The new distribution of urban poverty: thinking outside the city limits

November 2015 — The geographic distribution of communities, resources, and infrastructure defies the neat official boundaries of the developing world's cities, spawning zones of poverty, scarcity, disconnection, and exclusion that are often far outside the strict limits of the city, yet linked to it in essential ways. At the same time, although they may be off the media radar, suburbs and smaller cities have become new loci of poverty and deprivation. This discussion zooms out from our usual focus on the core issues of the megacity -- big, dramatic, seemingly well understood -- to examine this new distribution of urban poverty, the methodological shifts required to bring it into focus, and the strategic and programmatic innovations necessary to address it. Follow the conversation as it unfolds over the course of November and share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Conectar barrios periféricos de la zona nororiental al centro de la ciudad

Medellin, 30 novembre 2015 — Los asentamientos informales se han expandido en las laderas mientras personas desplazadas por el conflicto armado llegaban a Medellín. Espacios de carencias, de pobreza y de violencia, estos barrios autoconstruidos han sufrido de la falta de planificación urbana e inversión estatal. El Proyecto Urbano Integral de la zona nororiental apunta a integrarlos mejor a la ciudad formal, en particular gracias a un "corredor verde." Más allá de los objetivos sociales, se puede relacionar también al recién interés en el potencial turístico de las montañas, ya que un Cinturón Verde Metropolitano está en fase de construcción, creando nuevos espacios públicos para la recreación. Leer más.

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Conectar barrios periféricos de la zona nororiental al centro de la ciudad

Lou D'Angelo, Gestor Comunitario de Medellin

En Medellín, los asentamientos se han expandido en las laderas mientras personas desplazadas por el conflicto armado o en busca de oportunidades económicas llegaban a la ciudad. Espacios de carencias, de pobreza y de violencia, estos barrios autoconstruidos han sufrido de la falta de planificación urbana e inversión estatal. En la zona nororiental, en las partes altas de la comuna 8, o en barrios fuera de los límites estrictos de la ciudad como El Faro, las casas fueron construidas con materiales precarios, muchos no tienen acceso a los servicios públicos domiciliarios, y la movilidad es difícil.

Desde la elección del alcalde Fajardo en 2004, la ciudad implementó políticas publicas apuntando a reducir la profunda "deuda social" que la administración había acumulada con los sectores olvidados, sobre todo las laderas. En el marco de estas políticas, conocidas como "urbanismo social," el Proyecto Urbano Integral de la zona nororiental de Medellín apunta a integrar mejor estos barrios a la ciudad formal, gracias a un "corredor verde": un tranvía y dos metrocables, que conectan esos barrios informales con el centro de la ciudad.

En Medellín, la movilidad está considerada una política social clave. La ciudad fue electa "la ciudad más innovadora del mundo" por el metrocable y las escaleras eléctricas de la comuna 13 (en aquel momento la parte más peligrosa de la ciudad). El transporte ayuda a aumentar no sólo la accesibilidad, sino también la visibilidad de los residentes y sus asentamientos, y permite que sientan que forman parte de la ciudad. El Proyecto Urbano Integral de la zona nororiental incluye también obras como mejoramiento de vivienda y del espacio público, por lo cual se quiere mediante este proyecto mejorar la integración social, las condiciones económicas y la seguridad en estos barrios.

Más allá de los objetivos sociales, el “corredor verde” se puede relacionar también a al recién interés en el potencial turístico de las montañas, ya que el corredor permitirá conectar el centro de la ciudad al Cinturón Verde Metropolitano, un proyecto en fase de construcción. Este megaproyecto apunta a contener la expansión urbana para preservar los ecosistemas, pero también a crear nuevos espacios públicos para la recreación. Se requiere entonces transformar estas zonas marginalizadas. Mientras muchas familias benefician del proyecto de Cinturón Verde – renuevan las casas, dan empleos en construcción y una ayuda financiera a las huertas comunitarias, y los vendedores ambulantes van a beneficiar del turismo - otras familias van a ser desalojadas por las obras o para recuperar las laderas. Muchos habitantes ya han sido desplazados por el conflicto urbano y construyeron sus casas con sus propios manos, con esperanza de empezar una nueva vida en la ciudad. Ahora tienen un sentido de arraigo por el territorio donde desarrollaron sus tejidos sociales y económicos, y así se oponen a los desalojos y reasentamientos en torres impersonales construidas por la ciudad. Además, la mayoría de los desalojos son motivados por la ubicación de viviendas en “zonas de alto riesgo” (deslizamientos ocurren con frecuencia en las laderas), y bajo este estigma no pudieron acceder a servicios públicos domiciliarios. Sin embargo, en las mismas zonas se construirán las megaobras vinculadas al Cinturón Verde Metropolitano, por ejemplo un monorriel.

Así se empezó una disputa territorial por estos terrenos. El proyecto urbano integral refleja el cambio de modelo de ciudad – del abandono estatal a la “hyperintervención” - y la internacionalización de la ciudad: financiado por fundos internacionales (el sistema de transporte es financiado por la Agencia Francesa para el Desarrollo), apunta también a responder a estándares internacionales, como las recomendaciones del banco mundial sobre el espacio público/habitante. Aunque las comunidades no se oponen al desarrollo y a la internacionalización, y afirman que la inversión es necesaria en este territorio, quieren recibir reconocimiento por la construcción social del hábitat y participar en la transformación. Algunos critican el riesgo de gentrificación, y organizaciones locales como la Mesa Interbarrial denuncian la falta de concertación con las comunidades en el diseño de los proyectos, y el aspecto demagogo del proceso de participación. Estas comunidades requieren otros tipos de intervención – por ejemplo, un mejor acceso a la educación y a los servicios públicos domiciliarios, y quieren que se les escuche.

Fotos: Jorge Gobbi

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New Mumbai needs poverty addressed, too

Mumbai, 27 November 2015 — New Mumbai, the satellite city of Mumbai, is an experimental, planned city on the outskirts of Mumbai. While the city was created to absorb some of the growth issues in the city, other issues, such as poverty and lack of economic opportunities, have also spilled over into the new area. Few NGOs have focused their efforts on Navi Mumbai, but Aarambh has been running programs for vulnerable communities there for at least a decade. See more.

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New Mumbai needs poverty addressed, too

Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mumbai was already growing at a pace that seemed unsustainable. The peninsula city offered a perplexing land problem for architects and city planners: the city could grow up or out. In 1971, the decision was made: a satellite city, Navi “New” Mumbai would help alleviate some of the ongoing space issues in the main city. The government was to move its offices out to the new area in the hopes other businesses would follow. Navi Mumbai’s growth hit a number of roadblocks, but today, the satellite city has over one-million people.

While Navi Mumbai is a planned city with the accompanying benefits, it still faces many issues that Mumbai does, including grappling with poverty. Rarely do NGOs and initiatives focus on tackling poverty in the satellite center; rather, the majority of efforts continue to be poured into the main city of Mumbai.

One organization, Aarambh, however, has based itself in Navi Mumbai and has dedicated itself to providing educational opportunities, vocational training and support to the most marginalized residents of this peri-urban area. Since 1996, the organization has grown from empowering 70 children to 2,000 young people and women in 10 community centers across Navi Mumbai. One of the unique aspects of Aarambh’s approach is that it realizes that to have sustainable change in the lives of these vulnerable children, then the circumstances around them – those in which they will live, work and play – also need to change. Our mission, says the organization, is to "empower people of these communities through participation and collective effort to secure opportunities for growth and social justice."

Aarambh achieves its mission through a five-point, holistic approach that includes motivating parents from slum areas to send their kids to school; encouraging women to acquire the skills they need to be household contributors;network with local government and community groups to effectively utilize public services; bring greater awareness to the community about issues related to child rights; and train youth to take on leadership roles in the community.

While many of the issues vulnerable communities in Navi Mumbai exist in Mumbai, too, the situation is still unique. Many of the communities were once part of rural areas and have been absorbed into urban life. Appropriate skills training and educationally focused programs are needed and necessary for this population. Aarambh is one of the few, if only, working on these issues in Navi Mumbai – and hopefully more will realize the need in the area. Close.

Photo credit: Le Rétroviseur

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Outside Delhi, informal rentals provide affordable housing

Delhi, 25 November 2015 — Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi, is known for its shining office towers and luxury malls. But all is not so glitzy. Many internal migrants live and work there with few housing options. The informal rental market, tested through a pilot project by micro Home Solutions, could be a potential solution to Gurgaon's woeful lack of affordable housing. See more.

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Outside Delhi, informal rentals provide affordable housing

Mukta Naik, Delhi Community Manager

Gurgaon, which lies on the southern edge of Delhi within the National Capital Region, rudely breaks the stereotype of the fringe urban space, one that is generally understood to be less than prosperous and highly aspirational. Instead, for the past two decades Gurgaon has been a magnet for global capital. Its population grew by 74% in the period 2011- 2011, almost entirely fuelled by internal migration.

The glass-clad high-rise office buildings and condominiums of Gurgaon, which symbolize wealth and power, hide the city's ugly underbelly. While the Census reports Gurgaon district to have 1.5 million residents, NGO Agrasar estimates that a million undocumented migrants from the poorest states in India work here in vital industrial and service sector jobs. These migrant workers live in crowded accommodation in underserviced areas of the city, invisible and "between the cracks" in glitzy Gurgaon.

These glaring inequalities exist despite the availability of capital that could have fixed the city’s growing pains. In fact, profit from private sector real estate development spurred Gurgaon’s growth, and the city was shaped by what anthropologist Shubhra Gururani calls "flexible planning" that "accommodated the desires of the wealthy and political elites."

While private developers acquired and developed agricultural lands into A-grade commercial space and high-end residences, the housing needs of the city's working class were ignored by the formal sector entirely. Private landlords in Gurgaon's urban villages and unauthorized colonies have filled this vital gap by building and renting tenements and huts as low-income housing for migrant workers.

Multiple typologies of informal rentals exist in Gurgaon, with rentals ranging from as low as INR 800 to as high as INR 6,500 per month. Local politicians have colluded with the authorities to allow the creation of slums on undeveloped or untenable lands, where the poor pay rent to live in shacks. Many landlords have rented out additions to their own homes. Others have built multi-storied tenements on land they own. Courtyard-style rental housing where services are located in common areas are commonly seen inside abaadi areas of Gurgaon’s urban villages.

This informal rental market is inherently flexible and well equipped to cater to the shifting demands of a migrant worker population that serves a growing city. Tenants can vacate at very short notice, allowing them to downgrade and upgrade housing as their socio-economic circumstances change. Plus, they can easily relocate within the city to move closer to jobs. The landlord, often characterized as the exploiter, is also a benefactor for migrants seeking connections in the city.

Sadly, informal rentals in Gurgaon are under threat. Working class settlements in the city increasingly face demolitions to accommodate fresh real estate projects and landlords seek to upgrade rentals to cater to well-paying clients. Perhaps the Draft National Urban Rental Housing Policy that currently seeks to formalize this market, could suggest models that protect and enhance this vital supply of affordable housing and, in particular, retain the flexibility that responds to the dynamic nature of urbanization and labor markets. Policy responses could consider micro Home Solutions' pilot project in Mangolpuri, Delhi, which helped homeowners with design and engineering inputs to retrofit their homes to create additional space to rent out. Centre for Policy Research’s analysis of processes like in-situ upgradation of slums and regularization of unauthorized colonies in the context of Delhi offer further insights into the merits of development models that enable homeowners to augment existing stock and create improved and fresh housing supply, including rentals. Close.

Photo: Mukta Naik

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BAHASA INDONESIA

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Pembangunan Kawasan Gerbangkertasusila Mempertimbangkan Kondisi Sosial Ekonomi Spasial

Surabaya, 24 November 2015 — Pembangunan kawasan Surabaya dan sekitarnya yang kini dikenal dengan Gerbangkertasusila Plus memerlukan kehati-hatian dan koordinasi semua dengan mempertimbangkan kondisi sosial ekonomi dan spasial dalam pengendalian perkembangan kawasan agar spill-over effect karena kemajuan Kota Surabaya sebagai kota inti dapat memberikan hasil yang positif terhadap kawasan pinggiran. Baca lebih lanjut.

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Pembangunan Kawasan Gerbangkertasusila Mempertimbangkan Kondisi Sosial Ekonomi Spasial

Widya Anggraini, Surabaya Community Manager

Urbanisasi memberikan dampak yang signifikan dalam perkembangan perkotaan baik positif maupun negatif. Perkembangan kawasan perkotaan akibat urbanisasi di Surabaya dalam skala yang besar telah memperngaruhi kota-kota disekitarnya yang kerap disebut dengan Gerbangkertasusila Plus (Gresik, Bangkalan, Mojokerto, Sidoarjo, Lamongan, Bojonegoro, Tuban, Jombang dan Pasuruan). Kawasan ini terpisah secara administratif, namun secara fisik, ekonomi dan sosial menyatu akibat perkembangan ekonomi kota Surabaya. Pertumbuhan industri di metropolitan Surabaya mendorong beberapa kota pinggiran mengalami perkembangan pesat. Namun demikian beberapa kota belum memiliki manajemen perkotaan baik sebab belum mempertimbangkan perkembangan sosial ekonomi dan spasialnya dalam proses perencanaannya.

Perkembangan Kota Surabaya kearah pinggiran ditunjukkan dengan pertumbuhan pesat kota-kota yang berbatasan langsung. Misalnya kawasan perbatasan Surabaya–Mojokerto merupakan daerah dengan aktivitas industri cukup pesat. Akibatnya wilayah tersebut mengalami peralihan fungsi dari lahan pertanian atau tambak menjadi perumahan dan industri sehingga urbanisasi terjadi secara cepat seiring dengan perkembangan industri di kota Surabaya. Ini apa yang kita sebut dengan spill-over effect. Proses industrialisasi ini membutuhkan tenaga kerja yang berasal dari luar wilayah kota sehingga beberapa koridor kian padat penduduknya. Akibatnya Kota sekitar yang menerima efek spill-over juga harus menyesuaikan diri terhadap perubahan yang terjadi.

Pengelolaan kawasan Gerbangkartasusila plus sebagai kawasan mega urbanisasi perlu dilakukan secara terpadu agar perencanaan lebih sensitive terhadap kebutuhan daerah dan pelaksanaannya perlu diterjemahkan ke dalam rencana sektoral dengan memperhatikan keterpaduan wilayah yang meletakkan Surabaya sebagai kota utama. Dinamika sosial ekonomi dan spasial yang berbeda antar kota memerlukan sebuah pendekatan fisik dan non-fisik dalam pengendalian perkembangan kawasan. Pendekatan non fisik misalnya pada tersedianya kebijakan yang lintas sektoral, ramah lingkungan dan menyeimbangkan kepentingan antara swasta, pemerintah dan masyarakat; proses perencanaan yang memperhatiakan aspek spasial dan a-spasial; tata ruang yang terintegrasi dengan lingkungan hidup dan bersifat berkelanjutan serta berorientasi masa depan, proses perijinan yang efektif, efisien dan berkeadilan serta perlunya insentif dan disinfektif.

Sementara itu pengendalaian perkembangan kawasan secara fisik diperlukan adanya dukungan prasarana yang terhubung antar kabupaten/kota seperti tersedianya Mass Rapid transportation system dan fasilitas lain yang lintas kota/kab. Selain itu juga dibutuhkan pembangunan infrastruktur dan fasilitas skala regional. Pertimbangan terhadap potensi ekonomi dan lingkungan hidup diperlukan sebagai bahan analisa pola perkembangan yang terjadi di kawasan gerbangkartasusila plus. Koordinasi antar kota juga penting untuk mengetahui keterkaitan antar kawasan. Pemkot Surabaya memegang peran kunci dalam mengawasi pembangunan antar kawasan ini. Close.

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Water is life: Peri-urban water supply in Accra

Accra, 23 November 2015 — While access to water within the Accra Metropolis is over 60 percent, this figure tends to obscure inequality in water supply and access, which mostly affects poor urban communities within the main heart of Accra, as well as newly developed peri-urban areas of the city. This bottleneck in water delivery has given rise to alternative modes of water supply for residents, mostly through private vendors. Private water supply vendors, namely tanker suppliers, water sachet producers, and small-scale water producers, are now the bulk of water delivery system to peri-urban communities within Accra and poor areas. See more.

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Water is life: Peri-urban water supply in Accra

Ortis Yankey, Accra Community Manager

Access to water constitutes an essential ingredient in human survival and well-being. Yet portable drinking water seems to be an illusion to many people in the world, and especially within Accra and its peri-urban fringes. The city of Accra has generally not enjoyed adequate and reliable water supply for a long period of time now. There is periodic water shortage that forces people to resort to other means of access to water. In 2008, a report by Water Aid on urban water assessment in Ghana estimated that, while access to water within the Accra Metropolis is over 60 percent, this figure tends to obscure inequality in water supply and access, which mostly affects poor urban communities within the main heart of Accra, as well as newly developed peri-urban areas of the city.

Currently, water supply in Accra is managed by a dual-management system, namely the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) and Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd (AVRL). The GWCL owns the physical assets and is responsible for providing treated water supply, whiles AVRL is a water utility operator responsible for managing the distribution and revenue from the water supply. These two operators have not efficiently run a water delivery system in Accra due to operational cost and increased urbanization. This has left a large number of people out of reach from the public water supply system. Even though the GWCL is expanding its network system through various on-going projects, such as the Kpong Water supply Expansion project in Accra, it will still take some time to actualize the efficiency in water delivery in the city.

This bottleneck in water delivery has given rise to alternative modes of water supply for residents, mostly through private vendors. Private water supply vendors, namely tanker suppliers, water sachet producers, and small-scale water producers, are now the bulk of water delivery system to peri-urban communities within Accra and poor areas. Tanker suppliers access treated water from GWCL/AVRL’s large collection points, and transport such water in tankers to supply to various peri-urban households. Sachet water producers, on the other hand, supply water in sachet and plastic containers commonly known as “pure water” in Ghana. Whiles water from tanker suppliers are used for general domestic chores, such as cooking and bathing, most peri-urban households buy the sachet water for direct consumption or drinking. Other communities also have a private water outlet where households can buy water at a fee.

This form of private water delivery provides alternatives to poor households within peri-urban areas to deal with unsatisfactory and inadequate water supply through the main public system in Accra. It also relieves women and children, who are mostly responsible for water collection, of the stress of having to find water for the household. According to findings from the Ghana Living Standard Survey in 2014 by the Ghana Statistical Service, 73.2 percent of households in Accra access their main source of water supply for drinking through private vendors.

Although one may argue about the affordability of private water systems, it somehow remains a viable mode of making water accessible to peri-urban areas and poor neighborhoods, especially where the state lacks the capacity to reach the wider households in Accra.Close.

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O Rio de Janeiro aglutinador

Rio de Janeiro, 20 novembro 2015 — A tendência das grandes metrópoles é aglutinar outros centros urbanos, e o Rio de Janeiro não foge à regra. Hoje, seu arranjo populacional já engloba a população de 21 municípios, cidades menores cujo progresso está intrinsecamente ligado ao da capital – para o bem e para o mal. Nesse artigo, conheça o trabalho do Observatório das Metrópoles, dedicado a pesquisar, de maneira sistemática e interdisciplinar, esse desenvolvimento em cadeia, para que suas facetas mais desastrosas possam ser evitadas. Leia mais.

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O Rio de Janeiro aglutinador

Andréa Azambuja, Coordenadora da Rede em Rio de Janeiro

A tendência das grandes metrópoles é aglutinar outros centros urbanos, e o Rio de Janeiro não foge à regra. Segundo o IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Pesquisa e Geografia, seu arranjo populacional engloba 11,9 milhões de pessoas, distribuídas em 21 municípios, num intenso fenômeno de urbanização e globalização que cada vez assume formas mais complexas, não apenas seguindo tendências que já se verificavam, mas totalmente distintas. Assim, em termos de políticas públicas, não se pode pensar de forma isolada, mas em ações integradas e inovadoras entre cidades – o que exige pesquisas e trocas constantes.

É aí que entra o trabalho do Observatório das Metrópoles, que reúne 159 pesquisadores e 59 instituições universitárias (programas de pós-graduação), governamentais (estaduais e municipais) e não-governamentais, sob a coordenação geral do IPPUR, Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano e Regional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Com sede oficial na capital carioca, o grupo vem se dedicando desde 1996 a pesquisar, de maneira sistemática e interdisciplinar, as metrópoles brasileiras e os reajustes estruturais e produtivos realizados, com foco na avaliação de seus impactos sociais, territoriais e políticos – subsídio indispensável ao poder público e interessados para dirigir novas políticas de desenvolvimento.

O trabalho da organização se estende, ainda, à articulação da academia com o governo e a sociedade civil e, também, à formação de lideranças locais, para que possam intervir diretamente na gestão administrativa de suas cidades. Com o apoio da FASE, Federação dos Órgãos para a Assistência Social e Educacional, da Fundação Ford, da Fundação Rosa Luxemburgo e da Actionaid, seminários, workshops e cursos de capacitação de conselheiros municipais – nos quais são discutidos temas como segregação residencial, violência e saneamento – são realizados regularmente desde 1999, em toda a Baixada Fluminense.

De modo geral, o Observatório se dedica a quatro linhas de pesquisa: "Metropolização, Dinâmicas Intrametropolitanas e o Território Nacional", "Governança Urbana, Cidadania e Gestão das Metrópoles", "Dimensão Sócio-Espacial da Exclusão/Integração" e "Monitoramento da Realidade Metropolitana e Desenvolvimento Institucional". Entre seus produtos (relatórios, manuais, livros, apostilas) mais recentes – todos disponíveis gratuitamente – está o livro "Rio de Janeiro: Transformações na Ordem Urbana", uma análise completa das mudanças ocorridas de 1980 a 2010 e de seus padrões de segregação.

Um dos aspectos que "Transformações..." aborda são as consequências do ciclo de expansão da economia do petróleo, que continua reconfigurando radicalmente todo o estado, provocando booms populacionais em diversas cidades. É o caso de Macaé, centro das operações da Petrobrás desde a década de 1970, que desde então lida com o problema da ocupação de áreas de risco, entre outras manifestações de sua nova pobreza. Em contextos como este, por exemplo, as análises do Observatório são tão imprescindíveis (as soluções precisam ser estratégicas, efetivas e permanentes), quanto inevitáveis: dada à qualidade e especificidade das informações, serviram de suporte para o desenvolvimento da Política de Urbanização de Assentamentos Precários e para o programa habitacional Minha Casa Minha Vida, de cunho federal.

Talvez o maior trunfo do Observatório seja a multidisciplinaridade. Suas pesquisas, baseadas no monitoramento incessável das políticas públicas, integram áreas distintas do saber, como Sociologia, Arquitetura, Geografia e Ciências Políticas, mas com uma base única de dados. A cooperação dirigida também marca sua atuação executiva, que incorpora atores de diversas esferas e localidades trabalhando para o mesmo fim: a busca de cidades mais justas e democráticas. Faz sentido. Afinal, novas formas de exclusão não se configuram de maneira isolada, mas como resultado de um organismo unificado de exploração. E entendê-lo em sua complexidade, assim como trabalhar em conjunto, é indispensável para que suas facetas mais desastrosas possam ser evitadas.Close.

Fotos: 1. divulgação Terra de Direitos; 2. Desocupação em Macaé – divulgação O Debate.

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Empowering Chittagong’s indigenous people

Chittagong, 19 November 2015 — The indigenous population of Chittagong Hill Tracts has struggled with their identity and nationality even before the independence of Bangladesh. Increasingly, they have had no choice but to move to the cities, mostly Chittagong city, in search of a better life. This not only makes Chittagong city densely populated, it also poses the issue of wastage of natural resources in the hill tracts. The Integrated Community Development Project by Caritas Bangladesh collaborates with local social organizations and development agencies to ensure their rights, livelihood, education, and health. It also promotes income-generating activities, such as horticulture, so they can find livelihoods locally. See more.

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Empowering Chittagong’s indigenous people

Sumaiya Nehla Saif, Chittagong Community Manager

The indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have long struggled for their independence as a separate state and to be free from social, political, and economic marginalization. Consequently, this region of Bangladesh has developed significantly slower compared to the rest of the country and, especially, the cities. Increasingly, the people of CHT have had no choice but to move to the cities, mostly Chittagong city in search of a better life and empowerment through work and education. This migration not only makes Chittagong city densely populated, it also poses wastage of natural resources in the hill tracts, which the ethnic groups do not know how to utilize.

Caritas Bangladesh is a non-governmental organization that works on integrated development, disaster management and human resource development all over the country and has regional offices that undertake different projects pertaining to the respective regional issues. Caritas Bangladesh runs Integrated Community Development Projects in several areas, and CHT is one of them. This initiative not only helps to ensure proper rights to the indigenous people but also empowers them to utilize the abundant available resources and to develop their community. For example, it has helped to recover over 2,500 mortgaged lands and further help the people to utilize their lands for cultivation, as well as other sustainable activities, and even start their own small businesses.

Since a major issue was the lack of effective communication between the people and government and non-governmental organizations, this project also fosters communication with proper networking and linkages. Besides providing stipends to students for education and building village-based education centers, this project has also made efforts to engage the people in different skills training and vocational training among other income-generating activities, such as horticulture. One example is teaching mixed fruit cultivation through natural resources; the income allows people to earn locally without having to turn to the cities for a living.

This project is broad but branches out to some key initiatives, which are important to empowering such a community to socially and economically developing itself. Communication for development, training and capacity building, and education are just the right start-ups for a community such as that of the CHT. The Integrated Community Development Project deviates from mainstream urban city issues but focuses on a vital geographic section of Chittagong district. This program is particularly remarkable because it structures its work around ethnic minorities of this region who have been rather overlooked by development practitioners. This program enables the ethnic communities to combat some key social, economic, and health issues through development without migrating to cities. Close.

Photo credit: Sumaiya Nehla Saif

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Infrastructure investments to reduce poverty in Lagos suburbs

Lagos, 18 November 2015 — A rising population combined with limited land space has led to a housing deficit in Lagos, forcing many workers to seek residency in the city’s suburbs. Though these locations are not so far from the metropolis, commuting has become a major challenge. The state government through its Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) started the Rail Mass Transit system in 2009 to serve as a faster and more efficient means of transportation both from the outskirts and within the city. The Blue Line Project is one of the seven rail projects proposed by the government. See more.

ENGLISH

Infrastructure investments to reduce poverty in Lagos suburbs

Peter Adeyeye, Lagos Community Manager

Lagos is Nigeria’s employment hub. The economic opportunities available in the metropolis continue to lead to a high influx of people from across the country. The city’s population is estimated at 21 million with an annual addition of 600,000 people per year, exerting pressure on the already strained land resources. Lagos, a coastal city with total land mass of 3,577 square kilometres and more than 20% constituting lagoons, swamps, marshes, and creeks already faces a housing deficit for its teeming population. It is estimated that the city currently faces a shortfall of one-million units of housing.

High costs for decent accommodation in the main city forces many people to the suburbs. Those with lower economic means seek residency in outskirts areas, such as Ikorodu, Epe, Sango, Mowe, and Badagry. Though these locations are not too far from the metropolis, access has been the major challenge. The transportation means are limited with heavy reliance on road transport. Even with that, the road network to these locations is bad and the traffic management generally poor.

A survey conducted by V-Park Management Solutions Limited in 2011 found that professionals working in Lagos spend almost four hours each day commuting to and from their place of work for a 15-kilometer journey, translating to an increased number of productive hours for professionals living in Lagos outskirts with an average total distance of 60 kilometers daily. For instance, 34-year-old Oluwatosin, who lives in Ogijo area of Ikorodu and works in Lagos Island, explained his ordeals, "I leave the house between 5:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. in order to get to work before 9:00 a.m. I leave the office at 6:00 p.m. only to get home most times after 10:00 p.m. I don’t even get to see my neighbourhood except on weekends."

A project that will address this challenge is the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT), which is a network of urban rail-based systems covering seven major corridors of high commuter traffic demand within and beyond the metropolitan Lagos, extending to border areas like Ogun and Oyo states. The project is a major component of the Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP), which has been developed to guide as a compass for the development of public transport infrastructures in the state. The seven lines represent seven major axis points and are distinguished by different colours.

One of these is the Blue Line Rail Project. It is a 27-kilometer railroad with 13 stations from Okokomaiko to Marina, which started in 2009. The project is presently under construction right in the middle of Lagos-Badagry Expressway, which the government is expanding into a 10-lane international gateway. Commuters from Badagry will join the rail at Okokomaiko, connecting them to Marina in Lagos Island. The Blue line project was officially commissioned in 2009 and awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA). Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains, which are emissions free, are proposed for use with the capacity to move 400,000 people daily and later 700,000 when the route becomes fully operational.

The governor elect, Akinwumi Ambode on 13 November made a promise that his administration will complete the project by December 2016 and immediately commence the Red Line project that covers Agbado in Ogun State to Marina. Investment in transportation will ease commuting and open up the outskirts to opportunities. Close.

Photo: Peter Adeyeye

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المدن الجديدة في القاهرة: آفاق اقتصادية واجتماعية جديدة

Cairo, 17 November 2015 —
يعيش 100٪ من سكان مصر تقريبا في القاهرة والإسكندرية أو على طول ضفاف نهر النيل وقناة السويس. وتعتبر القاهرة والمناطق الرئيسية الأخرى في البلاد بعض من أكثر المناطق اكتظاظا بالسكان في العالم. وتصل الكثافة السكانية في القاهرة إلى 19,376 نسمة لكل كيلومتر مربع..
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المدن الجديدة في القاهرة: آفاق اقتصادية واجتماعية جديدة

Shaima Abulhajj, Cairo Community Manager

يعيش 100٪ من سكان مصر تقريبا في القاهرة والإسكندرية أو على طول ضفاف نهر النيل وقناة السويس. وتعتبر القاهرة والمناطق الرئيسية الأخرى في البلاد بعض من أكثر المناطق اكتظاظا بالسكان في العالم. وتصل الكثافة السكانية في القاهرة إلى 19,376 نسمة لكل كيلومتر مربع..

وبسبب الزيادة السريعة في عدد السكان، أنشأت الحكومة المصرية "هيئة المجتمعات العمرانية الجديدة". وفي مطلع الثمانينات شرعت في بناء مدن جديدة وتوسعة أفقية من أجل الاستفادة من الصحراء الشاسعة والمناطق غير مأهولة في البلاد. وفي الوقت نفسه، نفذت حملات تحديد النسل لعدة سنوات من أجل الحد من معدل المواليد في البلاد. وفي الوقت نفسه، كان على الحكومة أن تستثمر استثمارات ضخمة لتطوير بنية تحتية قوية ومرافق نقل عام تعمل بشكل جيد لخدمة تلك المناطق.

وكان هناك عدة مدن ذات تأثير كبير في تحسين نوعية حياة الناس والتخفيف من حدة الفقر على السكان، مثل مدينة السادات، ومدينة 6 أكتوبر، ومدينة العبور. فيما تعتبر مدينة السادات، التي تقع على بعد 94 شمال غرب القاهرة، واحدة من أكبر المدن الصناعية في البلاد. ويحاول مجلس المدينة أن يجعل المنطقة كبقعة اكتفاء ذاتي لسكانها. ولهذا يحاول المجلس توفير كل الخدمات اللازمة للسكان بما في ذلك النقل والصحة والمرافق التعليمية. ومؤخرا، ناقش مجلس مدينة السادات سبل تطوير النقل الداخلي وزيادة التراخيص المقدمة لتأجير السيارات ومركبات الخدمة. ولتزويد السكان مع فرص العمل، فإن هناك منطقة صناعية متكاملة في المدينة. وتضم المنطقة الصناعية 23 مليون متر مربع، وتحتوي على450 مصنع. وتشمل المدينة أيضا أماكن للصناعات الصغيرة والورش. ولدى المدينة طرق مشغلة بالكامل وشبكات الصرف الصحي والكهرباء والبنية التحتية للاتصالات. بالإضافة إلى ذلك تم تطوير شبكة صرف صحي صناعية منفصلة للمصانع الموجودة في المدينة. كما توفر المدينة الاستشارات البيئية لأصحاب المصانع وقياسات تلوث الهواء. ويحيط بالمدينة أيضا شريط أخضر بمساحة 33 ألف فدان، وذلك لتأمين المحاصيل التي يمكن استخدامها في إنتاج الأغذية. وهناك حاليا 120 ألف نسمة في المدينة، في حين تخطط المدينة لاستضافة نصف مليون نسمة في المستقبل. ومن حيث المرافق التعليمية، فلدى المدينة جامعة حكومية تضم العديد من الكليات والمعاهد. وبالنسبة للأشخاص الذين يرغبون في العمل في التجارة، فهناك العديد من المتاجر في مراكز التسوق الموجودة هناك. وتحاول الحكومة تشجيع الاستثمار في المدينة ومن ثم فيمكن لأصحاب الأعمال التمتع باقتطاعات ضريبية كبيرة لمشاريعهم.

وبناء على هذه التطورات التي تحققت، دشنت المدينة "جمعية المستثمرين"، التي توفر المعلومات والتحديثات والفرص لأصحاب المشاريع الصغيرة ومساعدتهم على تطوير أعمالهم كسكان محليين. كما تدافع الرابطة عن مصالح المستثمرين ورجال الأعمال الشباب من مدينة السادات. بناء على كل هذه الإجراءات، فمن الواضح أن مدينة السادات هي واحدة من تلك المناطق المطورة حديثا، والتي تساعد سكانها على عيش حياة ذات نوعية جيدة، وتحقيق إمكانات الشباب أصحاب المشاريع الصغيرة والمتوسطة لتحقيق الرفاه والاستقرار الاجتماعي.
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Photo: Shaima Aly

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Problemas de transporte en Soacha, una ciudad conurbada con Bogotá

Bogotá, 16 novembre 2015 — La conurbación es una consecuencia casi inevitable cuando las ciudades crecen a un ritmo explosivo, como ha sido el caso de Bogotá. La vecina Soacha, ahora completamente conurbada, ha pasado de tener 28,000 habitantes a finales de los 70 a tener 500,000 en la actualidad. El hecho de que un área conurbada quede bajo dos administraciones distintas ha complicado la provisión de servicios básicos, como el agua y el transporte. Leer más.

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Problemas de transporte en Soacha, una ciudad conurbada con Bogotá

Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Bogotá

Soacha fue hasta finales de los años 70 un suburbio principalmente industrial de Bogotá. En 1970 tenía una población de 28000 habitantes. Fue a partir de ese momento cuando se produjo un crecimiento explosivo de la población , que se aceleró en los años 90 tras la construcción de la Autopista Sur. En la actualidad cuenta con más de 500.000 habitantes, auqnue algunas estimaciones son mucho mas elevadas. El crecimiento de ambas ciudades ha resultado en que ambas estén completamente conurbadas. Su principal función en estos momentos es la de ciudad dormitorio de Bogotá.

La conurbación con una de las ciudades más grandes del mundo, sumada a su independencia política y económica, ha tenido como consecuencia que se generen unos problemas muy graves en la provisión de los servicios básicos, especialmente en transporte y en suministro de agua potable. Estos problemas se agravarán de forma considerble cuando se concluya el macroproyecto Ciudad Verde, en el que se espera habiten 125.000 personas, la mayoría provenientes de Bogotá, y con sus centros de trabajo en la capital. La creación de un área metropolitana entre Bogotá y Soacha, impulsado por ambas alcaldías, está paralizado por disputas políticas y trabjas jurídicas. Hasta el momento los problemas se han de resolver con acuerdos específicos.

La situación del transporte entre ambas ciudades es extremadamente compleja. Los acuerdos alcanzados permiten el establecimiento de una tarifa única, y establecen limitaciones en la recogida de pasajeros los buses con origen en Soacha no pueden recoger pasajeros en las estaciones intermedias en Bogotá, y viceversa. Pero la cantidad diaria de personas que se movilizan a diario hace imprescindible el establecimiento de un sistema masivo de transporte. La carretera principal que une los centros de las dos urbes, la Autopista Sur, está completamente saturada y sufre colapsos constantes durante las horas punta.

Ya en el 2006 se iniciaron los planes para ampliar el Transmilenio hasta Soacha. Sin embargo, el proyecto sufrió constantes retrasos, y la primera línea no empezó a funcionar hasta finales del 2015, con 4 paraderos. Aún así, el sistema no comenzó a operar completo, pues los buses alimentadores todavía no se han puesto en funcionamiento. Los usuarios más alejados de la Autopista Sur se ven por tanto obligados a tomar otros medios de transporte para acceder al Transmilenio. Para muchos usuarios el pago de dos boletos es excesivamente oneroso, por lo que renuncian al uso del Transmilenio y siguen dependiendo por completo de las antiguas rutas. También hay muchas quejas relacionadas con la falta de frecuencia de los autobuses articulados.

Todos estos problemas han resultado en un altísimo grado de insatisfacción por parte de los usuarios. En ocasiones se han producido protestas espontáneas que bloquean el sistema durante unas horas. Todavía no hay fecha para puesta en servicio de los alimentadores, pese a que el sistema moviliza ya unos 75.000 pasajeros diarios en Soacha. En la actualidad se están haciendo obras para ampliar las estaciones, y para alargar el sistema en 3,8km, aunque resulta muy difícil aventurar cuando estarán terminadas y abiertas al público las nuevas estaciones.

La conurbación es una situación inevitable en las mega urbes que crecen a ritmo acelerado. La separación de administraciones puede suponer un grado adicional de dificultad para resolver los problemas más inmediatos de sus ciudadanos, como el transporte.

Fotos: Aldrium Gyet

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ENGLISH

Building East Africa’s most efficient public transit network

Dar es Salaam, 13 November 2015 — Dar es Salaam, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly urbanizing centers, is on track to obtain megacity status by 2020. By 2030, it will have the fastest growth in emerging middle class households in Africa (those earning $5,000-$20,000 per year). With this future ahead, infrastructure is going to need to keep up—and the government has a plan. See more.

ENGLISH

Building East Africa’s most efficient public transit network

Hilary Zainab, Dar es Salaam Community Manager

In order to meet Dar es Salaam’s increased demand for public transport and urban mobility, the Government of Tanzania has been implementing a number of key infrastructure projects aimed at decreasing congestion and opening up suburban areas to the central business district.

According to East Africa Business Week, of the cities five million residents, 70% of them depend on a system that is unreliable, unsafe, and inefficient. The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently announced approval of $141.71 million in funding to support the second phase of development for the Dar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System. The BRT is a piece of the wider plan to improve transportation infrastructure in the countries commercial capital.

Dar es Salaam municipal authorities and the Government of Tanzania continue to work towards the goal of developing the most efficient public transportation system in the East African Community. In 2012, DART began operating a commuter rail, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. Targeting suburban commuters, the rail line operates during morning and evening hours, primarily servicing workers heading to the city center.

Prior to launching the commuter rail, the only form of “public” transportation consisted in truth, of a privately owned network of daladalas, the local term for the mini-buses, which have become ubiquitous transportation in Africa. According to a study undertaken by the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) in 2014, there were 3,700 individuals who owned the 6,820 registered daladalas operating on the cities 362 licensed routes.

The daladala system faces many challenges, including poor vehicle upkeep, lack of control, no formal schedules, long wait times on major routes, overcrowding, and significant jams at bus stops. To be accomplished over six phases, the DART plan includes 130 kilometers of new bus transportation corridors, 18 terminals, and 228 stations. As a way of distinguishing itself from the current daladala system, DART proposes to use high capacity buses that meet environmental and international service standards. The first 138 buses for the BRT system arrived in Dar in late September from China; however, they faced challenges in clearing customs as loan monies were not readily allocated.

Another challenge faced by the BRT system is to increase knowledge among commuters about the benefits of using these newer networks. In October, a joint workshop organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (DART) sought to educate the public and key stakeholders on the impact that transportation has on greenhouse gas emissions. In Tanzania, the largest contributor of transportation related emissions comes from passenger cars and light-duty trucks, which account for over half of the emissions from this sector. The BRT is seen in part as one strategy to help reduce the number of older cars that contribute significantly to environmental pollution.

Traffic congestion in Dar is not going to disappear overnight; however, the commitment to establishing a model network in East Africa and the wider sub-Saharan region has placed Tanzania at the forefront of a clean energy revolution poised to transform the African subcontinent. Close.

Photo: Niklas Nilsson Kreu

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Nông nghiệp đô thị: Giải pháp đô thị cho các nông dân thành phố

Ho Chi Minh City, 12 Tháng mười một 2015 — Rất ít người nghĩ về hình ảnh người nông dân khi nói đến thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Và số người biết rằng TP. HCM có một phần năm diện tích là đất nông nghiệp, và gần một phần ba dân số thuộc ngành nông nghiệp thậm chí còn ít hơn. Trong tình thế cả chính sách dành cho nông thôn và đô thị đều không phù hợp với thực tế và nhu cầu của họ, người nông dân đô thị dần nhận thấy một hướng đi khả thi cho họ mang tên "nông nghiệp đô thị". Xem thêm.

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TNông nghiệp đô thị: Giải pháp đô thị cho các nông dân thành phố

Với sự mở rộng nhanh chóng và tốc độ đô thị hóa chóng mặt của các huyện ven đô, người nông dân của TP. HCM đối mặt với nhiều vấn đề nghiêm trọng đặc thù của đô thị như ô nhiễm đất, ô nhiễm không khí, và sự co rút diện tích đất nông nghiệp, trong số rất nhiều vấn đề khác. Mặt khác, nông dân TP. HCM lại có nhiều lợi thế mà nông dân ở các vùng nông thôn không có, chẳng hạn như khoảng cách rất gần với người tiêu dùng thành thị và sự dễ dàng tiếp cận với công nghệ mới. Hoàn cảnh đặc thù này đưa đến yêu cầu cần thiết phải chuyển đổi sang "nông nghiệp đô thị" - giảm diện tích trồng lúa và ứng dụng công nghệ trong việc thay đổi vật nuôi và cây trồng phù hợp với nhu cầu thành thị, song song đó tập trung vào tính bền vững và bảo vệ môi trường.

Nông nghiệp đô thị - kế hoạch 5 năm cho nông dân thành phố

Từ năm 2010, Sở Nông nghiệp và Phát triển nông thôn TP. HCM đã thiết kế một kế hoạch 5 năm cho giai đoạn 2011-2015, với mục đích "phát triển nông nghiệp thành phố theo hướng nông nghiệp đô thị hiện đại, nâng cao năng suất, chất lượng, hiệu quả, ổn định, bền vững". Các bước tiến hành bao gồm chuyển đổi vật nuôi và cây trồng, xây dựng cơ sở công nghệ cao nhằm tạo cơ hội cho ứng dụng công nghệ sinh học trong chăn nuôi và nghiên cứu, hỗ trợ tài chính cho các đề xuất sáng tạo của nông dân theo sự chỉ đạo của kế hoạch 5 năm, và tổ chức lớp học về các loại giống mới, công nghệ mới cho nông dân.

Để chuẩn bị cho sự thay đổi, Khu Nông nghiệp Công nghệ cao TP. HCM đã được xây dựng vào năm 2004 tại Củ Chi, một trong những huyện ngoại thành. Khu Nông nghiệp Công nghệ cao TP. HCM nằm trên diện tích 88,17 ha với nhiều khu vực riêng dành cho các mục đích ươm tạo và nghiên cứu, thu hút các nhà đầu tư, hội thảo giáo dục và các chuyến tham quan, v.v… Bên cạnh Khu Nông nghiệp Công nghệ cao TP. HCM, còn có một số trung tâm công nghệ và nghiên cứu, như Trung tâm Công nghệ sinh học, Trung tâm Giao dịch và Triển lãm sản phẩm nông nghiệp, Trung tâm Thủy sản thành phố, ... Với cơ sở vật chất đó, kể từ khi khởi động kế hoạch 5 năm vào năm 2011, Sở Nông nghiệp & Phát triển Nông thôn đã tổ chức được 356 hội thảo và tập huấn cho tổng số 27.660 người tham gia, và hỗ trợ tổng cộng 10.000 tỷ đồng vốn vay và vốn đầu tư.

Những câu chuyện thành công, và bước tiếp theo

Với sự hỗ trợ về công nghệ và tài chính, nhiều sản phẩm nông nghiệp phù hợp cho người tiêu dùng đô thị đã được phát hiện. Một ví dụ điển hình về nông nghiệp đô thị thành công là hoa phong lan. Không giống như cây lúa đòi hỏi đất trồng rộng lớn và nước tưới dồi dào, hoa lan yêu cầu nhiều công nghệ hơn là đất. Với một diện tích hạn chế chỉ 500 m2, chị Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà ở huyện Hóc Môn đã tham dự tập huấn về trồng lan và đầu tư vào khoảng 3.000 chậu lan với nhiều giống khác nhau. Lợi nhuận hàng tháng của chị Hà hiện nay là 5 triệu đồng, tương đương với mức lương của một sinh viên mới ra trường tại trung tâm TP HCM. Để hỗ trợ nông dân trong việc chuyển đổi từ cây lúa sang các cây trồng đô thị như hoa lan, Sở và các hội nông dân đã cố gắng tập trung tài trợ các khoản đầu tư công nghệ ban đầu cho những nông dân có mong muốn chuyển đổi.

Về phía vật nuôi, các loài vật độc lạ như cá sấu và rùa rất được người dân thành thị ưa chuộng, và thậm chí còn có cơ hội xuất khẩu nước ngoài. Tương tự như hoa lan, những vật nuôi này không đòi hỏi nhiều không gian. Trong diện tích 300 m2, anh Huỳnh Văn Chính đầu tư nuôi 350 con rùa, và mang lại cho gia đình lợi nhuận hàng năm khoảng 150 triệu đồng. Đã đi theo các loại cây trồng và vật nuôi truyền thống trong thời gian dài mà không thành công, anh đã đầu tư xây dựng chuồng trại và thiết lập các cơ sở vật chất sau khi được giới thiệu tới loài rùa. Ông hiện đang khuyến khích các gia đình xung quanh chuyển đổi sang rùa với mục đích tập trung để xuất khẩu.

Nhiều loại cây trồng và vật nuôi khác cũng đã được phát hiện là có lợi và phù hợp với hoàn cảnh của nông dân đô thị, bao gồm có các loài cây cảnh, cá cảnh, bò sữa, chim yến, v.v… Tuy nhiên, một bước quan trọng tiếp theo cần thực hiện ngay là ổn định đầu ra cho nông dân, trong đó bao gồm cả việc đào tạo tốt hơn cho nhiều nông dân hơn. Trong khi nhu cầu đô thị là rất cao và đa dạng, vẫn còn nhiều trường hợp các sản phẩm của nông dân thành phố phải để thối rửa không có người mua. Lý do thường thấy là sự đầu tư ồ ạt vào các giống cây trồng hoặc vật nuôi mới được phát hiện mà không ký hợp đồng với công ty hoặc thương lái trước, và không thực hiện nuôi trồng theo tiêu chuẩn của công ty. Vì thế, đào tạo về kinh tế và công nghệ tốt hơn là bước tiếp theo để đảm bảo nông nghiệp đô thị thực sự là một giải pháp tốt cho người nông dân thành phố. Close.

Photo: Tam Nguyen

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Dhaka’s new transit hub could cut commuting times in half

Dhaka, 11 November 2015 — Dhaka is densely populated with an extremely populated city center, making transport in the city challenging. To combat this, the government has designed the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development project. In collaboration the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the new system is expected to move over 60,000 commuters per hour. Many struggle for housing at the city center but at the same time, cannot afford it. This project helps connect the outer city population to the city hub without having to fight the expense of living there. See more.

ENGLISH

Dhaka’s new transit hub could cut commuting times in half

Sumaiya Nehla Saif, Dhaka Community Manager

A remarkably rapidly growing city, Dhaka holds the dreams and aspirations of many. As portrayed in many movies and films, people from all over the country come to this city in hope that they might make a living for themselves as well as their families back home. This makes the city center overpopulated as well as expensive. In order to combat this problem as well as to distribute commercial growth and stimulate economic exchange all over the city, including expansions at the outer city limits, the government, with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, designed the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development project, which is expected to move over 60,000 people per hour.

Dhaka is one of the largest cities with approximately 15 million people, but the road infrastructure has not been designed to be compatible with this high, and increasing, population. The traffic congestion in Dhaka city is estimated to cause an economic loss worth about 2 billion USD and rising. The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project is proposed to combat this problem to help more than a half a million people as well as to commute considerable amount of goods by rail without having to fight through Dhaka traffic, which can be as low as two kilometers per hour of speed.

The project team, with the beginning stages almost done, are ambitious about the potential and scope of this system and expect it to be partially running by 2019, initially on a 10-kilometer stretch but covering a 20-kilometer one once it is fully running. Six spacious and air-conditioned coaches will be operating every four minutes, and a commuting time of about two hours is expected to be reduced to 40 minutes. A total of 24 trains are aimed to be running and transporting about 60,000 passengers every hour, picking up and dropping off passengers from 16 points both in and around the city center, enabling smooth transportation within city and outer limits of city. This is much needed because the biggest problem that stems out of extreme levels of traffic congestion in Dhaka is the increasing distance between outer and inner city

Many struggle for housing at the city center but at the same time, cannot afford it. This project helps connect the outer city population to the city hub without having to fight the expense of living there. The boundaries of Dhaka city are increasingly blurring and outer city limits are spawning zones of poverty and require attention.

The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development project will not only combat traffic congestion but also provide an environmental-friendly mode of transportation. However, overseers need to be sure the budget is properly routed to complete the project and not lost in endless bureaucracy. Otherwise, if implemented successfully, it will prove to be considerably helpful in fostering communication between the city center and the outer limits and consequently contribute to further economic growth and expansion of development. Close.

Photo: Asian Development Bank

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Por Uma Terra de Direitos

Curitiba, 10 novembre 2015 — Apesar da imagem de "cidade modelo," Curitiba não enfrentou a desigualdade socioespacial tanto dentro dos limites da capital, quanto em escala metropolitana – e sérios problemas de segregação persistem nos 29 municípios que, em sistema de conurbação, formam o que se denomina Grande Curitiba. Conheça aqui o trabalho do Terra de Direitos, que batalha para superar as fragmentações e promover, em todo o território, uma nova institucionalidade, que incorpore os princípios inclusivos da universalidade, interdependência e indivisibilidade. Leia mais.

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Por Uma Terra de Direitos

Andréa Azambuja, Coordenadora da Rede em Curitiba

Curitiba é referência em planejamento urbano no Brasil, mas não parece de fato ancorar um plano de inclusão: as zonas pobres da cidade são justamente as periféricas – quanto mais longe do centro, menos infraestrutura. Apesar da imagem de "cidade modelo," a capital do Paraná também não enfrentou a desigualdade socioespacial em escala metropolitana, e seus sérios problemas de segregação se estendem aos outros 28 municípios que, em sistema de conurbação com ela, formam o que se chama de Grande Curitiba – um aglomerado urbano de três milhões e meio de pessoas.

Como em qualquer lugar do mundo, o desenvolvimento na Grande Curitiba funciona como um organismo vivo, assumindo características distintas em determinados períodos. Atualmente, induz a expansão industrial na região metropolitana, o que intensifica o movimento pendulário – cerca de 681 mil pessoas já circulam diariamente entre cidades – inverte seu fluxo e acarreta problemas ambientais, de transporte e de habitação, entre outros. Por isso a importância de se planejar reetruturações de forma integrada e acompanhá-las de perto: só assim suas facetas mais perversas podem ser evitadas.

Aí entra o trabalho da Terra de Direitos, que, desde 2002, atua na medição de conflitos coletivos, na interlocução com poderes públicos e na formulação de denúncias em prol da defesa aos direitos humanos no Paraná, e também no Pará e no Distrito Federal. Formada principalmente por advogados e por uma assessoria de comunicação, a associação promove, ainda, espaços de articulação da sociedade civil, investindo na capacitação de lideranças e fortalecendo a luta coletiva de movimentos sociais. Entre suas principais áreas de atuação estão a equidade sócio-espacial, a igualdade na distribuição de recursos e infraestrutura, a efetivação do direito à terra urbana e rural e o direito ao território de povos tradicionais.

Foi a Terra de Direitos que, no começo de 2014, fomentou o Mobiliza Curitiba, grande mobilização conjunta de sindicatos, entidades, coletivos e cidadãos para acompanhar, propor e monitorar conteúdos para o Plano Diretor, instrumento governamental que orienta o funcionamento da capital e, por consequência, dos municípios vizinhos, agora em aprovação no segundo turno.

Com participação incessante na exigência de políticas inclusivas – chegaram a entregar ao governo a própria cartilha de emendas e propostas – o grupo foi imprescindível na discussão das Zeis, Zonas Especiais de Interesse Social (destinadas a moradias populares dentro da capital), conseguindo mostrar o potencial do instrumento para evitar a expulsão de famílias frente à especulação imobiliária. Uma maneira de pensar o zoneamento sob a ótica da população de baixa renda que se sobressaiu – e foi aprovada.

Atualmente, a Terra de Direitos age em duas cidades ilustrativas do mencionado boom imobiliário: São José dos Pinhais, uma das que mais cresce e, agora, sofre com o aumento de preços da terra, e Piraquara, que, em área de proteção ambiental, impõe inúmeras restrições à atividade industrial e apresenta um dos piores IDHs da região – em ambas, batalha pela formalização da regularização de áreas ocupadas. Está, portanto, na linha de frente do desenvolvimento do Paraná, enxergando de perto suas contradições, as clareiras de vulnerabilidade que cria enquanto abre terreno – aí sua segurança na hora de integrar e apontar caminhos de uma nova institucionalidade, que supere as fragmentações e incorpore os princípios da universalidade, interdependência e indivisibilidade.

Pela competência, o grupo foi reconhecido com o Prêmio Defensores de Direitos Humanos – categoria Dorothy Stang, da Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos e com o Prêmio Luta pela Terra, em comemoração aos 25 anos do MST, para citar alguns, e seu projeto de regularização fundiária "Direito e Cidadania" recebeu premiação do Prêmio Innovare, que reconhece as boas práticas dentro do campo jurídico. Close.

Fotos: 1. Mobilização da sociedade civil / 2. Movimentos Sociais Do Paraná Trancam Mais De 10 Rodovias No Estado – Crédito: Joka Madruga/ Terra de Direitos

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El Corredor Cali – Jamundí: gestionando los problemas de tráfico en una area metropolitana en pleno crecmiento

Cali, 9 novembre 2015 — Jamundí, una ciudad dormitorio ubicada a 23 km de Cali, ha duplicado su población en cinco años. Este crecimiento explosivo ha supuesto un deterioro considerable en los medios de transporte que existen entre las dos ciudades. Para resolver esta situación sería necesario crear una entidad regional que examinara los problemas del área metropolitana en su conjunto. Leer más.

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El Corredor Cali – Jamundí: gestionando los problemas de tráfico en una area metropolitana en pleno crecmiento

Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Cali

Jamundí es una población ubicada a unos 23 kilómetros al sur de Cali. Su ubicación, dentro del valle, la convierte en una de las zonas de expansión natural de la capital del Valle del Cauca. Esto se ha visto reflejado en un crecimiento explosivo de su población, que se ha duplicado en apenas cinco años, pasando de 60000 habitantes en 2009 a 140000 en 2014. Se trata de uno de los municipios con mayor crecimiento de Colombia, y se espera que las altas tasas se mantengan, impulsadas en parte `por el desarrollo de una gran zona franca, Zonamérica, que pudiera generar miles de empleos.

Una parte significativa de las familias que hasta el momento se han instalado en Jamundí son de clase media y media alta, y disponen de vehículo propio. Al tratarse fundamentalmente de una ciudad dormitorio, se produce una enorme cantidad de tráfico rodado en las horas pico. Algunas estimaciones cifran el tránsito diario de vehículos privados por el corredor que une ambas ciudades en torno a los 40000. La consecuencia son constantes trancones que en ocasiones suponen que el tránsito de una ciudad a otra demore cerca de una hora.

La solución a estos problemas es compleja, en un contexto de previsible deterioro a medio plazo, pues se estima que la población de Jamundí se incremente en un 50% en los próximos 5 años. Las distintas propuestas adoptadas han jugado un papel importante en las elecciones a alcalde que se celebraron en octubre. Muchas de las propuestas pasan por la ampliación de las carreteras y la construcción de una circunvalar en la zona sur de Cali.

Quizá la propuesta de mayor alcance sea la creación de un sistema de tren de cercanías que una ambas ciudades. El macro-proyecto del Corredor Verde ya incluye esta solución pero su avance está siendo muy lento. En la actualidad a penas han comenzado las obras en un tramo dentro de Cali, y se espera que se licite la segunda parte en breve. Sin embargo, no hay todavía una fecha exacta para la ejecución de la infraestructura ferroviaria. De hecho, aún se está estudiando su formato definitivo, entre metro ligero o tranvía. Aunque su formulación combina la infraestructura ferroviaria con la puesta en funcionamiento de un carril de bicicletas, su puesta en funcionamiento a corto o medio plazo está descartada.

Uno de los retos a los que se enfrenta el corredor es la ausencia de una institución formal que regule las relaciones dentro del área metropolitana de Cali. Por iniciativa del alcalde Rodrigo Guerrero se ha creado una asociación de 11 municipios conocida como el G11, y que conforman una Región de Planeación y Gestión. Esta figura, recogida en la constitución, busca facilitar el acuerdo entre los municipios, pero aún así los acuerdos deben alcanzarse de forma bilateral. La gravedad y urgencia de los problemas que el acelerado crecimiento de las ciudades que rodean a Cali harían aconsejable la creación de un ente regional metropolitano con una autonomía y capacidad de acción suficientes.Cerrar.

Foto credit: Luis Alveart

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Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu Greater Jakarta

Jakarta, 6 Nopember 2015 — Konsep Greater Jakarta melibatkan kota-kota di pinggiran sebagai kawasan penyangga kota inti. Spill over effect bukan hanya dalam hal ekonomi namun juga permasalahan sampah. Perencanaan bersama dalam pengelolaan sampah antar kawasan sangat vital dan dilakukan melalui pembangunan TPA bersama, TPST dalam kota serta peningkatan kesadaran melalui pemberdayaan masyarakat yang berwawasan ekologis. Baca lebih lanjut.

BAHASA INDONESIA

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Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu Greater Jakarta

Widya Anggraini, Jakarta Community Manager

Peran ganda Jakarta sebagai pusat pemerintahan nasional, pusat bisnis, perdagangan dan jasa, pusat pendidikan dan kebudayaan serta pariwisata menjadi faktor utama terjadinya urbanisasi. Jakarta yang tumbuh pesat berakibat juga terhadap perkembangan kota-kota disekitarnya. Kawasan pinggiran ini atau yang kini kerap disebut sebagai Greater Jakarta meliputi wilayah Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi (Bodetabek) berperan sebagai penunjang sekaligus penyangga perkembangan Jakarta sebagai kota inti. Kawasan ini memiliki peran penting karena 60% penduduk Jabodetabek tinggal disana. Dengan penambahan Cianjur, Sukabumi, Karawang dan Purwakarta, maka Greater Jakarta akan membengkak menjadi seluas 16.000 km2 dengan jumlah penduduk mencapai hampir 30 juta. Perkembangan ini tentu membutuhkan perencanaan kota yang benar termasuk dalam pengelolaan sampah.

Mengelola sampah bukan hal yang mudah untuk metropolitan Jakarta sebab volume yang terus meningkat. Saat ini diperkirakan DKI Jakarta menghasilkan 6.000 ton sampah perhari dengan rata-rata peningkatan sebesar 5% pertahun. Untuk itu pengelolaan sampah tidak dapat diselesaikan sendiri dan harus bekerjasama yang melibatkan daerah penyangga. Pengelolaan sampah secara terintegrasi diharapkan dapat menyelesaian masalah sampah wilayah Jakarta dan sekitarnya. Pengelolaan sampah bersama memanfaatkan lahan TPA Bantar Gebang di Bekasi serta upaya pengolahan sampah dalam kota dengan membangun Tempat Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu (TPST) untuk mengurangi jumlah sampah yang harus dikirim ke TPA. Peningkatan kesadaran masyarakat juga terus ditingkatkan melalui pemberdayaan masyarakat dalam pengolahan sampah.

Saat ini telah dioperasikan TPST Cakung Cilincing yang mampu mengelola 1.300 ton sampah perhari. TPST ini memanfaatkan teknologi yang dikenal dengan Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) yang mengolah sampah organik dengan sistem daur ulang. Selain itu TPST Sunter dan Marunda juga akan dioperasikan. Ketiga TPST ini jika dioperasikan bersama mampu menampung 4.500 ton sampah. Sampah kemudian diolah menjadi kompos, bahan bakar pembangkit listrik serta mampu menghasilkan bahan bakar gas (BBG). Sedangkan, ITF (Intermediate Treatment Facility) Sunter yang berdiri di atas lahan 3,5 hektar direncanakan mampu mengolah sampah sebanyak 1.200 ton per hari dengan teknologi waste to energy.

Koordinasi antar daerah penyangga untuk pengelolaan sampah terus dilakukan. Namun demikian tiap kota memiliki strategi sendiri dalam pengelolaan sampah dalam kota. Bekasi misalnya telah merancang system berbasis teknologi yang akan mengatur pengelolaan sampah dari hulu hingga ke hilir. Caranya dengan memasang GPS pada truk pengangkut sampah untuk mengetahui pergerakannya. Masyarakat juga bisa melaporkan tumpukan sampah dilingkungannya dengan mengirim foto dan petugas akan datang. Sementara itu pengelolaan sampah di Tangerang lebih bertumpu pada sinergitas masyarakat dimana masyarakat di dorong untuk mengelola sampah sendiri dengan membuat Bank Sampah. Sampai tahun 2015 telah muncul 39 komunitas peduli sampah yang tersebar di Kota Tangerang dan 350 Bank Sampah.

Pengelolaan sampah terpadu dengan pendekatan berwawasan lingkungan serta pilihan model pengelolaan dalam kota-kota di kawasan pinggiran Jakarta akan selalu saling terkait dan memberikan dampak yang saling mempengaruhi. Tantangan dalam pengelolaan sampah bersama terletak pada kesediaan kota pinggiran ini untuk menggunkan lahannya untuk pengolahan sampah yang bisa jadi diprotes oleh masyarakat sekitarnya. Kemauan politik antar pemerintah kota harus ada sebab jika tidak makan sampah akan selalu menjadi masalah yang tak kunjung bisa diselesaikan. Close.

Photo: christophe thillier

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Slum upgrading on the racially divided edges of Johannesburg

Johannesburg, 15 October 2015 — Johannesburg’s economic and spatial fragmentation – largely along racial lines – has given rise to informal settlements along apartheid-era buffer zones and at the outskirts of the city, perpetuating a landscape shaped by deep inequalities. This month we spoke to Dr. Costanza La Mantia, who recently organised an International Trans-disciplinary Workshop held at the University of the Witwatersrand in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano on patterns of peripheral poverty, using Kya Sands informal settlement on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg as a case study. The workshop aimed at collaboratively developing an incremental and integrative upgrading strategy, using design as an exploratory tool to foster negotiations and collaborations. See more.

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Slum upgrading on the racially divided edges of Johannesburg

Tariq Toffa, Johannesburg Community Manager

Johannesburg’s economic and spatial fragmentation – largely along racial lines – has given rise to informal settlements along apartheid-era buffer zones and at the outskirts of the city, perpetuating a landscape shaped by deep inequalities. This month we spoke to Dr. Costanza La Mantia, an architect, planner, academic and co-founder/director of award winning firm Bantu Design and Research, who recently organized an International Trans-disciplinary Workshop held at the University of the Witwatersrand in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano on patterns of peripheral poverty, using Kya Sands informal settlement on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg as a case study.

What concerns was this workshop organized to address?

While characterized by the absence of basic services and serious environmental risks, informal settlement communities are also highly adaptive and resilient, exhibiting alternative, bottom-up practices. However, institutions still address informal settlement upgrading in a compartmentalized way, framing the response as the provision of basic services and housing – rarely in situ – failing to address the complex economic, socio-spatial, and ecological challenges that are at the root of the phenomena and its complexity.

The workshop aimed at collaboratively developing an incremental and integrative upgrading strategy for the Kya Sands settlement, which could generate synergies between alternative economies, restorative ecologies, social empowerment and spatial transformations, using design as an exploratory tool to foster negotiations and collaborations.

How does current practice match up?

The well-known RDP mechanism continues to pervade the mindset of municipality officials, notwithstanding the progressive shift of focus in the national programmes requiring integrative and participatory approaches. The various city departments often operate in an uncoordinated manner, either due to overlapping – if not conflicting – mandates, or due to a general lack of communication. The result is that when institutions intervene, projects often proceed outside a logical sequence and lack synergistic integration, representing both a waste of economic resources as well as exacerbating the institutional capacity to respond effectively.

A deep change of attitude towards more flexible, integrated, participatory and context-specific approaches is made unfeasible both by the current fragmentation of the institutional landscape, and by the lack of a strong design focus. Rather, interventions are shaped by institutions around numeric targets rather than around principles such as spatial quality, context specific responses and integrated and collaborative approaches. For sustainable change, a different method is needed, and our workshop wanted to push the city to experiment in these areas.

What did you learn?

Local and foreign students and experts worked in the field for two weeks. Beyond the spatial fragmentation, in the process we discovered a deep fragmentation of interests as well – both within the community and more generally among the different stakeholders.

What was achieved on the ground?

One of major achievements of the workshop on the ground was the construction of an honest dialogue among the different stakeholders. This process was started and facilitated through the workshop, building a solid basis for a long-term collaborative engagement. But we would like the city to step in more proactively in this regard.

What was the experience of collaborating with the city and what, if anything, has it committed itself to?

By engaging the city officials in experimentation with integrated approaches, we realized that a changing mindset on integrated participatory upgrading was happening among the participants, unveiling the importance of bringing different interests together and negotiating around common aspirations. But while there is a verbal commitment from the city’s side, we will have to see if and how the city will react to the proposed strategies so that this kind of experimentation can become real praxis.

Close.

Photo credits: Costanza La Mantia

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Desarrollo local para Milpa Alta

Mexico D.F., 4 Novembre 2015 — En 2010, El CONEVAL informó que Milpa Alta era el municipio de la Ciudad de México con mayores niveles de pobreza, con el 48.6 por ciento de su población. Por lo anterior, el gobierno local y la iniciativa privada implementan estrategias de desarrollo local para atraer turismo a la localidad. Leer más.

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Desarrollo local para Milpa Alta

María Fernanda Carvallo, Gestor Comunitario de Mexico D.F.

Milpa Alta es el municipio más alejado del centro de la capital y debido a la falta de infraestructura de obra pública y transporte, se considera zona semi urbana-rural. Con 101 mil habitantes, tiene un reto enorme de encontrar estrategias para vincular la localidad con los demás municipios de la Ciudad de México, promover el bienestar de 50 mil personas que viven en pobreza y excluidos de las oportunidades.

En este sentido, el gobierno local en alianza con la iniciativa privada ha detonado diversos proyectos de desarrollo local para vincularlo con la pujante actividad económica de la Ciudad de México y del Estado colindante de Morelos.

Una de las estrategias es la Feria Nacional del Mole, platillo típico mexicano, originalmente solo 4 personas de los barrios de Milpa Alta preparaban el mole para las festividades; sin embargo convirtieron la tradición en una feria gastronómica, artesanal y comercial en el pueblo de San Pedro Actopan que actualmente alberga aproximadamente 600 visitantes y participan más de 2,605 personas. Según datos de la Secretaria de Turismo del Gobierno del Distrito Federal para la edición de este 2015, se espera que la feria genere empleo para más de 12 mil personas, de las cuáles 70% trabaja en diversas actividades relacionadas con el mole. La feria se ha implementado desde hace 34 años, no obstante los últimos años se ha focalizado en diversificar los entretenimientos para atraer más turismo.

En 2010, las autoridades del Gobierno de Milpa Alta, Distrito Federal y emprendedores, decidieron iniciar una nueva estrategia que permita atraer aproximadamente 20 mil personas, a través del Festival Multicultural de Globos de Cantolla. El festival promueve la visita de turistas para realizar camping, talleres para hacer globos, conciertos de música, danza, prueba gastronómica, entretenimiento de campo, vuelo en globo aerostático y elevación nocturna de cientos de globos simultáneos. Los mejores artesanos del país y países invitados como Brasil, Colombia y Francia participan en el concurso de globos. El Festival ya es considerado como una de las actividades turísticas que se difunden en los principales sitios turísticos de México. El Gobierno de Milpa Alta espera que, con los años, esta fiesta se convierta en un clásico -- como la tradicional Feria del Mole, que logre atraer a una población nacional e internacional para dar una experiencia única y activar a su vez la economía local.

Otras de las estrategias complementarias para la región conllevan la promoción cultural en la localidad. El gobierno de la Ciudad de México, a través de la Secretaria de Cultura, ha implementado cuatro centros culturales, conocidos como “Faros”, en la Ciudad; uno de ellos se encuentra en Milpa Alta. El “Faro” de Milpa Alta se ha caracterizado por su presencia activa en las comunidades, por tejer lazos comunitarios a través de la colaboración con los habitantes para fortalecer fiestas tradicionales de la región, bajo el criterio de descentralizar bienes y servicios culturales; facilitar e impulsar el acceso de todos quienes vean en el arte y la cultura una opción de desarrollo. Close.

Foto: Pako Martinez

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ENGLISH

Connecting to the periphery

Nairobi, 3 November 2015 — Nairobi is notorious among commuters, travellers, and business owners for consistent and costly jams. Large-scale infrastructure development has helped the efficiency and effectiveness of moving goods and people through and around Nairobi. Because of recently completed road projects, peripheral urban areas of Nairobi have experienced many positives, including a dramatic decrease in commuting time—a step that is in line with Kenya reaching its Vision 2030. See more.

ENGLISH

Connecting to the periphery

Hilary Nicole Zainab Ervin, Nairobi Community Manager

The quality and quantity of a nation’s roads are directly correlated with positive growth in key economic trade and development indicators while also having considerable social and environmental impacts. The Government of Kenya estimated that congestion in and around the capital costs the country $578,000 USD a day in lost productivity in 2014.

In November of 2012, former President Mwai Kibaki launched the Thika-Nairobi superhighway development project. The $360 million USD, 31-mile-long, eight-lane infrastructure project received funding from the African Development Bank, the Exim Bank of China, and the Kenyan government. Since completion, the residential and commercial peripheral urban areas of Nairobi have experienced a dramatic decrease in the travel time from 2-3 hours to 30-45 minutes. Market accessibility for traders and producers has increased household incomes for numerous individuals and small-business owners along the route. This project was a first for Kenya and has demonstrated the economic benefit to individuals and businesses, especially those not in the city center, of improved road infrastructure.

The planned developments of the Southern, Northern, and Eastern Bypass roads and improvements to existing Outer Ring Road have the potential to realize further benefits for the country. However, these projects have been frustrated by a number of challenges. The mass relocation of public works, such as sewer and water lines, the proposed Southern Bypass road route through a protected wildlife refuge, and delayed payments from the Kenyan Government are just a few of issues that have frustrated developers.

The Southern Bypass would have considerable impact on the flow of goods to and from the Port of Mombasa and areas upcountry, such as Elderot, Kisumu, and internationally to Uganda. The trunk road will connect Mombasa highway to Kikuyu town, northwest of Nairobi. The 17.7-mile road is financed by the Kenyan (15%) and Chinese governments (85%) to the tune of $165 million USD and contracted to the China Road and Bridge Corporation.

Nairobi’s Outer Ring Road is also up for a long overdue upgrade. This major artery has the highest volume of daily traffic in the nation, servicing 87,000 vehicles per day. With an expected completion date of December 2017 , the eight-mile road will increase from a single lane to a two-lane highway and include a number of service roads, 10 footbridges, six subways for pedestrians, non-motorized traffic lanes, six junctions and a Bus Rapid Transport Corridor.

These infrastructure improvements coupled with the Eastern and Northern Bypass roads are on track to have significant and sustained impact on economic growth and development in Nairobi’s suburban and peri-urban communities. A documentary analysis of the impact the Nairobi-Thika superhighway project has had on communities and businesses located along the route provides antidotal evidence that outcomes will be significant and positive. Though beset by challenges of corruption, forced dislocation, and the need to adhere to conservation mandates these large-scale development initiatives, once completed, are likely to provide yet another boost for the East African nation as it barrels towards middle-income status. Close.

Photo credits: Wikipedia: Trans-African Highway network

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ENGLISH

Once a jungle, Bangalore’s recycling hub faces rising costs

Bangalore, 2 November 2015 — As the Bangalore metro grows, informal economies on the outskirts of the city are at risk of eviction. The city’s recycling hubs and waste processing units are located in areas that are now unaffordable. In an ongoing study, Hasiru Dala and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements are working to quantify the economic and social value of the recycling economy to push for subsidized rent and mitigate displacement. See more.

ENGLISH

Once a jungle, Bangalore’s recycling hub faces rising costs

Ashali Bhandari, Bangalore Community Manager

Bangalore’s Municipal Corporation and informal waste economy work together to collect and process the city’s daily waste generation of 3,000 – 5,000 tons. With waste separation mandated at the source, informal waste pickers and municipal employees work at Dry Waste Collection Centers (DWCCs) in over 100 wards to separate waste into two categories: that to be sent to a landfill and that to be sold to scrap dealers and processed for recycling. Approximately 1,050 tons of waste are recycled daily and thus the informal recycling economy saves the city Rs. 84 crore (almost $13 million) annually.

Nayandahalli, one of the largest recycling hubs in the city, was established in the 1970s when the area was no more than what some would describe as a “jungle” with “no electricity, water or roads.” Today, it is one of the largest recycling hubs in the city with over 250 godowns (plants that further separate waste and recyclables). With the expansion of the Metro services, the godown owners in Nayandahalli, who primarily rent the land, have been receiving notices to move out. The high price elasticity of the land incentivizes the landowners to look for more ‘lucrative’ tenants.

"If there is a market for scrap, why does it have to be informal?" asks Hasiru Dala, founder Nalini Shekar. Hasiru Dala, a member-based organization of waste pickers, is working with the Indian Institute of Human Settlements in an ongoing study to help mitigate displacement and push for subsidized rents. The study, which is expected to be completed by May 2016, is looking to highlight the necessity of the recycling industry for the city. Quantifying the contribution of these godowns is the first step in fighting for a permanent home for them in the city.

The study enlists researchers trained in research methods and grassroots mobilization as well as locals to gain a holistic understanding of how the informal waste economy operates. Along with establishing the number of laborers, quantity of waste that is recycled, and economic benefits for the city, the study is looking at policies that could help alleviate the waste economy’s susceptibility to external factors that reduce the demand for recycled materials from Nayandahalli.

The pilot survey of 50 godowns begins to shed light on the volume of waste processed by these centers. Each month the sample of 50 godowns receives 552.5 tons of dry waste from the DWCCs for further sorting. After the waste has been segregated into five main categories based on material, it is further divided into categories based on color, texture, and quality. On average 26% of the received waste is rejected and 407.24 tons are sent to processors for recycling each month. This means that these 50 godowns sort through and recycle 2.23% of all the dry waste generated by residents of Bangalore.

Extrapolated to all 250 godowns: 10.94% of the city’s generated dry waste is sent to Nayandahalli, only one of the handful of areas that sort through dry waste as part of the recycling industry. Hasiru Dala is documenting their progress to raise awareness about the positive contribution the recycling industry provides to the city and will hopefully help negotiate for a safe space where the industry can grow.

Close.

Photo credit: SuSanA Secretariat

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Comments

Turismo como motor económico

Permalink Submitted by jorgebela on Sun, 11/08/2015 - 07:30

Hola Fernanda,

sin duda la proximidad a las urbes gigantescas es a la vez una bendición y un castigo para ciudades como Milpa Alta. Su carácter rural le añade un valor incuestionable como centro turístico, cosa que no sucede en las ciudades que se han convertido en dormitorios de las grandes capitales. Me parece interesante el enfoque que le están dando las autoridades, potenciando su gastronomía y sus festivales. ¿Existe oferta de hoteles y establecimientos turísticos, o se trata más bien de una destino al que los capitalinos acuden por un día y luego regresan a sus casas?

Turismo en Milpa Alta

Permalink Submitted by María Fernanda ... on Mon, 11/09/2015 - 19:41

Jorge, gracias por tu comentario. Efectivamente, el turismo en zonas rurales está cobrando importancia entre los capitalinos, pues son pulmones de la ciudad que permiten tener contacto con la naturaleza. Es interesante que la estrategia de desarrollo aun no alcanza el establecimiento de hoteles o infraestructura turística, me parece que se está posicionando como un turismo alternativo y tipo ecoturismo. Por ejemplo, en el festival de globos de cantolla, la gente puede pasar la noche en campamentos; para el resto de los eventos la gente normalmente acude por un día. Milpa Alta se encuentra a 1 hora de una de las delegaciones del sur que están más conectadas con la dinámica económica de la ciudad, por lo que es un destino cercano si se cuenta con transporte privado, ya que la movilidad en esta zona aún representa un gran reto.

Jakarta’s sprawl needs new ideas for waste

Permalink Submitted by Andréa Azambuja on Thu, 11/12/2015 - 07:05

Hi Wydia,
Thanks for your article. I found very interesting the Bekasi initiative of installing GSP system in the garbage trucks, it makes a lot of sense. Has this been working fine? Do you know if it's a cheap or expansive solution? About the City of Tangerang, I couldn't understand perfectly how the Garbage Banks work (Google Translator didn't help me much! :)), but I found very interesting this process of people storing their own garbage, because that calls the attention for the huge amount of garbage we produce and might make people think on ways of producing less – is this accompany by any awareness campaign on this matter by the government too?

Dear Ashali,

Permalink Submitted by Shaima Abulhaj on Mon, 11/16/2015 - 02:40

Dear Ashali,
nice article. I wonder if there are some corporate which help through CSR mechanisms to develop Nayandahalli, besides are the Ministries of Bangalore making sure of the labors safety and children there?
It is really interesting how waste recycle can be turned to be a development tool in the global south if it is supported and aided by the national authorities as well as the people's awareness.
Best

Dear Shaima,

Permalink Submitted by Ashali Bhandari (not verified) on Mon, 11/23/2015 - 03:35

Dear Shaima,
CSR would be an interesting way for funds to be allocated towards developing infrastructure (hard and soft) in Nayandahalli. Looking at trends of CSR spending, most large companies invest in rural development (often in communities where they have operations) or in health and education. While CSR investment in the social sector could augment development efforts by the government, the area and its residents also need to be protected against displacement. From my understanding, the DWCCs do provide their staff with safe and hygienic conditions. The study is ongoing and can be followed more closely at: http://wastenarratives.com/

Thanks a lot Ashali for the

Permalink Submitted by Shaima (not verified) on Fri, 11/27/2015 - 03:34

Thanks a lot Ashali for the elaboration. I have been always believing that CSR is a part and parcel of any development process, since corporate in fact get a maximum benefit sometimes from the same local community, hence their engagement should be inevitable to reach a comprehensive and holistic equal-development mechanism.
My best regards!

Alternative Source of Water Supply in Ghana

Permalink Submitted by Peter Adeyeye on Mon, 11/23/2015 - 11:50

Dear Ortis,
Nice article on Peri-urban water supply in Ghana. Interestingly, the scenario described is similar to Lagos albeit people mostly buy from private boreholes as opposed to a central reservoir. Please, is the GCWL and AVRL arrangement a PPP and what are the factors responsible for periodic water shortage?
Also, why are people/government not exploring the bore hole options? Here in Lagos, Local Government Heads and other government authorities sometimes construct borehole in strategic locations to meet the need of the people there.
Thanks

Hey Peter,

Permalink Submitted by Ortis Yankey on Tue, 11/24/2015 - 12:17

Hey Peter,
I don't really understand what you mean by PPP, but with the borehole issues, yes some people buy water from private boreholes. In general, it is mostly high class household that drill boreholes in their house since its very costly to construct and I don't think the poor can afford it. I think drilling borehole by the government is a good option to explore, but I don't actually know government policy regarding boreholes in the city.What I know is that government construct boreholes for rural areas that are not accessible to central water supply system. we must also understand that borehole is direct underground water and untreated. its sometimes salty and not portable for drinking. Poor household may still have to find an alternative source of drinking water, even though they may still use the water for household chores.
Periodic water shortage is attributed to a number of factors, but according to a report by Water Aid on Ghana, two main issues with the water shortage is due to higher level of urbanisation and higher operational cost. The population within Accra is growing, but the GWCL has not expanded its infrastructure to cater for the growing population due to the higher cost involved in such projects. Let me know what you meant by PPP

Hello

Permalink Submitted by Peter Adeyeye on Fri, 11/27/2015 - 07:42

Hello Ortis,
Thanks for the clarification. Apology for the abbreviation, I want to know if it is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Ghanaian government and a private organization.
Thanks

el arte y la cultura como opción de desarrollo

Permalink Submitted by Lou Dangelo (not verified) on Tue, 11/24/2015 - 07:21

Hola Fernanda,
Gracias por tu artículo. Siempre me interesan las iniciativas que plantean el arte y la cultura como una opción de desarrollo. Me quedé pensando: y qué piensan los mismos habitantes de esta transformación?
Un riesgo sería que esta iniciativa sea la única política pública para la comunidad. Me encantan las iniciativas culturales y artísticas, pero me parece que a veces sirven como fachadas. Pintan murales mientras las personas no tienen acceso a SPD, u organizan talleres de música mientras las tasas de analfabetismo son muy altas… O sea, son políticas muy lindas – ¿quién se opondría al arte? – pero a veces no responden a las necesidades más urgentes de las comunidades.
Me imagino que en el caso que mencionas genera beneficios económicos para la comunidad. No sé si pensaron en asociar estos eventos a políticas más estructurales como el mejoramiento del hábitat.

informal waste management

Permalink Submitted by Lou Dangelo (not verified) on Tue, 11/24/2015 - 07:22

Hello Ashali, I really enjoyed reading your article. I wrote a paper comparing the policies of Buenos Aires and Cairo on the matter of informal waste management. I am against the idea that in developing countries, informal waste management systems are impediments to modernity and should be eradicated, and not developed. Governments should turn the threat into potential. The greenest cities of the future might be those that maximize the work that the informal sector is already performing, and doing so, they both create and secure jobs for the excluded, and support the development of a better urban environment.
The land value issue is major though. Here in Medellin there was also a big recycling hub, at the time when it was created it was considered in the suburbs, but since the city grew so rapidly, it was quickly in a central area… They’ve completely transformed the area now, it’s a garden.

Permalink Submitted by Ashali Bhandari (not verified) on Wed, 11/25/2015 - 22:35

Hi Lou,

I completely agree! Sustainable cities of the future will hopefully find a way to integrate informal waste management into formal processes to reduce waste in landfills and decrease the carbon footprint of waste! Do you know what happened to the recycling area and the workers in Medellin? Did it shift to an area where land values were lower or was it eradicated completely? I find it extremely interesting that with rising land values, decision makers still chose to create a community space! If only waste management was valued as the public good it really is!

Informal housing in Delhi

Permalink Submitted by Hilaryzainab on Sat, 11/28/2015 - 08:30

Hey Mukta!

I found this article very interesting and critical for housing rights and equity in developing and rapidly urbanizing cities. Affordable rents are one of the most talked about yet difficult to manage aspects of urban housing in such a context. The incentive to landholders and rental agents to cater to the highest bidder undercuts the need of middle class and low income individuals to access housing. This complicates not only economic mobility but safety and security as well. I enjoyed hearing that there are organizations working to address this issue with micro lending and construction retrofits that increase the availability of housing stock for internal migrants. It will be interesting to see what impact this can have on housing security for economic migrants to the city.

Hi Andrea,

Permalink Submitted by widya anggraini on Sun, 11/29/2015 - 14:47

Hi Andrea,
Apology for the delay to response…the technology was made locally and developed by local people. So, I think it is a good investment in a sense that the government appreciate local products and promote innovation. That’s the information I got so far about it ☺ and about Garbage Banks, it was initiated by community and supported by the government as well as private sector such as Unilever. Rising awareness is also part of public campaign and it was not only conducted by city government but also the lowest level of government such as village and sub-district government. Each of government level already allocate money for campaign on waste management on their development plan document each year.

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The new distribution of urban poverty: thinking outside the city limits

Conectar barrios periféricos de la zona nororiental al centro de la ciudad

Connecting outlying areas in East Medellin to the city center

Conectar barrios periféricos de la zona nororiental al centro de la ciudad

Lou D'Angelo, Gestor Comunitario de Medellin

Connecting outlying areas in East Medellin to the city center

Lou D'Angelo, Medellin Community Manager

New Mumbai needs poverty addressed, too

New Mumbai needs poverty addressed, too

Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager

Outside Delhi, informal rentals provide affordable housing

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Mukta Naik, Delhi Community Manager

Pembangunan Kawasan Gerbangkertasusila Mempertimbangkan Kondisi Sosial Ekonomi Spasial

Coordinating the development of Surabaya’s surrounding cities

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Widya Anggraini, Surabaya Community Manager

Coordinating the development of Surabaya’s surrounding cities

Widya Anggraini, Surabaya Community Manager

Water is life: Peri-urban water supply in Accra

Water is life: Peri-urban water supply in Accra

Ortis Yankey, Accra Community Manager

O Rio de Janeiro aglutinador

Unifying Rio de Janeiro

O Rio de Janeiro aglutinador

Andréa Azambuja, Coordenadora da Rede em Rio de Janeiro

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Andréa Azambuja, Rio de Janeiro Community Manager

Empowering Chittagong’s indigenous people

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Sumaiya Nehla Saif, Chittagong Community Manager

Infrastructure investments to reduce poverty in Lagos suburbs

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Peter Adeyeye, Lagos Community Manager

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Cairo's desert cities: new economic and social horizons

المدن الجديدة في القاهرة: آفاق اقتصادية واجتماعية جديدة

Shaima Abulhajj, Cairo Community Manager

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Shaima Abulhajj, Cairo Community Manager

Problemas de transporte en Soacha, una ciudad conurbada con Bogotá

Transportation problems in Soacha, a town extending from Bogotá's urban edge

Problemas de transporte en Soacha, una ciudad conurbada con Bogotá

Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Bogotá

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Jorge Bela, Bogotá Community Manager

Building East Africa’s most efficient public transit network

Building East Africa’s most efficient public transit network

Hilary Zainab, Dar es Salaam Community Manager

Nông nghiệp đô thị: Giải pháp đô thị cho các nông dân thành phố

When agriculture goes urban: orchids prove good investment for HCMH farmers

TNông nghiệp đô thị: Giải pháp đô thị cho các nông dân thành phố

When agriculture goes urban: orchids prove good investment for HCMH farmers

Tam Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City Community Manager

Dhaka’s new transit hub could cut commuting times in half

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Sumaiya Nehla Saif, Dhaka Community Manager

Por Uma Terra de Direitos

For a Land of Rights

Por Uma Terra de Direitos

Andréa Azambuja, Coordenadora da Rede em Curitiba

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Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu Greater Jakarta

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