Sustainable development and urbanization

Abstract

During the last 30 years we have been witnessing an increasing awareness of the interrelationships between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. Three key words could describe the new paradigm that has emerged: Acceleration: We have been experiencing changes at a pace that was unimaginable in other periods in history: the information society, the population explosion, rapid urbanization, and climate change are the most characteristic examples. Human impact: Up to now, nature's absorbing or carrying capacity could withstand the impact of human activities. Today they affect global cycles and systems. Internationalization: The economy is global. Environmental problems do not recognize borders. What happens in one place has adverse effects somewhere else, ranging from trans-boundary to global impacts. The sum of individual actions can have different global results, in qualitative terms, from its components. At the same time, considerable efforts have been made to assist developing countries in achieving economic growth. The Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank, IMF, WTO), specialized bodies of the UN and the major country donors (USA, EU, Japan) developed policies and disbursed funds and technical assistance, which did not always have the intended results. Despite global economic growth, the gap between rich and poor has widened. Approximately 850 million people in industrialized countries have experienced dramatic improvements in their environments. These countries are also the main beneficiaries of global economic development. Increased wealth translates into a better local environment but a larger contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The 'ecological footprint'2 of industrialized countries has by far exceeded their relative population size and land area. "The richest 20% of the world's population accounts for 86% of total private consumption expenditure, consumes 58% of the world's energy, 45% of all meat and fish, 84% of all paper, and owns 87% of cars. Conversely, the poorest 20% of the world population consumes 5% or less of each of these goods and services." (UNDP 2001) The remaining 5 billion of the world population face serious problems: environmental degradation, bad practices and corruption, increased and uncontrolled urbanization, industrialization with old polluting technologies, and poverty and poor health. The figures are startling: 1 million/year die from urban air pollution; 2 million/year die from exposure to stove smoke in houses; 3 million/year die from water-related diseases; 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day; 3 billion live on less than $2 per day; 1.5 billion lack access to safe water; 800 million (200 million children) are suffering from chronic malnutrition; 68 million will die from AIDS by 2020 (55 million in sub-Saharan Africa alone). In the context of these processes, the role of cities and urban areas is significant but underestimated. Cities have been the motors behind economic development in industrialized countries. Urbanization and GDP growth have been synonymous. Cities have undergone dramatic improvements in their environment, but they are also the main sources of greenhouse emissions. In developing countries, the cities are the most striking expression of poverty concentration, crime, and environmental deterioration. These problems will be multiplied in the next decades, if appropriate action is not taken at all economic, environmental and social levels. The challenges and the rates of change are of such magnitude that past 'Western' models might not bring the expected results. Urbanization in the developing countries will not necessarily lead to GDP growth and the old recipe of 'grow and pollute now, pay and clean later' might not have the time to mature and pay dividends. The promotion of sustainable urbanization is a key to global sustainable development. A more effective and environmentally friendly development policy should be more spatially oriented, giving particular emphasis to the problems of cities. It should also be accompanied by the innovative use of new technologies and the strengthening of governance structures. International actors will have to redirect their attention to the urban problems of the developing world and significantly increase their coordination efforts.