PLANNING SUSTAINABLE CITIES PLANNING SUSTAINABLE CITIES GLOBAL REPORT ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 2009 United Nations Human Settlements Programme London • Sterling, VA First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2009 Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2009 All rights reserved United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) PO Box 30030, GPO Nairobi 00100, Kenya Tel: +254 20 762 3120 Fax: +254 20 762 3477 / 4266 / 4267 Web: www.unhabitat.org DISCLAIMER The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. The analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme or its Member States. HS Number: HS/1192/09E (paperback) HS/1193/09E (hardback) ISBN: 978-1-84407-899-8 (paperback) 978-1-84407-898-1 (hardback) 978-92-113-1929-3 (UN-Habitat series) 978-92-113-2162-3 (UN-Habitat paperback) 978-92-113-2163-0 (UN-Habitat hardback) Typeset by MapSet Ltd, Gateshead, UK Cover design by Susanne Harris For a full list of publications please contact: Earthscan Dunstan House 14a St Cross St London, EC1N 8XA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 1930 Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1474 Email: [email protected] Web: www.earthscan.co.uk 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA Earthscan publishes in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Planning sustainable cities : global report on human settlements 2009 / United Nations Human Settlements Programme. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-84407-898-1 (hbk.) — ISBN 978-1-84407-899-8 (pbk.) 1. City planning—Environmental aspects. 2. Urban ecology (Sociology) 3. Sustainable development. I. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. II. Title: Global report on human settlements 2009. HT166.P5424 2009 307.1'2—dc22 2009022390 At Earthscan we strive to minimize our environmental impacts and carbon footprint through reducing waste, recycling and offsetting our CO 2 emissions, including those created through publication of this book. For more details of our environmental policy, see www.earthscan.co.uk. This book was printed in Malta by Gutenberg Press. The paper used is FSC certified and the inks are vegetable based. FOREWORD The major urban challenges of the twenty-first century include the rapid growth of many cities and the decline of others, the expansion of the informal sector, and the role of cities in causing or mitigating climate change. Evidence from around the world suggests that contemporary urban planning has largely failed to address these challenges. Urban sprawl and unplanned peri- urban development are among the most visible consequences, along with the increasing vulnerability of hundreds of millions of urban dwellers to rising sea levels, coastal flooding and other climate-related hazards. Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 looks at the widespread failure to meet the needs of the majority of urban inhabitants, especially those in the rapidly growing and predominantly poor cities of the developing world, and identifies ways to reform urban planning. The report identifies a troubling trend in most cities in developed and developing countries: the growth of up-market suburban areas and gated communities, on the one hand, and the simultaneous increase in overcrowded tenement zones, ethnic enclaves, slums and informal settlements, on the other. Strong contrasts have also emerged between technologically advanced and well-serviced economic production and business complexes such as export processing zones, and other areas defined by declining industry, sweatshops and informal businesses. This report documents many effective and equitable examples of sustainable urbanization that are helping to define a new role for urban planning. I commend its information and analysis to all who are interested in promoting economically productive, environmentally safe and socially inclusive towns and cities. Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General United Nations INTRODUCTION Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 assesses the effectiveness of urban planning as a tool for dealing with the unprecedented challenges facing 21st-century cities and for enhancing sustainable urbanization. There is now a realization that, in many parts of the world, urban planning systems have changed very little and are often contributors to urban problems rather than functioning as tools for human and environmental improvement. Against this background, the Global Report’s central argument is that, in most parts of the world, current approaches to planning must change and that a new role for urban planning in sustainable urban development has to be found. The Global Report argues that future urban planning must take place within an understanding of the factors shaping 21st-century cities, including: • the environmental challenges of climate change and cities’ excessive dependence on fossil fuel-powered cars; • the demographic challenges of rapid urbanization, rapid growth of small- and medium-sized towns and an expanding youth population in developing nations, and, in developed nations, the challenges of shrinking cities, ageing and the increasing multicultural composition of cities; • the economic challenges of uncertain future growth and fundamental doubts about market-led approaches that the current global financial crisis have engendered, as well as increasing informality in urban activities; • increasing socio-spatial challenges, especially social and spatial inequalities, urban sprawl and unplanned peri- urbanization; and • the challenges and opportunities of increasing democratization of decision-making as well as increasing awareness of social and economic rights among ordinary people. An important conclusion of the Global Report is that, even though urban planning has changed relatively little in most countries since its emergence about 100 years ago, a number of countries have adopted some innovative approaches in recent decades. These include strategic spatial planning, use of spatial planning to integrate public-sector functions, new land regularization and management approaches, participatory processes and partnerships at the neighbourhood level, and planning for new and more sustainable spatial forms such as compact cities and new urbanism. However, in many developing countries, older forms of master planning have persisted. Here, the most obvious problem with this approach is that it has failed to accommodate the ways of life of the majority of inhabitants in rapidly growing and largely poor and informal cities, and has often directly contributed to social and spatial marginalization. There are a number of key messages emerging from the Global Report, all of them contributing towards finding a new role for urban planning in sustainable urban development. One important message is that governments should increasingly take on a more central role in cities and towns in order to lead development initiatives and ensure that basic needs are met. This, to a large extent, is a result of the current global economic crisis, which has exposed the limits of the private sector – in terms of its resilience and future growth as well as the ability of the ‘market’ to solve most urban problems. It is clear that urban planning has an important role to play in assisting governments to meet the urban challenges of the 21st century. As the world becomes numerically more urban, it is important that governments accept urbanization as a positive phenomenon and an effective means for improving access to services, as well as economic and social opportunities. If urban planning is to play a more effective role as a consequence of this policy orientation, countries need to develop overall national urban strategies. With respect to the reconfiguration of planning systems, the Global Report’s message is that careful attention should be given to identifying opportunities that can be built on, as well as factors that could lead to the subversion and corruption of planning institutions and processes. In particular, urban planning needs to be institutionally located in a way that allows it to play a role in creating urban investment and livelihood opportunities through responsive and collaborative processes as well as coordination of the spatial dimensions of public-sector policies and investment. To ensure that participation is meaningful, socially inclusive and contributes to improving urban planning, a number of minimum conditions need to be satisfied, including: a political system that allows and encourages active citizen participation; a legal basis for local politics and planning that specifies how the outcomes of participatory processes will influence plan prepa- ration and decision-making; and mechanisms for socially marginalized groups to have a voice in both representative politics and participatory planning processes. Introduction vii The Global Report identifies a number of promising trends for bridging the green and brown agendas, including: • the development of sustainable energy in order to reduce cities’ dependence on non-renewable energy sources; • the improvement of eco-efficiency in order to enable the use of waste products to satisfy urban energy and material needs; • the development of sustainable transport in order to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of dependence on fossil fuel-driven cars; and • the development of ‘cities without slums’ so as to address the pressing challenges of poor access to safe drinking water and sanitation as well as vulnerability to natural hazards. The report recommends a three-step process for effectively responding to urban informality: first, recognizing the positive role played by urban informal development; second, adopting revisions to policies, laws and regulations to facilitate informal-sector operations; and, third, strengthening the legitimacy of planning and regulatory systems. Two aspects are particularly important in this process: embracing alternatives to the forced eviction of slum dwellers and informal entrepreneurs, for example regular- ization and upgrading of informally developed areas; and the strategic use of planning tools such as construction of trunk infrastructure, guided land development and land readjustment. Strategic spatial plans linked to infrastructure development can promote more compact forms of urban expansion focused around public transport. In this context, linking major infrastructure investment projects and mega-projects to strate- gic planning is crucial. An infrastructure plan is a key element of such strategic spatial plans. In this, transport–land-use links are the most important ones and should take precedence, while other forms of infrastructure, including water and sanitation trunk infrastructure, can follow. Most urban planning systems do not have monitoring and evaluation as an integral part of their operations. The Global Report suggests that urban planning systems should integrate monitoring and evaluation as permanent features, along with clear indicators that are aligned with plan goals, objectives and policies. Urban plans should also explicitly put in plain words their monitoring and evaluation philosophies, strategies and processes. The outcomes and impacts of many large-scale plans are difficult to evaluate because of the many influences and factors that are at play in cities over time. For this reason, it makes more sense to focus on site plans, subdivision plans and neighbourhood plans, all of which are smaller in scale and more conducive to monitoring and evaluation. A final message of the Global Report is that curricula in many urban planning schools need to be updated. This is partic- ularly the case in many developing and transition countries where curricula have not been revised to keep up with current challenges and issues. Planning schools should embrace innovative planning ideas, including the ability to engage in participa- tory planning, negotiation and communication, understanding the implications of rapid urbanization and urban informality, and the ability to bring climate change considerations into planning concerns. In addition, it should be recognized that planning is not ‘value-neutral’ – for this reason, urban planning education should include tuition in ethics, the promotion of social equity and the social and economic rights of citizens, as well as of sustainability. The Global Report is published at a time when there is keen global interest in the revival of urban planning, within the context of sustainable urbanization. I believe the report will not only raise awareness of the role of urban planning in striving for sustainable cities, but also offer directions for the reform of this very important tool. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MANAGEMENT TEAM Director: Oyebanji O. Oyeyinka. Chief editor: Naison D. Mutizwa-Mangiza. AUTHORS:UN-HABITAT CORE TEAM Ben C. Arimah (also Task Manager, Overall Report); Inge Jensen (also Task Co-manager, Statistical Annex); Naison D. Mutizwa- Mangiza; and Edlam Abera Yemeru (also Coordinator, International Advice). AUTHORS:EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS Vanessa Watson, University of Cape Town, South Africa (Chapters 1, 3 and 11); Ambe Njoh, University of South Florida, US (Chapters 2 and 3); Simin Davoudi, Patsy Healey and Geoff Vigar, with Michael Majale, Newcastle University, UK (Chapter 4); Carole Rakodi, University of Birmingham, UK (Chapters 5 and 7); Peter Newman, Curtin University, Australia (Chapter 6); Alison Todes, with James Duminy, WITS University, South Africa (Chapter 8); Mark Seasons, University of Waterloo, Canada (Chapter 9); Bruce Stiftel, Georgia Institute of Technology, US, with Juan Demerutis, University of Guadalajara, Mexico; Andrea I. Frank, School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, UK; Thomas Harper, University of Calgary, Canada; Daniel Kweku Baah Inkoom, University of Science and Technology, Ghana; Lik-Meng Lee, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; Jose Julio Lima, Federal University of Para, Brazil; Ali Memon, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Terence Milstead, Appalachian State University, US; Izabela Mironowicz, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland; Tumsifu Nnkya, ARDHI University, Tanzania; Didier Paris, University of Lille, France; Christopher Silver, University of Florida, US; and Neil G. Sipe, Griffith University (Australia) (Chapter 10). PREPARATION OF STATISTICAL ANNEX (UN-HABITAT) Inge Jensen; Gora Mboup (Task Co-manager); Julius Majale; Philip Mukungu; and Wandia Riunga. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM (UN-HABITAT) Beatrice Bazanye; Nelly Kan’gethe; Pamela Murage; and Naomi Mutiso-Kyalo. INTERNATIONAL ADVISERS (HS-NET ADVISORY BOARD1 MEMBERS) Samuel Babatunde, Agbola, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Louis Albrechts, Institute for Urban and Regional Planning, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium; Marisa Carmona, Department of Urbanism, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Nowarat Coowanitwong, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; Suocheng Dong, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Alain Durand-Lasserve, Sociétés en Développement dans l’Espace et dans le Temps, Université Denis Diderot, France; József Hegedüs, Metropolitan Research Institute, Varoskutatas Kft, Hungary; Alfonso Iracheta, Programme of Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio Mexiquense, Mexico; A. K. Jain, Delhi Development Authority, India; Paula Jiron, Housing Institute, University of Chile, Chile; Vinay D. Lall, Society for Development Studies, India; José Luis Lezama de la Torre, Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales, Mexico; Om Prakash Mathur, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (IDFC), India; Winnie Mitullah, Institute of Development Studies (IDS),