Looking forward: Topics to watch in 2013
As last week's perspectives on what we've learned in 2012 show, the past year has brought a degree of progress and some successes in poverty alleviation. However, much remains to be done in 2013. Certain cities face specific challenges, such as the effects of the upcoming mega-events in Rio de Janeiro, the start of the administration of Mexico City's new mayor, or the March 2013 presidential elections in Kenya. All of the cities also face issues in common, including public safety, housing, traffic, and much more. With all of these challenges, Carlin Carr asks an essential question: What does it take to incite change? Check out these reports from our six featured cities and join the conversation in the comments below.
Looking forward: Topics to watch in 2013
Victoria Okoye, Lagos Community Manager
With its ever-growing urban economy, Lagos continues to be a space of immense economic growth, yet pervasive inequalities. Two disparate trends — domestic insecurity associated with Boko Haram, and increasing private sector developments like Eko Atlantic City — are topics to follow in the coming year.
Threats of insecurity, domestic terrorism
In just a few years, the establishment of the militant jihadist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria and the expansion of its threats and physical violence have heightened insecurity from corner to corner of the country. While few confirmed acts of violence have yet taken place in Lagos, the perception of insecurity is growing: in March, security forces demolished a handful of mosques feared to be covers for local Boko Haram activities, and police patrols and checkpoints have become increasingly common in response to bomb scares around the city, including at a Methodist church in Ikorodu and Awolowo House in Ikeja this year.
Boko Haram (which translates to "Western education is sinful" from the local Hausa language) aims to overthrow the country's secular governance structure and replace it with stringent Islamic law, through a modus operandi of threats and deadly violence. Undoubtedly, the movement has an extremist religious element. That said, the growth and spread of the Boko Haram movement also seems rooted in the development challenges that squarely face Nigeria generally and Lagos in particular: widespread poverty despite immense urban economic growth, combined with exploitation of the poor and unequal access to resources, education, and economic opportunity. Moreover Lagos, the region's cosmopolitan financial capital and a megacity that beckons Western-oriented educational professionals, investors, and entertainers, stands in stark contrast to the aims that Boko Haram hopes to achieve.
The recently launched Nigeria Security Tracker by the Council on Foreign Relations surveys local and international media and then, using statistics and maps, tracks the incidence of violence motivated by political, economic, or social grievances. For those interested in following security trends in Nigeria and in Lagos, this resource will be a valuable tool.
Private sector developments
On the other end of the spectrum and seemingly a world away is the continued development of Eko Atlantic City, a nine-square-kilometer planned mixed development roughly the size of Manhattan. In Lagos, a densely populated megacity where space is a fiercely sought commodity, space for Eko City is being created — by dredging sand from the ocean floor and annexing it to Victoria Island's Bar Beach. An estimated $6 billion private investment, Eko Atlantic City stands as the city's most visible testament to a private sector-focused urban development strategy for Lagos. But this development, envisioned as a serene, safe space with tree-lined roadways, aiming to "enhance the status of Lagos and create a new and stronger financial hub for the whole of West Africa," seems an ironic attempt to address urban development by opting out — creating new, segregated spaces as an alternative to addressing the inherent challenges and inequalities facing what already exists, and, as a result, reifying these inequalities.
The rise of Eko Atlantic and the rise in gated communities demonstrate a long-emerging trend of outsourcing traditional government responsibilities in infrastructure development, housing, and services to the private sector. In fact, many consider Lagos to be an environment ripe for private-sector investment.
In 2013 and beyond, Lagos' government will have to find ways to address the flight from crime-ridden, traffic-locked inner-city spaces by the affluent, and the attendant gaps that flight creates — in terms of local economic development, in terms of safety, in terms of accessibility. These attempts in particular provide safe, accessible spaces, but only for those with the ability and willingness to pay — which, despite the expansion of Lagos' economy, represents a small proportion of the local population.
Looking beyond Kenya’s 2013 election…
Katy Fentress, Nairobi Community Manager
It is important to ensure that the concept of participatory slum upgrading be thoroughly integrated into the development plan of a country like Kenya.
This was one of the conclusions that were drawn over the course of the November 2012 United Nations "Making Slums History" conference in Morocco, by members of Kenya's Muungano Trust delegation.
Muungano Trust is a branch of the international network Slum Dwellers International (SDI). The delegation had been invited to participate in workshops held during the UN conference in the city of Rabat, to discuss best practices and success stories drawn from specific countries' struggles to eliminate slums.
It is reported in the Muungano Trust blog that Joseph Kimani, a member of the Muungano delegation, stated during one of these workshops that the Trust acknowledged the importance of bringing slum upgrading to the table, but that governments should not forget to take into consideration the role of the community throughout the process.
Many Muungano Trust comments were directed specifically to the Kenyan government, in the hope that it would begin to take on the slum upgrading commitments outlined in the Kenya Vision 2030 plan. Over the coming year, Muungano members would like the Government to continue to address the issue of land ownership in informal settlements in a comprehensive way and to begin to scale up their efforts by targeting more settlements, while investing in finding solutions to deal with the more challenging slum environments that are present in Nairobi.
One of the Vision 2030 objectives is to "improve the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020." So far, the only big project put into action by the Kenyan Slum Upgrading Program (KENSUP) has been the flagship Soweto East project, which we reported on earlier this year.
On the 4th of March 2013, five years after a contested presidential election resulted in more than a month of violence, Kenyans go to the urns to vote for their next president. Whatever the outcome of the election, when the waters finally calm — and we hope that this time, there won't be much calming needed — the incoming government will have to take into consideration the goals set out by its predecessors and the achievements of advocacy groups like Muungano Trust in getting slum dwellers' agenda on the table.
According to the political accountability web site Mavulture — set up in the run-up to the elections in an attempt to pull the mask off corrupt Kenyan politicians and their shady dealings — land will remain one of the most important issues during the coming elections. This sentiment was echoed in a recent Daily Nation editorial by Mutuma Ruteere of the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, in which he stated that "violence in Kenya is inextricably tied to local and national contests over power and access to resources."
In Nairobi, where the struggle of slum dwellers is also directly connected to issues of land ownership and tenure, these issues will have to be approached directly if any progress is to be made. Only if people who have vested interests in the land that holds informal settlements are dis-invested of said interests by a lawful judicial process, will the incoming government hope to be able to address the issues that keep informal settlements alive.
This is a monumental task and one that will not be achieved within less than a year. Nevertheless, in 2013 — a year which also marks the 60th anniversary of Kenya's independence from Great Britain — the new government has the opportunity to show residents of informal settlements that it intends to break free of the practices of previous establishments, seriously tackling the underlying causes of slums and featuring the interests of slum dwellers prominently in its objectives and goals.
What does it take to incite change?
Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager
As 2012 draws to a close, two violent events — one in my home country and one in my adopted land — have me questioning what extremes it takes to incite change. In the U.S., a lone gunman fired his way into an elementary school with assault weapons made for mass killing. And that's exactly how he used his arsenal: to spray innocent, young children, their teachers and administrators with hundreds of rounds of bullets. The horrific event has reignited a call for gun control legislation, but in the meantime, 27 lives - and hundreds more every day around the country — have been lost to gun violence.
The other incident happened in India, when a young woman in Delhi boarded a bus with a male companion, and the ride turned into a torture chamber: six men, including the bus driver, raped and assaulted her so badly that she had to have her intestines removed. She fought for her life against all odds, but died on December 29. The rape was so gruesome that hoards of people have taken to the streets in protest of the government's policy on rape, and, as importantly, against the treatment of women in India, in general. The country ranks among the worst places in the world to be a woman.
These events are single incidents that are extreme versions of everyday occurrences. After the school killings, the Huffington Post dedicated its homepage to that day's gun violence reportings. The list seemed endless. In India, violence against women — as has been widely reported over the last week — is commonplace at work, in the streets, on public transportation and in the homes. An article after the girl's death says that "Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport to rape."
So why did it take these extreme events to get the wheels turning to make change happen?
In 2013, it's important for the urb.im community to reflect on this question, because it is so relevant to the many diverse issues faced by the urban poor. Hundreds, if not thousands, of quiet tragedies go unreported everyday — from malnutrition to slum demolitions to human trafficking. Why wait for headline-making tragedies to reverse these trends?
There are a couple initiatives in Mumbai that are worth watching in 2013, especially because they have the potential to make a large-scale impact on a range of urban issues. The first is the MMRDA's 20-year development plan (DP) for the city, which will remain in place from 2014-2034. This is a pivotal document in influencing the future of the city. The long-range planning has already begun, and, as mentioned in earlier on urb.im, there has been a positive push (after initial outrage over the mismapping of the groundwork document by the MMRDA) to be more open to public participation in the process. Secondly, it will be important to watch, and learn from, the Tata Institute for Social Sciences' (TISS) initiative to markedly improve conditions in the poorest area of the city, M-Ward. The multi-disciplinary project has the potential to set a real example of how to make work participatory processes and inclusive development. We will report back on this during the year.
Let's see if these two initiatives can make change happen in a way that could potentially influence future projects and planning in this city and other urb.im communities. 2013 is certainly a year to watch in Mumbai to see if headlines can boast with news of progress and potential — change that can only come with a lot of action.
Menatap Jakarta setahun ke depan
Julisa Tambunan, Jakarta Community Manager
Major changes will hit Jakarta in 2013. The new city administration, led by Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, just announced the increase of Jakarta's minimum wage by 44 percent, to be effective next year. Jokowi will also start implementing a slum revitalization program, the Jakarta health card for universal healthcare, and a street vendor empowerment program. Another big change to come is the implementation of an odd-even license plate car restriction system to battle traffic, replacing the ineffective 3-in-1 solution. Scepticism still mounts over many groundbreaking decisions taken by the new administration, making Jakarta's overall development in the next 12 months absolutely worth watching.
Dengan slogan 'Jakarta Baru', gubernur Jakarta yang terpilih pertengahan tahun ini, Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo seperti membawa angin segar bagi warga Jakarta, terutama masyarakat miskin perkotaan. Jokowi dan wakilnya, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama atau Ahok, mengambil berbagai tindakan yang tidak populer di mata para birokrat. Beliau melantik walikota baru di perkampungan kumuh, meninjau banjir sambil ikut berendam dengan warga, melintasi Jakarta dan kemacetannya tanpa motor fore-rider. Perilaku eksentrik pasangan ini diiringi dengan berbagai keputusan strategis yang kontroversial.
Mulai tahun depan, upah minimum regional naik 40 persen menjadi Rp.2,2 juta. Keputusan ini dianggap akan berpengaruh besar terhadap perekonomian Jakarta dan berdampak buruk bagi usaha kecil dan menengah. Sejumlah pihak bahkan mengkhawatirkan terjadinya inflasi.
Di bidang transportasi, pemerintah kota akan mengambil langkah radikal tahun depan dengan menerapkan peraturan "ganjil-genap" untuk plat nomor kendaraan. Jika dijalankan, jalan-jalan yang dilewati bus TransJakarta akan ditutup pada jam tertentu bagi plat nomor kendaraan dengan digit terakhir ganjil di hari-hari tertentu, dan bagi plat nomor kendaraan dengan digit terakhir genap di hari-hari lainnya. Tentu banyak yang protes, karena konon regulasi ini tak berhasil di kota-kota lain. Namun Jokowi bersikeras, "Kalau mau selesaikan masalah kemacetan, harus berani ambil keputusan radikal" ujarnya pada pers. Aturan baru ini akan menggantikan pendekatan 3-in-1 di koridor segitiga emas yang telah dilaksanakan lebih dari satu dekade namun dianggap tidak efektif.
Seperti janjinya pada masa kampanye, di tahun 2013, Jokowi dkk juga akan mulai merevitalisasi kampung dengan merelokasi warga yang tinggal di bantaran sungai untuk pindah sejauh beberapa meter ke belakang ke hunian vertikal. Proyek percontohan akan dimulai di kawasan Bukit Duri yang merupakan daerah langganan banjir.
Untuk urusan good governance, pemerintahan kota berusaha keras meningkatkan transparansi, salah satunya dengan memiliki saluran khusus di Youtube untuk meliput kegiatan Ahok setiap harinya di channel PemProvDKI. Terobosan luar biasa di bidang informasi teknologi.
Segala terobosan yang akan diambil tahun depan ini membuat warga banyak menaruh harapan. Untuk pertama kalinya, meski masih memiliki permasalahan yang sama, Jakarta terlihat begitu positif. Makian terhadap pemerintah kota jutaan pengguna twitter ibukota yang umumnya mendominasi lini masa setiap harinya, semakin jarang terlihat. Awal yang bagus menuju Jakarta baru. Karena kota Jakarta harusnya milik semua warganya, dengan demikian tanggung jawab menatanya pun miliki semua warga, bukan pemerintah saja. Kita lihat saja berapa lama ini akan bertahan, dan apakah perkembagannya memang benar-benar positif.
Grandes esperanzas para el DF
María Fernanda Carvallo, Mexico City Community Manager
This year was social-democratic leader and Mayor of Mexico City Marcelo Ebrard's last year in power. He leaves as his legacy a social policy that set out to address the needs of various minorities, including women, single parents, the elderly, and the poor. Nonetheless, incoming Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera has several challenges ahead of him: infrastructure for public transportation, the rescue of public spaces, and dealing with concerns over safety and youth unemployment, among others. On the other hand, the new mayor will benefit from having the majority political party in the local congress and local governments. Overall, 2013 will be a challenging year for the new mayor, requiring civil society's involvement in the policy-making process.
El 2012 fue el fin de la administración de Marcelo Ebrard como Jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal (DF); en este sentido, Miguel Ángel Mancera como nuevo jefe de gobierno capitalino tiene un gran reto tomando en cuenta la alta popularidad con la que Marcelo Ebrard dejó su administración por abanderar los derechos de las minorías, de las mujeres y por su activa promoción en materia ambiental. En este último rubro, Ebrard ha sido consultado por otros alcaldes, lo cual lo convirtió en un modelo a seguir y al DF en una ciudad con políticas públicas ejemplares en materia social, ambiental y de transporte. El resultado fue que en 2010 Ebrard fue galardonado como el Alcalde del mundo 2010 por la Fundación City Majors.
Ante esta gestión saliente, algunos de los retos que tendrá que incorporar en su agenda Miguel Ángel Mancera es el diseño de una nueva política deportiva que promueva el rescate de la infraestructura para que los capitalinos tengan acceso a ello, a través de la inversión pública y privada se espera una mayor difusión del deporte para hacer del DF una ciudad con menos vicios e inseguridad. Asimismo, se espera mayor calidad educativa por medio de la descentralización, mayores oportunidades para los jóvenes que ni estudian ni trabajan; el objetivo es erradicar el analfabetismo y terminar con el rezago educativo. Un tercer pilar de la administración será garantizar el acceso y abasto de agua limpia para la ciudad a través de la modernización del sistema de tratamiento de aguas residuales del Valle de México y la construcción de infraestructura hidráulica.
Por otro lado, Miguel Ángel Mancera tendrá la necesidad de impulsar la reforma política para el Distrito Federal con la finalidad de dotar de mecanismos de contrapeso político-administrativo en las Delegaciones.
Para aterrizar estos cambios, el Jefe de Gobierno necesita de una mayoría en Gobiernos Delegaciones así como en la Asamblea Legislativa, condición que goza después de la rotunda victoria de su partido en julio del presente año en estas dos esferas.
Finalmente es importante reconocer que estos cambios no son responsabilidad solamente del Gobierno, para aterrizar estas políticas públicas se necesita gran apoyo de la iniciativa privada y en especial de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil. En este sentido, el músculo de 3,465 organizaciones ubicadas en el DF de acuerdo a los registros del Instituto de Desarrollo Social (INDESOL) son parte de este activo.
Es así que para el siguiente año esperamos ser testigos en el DF de la transición de un gobierno de protección social hacia un gobierno de seguridad social integral por medio de la aplicación de los derechos sociales para todos los capitalinos.
What to look for in Rio de Janeiro in 2013
Catalina Gomez, Rio de Janeiro Community Manager
2013 will be a key year for Rio de Janeiro — a year to show what the city has accomplished in terms of construction and reforms needed to get ready for the upcoming mega events, including the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. But some events are not as far off; for example, in June 2013 the city will be one of the hosts of the FIFA Confederations Cup (a tournament that precedes the World Cup), so much of the key infrastructure needs to be ready early in the year.
With the recent re-election of Eduardo Paes to an additional term as Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, it is expected that there will be continuity in the policies, programs, and projects that have been developed in the city over the past four years. Much of the focus of the local government in the upcoming year will be to show relevant results on key infrastructure initiatives, mostly concerning transportation and urban revitalization projects.
Besides infrastructure, 2013 will also be a year to move forward in other relevant areas. Efforts to reduce violence and ensure security in all parts of the city need to be expanded further to include more of Rio's communities. Neighborhoods that have been already "pacified" through the presence of police teams must not fall off the city's radar — ongoing institutional support will be needed to ensure that these violence reduction efforts have a lasting effect. The number of foreign visitors coming to Rio in 2014 and in the years that follow will depend in large part on how secure the city is reported to be in 2013.
Unfortunately, some key developments in the city are not expected to happen smoothly, especially the implementation of projects related to the Maracanã Stadium, the Porto Maravilha (the Port Area Revitalization Project) and the expansion of key highways, as they are likely to require the displacement of several communities and key social infrastructure. Several non-governmental organizations, including Catalytic Communities and Rio On Watch, have been reporting that procedures related to evictions in several favelas intended to clear the way for some of these projects — such as consultations and guidance to the affected population by the local government — have been inadequate. Other organizations, such as Meu Rio, have been actively mobilizing against the closure of the Friedenriech public school near the Maracanã Stadium in order to build complementary sports facilities. This school, which happens to be one of the best public schools in the city in terms of test scores, was about to be demolished by the local government with little consultation and involvement by the community, including students and their parents. After several months of debate and confrontation, and thanks to Meu Rio and significant public pressure (about 20,000 residents mobilized against the demolition), the Municipal Secretariat of Education has just confirmed that the school will not be demolished and will remain in operation.
In order to avoid future conflicts and confrontations between the local government and the citizens of Rio de Janeiro, more effective channels of communication must be established, starting with better communication with the city's residents on the part of the local government. 2013 is expected to be a challenging year in terms of such public engagement. URB.im will definitely be watching carefully and reporting the various sides of the main development events faced by Rio in the upcoming year. Keep following us and participating in these discussions!
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Comments
On Private Sector Development
Victoria, really interesting trends to watch for 2013. I see your point about the Eko Atlantic City as a cordoned-off new area that seems to retreat from--and perhaps ignore--the areas of the city that really need money poured into it. However, given what happened with the development of Mumbai's central area, it makes me question if a different strategy in Lagos would have been better for the poor, in particular. In the 1990s, a large portion of the central part of the island city of Mumbai was all mill lands. When the mills shut down, dollars bills (or rupees) flashed in developers eyes, and plans began to form for shopping malls that would house the likes of Gucci and Donna Karan. Activists in the city called for the land to be made, at least in part, into affordable housing, which would help address the much-needed housing stock shortage. But the private developers won out, and a massive, gleaming mall, cinema complex, and small amusement park now stand on this ground. It's in the middle of the city--unlike the reclaimed land on the edge of Lagos--but it might as well be as shut off as Eko Atlantic City. And, there's been no "progress" in the area, with large settlement edging up against the area. I think it just goes to show that private sector-focused development, no matter where it is in the city, often ignores the real issues at hand.
On women and safety in cities
Hi Carlin,
Your discussion of the daily harassment of women in India and the gruesome incident in Delhi highlight provide a great opportunity for exploration here at urb.im -- looking at the ways in which girls' and women's movements, activities, even economic options, are limited by real or even perceived threats of violence in the city space. For example, how do these threats impede women's movements, say at night, on certain modes of transportation, in certain locales within the cities? And how can grassroots or locally developed initiatives, projects or programs aim to expand women's access in the city space, with a specific focus on these issues? Interesting things to discuss in 2013!
More on women, development and empowerment
Both Carlin and Victoria have singled-out an issue of extreme importance and one that must be urgently addressed especially when it comes to lower income and marginalised communities, in which women often find themselves at the bottom of the pile and unable to speak out or defend themselves.
There are obviously cultural and contextual differences in the way women are treated in the different cities we cover - I will never forget the constant ogling, groping and inappropriate body contact I was subjected to when I travelled to India, something which has never happened to me anywhere in Kenya - however the simple fact is that all over the world women are often relegated to second-class positions, seen as "weak and vulnerable" and are hence more susceptible to be targeted for sexual abuse and violence.
I could go into a long rant here about how this desire to to "suppress" weak and vulnerable women stems more from a fear that women are in fact the ones with the power and that they should be squashed before they can realise this themselves (just think about all the killings of teachers, aid workers and female doctors that have taken place in Pakistan recently), but I might digress into an anti-patriarcal rant which would not help forward a constructive conversation.
In development women are often pinpointed as the reliable target groups to work with, just think of the growth of microfinance schemes which were pioneered by the Grameen Bank in the early 80s and were initially intended mainly for women. So on the one hand we find that women are seen as more honest, trustworthy and capable than men but on the other hand they are pushed to the margins and have a harder time competing in the employment market and rarely enjoy equal pay and rights in the workplace.
The Delhi example was obviously the last straw in a long long line of abuses that have been inflicted on women from time immemorial. Maybe it was the brutality and premeditative aspect of the crime that got people's blood boiling so hard, I don't know, but it obviously marks a tipping point for women in India.
In Nairobi we hear through the grapevine many a horror story of women in informal settlements being raped on the way to the toilet or to get water in the hours of darkness. These stories rarely get reported in the press but just last year there was a huge storm over a story in which women in Nyanza province in Western Kenya had apparently taken to beating their husbands because they were so exasperated with them coming home drunk every night and squandering what little money the family had on alcohol. Men beat their wives all over Kenya as a regular course of action but these stories never ever get reported in the press.
What will it take in Nairobi/Kenya for women and men to finally say no, this is not acceptable, to come together and speak out in one voice against these kinds of abuses? Will it take an incident a chilling as what happened on that bus in Delhi? To make cultural perceptions change must we really experience traumatic events that finally make people open their eyes?
I hope not. I believe that as women become more educated they and more aware of their rights, amongst which their right to not be subjected to indiscriminate violence just because of their gender, they will stand up and speak out. However the learning curve seems long and these changes in cultural perceptions appear to progress at an agonisingly slow pace.
Whether a country's economic development and women's empowerment go hand in hand is not immediately obvious... but I'm sure if we dug through the statistics we might find something that suggests as much!
Commonalities across Geographies
I think we could all report endlessly on the violations against women in our cities. The poor, in particular, often have little recourse, and the majority of cases go unreported. Interestingly, I read an article in response to the Delhi gang rape that said that women actually aren't even allowed into police units alone after dark to protect them from the policemen themselves. This just goes to show that they are twice violated (whether physically or emotionally)--by the perpetrators and then again by the state because of their status as both poor and female. Two areas of focus should be better training for police officers, which has been spoken about endlessly in the past few weeks. I'm still skeptical, though, that the police are willing to admit how much work on their side really needs to be done (read this interview in the NYTs with the head of Delhi's police unit for women http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/a-conversation-with-suman-nalw...). Also, there needs to be awareness-raising campaigns about respecting women and girls starting at a young age. These should be fully integrated into schools. It's also good to get Bollywood stars to represent the campaigns, such as with this one "Real Men Don't Hit Women": http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2215819/Real-men-.... There is a lot of progress that needs to be made in cities all over the world, but working to prevent these crimes and assaults from happening starts with showing that women's protection and rights are going to be taken seriously.
Making slums history
Katy, I am glad this topic is in the public agenda of Nairobi. In order to reinforce the strategy of slum upgrading and break the cycle of past practices against slum dwellers, the government in coordination with the civil society must tackle what causes slums to develop. On one hand they need to face the population growth due of migration, low incomes from rural areas and better job prospects in urban areas. More over government need to improve the governance by recognizing the rights of the urban poor and incorporate them into urban planning and respond to rapid urbanisation. There is no dought that it will be a tremendous task but it will face the reality that people come to the cities looking for best opportunities.
Kaylin Padovano replied on Permalink
These are all excellent
These are all excellent glimpses into what our urban world will look like in 2013. While so many of the issues faced by our cities are different, so many are rooted in the same inequities that have plagued urban centers for ages. Unfortunately, these problems often remain invisible. Existing statistics reveal that urban dwellers are “better off” than their rural counterparts: yet, we all know this is not the case as the cities must vulnerable populations are often undocumented and difficult to track. Whether it is ignoring the needs of slum dwellers in Nairobi, demolishing a school with no community consultation in Rio, or “development” that excludes some of the most vital members of Lago’s population—how do we ensure the needs of cities most marginalized citizens are not ignored? I’d like to invite all of you to join us for an upcoming e-discussion on urban inequalities, beginning tomorrow. Please follow the link to contribute your vital expertise and help us arrive at some key recommendations for addressing the inequities that so hinder cities development across the globe: http://owl.li/f1Ogw.
Slums and Service Delivery to the Urban Poor
Hi Kaylin - thanks for sharing the upcoming coversation on Inequalities in Urban Areas http://www.worldwewant2015.org/inequalities. I thought you would also be interested in the Striking Poverty discussion that started yesterday and will run for two weeks on Slums and Service Delivery to the Urban Poor: https://strikingpoverty.worldbank.org/#quicktabs-discussion_qt4=0
Katy mentions Slum Dwellers International (SDI) in her Nairobi post and the Chair of SDI Sheela Patel is participating in the conversation. I think you would also be interested in the innovation Tereza mentions HABISP — a comprehensive housing information system published on the web that enables the technical team to prioritize investments and actions in slum upgrading and land regularization programs; and an innovation mentioned in a comment from Alex Frediani there that references their participatory Change by Design program https://strikingpoverty.worldbank.org/comment/243#comment-243.
I encourage you to share your discussion with the Striking Poverty audience as well as our great urb.im community.
Getting urban poverty onto the public agenda
Indeed, Maria I see that our respective cities seem to be coming up to a similar crossroads in the coming year. It's interesting how, for our looking back on 2012 week we focussed on discussing the importance of grassroots participation in order to make a project succeed and now in our looking forward to 2013 week we seem to have both flipped to the importance of making sure the government - or in our cases new incoming governments - make sure they include tackling urban poverty as a priority for their time in power.
But I suppose this is what it is all about. If the objective of urb.im is to discuss solutions to urban poverty then I believe we all recognise that for projects to be successful they must have scope for replicability and scaling up. This has been my rule of thumb when assessing any project: what chances does the intervention have to be expanded and translated into different contexts be they around the city or in different cities around the world? For this to succeed it is essential that both elements be taken into consideration: on the one hand have the beneficiaries been effectively included in the framework of the project but on the other is this project working in a vacuum or does it have the kind of institutional backup that will ensure it lives on?
Without institutional backing, without a government that can align its interests with those of the poor instead of worrying about lining its pockets with the spoils of power, we cannot hope to address urban poverty in an honest, effective and holistic way.
I posed the question on twitter to some of the aspirant Kenyan presidential candidates about how they intended to tackle the issue of urban poverty. This is how Martha Karua, a Kenyan MP and presidential candidate responded:
KF: If you are elected president how will you tackle the issue of slums and land tenure in Nairobi?
Martha Karua: First identify short term measures to address current shortage and systematic review of land and ownership rights.
You realize some thrive on 'maintenance of slums' so multiple parties especially slum dwellers need to be part of solution
KF: What do you believe are the biggest hurdles facing slum upgrading in Nairobi over the coming year?
Martha Karua: I have issue with term 'slum upgrading'. It indicates making a deplorable situation bearable. Why not dignified living? End slums!
KF: I agree entirely. So how do you feel about the the current government slum upgrading program? (KENSUP)
Martha Karua: (no answer)
Watching community empowerment through social media
Yes, another great trend to watch is 2013 is the continuing impact of social media and its role in connecting people, building networks, creating access, and empowering communities. I read somewhere that 75 percent of heads of state are now using Twitter accounts; in today's Guardian Development blog on "saving the world through social media" (http://bit.ly/ZZpzUK), I read that Rwanda's health minister Dr Agnes Binagwaho (@agnesbinagwaho) hosts #Ministermondays chats on Twitter to connect with her constituents. From community mapping initiatives in Kibera, to organizing local protests in Lagos and other Nigerian cities, clearly the beautiful thing about social media is its opening the space for grassroots action -- and connecting people that otherwise would be out of touch. It's empowering people with knowledge and the tools to have a say in the development and management of their spaces.
Political tweets
Well I managed to get Martha Karua to answer (it was in fact thursday and every thursday she invites people to ask her questions through twitter), Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the first president of Kenya, largest landowner in the country, accused of crimes against humanity by the ICC and presidential candidate, did not however grace me with a response.
Continuity of good policies
Happy 2013 to all our readers and contributors! This seems to be an exciting year for the URB.IM platform.
I would like to reflect on the article about Mexico City's upcoming challenges, starting from what the new Mayor will face. Such article made me think about the importance of continuity of policies and programs in order to generate long lasting change. Mexico's former Mayor leaves the city with an upgraded metro system and with more options of non motorized transportation contributing to less traffic and less pollution. Such administration also supported several poverty reduction efforts and promoted key public space revitalization projects, especially in the city center; all these initiatives have contributed to a more inclusive and more "livable" city. Hopefully the new Mayor will follow up on its predecessor's work and support the policies and programs that have proven to be successful. Unfortunately many cities in the developing world suffer from lack of continuity of efforts with every administration change; in the future we hope to find more political will among our leaders to support what is good for the city, regardless if "good" was started in the previous administration.
Strong Representation and Continuity
Catalina, this is a really important point to consider, and in India, it's one that causes a lot of programs to get sidelined, even after years of work by one administration. I heard an interesting presentation last year by Swati Ramanathan, who created a really detailed plan for the city of Jaipur with a lot of collaborative work across many disparate offices. They finally came to a consensus on how to move forward, and her group was happy with what they had come up with. Unfortunately, a new government came in before the plan was implemented, and as it stood when I heard her talk, the plan had been tabled. This lack of continuity makes it extremely difficult to get long-term projects and planning done.
Separately, in Mumbai, one of the biggest urban governance challenges that you might find surprising is that the city does not have a mayor. Many people say that this is the cause for many issues, particularly the lack of vision and strategic focus. I hope we can discuss this in more depth in future articles.
On continuity of policies and programs
Carlin, thanks for expanding your thoughts on the issue of leadership and continuity of policies and programs. I definitely think it is a topic worth more in depth discussion.
I’m particularly interested on what you mention about Mumbai's lack of leadership. How can a city of such dimensions and challenges manage not to have a mayor? What have been concrete implications of such situation? Maybe we can suggest our Editors a future topic on governance of URB.IM cities to further discuss this aspect.
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