are reaping vast economic benefits from them. Due to these economic success most of the Asian countries have been scrambling to carry out many massive development projects and planning for many more. Average incomes of the people are increasing tremendously fuelled by global investors/market for cheaper products, labour and real estates. With this increase in income, and release in the release for the sale and private ownership of land, there is increase in demand for land and properties for housing. However, although a vast number of people reap much economic and other benefit from these projects, there are always large sectors of the people that do not enjoy the benefits. On the other hand, development of land, if carried out hastily and in a disorderly and inconsiderate manner, is often accompanied by undesirable environmental and socio-economic impacts, that will create suffering to the people and cost the government as well as depletion of resources for the future generation. Urban are the biggest challenge for judging the validity and applicability of concepts of and policies for sustainable development. The importance of cities is based not solely on demographic grounds, but on economic, political and social grounds as well. Urban around the world are growing at a never experienced rate. Over the past thirty years, the number of people living in cities in the developing countries has grew with more than 200%. Explosive urban migration, high birth rates, high unemployment rates, increasing crime, limited or ineffective health and education services, crumbling or missing infrastructure, and unfavourable business climates have created inhospitable cities. The urban areas suffer from widespread air and water pollution and soil contamination. Health conditions in many urban are often far below decent standards. Even in more flourishing countries, many health disorders are related to the negative effects of the urban environment. Nevertheless, cities will largely influence the social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability of our societies and the earth in the future. If cities are not only to survive but also to prosper in the 21st century, they must undergo a major transformation, which in developing countries cannot be carried out without global plans and commitments. For the purpose of this essay, much emphasis would be placed on comparing the developed and developing countries urban development, influence and act of promotion by government. URBANISATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Until modern times, the world's population has lived a rural lifestyle, dependent on agriculture and hunting for survival. At the beginning of the XIX century, only 3 percent of people lived in urban areas. Only one hundred years later already almost 14 percent were urbanites, although only a dozen cities had 1 million or more inhabitants. By the end of the Second World War this number was doubled, and 30 percent of the world's population resided in urban areas. The number of cities with over 1 million inhabitants had grown to 83.1percent. In the past few decades our world has experienced unprecedented growth in urban population. At the time of the new Millennium, about 47 percent of the world's population, more than 2.8 billion people lived in urban areas and there were 411 cities over 1 million inhabitants. In developed countries about 76 percent of the whole population is urban, while 40 percent of residents of less developed countries live in cities. On the other hand, the level of urbanization is growing more rapidly in many developing countries. It is expected that 60 percent of the world population will live in cities by 2030, and that most urban growth will occur in developing countries. http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx REASONS OF THE GROWTH Urban are growing through natural increase (i.e. the excess of births over deaths) and because the level of in-migration of people from other urban, rural areas, or countries exceeds the level of out-migration. Developed and developing countries are different not only in the percentage of people living in cities, but also in the way in which urbanization is occurring. Urbanization in most developing countries in the XX century contrasts sharply with the experience of the developed countries: on the one hand, death rates have fallen faster in urban areas because of greater access to health services, and on the other hand because birth rates are relatively high in most less developed countries, the rates of natural increase are also quite high. Migration also promotes urban growth in developing countries as people leave the rural areas searching better job opportunities. However, the intensity varies from country to country. Urban areas in some developing countries, such as Mexico City, grew very rapidly between 1950 and 1980, and are growing more slowly now. Many Asian and African cities, such as Lagos and Bombay, are experiencing very rapid growth now and are projected to continue at this pace. Carl Haub, (2007) MEGACITIES Due to the increasing number of population, more people live in large cities. Many people live in one of the megacities of the world, which are cities with over 5 million inhabitants. In 1950, only eight cities had populations of 5 million or more, and two of them were located in developing countries. In 2000, there were already 41. By 2015, 59 megacities expected to exist, 48 of which expected to be located in developing countries. By the end of the XXI century, cities of 10 million and larger will be more widespread. In 1950, only one city had more than 10 million inhabitants. By 2015, 23 cities are expected to have over 10 million inhabitants; all but four of these cities will be in developing countries. http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx MAJOR PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES Not all urban in the world would feel like a city to outsiders. While high-rise living, skyscrapers, and modern transportation and sanitary facilities may be common in cities in the developed world, other urban areas are far different. In the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, dirt paths are the main way to get around. In India, 31 percent of urban households do not have a bathroom facility in the house. Urban people have a great impact on the environment through the consumption of food, energy, water, and land. Consecutively, polluted urban environment affects the health and quality of life of the urban population. People who live in urban areas have basically different consumption customs than people living on the countryside; urban populations consume much more food, energy, and durable goods than rural populations. By extension, the energy need for electricity, transportation, cooking, and heating is much higher in cities than in villages. For example, in urban populations the per capita number of cars is much higher than it is in rural populations. Davey, K.J (1993) The urbanization of the world’s populations will increase aggregate energy use, which is very likely to affect the environment. Urban consumption of energy creates heat islands that can change local weather patterns and weather downwind from the heat islands. The heat island definition is created as cities radiate less heat back into the atmosphere than rural areas, making cities warmer than rural areas. These heat islands fence in atmospheric pollutants. Fog and cloudiness occur more frequently. Precipitation is 5 percent to 10 percent higher in cities, and thunderstorms and hailstorms are much more regular. But urbanization affects environment also outside of the cities. Regions downwind from huge industrial complexes experience increases in the amount of precipitation, air pollution, and the number of days with thunderstorms. Urban areas also influence water runoff patterns. Not only do urban areas generate more rain, they reduce the infiltration of water and lower the water tables. This means that runoff occurs more quickly with greater peak flows. Flood volumes increase, as also floods and water pollution downstream do. However, not all of the effects of urban areas on the environment are necessarily linear. Davey, K.J (1993) Bigger cities do not lead to more environmental problems in every case and the other way around, small cities might cause large problems. Concentration might be potentially beneficial. With world population growing by about 82 million a year, demographic concentration makes sustainability more likely. Global urban expansion takes less land than land lost every year to agriculture, forestry, and graze, or to erosion and salinization. http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx However, not all of the effects of urban areas on the environment are necessarily linear. Bigger cities do not lead to more environmental problems in every case and the other way around, small cities might cause large problems. THE NEW CONSTRAINTS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT Between technological innovation and financial constraints: the new leeway for structuring urban development Influence of the level of development on the urbanisation process We have now crossed the threshold of 50% of the world population living in cities and it is forecast that two thirds of the population will live in cities by 2025. In developed countries: • a modest level of quantitative urban development: zero growth in the population flow to urban areas. • an undergoing considerable qualitative development: an increase in the number of square metres required by each temporary or permanent inhabitant or worker, • obsolete infrastructure is undergoing renewal, • increasing movements between population centres or within each population centre, • a relative impoverishment of the centre. In developing countries: • a sharp drop in incomes in city centres resulting in inner city urban decay, • a steep rise in city populations, • there are 70 million new urban-dwellers each year, • major disparities from one country to the next, • the rapid urbanisation of developing countries is a transitory and non-exponential phenomenon. GOVERNANCE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT The advantages of urban development are, however, merely potential and contingent on their proper administration. This effective administration is reflected in a quality environment, good public transport and control of urban sprawl. Olayode, K.O (2005) The factors governing the productivity of cities: The notion of the effective size of the employment market can be examined: • from the worker's viewpoint, • from the company's viewpoint. Productivity is demonstrated by the effective size of the employment market with an elasticity of 2%. This signifies that by increasing the effective size of the employment market by 10%, productivity is increased by 2%. Next, the effective size of the employment market is demonstrated by the total size of the employment market and therefore the size of the city, with an elasticity of 1%, then by the rapidity of access with an elasticity of 1.6% and finally inversely by the sprawl with an elasticity of -1.2%. However, other constraints of an environmental and social nature can lead to degradation in the quality of life in cities with repercussions on production capacities. Only effective governance makes it possible to avoid the traps inherent to all urban growth and turn the constraints generated by demographical change and/or the effects of uncontrolled urban sprawl into benefits. Olayode, K.O (2005) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES AROUND THE WORLD On all continents, a relative decline in average urban growth rates has been observed for the last 20 or 30 years, compared to those of the preceding decades. This declining trend in demographic growth becomes more obvious if fixed perimeters are used, as a general process of spatial expansion is being seen everywhere. The extension of urban sprawl along communication routes often precedes the type of sprawl in which empty areas are filled. Besides these general forms of urban sprawl, the patterns of peripheral expansion turn out to be extremely heterogeneous in terms of type of housing conditions, population pattern, means of protecting structures, construction type and social categories concerned. Despite geographical, socio-cultural and political situations differing greatly from one metropolitan area to the next, the processes of urban expansion are similar. In metropolitan areas in developing countries: • informal urbanisation of the outskirts is a classic working-class practice (e.g.: clandestine housing developments, illegal occupation of sites), • Per urbanisation may also result from planned development (e.g.: satellite sub cities in Delhi ), • A dispersal of affluent households across the outer peripheral area. In large metropolitan areas in industrialised nations, • the phenomena of remote and discontinuous urban extension linked to increased car use, • home ownership. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT According to Davey (1993), the role of government in urban management and development can be summarized as follows: i) Is concerned with the policies, plans programs and practices that seek to ensure that population growth is matched by access to basic infrastructure, shelter and employment. While such access will depend as much, if not more, on private initiatives and enterprise, they are critically affected by public sector policies and functions that only government can perform. Luckman R. and White, G. (1997) ii). The performance of government is critical to the effective management of urban growth. Government should partner with international agencies who show interest in improving the structure, process, and resources of urban government institutions. Policies of decentralization which delegates functional responsibilities and resources to lower levels of government and new financial flows should be created to stimulate public investment. Development project should include technical assistance to improve the planning and operational of processes of urban agencies. Luckman R. and White, G. (1997) iii) The effectiveness of urban government is clearly dependent on a range of contextual factors: political stability, social cohesion and economic buoyancy, to name only the most obvious. It also depends on the skills and motivations of its policy makers and the staff who serve them. But the widespread concern to change and improve the management arrangements suggests a belief that the structures, processes and resources base are themselves factors that contribute to effectiveness. To illustrate, the performance of a car owes much both to its driver and to the driving conditions- that is, the state of the road, the traffic, the weather. But its inherent characteristics engine power, road hold, fuel efficiency, and soon constitute a third element to the equation. Just so, the institutional characteristics of urban government play a part in determining its effectiveness, along with the people who run it and the environment within which is operates. Luckman R. and White, G. (1997) iv) Good governance: Governance can be defined as the science of government behavior and performance, including the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels (UNDP, 1997; Detheir, 1999). It provides the framework through which citizens and groups exercise their rights, meet their obligations and articulate their interests. Governance is about people and the environment in which they live. It is about people as citizens of their respective states. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens of their respective states. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens, either in their individual capacity or as a group. Hamso, A. (2000) CONCLUSION The world is on the border of change: from predominantly rural to mainly urban. In 2008, more than half the world’s people lived in urban areas. By 2030, urban citizens will make up roughly 60 percent of the world’s population. The world’s regions differ greatly in their levels of urbanization. In North America, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 70 percent of the population is already urban; but in Africa and Asia, less than 40 percent of the population is urban. Globally, all future population growth will take place in cities, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As it is explained above, developing countries are not in the position to successfully adopt for these changes without external help. In order to achieve sustainable development for our world, it would be crucial to understand that care for the environment, for the health and education of populations are not merely options for the rich world, but are imperatives for developing countries if they are to maintain the momentum of economic growth. http://www.europa.eu/pol/hum/overview_en.htm Despite the average household is aware of planning and urban development, compliance with these regulations is very necessary. The most violated aspects of building regulations are plot coverage, setbacks stipulations, room sizes, provision of utilities. The reason why government has to act to promote urban development is to ensure that interest individual and investors of urban development will be aware of regulations, ensuring there’s compliance as well. Providing that sense of security o both individual and global investor. Also, the presence of government ensures that not a few people solely benefit from urbanization, but both local residents, individuals, global investors ,all interests are put into consideration at the end the larger community has a happier bunnies RECOMMENDATION There are two basic strategies for achieving a sustainable or good urban development in especially the developing countries. They are good governance and an effective physical planning. Should there be a reappraisal of the constitutional, legislative and operational mechanisms of development controls, at all levels of governance, particularly only in urban centres. This would make them more efficient in the performance of their social and political functions. There should be participation of the civil society including communities and the private sector. The government should decentralize authority and the local government strengthened more precisely, their responsibility should be clearly defined; make revenue transfers to them more predictable, give assistance to increase their internal revenue and give them real involvement in planning and implementation. Relieving and reducing poverty towards a pro-poor strategy must be the aim of urban development. Better basic services in low income urban areas can have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of the poor. But such investments must be part of broader programs for primary healthcare, education and employment. http://www.europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r10003.htm REFERENCES 1. African Development Bank (1999) Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 3. 2. 2.Bardhan, P. (1997) ‘the Role of Governance in Economic Development: A Political Economy Approach’. Paper, for the OECD Development Centre Paris. 3. Carl Haub, (2007) World Population Data Sheet. (Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau, 2007). 4. Detheir, J.J. (1999) ‘Governance and Economic Performance: A Survey’, Discussion Papers on Developing Policy No5, Centre for Developing Research, university Bonn: Bonn. 5. Davey, K.J (1993)’Elements of Urban Management, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /World Bank, Washington USA pp ix-x 6.Hamso, A. (2000) ‘Good governance and the Police Challenge: The African Development Bank Perspective’, Presented at the workshop On Evaluation Capacity Development in Africa, Johannesburg. 7. Luckman R. and White, G. (1997) Democratization in the South: The Jagged Wave. Manchester University Press pp. 185-189. 8. Olayode, K.O (2005) Concern for Good Governance: the Role of Civil Society Leaven Club International pp. 10-27 Ile-Ife. 9. USAID, (1994) Civil Society, Democracy and Development in Africa. Proceeding of a workshop for Development practitioners, Washington D.C. pp20 10.United Nations Development Program (1997)’ governance for Sustainable human Development’. UNDP: governance Papers: New York. 11. United Nations World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision (2006) WEBSITE 13. http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx [downloaded on: 28.03.2008] 14. Overviews of the European Union activities - Humanitarian aid. http://www.europa.eu/pol/hum/overview_en.htm 15. Humanitarian Aid Office – ECHO. http://www.europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r10003.htm