Development and Cities

At the beginning of the 21st century, almost half of the world’s population is urban-dwelling, and this population is growing rapidly. This growth is vastly concentrated in the South.

As concentrations of economic and political power, cities have the potential to create opportunities for many. Yet growing numbers of the world’s poorest people live in cities, in poor-quality housing on dangerous sites, lacking even basic services. In many countries, budgetary constraints, structural adjustment processes, increasing wealth inequalities, and lack of popular participation in governance are worsening the position of the urban poor.

Typically, approaches to sustainable urban development have had a narrow environmental focus, not benefiting the majority. Similarly, the benefits of urban investment strategies have been concentrated in the hands of a minority. While decentralisation processes aim to promote effective and responsive urban governance, decentralisation in the absence of effective organising and financing frameworks impacts negatively on the lives of poor people.

Development and Cities explores the political, social, economic, and environmental viability of new and alternative approaches to urban development in the South. Using evidence from cities around the world, the contributors consider to what extent these approaches have the potential to increase access to decision-making forums, to adequate services, and to health and prosperity for all.

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CONTENTS

Preface
Deborah Eade

Introductory Essay
Sustainable Cities of the South: An introduction
David Westendorff

Urban sustainability under threat: the restructuring of the fishing industry in Mar del Plata, Argentina
Adriana Allen

Institutional innovations for urban infrastructural development: the Indian scenario
Amitabh Kundu

Institutionalising the concept of environmental planning and management (EPM): successes and challenges in Dar es Salaam
Wilbard K. Kombe

Democracy and social participation in Latin American cities
Diego Carrión M.

Sustainable development and democracy in the megacities
Jaime Joseph

Unsustainable development: the Philippine experience
Karina Constantino-David

Sustainable urban development in India: an inclusive perspective
Darshini Mahadevia

Urban crisis in India: new initiatives for sustainable cities
P. G. Dhar Chakrabarti

International cooperation in pursuit of sustainable cities
Adrian Atkinson

Mainstreaming the urban poor in Andhra Pradesh
Banashree Banerjee

Learning from informal markets: innovative approaches to land and housing provision
Erhard Berner

Lowering the ladder: regulatory frameworks for sustainable development
Geoffrey Payne

Cities for the urban poor in Zimbabwe: urban space as a resource for sustainable development
Alison Brown

Innovations for sustainable development in cities of the South: the Habitat-Cuba approach
Carlos García Pleyán

Private-public partnership, the compact city, and social housing: best practice for whom?
Fernando Murillo

Residents’ associations and information communication technologies: a suggested approach to international action-research
Cesare Ottolini

Monitoring megacities: the MURBANDY/MOLAND approach
Carlo Lavalle, Luca Demicheli, Maddalena Turchini, Pilar Casals-Carrasco and Monika Niederhuber

Technical versus popular language: some reflections on the vocabulary of urban management in Mexico and Brazil
Hélène Rivière d’Arc

Annotated Bibliography
 

© Oxfam GB 2002. First published by Oxfam GB in association with UNRISD in 2002.
ISBN 0 85598 465 1
All rights reserved.
Available from Stylus Publishing