Urban World: Climate Change: Are cities really to blame?

Climate ChangeAre cities really to blame?

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WORLD u r b a n

FOR A BETTER URBAN FUTURE

Toronto’s Mayor leads global fight against climate change

India launches new sanitation programme

Singapore: a model for sustainable development?

How Canada is leading the world in green building

Colombian microentrepreneurs provide solution to low-income housing

W O R L D u r b a n 2 March 2009

CONTENTS

OPINION

Message from the Executive Director

A call for actionDavid Cadman, ICLEI President

The time to act is now UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Why governments are wrong about climate changeBjørn Lomborg, professor, Copenhagen Business School

COVER STORY

Climate Change

Are cities really to blame?David Dodman and David Satterthwaite

Our future is in your handsHon. Apisai Ielemia, Prime Minister, Tuvalu

The challenge for Africa’s citiesDavid Simon and Cheikh Guèye

How construction is vital to reducing emissionsMohamed El Sioufi

India launches youth programme to fight global warmingPadma Prakash

Why sustainable cities hold the key to climate changeDaniel Hoornweg and Perinaz Bhada

Climate change is not gender neutralLucia Kiwala, Ansa Masaud and Cecilia Njenga

FEATURES

WaterIndia’s Gwailor a leader in developmentSahana Singh

Housing FinanceWhere will the money come from now?Daniel Biau

BEST PRACTICES

ConstructionCanada blazes a trail in green buildingSarah Marks

INTERVIEW

A man for all seasons David Miller, Mayor of Toronto and chairman of the C40 Cities Group, talks exclusively to Urban World on why he has taken up the global challenge to combat climate change and his aims for the UN Copenhagen Meeting. By Kirsty Tuxford

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W O R L D u r b a n 3

URBAN WATCH

PeopleObituaries: Peter Oberlander and Peter Swan

Executive Director signs agreement with International Olympic Committee

Publications

Book ReviewReshaping Economic Geography (World Bank)

Calendar

Conference BriefingWorld Urban Forum, Nanjing

IN FOCUS

Latin America and the CaribbeanHow female entrepreneurs are transforming Colombian housingRichard Forster

Asia-PacificSingapore: a model for sustainable development?Vicente Carbona

Middle East and AfricaAbu Dhabi to build the world’s first zero carbon cityJonathan Andrews

Central and Eastern EuropeUN Poznan conference provides stark warning to governments

March 2009

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Volume 1 Issue 2



Climate change is fast becoming the preeminent development challenge of the 21st century, and this is why

we have made it the theme for the cover story of this second issue of our new flagship maga-zine, Urban World.

No-one today can really foresee the predicament in which a town or city will find itself 10, 20 or 30 years down the road. In this new urban era with most of humanity now living in towns and cities, we must bear in mind that the greatest impacts of disasters resulting from climate change begin and end in cities. Cities have the greatest influence on climate change.

Prevention can be greatly enhanced through better land-use planning and building codes so that cities keep their ecological footprint to the minimum, and make sure their residents, especially the poorest, are protected as best as possible against disaster.

With over one billion people languishing in slums, mostly in developing countries, global poverty is moving into cities in a process we call the urbanization of poverty.

In tackling urban poverty and climate change, we therefore have to think globally and locally at the same time. We need to understand that the fastest way to mitigate against climate change disaster is to reduce urban poverty.

It is also no coincidence that global climate change has become a leading international development issue precisely at the same time and at the same rate as the world has become urbanized.

We need to be conscious of the fact that some 40 percent of the world’s population lives less than 60 miles from the coast, mostly in big towns and cities. A further 100 million people live less than one metre above mean sea level. Coastal erosion, rising sea levels, saltwater contamination and potentially more powerful storms are expected – with ever growing human activity – to put these already threatened urban and natural environments under increasing stress.

All coastal cities face these threats, but the impact on cities with over 10 million people is potentially much more devastating. Water and sanitation systems placed under unbearable strain can leave millions of people at even greater risk of disease.

The role cities have to play in tackling the climate change scourge was very powerfully conveyed to us by delegates in November 2008 at the fourth session of UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China.

The Forum stressed that no successful city in the modern world can afford to ignore the effects of climate change. Harmonious urban growth has to go hand-in-hand with disaster mitigation and vulnerability reduction. And here early warning and better surveillance systems are of paramount importance. Cities must start by cutting their waste output and emissions, and consume less energy.

In many countries of the developing world, declining agricultural productivity due to climate change related weather patterns, and population pressures are pushing greater numbers of rural residents towards cities.

The Forum also told us that the nexus between rapid and chaotic urbanization and climate change has multiple impacts on highly vulnerable groups particularly women, youth and the very poor. The need for coordinated and joint action here at the normative and implementation levels was emphasized.

Numerous practices were presented and discussed at the World Urban Forum highlighting the actions taken and results cities have achieved in reducing their ecological footprints and carbon emissions.

The emerging groundswell of local initiatives underlines the need for international and national decision-making processes to integrate the cities and climate change agenda in post-Kyoto mechanisms and regime.

Indeed, the future of hundreds of millions of people around the world will be determined by the pace of adaptation and mitigation undertaken by our cities which are responsible for at least 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

How we thus manage and consume energy in our cities is the key driver behind the phenomenon of global warming. Seventy-five percent of global energy consumption occurs in cities and roughly half of this comes from burning fossil fuels in cities for urban transport. As such, every single dollar spent reducing this consumption is the single most cost-effective measure local governments can take in terms of climate change mitigation.

Local authorities must lead the way in finding real solutions to these global challenges. To date, there are few comprehensive examples of mitigation and adaptation at the local level, and there is clearly an urgent need to form a global platform to enable discussion, and exchange of good practices as well as practical action for local authorities to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The United Nations remains determined to provide coordinated support to the efforts of Member States at the local, national, regional and global levels in tackling climate change, now, up to, and beyond 2012. To achieve this, the United Nations system is bringing to bear, in a way perhaps never achieved before, the collective strengths of all its entities as an integral part of the international community’s response to this challenge.

UN-HABITAT has therefore designed a new project entitled SUD-Net: Cities in Climate Change Initiative (CCCI) – thanks to generous financial support from the Government of Norway. The project has been designed fully in accordance with our Medium-term strategic institutional plan 2008-2013.

Through the SUD-Net climate change initiative we will seek to minimize impacts on human settlements and increase the adaptive capabilities of local governments by strengthening governance structures and engaging the private sector and civil society in finding practical solutions.

It will focus on improving urban governance, decentralization of powers and responsibilities to the appropriate levels, and enhancing environmental management. The initiative will seek to provide cities with integrated strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Municipalities cannot fight this battle alone. They must have the backing of government and the business sector, especially in these times of financial crisis.

Anna Tibaijuka

OPINION Message from the Executive Director


The scientific community is un-

equivocal: climate change is upon

us, concentrations of atmospheric

carbon dioxide are at record levels and grow-

ing exponentially.

The Antarctic ice shelves are collapsing

faster than scientific models had anticipat-

ed. In the north, the Arctic ice that is re-

flective of the sun’s heat is being replaced

by ever larger expanses of dark blue ocean

that absorb more heat in summer. This re-

sults in open passageways, as well as the

melting of the adjacent permafrost and the

risk of a massive methane release that is

23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

From Greenland to the Himalayas, from

Glacier National Park to the snows of Kilimanjaro

and the peaks of the Andes, glaciers all over the

planet are melting and beginning to disappear.

These changes will profoundly affect water

flows that literally billions of people depend

upon as sources of water and will initiate sea

level rises. All over the world we see profound

climatic alterations manifested in changing

weather patterns, stronger storms, more flash

floods and much more damage.

Ploddingly slow progress

But each year when the nations of the world

gather at the Conference of the Parties to

the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change, progress is ploddingly

slow.

Like Nero they fiddle while the planet

heats up and all life including our own is

put in jeopardy. Very few nations, if any,

OPINIONICLEI

The Vancouver City Councillor and International President of ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, David Cadman, makes a passionate call to action for a post-Kyoto Framework Convention in this message directed primarily at governments when they next discuss the climate change convention in Copenhagen in December 2009.

March 2009

World leaders: an urgent call for action

Arctic ice is melting into the ocean PHOTO © JOS BROWNING


OPINION Conflict in Africa taking the Responsibility to Protect

will meet their Kyoto targets of reducing

carbon dioxide emissions six percent below 1990

levels. And many signatories have allowed their

emissions to balloon well beyond 1990 levels.

We only have the 15th Conference of the

Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen in December

2009 to negotiate a post-Kyoto framework with

responsible scientific voices saying we have to

reduce our emissions by 80 percent below 1990

levels by 2050.

We know that if we fail the consequences for

the global economy, to saying nothing of all life

on our planet, will be catastrophic.

Cities are the key

Are we a cognitive species that can plan our

future capable of such profound change?

Can we do it? To borrow from President

Obama: Yes we can!

Today half of humanity lives in urban

areas and very shortly two-thirds of us will

be living in towns and cities – precisely the

places responsible for 75 percent of global

carbon dioxide with the vast majority coming

from the wealthy nations of the north.

Clearly profound changes are necessary

and growing urban areas are precisely the

places where the most effective changes

can be implemented fastest. Our cities must

become much more efficient users of energy

and we must make a shift from carbon based

fuels to renewable energy.

We have to see buildings, new and old,

not as draws on the power grid, the water

sources and waste disposal systems, but as

net contributors to the power grid, water

supply and zero waste contributors. We

have to reshape our transportation systems

to favour walking, cycling and clean public

transit. To those who say we cannot afford

this shift I would remind them how quickly

we found trillions of dollars for failing

financial institutions and inflated military

budgets.

We can do it if we set our mind to it and

make it a priority. Humanity is faced with

the challenge of the proverbial camel passing

through the eye of the needle. There is very

little room for error and yet we know we are

capable of prodigious achievement.

We set out to put a man on the moon and

did it. We set out to put a landing vehicle

on Mars and did it. It is going to take that

kind of resolve and commitment to meet the

challenge of climate change.

Think of the next generation and use

alternate energy sources

Every step we take along this path will

bring us closer to achieving the Millennium

Development Goals; every day we delay will

mean a steeper more rigorous way forward.

Any oil, gas or coal we avoid using today,

as we begin to approach Peak Oil, will be

the very resources we need to transition to

a renewable energy future. There is ample

passive solar energy for our heating needs

if combined with geothermal heating and

ample capacity for the growth of solar

paneled roofs and walls to meet smart

energy efficient building needs with excess

capacity to feed local grids.

Combine that with harnessing wind power

to its full potential, run of the river hydro

power, tidal power, wave power and shifting

to hydrogen power and systematically we

can make the transition away from fossil fuel

dependence while conserving our fossil fuel

resources for tasks only they can perform.

And the best thing about this transition

is that it will mostly occur locally where

we live and will stimulate growth in local

skilled employment that will remain in

our communities. All that is missing is the

political motivation to drive this agenda

forward to see a bright future and commit

ourselves as a society to reach out and grasp

it, to commit ourselves to achieving it for

future generations.

The 1,000 cities that are members of ICLEI

Local Governments for Sustainability, the

136 national federations of municipalities

that are members of United Cities and Local

Governments, the 40-largest cities that are

members of the C40, and all of the mayors

who are members of the World Mayors

Council on Climate Change, are committed

to this vision and want to work with national

governments and international institutions

to make this transition.

A robust commitment

We want a robust post-Kyoto commitment

with strong participation by the one non-

Kyoto signatory, the United States of

America, to a low carbon emitting future

that will ensure life on earth for future

generations. Is it too much to ask of the

nations of the world that they take climate

change seriously and commit to avoiding

climatic catastrophe for future generations?

We simply cannot continue to “live like there

is no tomorrow”. We must learn from native

people to think how all of our actions will

effect life seven generations into the future.

We must learn to live gently on the earth

to make sure its bounty and abundance

will be there for future generations. It is

now, in this, 21st century, that national

governments must step forward in December

in Copenhagen and together with their

urban agglomerates devise a way to avoid

catastrophic climate change.

They must commit sufficient resources so

that every nation and every urban commu-

nity can be part of the solution. We must be

the ones we have been waiting for. No task is

too large if we set our mind too it. Simply put,

we cannot countenance failure. u

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ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection is a

powerful mechanism helping over 900

local governments globally reduce their

greenhouse gas emissions. The approach

has been a combination of technical train-

ing, facilitation, reporting, best practice,

policy case studies, and political support

techniques. ICLEI directly helps local gov-

ernments understand their role in address-

ing climate change and how to play that role

effectively. As the debate on mitigation has

moved to mechanisms and the post-Kyoto

framework, the Cities for Climate Protec-

tion has broadened to include focus on

the need for local governments to adapt to

climate change already locked into the en-

vironment. Adaptation work has been de-

veloped in the United States and Australia

through best practice approaches and man-

uals on tools and techniques and in Europe

through case studies and conferences, and

now in Indonesia. ICLEI’s approach builds

on common risk management strategies

and adds long term opportunity creation, a

focus on hard and soft adaptation and the

construction of networks of interest to build

resilience and long-term capability.

ICLEI- Local Governments for

Sustainability

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My intention has been to bring

together all the diverse per-

spectives, expertise and

strengths of the UN system so as to deliver as

one in the critical area of climate change.

Since Bali [December, 2007] we have seen

even more compelling evidence of why we must

act now. Devastating recent climatic events like

the tropical cyclones in Myanmar and the Ca-

ribbean, widespread flooding in India and Chi-

na, and drought in Africa have highlighted the

vulnerability that people all over the world face.

It is clear that those who suffer the most

from the increasing signs of climate change

are the poor. Those that have contributed the

least to this planetary problem continue to be

disproportionately at risk.

We are now witnessing the confluence of a

series of events that threaten the very fabric of

the international system and human and eco-

logical security of individuals everywhere. The

high and volatile food and energy prices have

thrust at least 100 million people back into

poverty. With the global financial crisis, and

the recession that is following it, these num-

bers are likely to rise.

We risk that all the efforts that have been

made by countries to meet the Millennium

Development Goals and to alleviate poverty,

hunger and ill health will be rolled back.

At such a time, risks also present oppor-

tunities. In the face of mounting threats, the

international community must demonstrate

extraordinary will to come together and put

in place the foundation for a better future.

An ambitious climate agreement must be

an essential part of this. As we look forward

to Copenhagen, we must seize the opportuni-

ties presented by the multiple global crises to

vision a low-carbon economy; one which not

only ensures a secure climate, but also spurs

sustained economic growth.

In other words, greatly enhanced invest-

ment in renewable energy and energy effi-

cient technologies can not only put the earth

onto a sustainable track, it can generate em-

ployment and growth on an impressive scale.

Massively increased investment in forest con-

servation and afforestation can have climate,

biodiversity and economic benefits that are

mutually supportive and strengthen our abil-

ity to reduce disaster risk.

We must raise our collective level of ambi-

tion and commitment.

In delivering on agreements in the fu-

ture, the world needs effective, efficient and

well-coordinated international institutions.

This is particularly the case in the area of

financing for climate change, both in terms

of institutional arrangements and levels of

funding.

The United Nations system is positioning

itself as an effective conduit of international

action on an unprecedented scale.

We must take a comprehensive approach to

address the interconnected issues of econom-

ic growth and development, climate change,

food and agriculture, and energy. The role

of global markets and financial instruments

OPINIONUN Secretary–General

A priority of the UNEP and UN-HAB-ITAT collaboration framework is to support African cities so that they can develop and implement climate change adaptation and mitigation plans.

UNDP and UN-HABITAT are planning to work together on linking sub-national (state/provincial) plans with local cli-mate change adapation and mitigation initiatives.

UN-HABITAT and the World Bank are planning to expand knowledge manage-ment and tool development activities on cities and climate change.

UN-HABITAT and UNITAR, the UN In-stitute for Training and Research are ex-ploring the joint development of capacity building tools, including guidelines on climate change governance.

Working as one UN

The time to act is now

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon PHOTO © UN

The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has described climate change as the “defining challenge of our time”. In this message delivered to the Chief Executives’ Board of the United Nations at the November 2008 climate talks in Poznan, Poland, he argues that accelerated action is urgently needed on mitigation to avoid future catastrophic impacts, while at the same time stepping up efforts at adaptation to current and future impacts.


Together the two agencies are ush-

ering a new era of urban environ-

mental planning and manage-

ment.

To today’s hard-pressed urban managers,

urban development and environmental sus-

tainability can seem like two opposing con-

cepts. In successful cities, however, the two

objectives merge as sustainable urban devel-

opment, a concept underpinned by carefully

thought out Environmental Planning and

Management (EPM).

The deteriorating environment was rec-

ognized as a problem in the early 1990s and

put at the centre stage during the Rio Earth

Summit at the time. And while awareness,

understanding and knowledge have grown

over the last two decades, so have the prob-

lems multiplied by ever accelerating urban-

ization.

In the early 1990s, UN-HABITAT started

the Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) -

followed a little later by the Localizing Agen-

da 21 Programme (LA21). It was intended

to help find answers and solutions to these

problems.

It began with about 10 cities which started

to systematically examine the linkages be-

tween their development activities and the

environmental resources, getting institu-

tions and people around the table to identify

and negotiate solutions for the most press-

ing problems.

Soon UNEP joined in and, over the years,

the number of partner cities increased. To-

day there are 120 cities in 33 countries.

Many regional and international partner

institutions are also using the approach pio-

neered by SCP/LA21.

While the problems are as individual as

the cities themselves, it was soon realized,

that a common approach brought solutions

applicable in different cities. Issues tackled

by the cities started with the provision of

basic urban services, road construction, and

managing urban growth all the way to open

spaces, coastal protection and other envi-

ronmental objectives.

What have we learned nearly 20 years on?

That it is important to work at the local level

as well as national level. SCP started working

at city level. Soon it became obvious, however,

that to scale up the results, the national gov-

ernment had to recognize and approve the

approach. It is at the national level that valu-

able lessons learned can trickle down to other

municipalities as experienced in Oyo State,

Nigeria.

It takes time to change how a city is

governed

The aim of SCP/LA21 was to change the way

things were done – to make urban governance

more participatory, more transparent and

more strategic. This was only possible after

many little steps of trust-building and small

successes.

Therefore most SCP/LA21 projects lasted

longer then the anticipated three years as

March 2009

to deliver a low-carbon economy and green

growth will be paramount. Stimulus pack-

ages being designed to kick-start economic

activity should be invested in infrastructure

projects that deliver dividends of economic

growth, cuts in greenhouse gas emissions

and new green jobs.

We must give real meaning to the concept

of sustainable development, one that has in-

clusiveness, equity and environmental sus-

tainability at its heart. An ambitious and fair

climate agreement together with the politi-

cal will to implement it will be a central com-

ponent of global sustainable development.

On the way to the next Conference of the

Parties in Copenhagen [Dec. 2009], the UN

system will continue to intensify its efforts

for a more coordinated and effective delivery

in all areas related to climate change.

We hope that our determined efforts in

bridging the current implementation gap

will contribute to long-term cooperative

action on climate change at all levels and

thereby help to reach a successful outcome

in the negotiations. The UN system stands

ready to assist with the implementation of

the new mandates that will result from such

an agreement.

The whole world is watching and waiting.

We should not disappoint them. u

OPINION UN-HABITAT and UNEP

UN-HABITAT and UNEP working as oneFor a number of years UN-HABITAT and its sister agency based in Nairobi, UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, have teamed up to ensure that environmental considerations are carefully woven into the very fabric of urban sustainability. Here, Karin Buhren, of UN-HABITAT explains.

Flooding in Congo town in Liberia — a symptom of climate change? PHOTO © UN-HABITAT


illustrated by the Urban Authority Support

Unit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Link the local and the global

For a better implementation of international

treaties, but also for better implementable

treaties, the local and global levels in the

field of urban environment need to be con-

nected.

As the ICLEI Secretary-General, Konrad

Otto-Zimmermann states: “National gov-

ernments can get substantial support in

reaching their GHG reduction targets if they

empower municipalities to act on climate.

They are well advised to recognize local ac-

tion in their national climate plans.”

UN-HABITAT’s long-standing experi-

ence in dealing with sustainable urban

development, specifically through this ex-

perience, and the organization’s tried and

tested capacity-building tools, will benefit

the global Sustainable Urban Develop-

ment Network (SUD-Net) and its compo-

nent, the Cities in Climate Change Initia-

tive (CCCI).

SUD-Net further develops an understand-

ing and application of the principles of sus-

tainable urbanization, at global, regional,

national and city level. CCCI will more spe-

cifically develop, adapt and make available

the necessary methodologies that will pro-

vide city managers and practitioners with

guidelines on how to best cope with climate

change. For further information, contact

the UN-HABITAT Urban Environmental

Planning Branch by sending an e-mail to

[email protected], or see the website,

www.unhabitat.org/scp u

OPINIONUN-HABITAT and UNEP

March 2009

Climate knowledge is the foundation for the development of an effective response to

the climate change challenge. The UN system plays a central role in this area, bringing

together global resources for observation and analysis of climate change trends.

It is committed to reinforcing its efforts to provide sound and unbiased scientific

information and climate services to enable evidence-based policy and decision making

at all levels.

UN-HABITAT works closely with its sister agencies in the following areas:

- Support for national planning for adaptation, particularly for the Least

Developed Countries through the UN’s National Adaptation Programmes of

Action.

- Capacity development for national and local policy makers in addressing

climate change-related challenges through workshops and seminars at the local,

national and regional levels. This includes raising awareness, and providing geo-

referenced demographic and socio-economic data, particularly for cities and

about cities.

- Technology transfer through handbooks and training; providing policy support

and technical assistance for climate-friendly urban infrastructure investment at

the public and private levels.

At the fourth session of the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China in November,

UNEP and UN-HABITAT jointly arranged a seminar on Cities and Climate

Change: the road from Bali to Copenhagen. Participants discussed a Local

Government Climate Roadmap process from Bali to Copenhagen with the

objective of strengthening the role of local governments in the post-2012 climate

agreement. There were also lively discussions on practical measures to address

climate change through urban environmental planning, and innovative ways of

mobilizing finance and technological solutions.

Collaborations

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PHOTO © GEOF WILSON

“The world’s cities, which account for 80 percent of humanity’s production of greenhouse gases, recognize that inaction is not an option. Mayors of the world’s cities are the great pragmatists on the world’s stage. Results, not ideology, are what matter to us.” Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, New York City.


President Barack Obama’s book,

Dreams from My Father reveals

a lot about the way we view the

world’s problems. Obama is in Kenya and

wants to go on a safari. His Kenyan sister

Auma chides him for behaving like a neo-

colonialist:

“Why should all that land be set aside for

tourists when it could be used for farming?

These wazungu [white people] care more

about one dead elephant than they do for

a hundred black children.” Although he

ends up going on safari, Obama has no

answer to her question.

That anecdote has parallels with the cur-

rent preoccupation with global warming.

Many people – including America’s new

president – believe that global warming is the

preeminent issue of our time, and that cut-

ting CO2 emissions is one of the most virtu-

ous things we can do.

To stretch the metaphor a little, this seems

like building ever-larger safari parks instead

of creating more farms to feed the hungry.

Make no mistake: global warming is real,

and it is caused by our CO2 emissions. The

problem is that even global, draconian, and

hugely costly CO2 reductions will have virtu-

ally no impact on the temperature by mid-

century.

Instead of ineffective and costly cuts, we

should focus much more on our good cli-

mate intentions of dramatic increases in

zero-carbon energy, which would fix the cli-

mate towards mid-century at low cost. But,

more importantly for most of the planet’s

OPINION Climate change

Why governments are wrong about climate change

Profesor Bjørn Lomborg PHOTO © EMIL JUPIN Eradication of malaria should be a priority PHOTO © JANICE BOVANKOVICH

In this article reproduced with the kind permission of Project Syndicate 2009, Bjørn Lomborg, ad-junct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, offers a contrarian view on the climate change debate. Prof. Lomborg is the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It: The Skeptical En-vironmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming. He is the organizer of the Copenhagen Consensus.


citizens, global warming simply exacerbates exist-

ing problems – problems that we do not take seri-

ously today.

Consider malaria. Models show global warm-

ing will increase the incidence of malaria by about

three percent by the end of the century, because

mosquitoes are more likely to survive when the

world gets hotter.

But malaria is much more strongly related to

health infrastructure and general wealth than it

is to temperature. Rich people rarely contract ma-

laria or die from it; poor people do.

Strong carbon cuts could avert about 0.2 per-

cent of the malaria incidence in a hundred years.

The cheerleaders for such action are loud and

multitudinous, and mostly come from the rich

world, unaffected by malaria.

The other option is simply to prioritize eradica-

tion of malaria today. It would be relatively cheap

and simple, involving expanded distribution of

insecticide-treated bed nets, more preventive

treatment for pregnant women, increased use of

the maligned pesticide DDT, and support for poor

nations that cannot afford the best new therapies.

Tackling nearly 100 percent of today’s ma-

laria problem would cost just one-sixtieth of

the price of the Kyoto Protocol. Put another

way, for each person saved from malaria by

cutting CO2 emissions, direct malaria poli-

cies could have saved USD 36,000.

Of course, carbon cuts are not designed

only to tackle malaria. But, for every prob-

lem that global warming will exacerbate

– hurricanes, hunger, flooding – we could

achieve tremendously more through cheaper,

direct policies today.

For example, adequately maintained le-

vees and better evacuation services, not lower

carbon emissions, would have minimized the

damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on

New Orleans.

During the 2004 hurricane season, Haiti

and the Dominican Republic, both occupying

the same island, provided a powerful lesson.

In the Dominican Republic, which has in-

vested in hurricane shelters and emergency

evacuation networks, the death toll was fewer

than 10. In Haiti, which lacks such policies,

2,000 died. Haitians were a hundred times

more likely to die in an equivalent storm than

Dominicans.

Obama’s election has raised hopes for a

massive commitment to carbon cuts and

vast spending on renewable energy to save

the world – especially developing nations.

As Obama’s Kenyan sister might attest, this

could be an expensive indulgence. Some be-

lieve Obama should follow the lead of the

European Union, which has committed itself

to the ambitious goal of cutting carbon emis-

sions by 20 percent below 1990 levels within

12 years by using renewable energy.

This alone will probably cost more than

one percent of GDP. Even if the entire world

followed suit, the net effect would be to re-

duce global temperatures by one-20th of one

degree Fahrenheit by the end of the cen-

tury. The cost could be a staggering USD 10

trillion.

Germany has subsidized solar panels, as

some hope Obama might. Thus, everybody,

including the poor, pays taxes so that mostly

wealthier beneficiaries can feel greener. But

climate models demonstrate that Germany’s

USD 156 billion expense will delay warming

by just one hour at the end of the century. For

one-50th of that cost, we could provide essen-

tial micronutrients for two to three billion

people, thereby preventing perhaps a million

deaths and making half the world’s popula-

tion mentally and physically much stronger.

Again and again, we seem to choose the du-

bious luxury of another safari park over the

prosaic benefits offered by an extra farm.

Most economic models show that the total

damage imposed by global warming by the

end of the century will be about three percent

of GDP. This is not trivial, but nor is it the

end of the world. By the end of the century,

the United Nations expects the average per-

son to be 1,400 percent richer than today.

An African safari trip once confronted

America’s new president with a question he

could not answer: why the rich world prized

elephants over African children.

Today’s version of that question is: why

will richer nations spend obscene amounts

of money on climate change, achieving next

to nothing in 100 years, when we could do so

much good for mankind today for much less

money?

The world will be watching to hear Obama’s

answer. u

March 2009

OPINIONClimate change

The world is waiting to see Obama’s response to climate change PHOTO © STEVE JURVETSON


A ccording to our calculations, draw-

ing on the most recent figures of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC), cities produce between 30 and 41

percent of these emissions. But actually, the data

do not exist to provide an accurate figure which

is probably why the IPCC made no estimates for

the relative roles of cities, other urban centres and

rural areas.

To arrive at any figure for the contribution of

cities to GHGs from human activities, some heroic

assumptions have to be made. We are clear about

the assumptions we made to arrive at the figure of

between 30 and 40 percent.

To claim that 80 percent of such emissions

come from cities is always a puzzling statistic when

30 percent of emissions come from agriculture

and deforestation (almost all of which is outside

cities). So perhaps cities account for all other emis-

sions and so contribute to 70 percent of total emis-

sions. But this cannot be correct as there are all the

other sources of emissions that are not in cities but

in rural areas or in urban centres too small to be

considered cities - including many coal, oil and gas

fired power stations, many heavy industries and

a large percentage of wealthy, high-consumption

households. In high-income nations, a large part

of the wealthy population do not live in cities. This

helps explain why cities in high-income nations

have much lower levels of GHGs per person than

the average figure for their nation.

Confusion and limitations

The high estimates for the role of cities in global

GHGs may be muddling up fossil fuel burning

with greenhouse gas emissions. IPCC figures

for 2004 suggest that carbon dioxide from fos-

sil fuel use accounted for 57 percent of global

anthropogenic GHGs. So cities may have 70

percent of fossil fuel combustion but this would

mean around 40 percent of all GHGs.

The figures that overstate the role of cities in

global emissions may be making false assump-

tions. For instance, they may be assuming that

all industries and power stations are in cities.

Or they may be muddling up ‘cities’ with ‘urban

centres’ (a considerable part of the world’s ur-

ban population live in urban centres too small

to be considered cities). When cities are said

to consume 75 percent of the world’s energy, it

would be interesting to know what proportion

of emissions from industries and power stations

are assumed to be within ‘cities’.

Any attempt at creating a globally compa-

rable emissions index for cities is confounded

by boundary issues. It is difficult to compare

even relatively simple data – such as popula-

tion figures – between cities, because of the

different measures used to identify these. Are

figures for an historic administrative area, the

contiguous built-up area, or the larger munici-

pal or metropolitan area which may contain

substantial areas of open countryside?

From production to consumption-

based analyses

But it is not cities, other urban centres or

rural areas that produce GHGs, but particular

activities located there. It is also confusing to

assign all such emissions to particular places.

Most large coal-powered power stations may

be outside cities but much of the electricity

they produce is used in cities. Large airports

are used by far more than the population

living in that city – so should the city where

they are located get allocated all the aircraft

fuel that they use?

If we choose to allocate GHGs not to where

they are produced but to the home of the peo-

ple whose consumption led to these emissions,

the entire picture changes. So emissions from,

say, the steel plant are not allocated to the place

where the plant is located but to the home of

the person who bought and uses the goods into

which the steel went. Using this kind of GHG ac-

counting system would mean wealthy cities such

as London, New York or Tokyo suddenly have

much higher emissions per person because most

of the goods consumed by their inhabitants are

made elsewhere.

The big manufacturing cities in, for instance,

China, would have much lower levels of emis-

sions because most of their GHGs are from their

industries and these would now be allocated to

the cities where those who bought these goods

March 2009

COVER STORY Climate change

Are cities really to blame?

Cities are said to consume 75 percent of the world’s energy PHOTO © ADAM JAKUBIAK

The Clinton Climate Initiative says that cities produce 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) write David Dodman and David Satterthwaite. These two distinguished researchers of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) question whether we really do have an accurate picture.


COVER STORYClimate change

live. The same can be done for electricity – with

the GHGs from power stations being allocated to

the homes of the people or the businesses and in-

stitutions that consumed the electricity. Similarly,

GHGs from travel get allocated to the person who

does the travelling (or to where they live). Emis-

sions from agriculture and deforestation get allo-

cated to the persons who consumed the food or

wood products. Under this kind of scheme, cities

may account for 60 or more percent of all GHGs

– although this is a bit misleading because most

of these emissions are from a relatively small pro-

portion of the world’s cities which are the most

prosperous ones with the most inhabitants with

high-consumption lifestyles.

So here too, it is not cities in general but a small

proportion of cities that account for most GHGs.

However, even here, a very large part of the con-

sumption-driven emissions would come from

wealthy households living outside cities – in ur-

ban centres too small to be considered cities and

in rural areas. Generally, a wealthy rural house-

hold will have higher GHGs than a comparably

wealthy city-based household because of greater

private automobile use and generally larger heat-

ing and cooling demands from their homes.

This consumption-based accounting would

also produce even larger differentials between

cities in per capita emissions. Cities that con-

centrate wealthy people with high-consumption

lifestyles would probably have GHGs per person

that were thousands of times larger than most

small urban centres in low-income nations.

Inter-city and intra-city differentials

But it is not cities in general but particular cities

that have high per capita GHG emissions. Most

cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America still have

low emission-levels per person; most cities in the

least developed countries are likely to have between

a twentieth and a hundredth of the emissions per

person of say, New York or London.

However, it can be misleading to focus on city

averages for per capita figures in that there will

be very large differentials within cities. Since the

poorest households have very small per capita

emissions, the differentials between the individ-

uals with the highest and the lowest per capita

emissions are going to be very large.

Do we see cities as problems or

solutions?

One justification for emphasizing the very large

role of cities in GHGs (including greatly over-

stating it) is to pay more attention to cities.

This is much needed, given how little attention

has been given to the role of cities in economic

and social development. But it would seem

counterproductive to over-state their contribution

to GHGs as this diverts attention from the real

problem – the high-consumption lifestyles and

life-choices of a relatively small proportion of the

world’s population, most but not all of whom live

in high-income nations.

It also draws attention away from the

very large differentials in average GHGs

per person between cities and within cities.

Finally, focusing on cities in low- and mid-

dle-income nations as large GHG emitters

(when most are not large emitters) pro-

duces the wrong agenda for change. Most

of the cities most at risk from the impacts

of global warming are in low- and middle-

income nations, and it is generally among

their low-income populations that risks are

concentrated. So these are cities that con-

tribute very little to GHGs but which are far

more at risk from the global warming created

by GHGs.

What is so urgently needed for cities and other

urban centres in low-income nations is a focus on

adaptation, including getting the protective infra-

structure in place so their populations are not se-

riously impacted by more extreme weather or sea

level rise or constraints on fresh water supplies.

But perhaps worse than this, blaming cities for

most GHGs misses the point that well-planned

and governed cities are central to delinking a

high quality of life from high levels of consump-

tion (and so high GHG emissions). This can be

seen in part in the very large differentials between

wealthy cities in gasoline use per person. Most US

cities have three to five times the gasoline use per

person of most European cities – and it is difficult

to see that Detroit has five times the quality of life

of Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Singapore has

one-fifth of the automobile ownership per person

of most cities in other high-income nations, yet

also has a higher income per person. It is also evi-

dent in the fact that many cities in high-income

nations have GHGs per person that are far below

their national averages.

Cities have long been places of social, cul-

tural economic and political innovation, and

indeed, in high-income nations, city politi-

cians often demonstrate a greater commit-

ment to GHG reduction than do national

politicians.

Achieving the needed reduction in global

greenhouse gas emissions depends on seeing

this potential of cities to combine high quality

of life with low greenhouse gas emissions and

acting on it. u

Comparing cities and their nations for greenhouse gas emissions per person

Source: Dodman, David (2009), “Blaming cities for climate change? An analysis of urban greenhouse gas emissions inventories”, Environment and Urbanization Vol 21, No 1.

GHG

emis

sion

s pe

r cap

ita

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

USA

New York

SPAIN

Barcelona

Glasgow

London

UK

BRAZIL

Rio de JaneiroSao Paulo

District of Columbia



Our future is in your handsThere are few places in the world where people are more terrified of climate change and its impacts than on small islands. Here, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu, Hon. Apisai Ielemia, speaks out in this article adapted from a speech delivered at the 14th Conference of the Parties held in Poznan, Poland in December 2008 under the auspices of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC).

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu, Hon. Apisai Ielemia UN PHOTO © MARCO CASTRO



Every year it becomes more and more

evident that climate change is upon

us. We, the Pacific island peoples,

have consistently over the years been expressing

our concerns over the threats posed by climate

change. And we have called for increased adap-

tation and mitigation efforts, including global

reductions to greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent scientific evidence on ice sheet melting

and ocean acidification suggests that we must

act more rapidly before it is too late for countries

like Tuvalu. Our future is in your hands.

The months of this year will be crucial in es-

tablishing a new climate change regime. I would

like to highlight five key issues that we believe

are necessary to tackle climate change. It is

critical that we have the [world’s] support in en-

suring that together we effectively address the

threats posed by climate change.

On the issue of reducing greenhouse gas

emissions, we believe that there needs to be

a more comprehensive approach by all major

emitting countries. For those large emitting

developing countries we acknowledge the

need for development. But we need assurance

that development does not cause other coun-

tries, like ours, to suffer. We cannot sink while

others rise. Given our extreme vulnerability as

a small, low-lying atoll country, we must not

sink from the problems caused by the big and

industrialized countries.

First, we believe that the Kyoto Protocol

should be strengthened. This can only be done

by the industrialised countries, known as

Annex One, taking deep emission reductions

during the next commitment period. The ar-

chitecture of the Kyoto Protocol must remain.

Second, we must use the commitments

made in the Kyoto Protocol to contribute

towards funding adaptation. We must use

a share of the proceeds from the allocation

of emission targets in Annex One Parties to

provide a new revenue stream for adapta-

tion. This is critical. For extremely vulner-

able countries like Tuvalu, we need guaran-

teed and substantial sources of income for

adaptation. Handouts from aid budgets will

not be sufficient.

The Adaptation Fund, in this regard, is

the survival fund for Tuvalu and many oth-

ers. Small Island Developing States like Tu-

valu need direct access and expeditious dis-

bursement of funding for real adaptation,

urgently, because we are suffering already

from effects of climate change.

How else can we say it more clearly!

Yet it appears that some key industrialized

countries are trying to make the Adaptation

Fund inaccessible to those most in need. I am

compelled to write that we are deeply disap-

pointed with the manner some of our partners

are burying us in red tape. This is totally unac-

ceptable.

The most vulnerable countries to the im-

pacts of climate change must be able to ac-

cess this fund without delay. We do not want

the Adaptation Fund to turn into all the other

funds administered by the Global Environ-

ment Facility, where the only countries that

can properly access the funds are the ones

that can afford consultants and UN agencies

to write lengthy and endless project proposals

and work their way through metres of red tape

and survive lengthy delays.

Thus my third proposal is that we must ne-

gotiate a new international legal instrument to

ensure that developed countries who are not

parties to the Kyoto Protocol take deep emission

reduction targets. In particular, we are look-

ing to the United States to step out of the dark

ages of inaction and become a leading light on

climate change. I certainly hope that President

Barack Obama will lead his country into a new

enlightened period of global responsibility and

stewardship.

We are seeking substantial emission reduc-

tion targets from the United States. It must

provide a comparable effort with Kyoto Protocol

Parties. The United States has a lot of catching

up to do.

Therefore we must create a process to allow

major emitting developing countries to take tar-

gets to reduce their emissions well below their

current emission trajectories. We need a global

response to climate change and we need all ma-

jor greenhouse gas emitters in the world to con-

tribute to a global response.

Fourth, we need a new arrangement for least

developed countries and small island develop-

ing states to pursue a low-carbon future. We

need strong international assistance to allow

us to develop and deploy renewable energy and

energy efficiency technologies so that we are

guaranteed energy security. We cannot afford to

be held hostage to continual leaps in the price of

imported fuels.

Fifth, we seek a new arrangement for ad-

aptation under the new legal agreement we

will agree upon in Copenhagen at the 15th

United Nations Climate Change Conference

in Copenhagen in December this year. This

new agreement on adaptation should provide

new finance over and above any new arrange-

ments developed under the Kyoto Protocol.

We envisage that the United States and major

developing countries will contribute to this

arrangement. Within this new arrangement

on adaptation we are seeking a new interna-

tional regime on insurance to ensure that the

countries that are the most vulnerable to the

impacts of climate change are able to recover

from these impacts.

It is our belief that Tuvalu, as a nation,

has a right to exist forever. It is our basic hu-

man right. We are not contemplating migra-

tion. We are a proud nation of people with

a unique culture which cannot be relocated

somewhere else. We want to survive as a

people and a nation. We will survive. It is our

fundamental right. u

“Unlike the economic crisis which originated from a lack of transparency and a failure of regulation and which may be corrected by anti-cyclical fiscal stimulus packages, climate change is not a phenomenon which will work its way through an economic cycle. Lack of action will make things irreversibly worse, will cause more human suffering and will be even more expensive to solve in the longer term.” President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Republic of Guyana


The challenge for Africa’s cities

March 2009


Along with all the development problems confronting African cities, they are under-resourced and ill prepared to cope with the hazards of Global Environment Change (GEC). Here leading experts*, David Simon and Cheikh Guèye, explain some of the challenges.

Low-income housing in Africa is threatened by climate change PHOTO © DAVID SIMON



In poorer countries, Global Environment Change represents a fundamental development and an

environment and governance challenge that threatens to undermine all recent development gains and to increase hu-man poverty and vulnerability.

Addressing the skills, knowledge and resource gaps is therefore an urgent priority. Cities represent key concentra-tions of wealth, power, infrastructure and economic dynamism which can be harnessed in the search for solutions. Conversely, they also have concentra-tions of poverty, and the problems that go with it.

Effective urban action to mitigate the impacts of and to adapt behaviour to their changing realities requires a good un-derstanding of the complex interactions

of causes and effects in order to identify the groups and areas most at risk, and to formulate appropriate strategies.

The key priorities should be the most vul-nerable (usually poor) people living in the most vulnerable localities such as low-lying or steeply-sloping land. There is still time to plan for Global Environment Change by in-tegrating appropriate changes into relevant plans and actions. Simply adding these to shopping lists for donor funding will not be adequate.

Coastal and inland cities face different combinations of risks. Inundation from sea level rise and overwash of low-lying areas during storm surges, along with saliniza-tion of the water table, are particular coastal problems. Heat islands and intensified local winds may be more severe for inland urban areas. Security of fresh water and adequate

food supplies are likely to be problematic everywhere affected by increasing tempera-tures and falling rainfall.

In Senegal, for example, agricultural fail-ure is already contributing to increased ru-ral-urban migration. These challenges also underline the importance of understanding city functioning as part of broader systems rather than as self-sufficient entities.

To most people in Senegalese capital, Dakar, home to some 2.5 million people, Global Environment Change represents something that is both distant, due to the number of immediate priorities related to widespread poverty, and at the same time very close when we see the powerful impact of GEC in some areas.

The government’s political will to ad-dress any given issue is commonly mea-sured by the presence of that issue in the

Homes in the low-lying area of Bariga are under threat from rising sea levels PHOTO © DAVID SIMON



discourse of President Abdoulaye Wade on emerging themes. Faced with the worst floods that Dakar has ever known, he has recently announced an ambitious and unprecedented initiative: the Plan Jax-aay. This plan allows for the relocation of entire suburban neighbourhoods into thousands of homes built largely with state subsidies.

Rufisque East in metropolitan Dakar is symbolic of the type of disaster that could in future affect the inhabitants of African cities. This city’s centenary cem-etery (in the Lébougui neighbourhood of Thiawlène) has been partly destroyed by the fury of waves and the encroachment of the sea that has already engulfed the neighbourhood mosque and entire houses.

Bargny Guedj, another area near Ru-fisque, has experienced the same prob-lems. Farther south, the town of San-

gomar, has become an island through erosion of its land bridge to the main-land. Inappropriate low-income housing in the sprawling peri-urban fringe be-yond the airport is also threatened (See photo on page 17).

These cases exemplify what will hap-pen increasingly in years to come both in Senegal and some of its West African neighbours like Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Nigeria. Real strategies to antici-pate and manage risks do not yet exist. A sea wall is the only measure that has been implemented in Rufisque.

For example, the newly constructed Bar Beach promenade on Victoria Island at the mouth of Lagos Lagoon in Nige-ria was not designed to cope with likely sea level rises of 30-50 cm during this century. It also does not protect the numerous densely populated, low-ly-ing areas of the city around the lagoon

like Bariga, where poor residents are very vulnerable. Similar examples exist across Africa. It is inevitable that, in addi-tion to all their existing development chal-lenges, African cities will face the effects of climate change, for which they remain under-resourced and ill prepared. u

*David Simon, Professor of Development

Geography and Head of Department at

Royal Holloway, University of London, is

Chair of the UK National Committee on the

Human Dimensions of GEC. Cheikh Guèye

is in charge of Prospective and Convergence

at the Executive Secretariat of the NGO

ENDA-Tiers Monde in Dakar, Senegal.

Both are serving members of the Scientific

Steering Committee of the International

Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP)

core project on Urbanization and Global

Environmental Change.

The joint conclusions of scholars and mayors and their advi-

sors suggested strong interest in collaboration with local and

international initiatives to combat the adverse effects of climate

change and increase the resilience of cities to climate change.

Concerns over drought, sea level rise, coastal erosion and land

use change were raised frequently. But agreeing on the necessity

to incorporate environmental concerns is not enough because

the main challenge is convincing leaders and politicians.

There exists a need for a good balance between responsibili-

ties at local, regional, national and international level – a shared

responsibility.

They found a striking imbalance in the governance decentral-

ization process: while more responsibility is being devolved to

the local authorities, this is not being matched by adequate re-

sources.

Mayors identified specifically the difficulty of utilizing human

resources: some key skills did not exist or were inadequate but

others (such as the basic one of environmental management) do

exist but deployment is hampered by the funding problems.

Finally, there is a mandate to move ahead: mayors agreed that

even small steps can help create momentum for change. The

truly responsive actors and agents of change exist at the local

level. Mayors are prepared to move forward once they get fund-

ing associated with policy changes that could build improved re-

silience in their cities.

Both workshops identified a pressing need for additional em-

phasis on adaptation to climate change in cities. A collaboration

of local and international institutions is critical for strengthen-

ing local responses to climate change.

Practitioners also suggested the need for a better coordination

and organization of capacity building initiatives. Local develop-

ment plans are a good entry point for integrating climate change

aspects into local planning.

There was consensus that we now face a pressing need for

the development of new initiatives and programmes for climate

change and cities in the global south.

Putting urban vulnerability on the international agenda

Michail Fragkias, Executive Officer, International Human Dimensions Programme, Urbanization and Global Environmental Change project, reports back on two recent international workshops organized by the IHDP and its partners – UN-HABITAT, ENDA-Tiers Monde, the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities, and the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University.


Most greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings’ heating, air-conditioning and lighting PHOTO © TINOU BAO

How construction is vital to reducing emissionsUN-HABITAT has an important role in supporting institutions, professionals and the private sector in the housing and construction sector to mitigate climate change, writes Mohamed El Sioufi, Head of UN-HABITAT’s Shelter Branch.


Ministries of construction, mu-

nicipalities, physical planners,

architects and the construc-

tion sector have a pivotal role in mitigating

climate change

Urban greenhouse gases (GHG) are emitted

mainly from buildings, industry, and transpor-

tation. It is estimated that buildings use up to

40 percent of energy and emit about 30 percent

of greenhouse gases during their life cycle.

The building life cycle

Urban planning and design provide the frame-

work in which buildings are set while architec-

tural design is the conceptualization of how

buildings are shaped, built and utilized. Build-

ings consume energy and emit GHGs during

their life cycle.

Beginning with the excavation of raw ma-

terials, the production of building materials,

the construction and, most importantly, the

utilization of the buildings ending with their

demolition. Climatic conditions are key in

determining the amounts of energy used by

buildings and their emissions.

Urban environmental planning and

design

Environmental urban planning and urban

design play important roles in saving energy

and reducing GHGs. Compact cities enable

people to walk, use non-motorized transport,

enjoy effective public transit systems and thus

reduce commuting distances and emissions.

Environmental issues, when taken into con-

sideration during the urban design phase,

impact more directly on buildings with regard

to orientation exposure to or protection from

the sun and wind depending on climate. Water

and waste management also need to be con-

sidered in a more planned and efficient way.

Both urban planning and design are the re-

sponsibility of physical planners and are regu-

lated by municipalities. All should strengthen

urban climate change mitigation.

Architectural design

Architecture has now moved to respond here.

The new trends have a variety of names – Pas-

sive, Sustainable, Green, Emerald, Eco, Envi-

ronmental…. Architecture or Buildings.

Some of these trends revive traditional in-

digenous wisdom used over the centuries to

mitigate against harsh climatic conditions on

buildings. Walls and roofs, for example, or

shading devices on buildings can be designed

for better insulation to reduce heat loss in cold

climates and keep it out in hot climates.

Architects and architecture schools are

encouraged to produce new designs that will

contribute to climate change mitigation. These

new designs need also to address the issues of

urban poverty and consider low-cost build-

ing materials and technologies. Municipal

capacities should be strengthened to regulate

the types of buildings under their jurisdiction

through building licenses for new buildings or

retrofitting those that are inefficient.

Construction

When it comes to the selection and use of con-

struction materials, importing those that need

to be brought is a major cause of transport

emissions. Therefore the use of local materials

and the proper natural resource management

are important. In the case of the use of con-

crete, about three-quarters of the carbon emis-

sions emanate from on-site production, and

efforts to convert cement plants so that this is

reduced to one quarter must be studied.

In moderate climates, where most de-

veloped countries are located, there is little

need for cooling and heating. But the use of

energy and GHG emissions in the life cycle of

the buildings peak in the construction phase.

Where bricks and tiles are produced by burn-

ing clay for example, GHG emissions are

significant. In fact there is usually a double

jeopardy from this practice: firstly, wood or

charcoal is frequently used to fuel inefficient

furnaces. Secondly, vital carbon sinks are re-

duced because of deforestation. This situation

is exacerbated in the case of displacement of

large numbers of people in post-crisis situa-

tions where there is a need for shelter and the

only materials available are trees resulting in

deforestation and desertification.

Ministries of housing, construction and in-

dustry, bureaus of standards, the private sec-

tor, architects and others have an important

role in promoting this agenda. Building ma-

terial production licenses help ensure quality

and thus lower emission during construction.

Technologies such as stabilized soil blocks

produced through labour-intensive hand

presses achieve zero emissions and should be

encouraged. Production of construction mate-

rials close to the building site reduces trans-

port emissions. These concepts need careful

planning and by architects and builders. In

the case of population displacement, relief

agencies have to provide sustainable shelter

alternatives.

Building use and management

Most greenhouse gas emissions come from

heating, air-conditioning and lighting. If the

previously mentioned phases of the building

cycle are climate-change-mitigation compli-

ant, then their performance should be efficient.

In cases of existing buildings with high GHG

emissions, retrofitting is a good idea.

This however, is not enough. The role of

people using and managing a building is

very important. A passive house needs active

inhabitants who remember, for example, to

turn out the lights. In developing countries,

for example, high GHG emissions emanate

from the use of wood and charcoal in inef-

ficient cookers that fill homes where women

and children spend a good deal of their time

with unhealthy fumes. Utility companies

should be encouraged to produce clean en-

ergy. Likewise energy efficient household

electrical equipment. Municipalities are en-

couraged to utilize energy-saving bulbs in

all public buildings. Penalties for wasting

power could be levied through incremental

billing.

Incentives

While the solutions seem straightforward,

there is always a cost involved. For exam-

ple, renewable energy generation necessi-

tates an initial cost that must be calculated

through a life cycle analysis. Builders usu-

ally invest the minimum in construction

leaving the high energy costs to the users.

March 2009


“In the case of the use of concrete, about three-quarters of the carbon emissions emanate from on-site production, and efforts to convert cement plants so that this is reduced to one quarter must be studied.”


Environmental costs are also not factored in

these calculations which once accounted for

would show a different picture. Retrofitting

building material production units to use less

polluting fuels also has cost implications.

In order to overcome this it is necessary

to tap into available financial incentives. Para-

doxically, despite the above, none or extremely

few construction plans have benefited from

the Clean Development Mechanism. There is

a role for UN-HABITAT to explore this and

help make these funds accessible to central

and local governments as well as building ma-

terials industries. The highest impact would

be to address the construction industries in

fast-growing countries where GHG emissions

from the production of building materials and

the use of buildings are significant.

The role of professionals in planning cities

and designing and converting buildings using

green principles can contribute significantly to

mitigate climate change. On the regulatory side,

ministries of housing and construction as well

as local authorities that issue building licenses

can all contribute positively to ensure that the

state-of-the art design concepts are applied and

appropriate building materials, sources of en-

ergy and other measures are utilized to reduce

GHG emissions and minimize the use of non–

renewable energy.

UN-HABITAT through its Shelter Initia-

tive for Climate Change Mitigation as part

of the Sustainable Urban Development Net-

work aims at supporting various partners

mentioned above in achieving significant re-

ductions in energy use and GHG emissions in

buildings and urban settings. u

March 2009


Air-conditioning does not help buildings’ efficiency PHOTO © ROBERT DUCK PHOTO © TINOU BAO

Born in Egypt, Mohamed El Sioufi has

a doctorate in Environmental Architecture

and Urban Planning. He has over 30 years

of international experience advising through

technical cooperation, training and teaching

in the human settlements field.



India targets young people to fight global warming

The Climate Caravan aims to promote eco-friendly transport PHOTO © EMILIANO SPANA

Padma Prakash, editor of the online social science portal, eSocialSciences.com, encourages young people to take up the climate change challenge and ride the green road.


I n January, a Climate Caravan convoy of

vehicles travelled 4,000 kilometres from

Chennai to New Delhi, passing through

15 Indian cities. The cars were electric with so-

lar panelled roofs, and the truck ran on biofuel

made from the Jatropha plant. They were fired

up further by hand-cranked radios and a solar

powered live band who travelled with them.

Quite apart from the sheer excitement of driv-

ing these cars on their longest run, the group

had a more serious purpose: to turn the public

gaze on how young people in all walks of life

across the country are tackling global warming,

mitigating its effects and reducing greenhouse

gas emissions.

Meet the road show: Reva, the local version

of the electric city car, rapidly becoming not

just an eco-friendly auto option, but a symbol of

youth. The travellers in the vehicles all use bio-

degradable materials and reusables such as clay

tea cups and stitched-leaf plates.

Their entertainment – hand-cranked radios,

and Solar Punch, the world’s first solar powered

band.

In India, work participation rates of all groups

between 18 and 29 has fallen by three to six per-

centage points. Young first-time job-seekers are

increasingly being pushed into low end manufac-

turing and services jobs in the informal sector.

The young are overwhelmingly represented

at the two ends of the spectrum — they are the

ones with incomes and aspirations that lead to

unsustainable lifestyles. They are also the ones

with poor incomes working at precarious low-

end jobs that contribute to ecologically unsus-

tainable processes and practices.

Growth trajectories of mega cities like

Mumbai show that the marginalized are being

pushed further and further away from Main

Street and Garden Suburb to reclaimed tree-

less landscapes of concrete blocks, brackish

soil, poor drainage and services. In so many

ways theirs is the kind of living that only en-

hances the carbon footprint. The marginal-

ized travel longer distances to work. They

have limited choices and must work where

they find it.

They pursue occupations that are typically

the most polluting – the unregulated factories,

the small, home-based units, and as vendors

swelling the ranks of the informal sector.

All this makes for a complex link between

cities, youth and climate change that is not

easy to untangle or modify. The Climate Cara-

van is a good example of one kind of interven-

tion: it seeks to involve young people in show-

casing climate change.

There are others too. Associations and net-

works have sprung up to generate social and

scientific knowledge on climate change and

to create awareness about the wide-ranging

impact of climate change. The Club of Youth

Working for Environment in Ahmedabad,

the South Asia Youth Environment Net set

up in July 2002 with UN Environment Pro-

gramme’s support and more recently the In-

dian Youth Climate Network.

Yet, there is much to be done in devising

innovative means of adaptation to the impact

of climate change. This is where groups tra-

ditionally working on employment and liveli-

hood issues come in.

SEWA, a member-based organization of

over 70,000 women workers of all ages in the

informal sector is one such. Its Clean Ahmeda-

bad and volunteer Arogya Bhagini (health

worker) campaigns to take two examples have

been very successful in defining the connec-

tion between living well and securing sustain-

able lives.

Its members, many of whom are young

women rag pickers, ensure the separation of

garbage, undertake community drain cleaning,

construct rainwater harvesting tanks and plas-

tic lined ponds and are educating communities

to be self-sufficient in all resources.

An estimated 2.5 percent of the urban popu-

lation earns its living on the streets as vendors

or in other informal occupations. Youth-led

groups that focus on livelihood and employ-

ment, housing and other rights often find it dif-

ficult to include climate change issues — such as

energy-efficient housing and public transport —

in their livelihood and labour campaigns.

It isn’t easy to nest environmental demands

within campaigns for labour, housing or health

rights.

A survey in September 2002 by the National

Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy

Research in the Kendra Para district of Orissa

showed that people felt that the frequency and

intensity of droughts, floods and cyclones had

increased.

It is not enough to educate people on the

possible impact of global warming. They have

to be trained to cope. Capacity building is what

institutions and groups like the People’s Science

Institute in Dehra Dun and Pukar from Mum-

bai do through research and action targeting

and including young people. PSI set up in 1988

by a group of newly graduated engineers from

Indian Institute of Technologies, has been at

the forefront of disaster mitigation research and

training young people on soil pollution, forest-

water linkages, and food security in collabora-

tion with local communities.

Pukar, a Mumbai research initiative of-

fers youth fellowships that have drawn young

people from the slums and tenements and

injected in them the spirit of evidence-based

decision-making on urban issues such as

transportation options, use of open space, city

governance and so on.

In the current economic downturn it will be

even more difficult to resolve the tensions that

arise in prioritising environment over other im-

mediate concerns. u


The Climate Caravan vehicles run on biofuel PHOTOS © ALEXIS RINGWALD

W O R L D u r b a n 24 WWWWWW O RWWWWWWW O RWW O RW O RW O RO RW O RO ROO ROOOW O RW O RRW O RRRRRRRRRWWWWWW O RW O RW OW O RW O RRRRRRRRRWWW O RWW OW O RW O RO RO RRRRRRRRRWW O RRWW RRRRRWWW RRW RRRRW RRRW O RRRWWWW RRW O RRRRWWWW O RW RW O RRWW O RRRRRWWW RRW RRR L DLL DL DL DL DL DDDDDLLL DL DL DL DL DDDLLLL DDDDDL DL DDDDDDDDDDDDDLL DDDDDL DL DDDDDL DDDDDL DDDDDL DL DDDL DL DDDDDDDDDDDL DDDDuu r bu r bu ru r bbu r bu r bu r buu r br bu r br bru r buu rr brrr bbbbu rr br br bu r brrrr brr bbbbr bbr brr brr bbbbb aa na na na naaa na nnaaaaaaaa242444444444444444444444444444444444444444444422444444444444424444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444


Cities are the foundation of civilizations, driving economies, progress, creativity, and implementing political imperatives. But when they fail, so can civilizations. Here, Daniel Hoornweg and Perinaz Bhada, of the World Bank’s Finance, Economics and Urban Department argue that humanity’s response to climate change will depend on, and hopefully strengthen, the relationship between citizens and their cities, and cities and their national governments.

Cities now have to address issues such as traffic congestion PHOTO © DROUU

Why sustainable cities hold the key to climate change



Cities are increasingly leading the

climate change dialogue, sometimes

at odds with the position of the

national government.

At the climate change negotiations in Bali, In-

donesia in December 2007, local governments

launched the World Mayors and Local Govern-

ments Climate Protection Agreement. They will

play a critical role in the next round of negotia-

tions in Copenhagen.

The link between climate change, cities and

their suburbs is inextricable. While changes in

farming, land-use practices and deforestation

clearly impact climate dynamics, the concen-

tration of economic production and house-

holds associated with cities, and their grow-

ing demand for products and resources, has

caused most of the greenhouse gas emissions,

especially in the last half century.

While it is well documented that GHG emis-

sions increase with per capita income and city

sprawl, it is also clear that cities can curb emis-

sions effectively by increasing the efficiency of

urban transport, legislating for energy-efficient

buildings, and by adopting more efficiency and

denser urbanization patterns.

On the other hand, it is clear that cities will

bear the brunt of climate impacts. For example,

more than 80 percent of the damage caused in

the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Katrina was felt

in cities; and the majority of the world’s poor at

threat from climate change now live in cities.

Many cities recognize that mitigation and ad-

aptation to climate change is one of their fore-

most challenges. And indeed, over 880 US cities

have voluntarily agreed to meet or exceed Kyoto

Protocol targets.

Cities need to be at the forefront of the overall

political debate as they will be called upon to play

a greater role in creating awareness, initiating

greening policies, and leading by example. These

efforts will need to be added to today’s - at times

overwhelming - challenges faced by cities as they

struggle to provide adequate local services.

As local governments assume a greater role in

the global response to climate change, the advo-

cacy and endorsement of their citizens, over dis-

cussions in cafes, schools, and myriad grass-roots

programmes will be critical to define humanity’s

response to climate change.

Thirty-seven of the world’s largest economies

are cities (see the table on page 26 – Economies

based on GDP for cities and countries and annual

sales for corporations). By 2050 70 percent of

the world’s population will live in cities, and an

ever greater proportions of pollution, resource

consumption, innovation, capital, higher learn-

ing, economy, culture and the arts will originate

from cities.

Cities are also the world’s largest employer. The

economic heft of cities is significantly greater than

that of global corporations and yet far more train-

ing and salaries are provided to business leaders

and management than to local governments.

Cities in developing countries are particularly

challenged by climate change since most of the

world’s urban growth (economic and popula-

tion) is occurring there. Vulnerability to climate

change includes urban populations at risk and, as

emerging cities become wealthier, risk to infra-

structure.

The growing vulnerability of cities is critical as

climate change appears as the major challenge to

the new Urban Century. Climate change will push

cities to become more assertive in international

negotiations; to develop networks among them-

selves; build trust with citizens; and most criti-

cally, especially for cities in emerging economies,

concentrate on management and strengthening

of local institutions.

On 4 February, 2008 some two million people

peacefully marched in Bogotá, Colombia, to pro-

test the FARC guerillas. The march was initiated

by Oscar Morales through Facebook. Today’s so-

cial networks can readily link people across com-

munities and highlight the power of citizens and

cities to quickly turn a single voice into action, a

movement, and with increasing speed, a culture.

Cities need to work within a changing culture

of connectivity and real-time public involvement.

If a peaceful march of millions can be started by

a single person, so too can small groups foment

opposition against much needed infrastructure

or critical policy changes. Without effective early

public consultation in today’s connected world a

handful of local residents can delay and increase

the costs associated with critical infrastructure

programming.

Cities must better articulate the impacts as-

sociated with key economic and infrastructure

decisions and build trust with the community.

Climate change will force cities to govern more

broadly, fully integrate citizens within service

provision, and work more closely with national

governments.

As economies strain under greenhouse gas

mitigation programmes and weather stresses in-

tensify, cities still need to manage their numerous

responsibilities such as land development, hous-

ing, waste management, wastewater treatment,

and traffic congestion.

Effective municipal management is a prerequi-

site for citizens to move toward more sustainable

solutions. Citizens need to be more active in infra-

structure solutions such as user fees, waste sepa-

ration, and shared services such as rental cars.

Sustainable development needs sustainable

cities. The most critical stakeholders in deliv-

ering progress on the Millennium Develop-

ment Goals are cities, especially those in de-

veloping countries.

These same cities are now being called

upon to respond to climate change. During

the next 30 years cities and their citizens

will face an even tougher struggle to miti-

gate the causes of, and adapt to, increased

greenhouse gas emissions. How humanity

responds will define much of the rest of the

Urban Century. u

Hurricane Katrina caused devastation in the Gulf of Mexico PHOTO © THOMAS BUSH


1 United States2 China3 Japan4 India5 Germany6 United Kingdom7 France8 Italy9 Brazil10 Russian Federation11 Tokyo, Japan12 New York, USA13 Spain14 Korea, Republic of15 Canada16 Mexico17 Indonesia18 Los Angeles, USA19 Australia20 Turkey21 South Africa22 Iran, Islamic Republic of23 Thailand24 Argentina25 Netherlands26 Poland27 Chicago, USA28 Paris, France29 London, UK30 Philippines31 Pakistan32 Belgium33 Osaka/Kobe, Japan34 Saudia Arabia35 Colombia36 Egypt37 Ukraine38 Mexico City, Mexico39 Philadelphia, USA40 Washington, DC, USA41 Bangladesh42 Boston, USA43 Walmart44 BP45 Sweden46 Switzerland47 Austria48 Exxon Mobil49 Royal Dutch/Shell Group50 Dallas/Fort Worth, USA

12,4348,6104,0133,7872,4091,9691,8591,6901,5341,5231,1911,1331,121

1,0551,0411,034

821639622607568549542539530515

460460452440366342341341338329316 315312299296290288285284276273271269268

51 Greece52 Malaysia53 Vietnam54 Buenos Aires, Argentina55 Hong Kong, China56 San Francisco/Oakland, USA57 Atlanta, USA58 Houston, USA59 Miami, USA60 Sao Paolo, Brazil61 Algeria62 Seoul, South Korea63 Toronto, Canada64 Portugal65 Czech Republic66 Detroit, USA67 General Motors68 Romania69 Madrid, Spain70 Norway71 Chile72 Seattle, USA73 Denmark74 Moscow, Russia75 DaimlerChrysler76 Israel77 Toyota Motor78 Ford Motor79 Sydney, Australia80 Venezuela81 Hungary82 Finland83 Peru84 Phoenix, USA85 Minneapolis, USA86 San Diego, USA87 General Electric88 Total89 ChevronTexaco90 Ireland91 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil92 Barcelona, Spain93 Shangai, China94 Nigeria95 Melbourne, Australia96 Istanbul, Turkey97 Morocco98 Denver, Usa99 Singapore, Singapore100 Mumbai, India

262262250245244242236235231225222 218209208206203194193188187187186182181177175173172172171171164163156155153153153148144141140139137135133132130129126

Top 100 Economies: countries, cities, and companies

Country/City/CompanyGDP/Revenues

(D billions PPP, 2005) Country/City/CompanyGDP/Revenues

(D billions PPP, 2005)

March 2009


W O R L D u r b a n March 2009 27


Climate change is not gender neutral

Women are the first to suffer when disaster strikes Photo © S.Singh

A t UN-HABITAT, the UN agency

for the built environment, there is

growing concern about the impacts

of climate change on towns and cities around the

world in an age when, for the first time now, more

than half of humanity lives in urban areas.

We have learned painfully at first hand

from disasters around the world that climate

change adaptation and mitigation measures

cannot be gender neutral. This is because

climate change impacts are not gender neu-

tral. (See fact box on page 29).

In this new urban era, one billion people live

in urban slums. Our research shows that their

Integrating gender into climate change policy at the local, national and international levels is of paramount importance. Here Lucia Kiwala, Chief of UN-HABITAT’s gender mainstreaming department, and colleagues Ansa Masaud in Geneva and Cecilia Njenga in Nairobi, explain that putting gender at the top of the climate change agenda is more important than most people realize.



numbers are set to double in little more than a

generation if current trends prevail. Everywhere,

it is the slum dwellers whose homes will be swept

away if floods strike or a hurricane hits.

Women and the children they support are

usually the first to suffer when disaster strikes.

Yet women are also the most important agents

of change at the household and community

levels.

In our humanitarian work as part of the One

UN country teams helping pick up the pieces af-

ter a terrible disaster, we ensure that gender is

incorporated, so that we can build back better.

A woman who loses her home, after all, should

not lose her inheritance, land or property rights

as well.

“It is heartening to see here governments like

Finland and the Global Gender and Climate

Alliance bringing the voices of women to the

global deliberations on climate change,” said

Mrs. Tibaijuka in a speech at the 14th Con-

ference of the Parties held in Poznan, Poland

in December 2008 under the auspices of the

United Nations Climate Change Confer-

ence (UNFCCC). “I support your drive to

exchange knowhow and experiences, and

most importantly, your push to translate

the language of the UNFCCC so that people

at the local level people can understand the

implications of the decisions being taken,

complex as they are.”

Women can and do make a difference.

They are knowledgeable and experienced in

adaptation and mitigation strategies, natu-

ral resource management, conflict resolu-

tion and peace building. Women leaders

at the national, local and community levels

have already made a visible difference in

natural disaster responses, both in humani-

tarian and post-disaster recovery.

Many slum residents around the world are

often environmental refugees who have fled

from floods, droughts or other calamities in

outlying areas. And in the slums themselves, the

residents often live in places highly vulnerable to

the impacts of disasters such as floods, and are

also least able to cope with the effects. Women’s

groups in these cases should be the direct ben-

eficiaries of adaptation funds to ensure access to

energy, and the protection of water catchment

areas so that streams don’t run dry.

We have to increase awareness of the dis-

proportionate impacts of climate change on

women within the predominantly male world of

technocrats working in this field. We must have

gender responsive policy-making, planning and

programming, and ensure the effective partici-

pation of women at every level if the Copenha-

gen climate talks in December 2009 are to be a

watershed.

The solutions aside, human face of climate

change must be strengthened through increased

focus on women, youth and the very poor.

In many countries of developing world, de-

clining agricultural productivity due to climate

change related weather patterns and population

pressures are pushing greater numbers of rural

residents towards the cities.

More than a quarter of the populations of

the world’s Least Developed Countries now live

in urban areas. From 15 million in 1950, their

numbers have jumped to 234 million today.

The nexus between rapid and chaotic urban-

ization and climate change has multiple impacts

on highly vulnerable groups, especially women,

youth and the very poor.

Look at it this way: in many households in

these countries, especially in the slums, women

rely on firewood for cooking fuel. Yet if cities had

the capacity to deliver power, or for that matter

to provide cooking gas, fewer trees would be

felled. This is where the battle to save our forests

starts – right in the slums!

Look at this too: women often have to risk

their lives to walk long distances to fetch water

or go to the toilet. Sometimes, household and

human waste is simply dumped in rivers or

streams. Yet if cities had the capacity to deliver

better water and sanitation services, key water

sources would not get contaminated, and there

would be fewer health and environmental risks.

Cities spew out huge amounts of the so-called

greenhouse gases responsible for global warm-

ing. Seventy-five percent of global energy con-

sumption is thought to take place in cities. At the

same time, cities and local authorities in some

countries hold tremendous power, leverage and

Woman can play an important role in shaping policies regarding climate change PHOTO © SOFIA HENRIQUES


resources to influence both the causes of climate

change and the solution to advance climate pro-

tection through mitigation and adaptation.

The perspectives of women, youth, and chil-

dren must inform policy, programme design

and implementation at the global, national and

local levels. The local knowledge and experience

of women must be tapped in designing climate

change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

International gender and climate change

organizations should strengthen linkages with

grassroots organizations and local authorities

in all countries, and especially those bearing the

brunt of climate change impacts.

Human settlements planning needs to take

Climate change COVER STORY

Fast facts

The 2007 report of the Intergovernmen-tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pre-dicts that greenhouse gases and aerosols will alter the energy balance of the cli-mate system. Over the next two decades it is projected that there will be a warming of 0.2°C (IPCC, 2007). Climate changes are expected to have unprecedented effects on people worldwide, particularly through the increase in natural disasters. Social, economic and geographical characteristics will determine the vulnerability of people to climate change. Many studies have de-termined that poor women are more vul-nerable to natural disasters given socially constructed gender roles and behaviour.

A study of disasters in 141 countries provided decisive evidence that gender differences in deaths from natural disas-ters are directly linked to women’s eco-nomic and social rights. In inequitable societies, women are more vulnerable to disasters; for example, boys are likely to receive preferential treatment in res-cue efforts and both women and girls suffer more from shortages of food and economic resources in the aftermath of

disasters (Neumayer and Pluemper, 2007).

Women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men during a disaster. In the 1991 cyclone disasters which killed 140,000 in Bangladesh, for example, 90 percent of victims were women. Similarly, in industrialized countries, more women than men died during the 2003 Europe-an heat wave. During Hurricane Katrina in the United States, African-American women, who were the poorest population in that part of the country, faced the great-est obstacles to survival. During the 2006 Indian Ocean tsunami, more women died than men – for example in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, male survivors outnumber fe-male survivors by three or four to one (Da-vis et al., 2005).

Although women are disproportion-ately impacted by disasters and swift environmental changes, women have also contributed to curbing the impacts of climate change. Women’s knowledge and responsibilities related to natural resource management have proven to be critical to community survival.

Gender Mainstreaming in Local Authorities

The UNFCCC international Adaptation Fund must include gender consider-ations.

National and international adaptation plans, strategies, and budgets should mainstream gender.

Global and national studies should pro-duce gender-differentiated data on the im-pacts of climate change and emphasize the capacities of men and women to adapt and mitigate climate changes. Studies should also determine the advantages of imple-menting gender-sensitive adaptation projects.

Governments should understand and use the knowledge and specialized skills of women in natural disaster survival and management strategies.

Women must be recognized as power-ful agents of change and that their lead-ership is critical. Women should be in-cluded in all levels of strategies to adapt to climate change.

Women’s access to, and control over, natural resources need to be improved in order to reduce poverty and vulnerability and to ensure that women have resources to adapt properly.

Training and educational programmes for women and girls (especially in vulnerable communities) that provide general information about disasters, and strategies to cope with them should be developed.

Recommendations by women’s groups

at the climate change talks

Since the 1980s, there has been a growing recognition of the need to ensure women’s equal access to urban public spaces. This handbook documents initiatives, which promote women’s empowerment, equal opportunities and outcomes for men and women in the development of cities and local authorities. Some are comprehen-sive and are based on supportive policies, while others are ad-hoc and address spe-cific issues as a result of crises. Whatever the context, the initiatives provide lessons that others can learn from. UN-HABITAT provides technical advice, training, re-source materials and support for women’s networks on gender-related work in ur-ban development. For further informa-tion contact, [email protected]



the level and type of impacts of climate vari-

ability into account. Any action to reduce

the impacts of climate variability in human

settlements can only succeed with an under-

standing of overall vulnerability – and that

includes the situation of women in slums and

informal settlements.

Next, we need to develop gender indicators

to monitor impacts of climate change, and to

ensure that planning strategies respond to

the specific needs of women and men.

And finally, we must support the response

capability of vulnerable groups by strength-

ening their assets – social, natural, physical,

human, and financial. And on the latter – es-

pecially in these times of global financial cri-

sis and economic downturn. u

UN-HABITAT in the driving seat - a strategy towards gender equality

UN-HABITAT promotes the empower-ment of women and gender equality in the sustainable development of cities. By creating awareness of the differ-ent effects of urbanization on men and women and promoting gender equality, whole communities can benefit, societ-ies can become fairer and services more effective. The Gender Equality Pro-gramme (GEP) is UN-HABITAT’s road-map towards gender equality.

If we are to meet the global anti-pov-erty targets as pledged in the Millennium Development Goals, we cannot afford to overlook the needs of women and girls, who not only make up half the world’s population but represent the majority of the urban poor. To stabilize and pre-vent the growth of slums and promote liveable, productive cities, we need to respond to enduring gender differences and inequalities. These persist despite decades of campaigning from women’s rights organizations. For example:

lWomen hold less than two percent of the world’s private land.lWomen in slums and informal settle-

ments are particularly at risk of vio-lence in public spaces.lWomen generally spend more time

in slums than men, since many men leave for work in other areas. This leaves women to bear the brunt of confrontational evictions, which gen-erally take place during the day.lWomen also have more exposure to all

the attendant risks and dangers lurk-ing in slums.lThe lack of separate toilet facilities for

boys and girls in slums and informal settlements deters many girls from attending school, particularly after the onset of puberty.

UN-HABITAT tackles gender equal-ity in housing and urban development through:

lAdvocacy and monitoring of gender equality in cities – Inequality between men and women has previously been under-reported due to a shortage of data on women’s situations in comparison to men’s. UN-HABITAT is promoting and developing global reports and policy guides that reflect gender dif-ferences, so that inequalities in specific ar-eas can be identified and then addressed.

lUrban planning, governance and management — Gender-responsive pol-icies and legislation help governments and stakeholders design and develop inclusive cities and urban services that respond bet-ter to the needs of women and men—for example in resource allocation, personal safety and security, and post-conflict and disaster reconstruction.

lAddressing inequalities in land and housing — A woman’s right to land and housing is largely linked to marital prop-erty and inheritance rights. Women gen-erally have more difficulty securing land and property and keeping it. UN-HABI-TAT works with governments to improve policy, legal and regulatory frameworks that also respond to women’s land and housing.

lDeveloping environmentally-sound urban services — The agen-cy works to improve governance and infrastructure such as clean drinking water, sanitation and waste manage-ment, transportation and power. More-over, UN-HABITAT seeks to ensure that women are engaged in the design, management and evaluation of these services.

lImproving finance systems for affordable housing — Promoting programmes on financing affordable housing and infrastructure for the ur-ban poor, especially women.

Compiled by Emily Wong

Developing countries are most at risk from climate change. Road flooded in Chennai, India

PHOTO © GURU THILAK

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Urban World is the leading publication for those responsible for the social and economic growth of the world’s cities, providing a unique source of practical solutions and information on sustainable development.

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Harmonious citiesChina and India

in focus

moniouscitiesChin

HHHaHarmociti

Nov

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WORLD

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The environmental race for the Olympics

Cities: back to the future

Revealed: UN-HABITAT award winners

Why electric cars will transform urban transport

New report: the state of the world’s cities


FEATURES Water

“O King, I will marry you on

the condition that you ar-

range for water from my

village to be delivered to the palace in Gwalior,”

said an audacious girl to the besotted King Man

Singh of Gwalior. The King acquiesced and the

girl went on to become famous as Queen Mri-

gnayani. Considerable engineering expertise

was exercised to ensure that water from River

Rai was delivered via an aqueduct to the palace

of the assertive queen.

Water, which was the central concern of a

queen in the 15th century continues to be a sub-

ject of major importance even today in the city of

Gwalior situated in the Indian state of Madhya

Pradesh. Incidentally, the main source of water

for the city is the Tighra Waterworks which is

not far from the medieval queen’s hometown.

The historical city of Gwalior, along with three

other cities in Madhya Pradesh – Bhopal, Indore

and Jabalpur, has been targeted by the Water

for Asian Cities Programme. This programme

is a collaborative initiative of the UN-HABITAT,

the Government of the Netherlands and the

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and countries

in the region for achieving the Millennium De-

velopment Goals (MDGs). This includes Goal

seven, Target 10: to reduce by half the propor-

tion without sustainable access to safe drinking

water and basic sanitation by 2015.

The Water for Asian Cities Programme

The Water for Asian Cities Programme was of-

ficially launched during the Third World Water

Forum on 18 March, 2003. Several cities in In-

dia, China, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam have been

covered under this programme. In all these

cities, the Programme seeks to promote pro-

poor governance, water demand management,

Sahana Singh, editor of Asian Water, the region’s leading magazine on water and wastewater, last year won the prestigious Developing Asia Journalism Award (2008) in the Infrastructure Category for this article* on a UN-HABITAT water project in Gwalior, India. What she saw, revealed many surprises…

India’s Gwalior a leader in development

The Water for Asian Cities Programme aims to bring clean water and better sanitation across the region Photo © RajendRa PRasad RavuRi


increased attention to environmental sanita-

tion and income generation for the poor linked

to water supply and sanitation. To achieve this,

the programme aims to mobilize political will,

raising awareness through advocacy, informa-

tion and education; training and capacity build-

ing, by promoting new investments in the urban

water and sanitation sector; and by systematic

monitoring of progress towards MDGs.

“A loan of USD 181 million has been approved

by the ADB in the four towns of Madhya Pradesh

mainly for the improvement and expansion of

urban water supply, sewerage and sanitation,

water drainage and solid waste management,”

says Aniruddhe Mukerjee, Chief Technical Advi-

sor, UN-HABITAT.

How effective has the Water for Asian

Cities Programme been?

In the Gwalior slums of Laxmanpura, Ramaji

ka Pura, Subhash Nagar and New Mehragaon,

a range of schemes are in various stages of com-

pletion. In order to not deter the poor with high

water connection charges of Rs 750 (USD 17),

they are allowed to pay in easy instalments. User

charges are a flat Rs 80 (USD 1.80) per month.

From the smiling faces at Laxmanpura slum

in the heart of the city, it was clear that the avail-

ability of water to drink, wash and cook had

eased a number of woes. When asked whether

they were using water indiscriminately on ac-

count of the flat water charges, one woman ex-

claims: “Of course not! We know that we should

not use water wastefully. If we do that, there

will be less water for others in this settlement.

We have formed a committee to keep a vigil on

water wastage, so we regularly walk around to

inspect.”

At the hillside slum cluster of Ramaji Ka Pura,

Islampura and Subhash Nagar, some 4,000

households do not get water despite piped con-

nections, due to low pressure. In the households

where the pressure was sufficient, water was

supplied for only two hours in the middle of the

night. But hope is in sight thanks to UN-HABI-

TAT and the local municipal corporation.

With considerable community participation

including the active role of women, the con-

struction of a surface water reservoir and an

overhead tank along with a network of distribu-

tion lines are about to be completed.

“It will be a relief when water starts flow-

ing,” sighs a woman. “It is such a torture to stay

awake at night to fill buckets of water. Once the

water starts flowing at regular timings to our

houses, we women will get more time to take up

some income-generating activity like embroi-

dery, which will ease the burden of household

expenses.” Most of the men in this slum work as

labourers or vendors in the city.

Woes of open defecation

Open defecation in rural areas and urban slums

remains a major problem faced in India over

the centuries. For the rural folk, it is the norm to

walk to distant fields to defecate. While men can

do this at any time of the day, women need to go

early in the morning before sunrise. The same

unhealthy practice is being followed in most

urban slums. Incidentally, many cases of sexual

abuse are reported in the early mornings when

women go to answer the call of nature.

Earlier efforts by financing organizations and

governments to build toilets for the poor have

often failed miserably because the poor, who are

unused to sitting within the confines of a toilet,

prefer to relieve themselves in the open. Also,

they began to use toilets as storerooms to store

grains and other articles, defeating the very pur-

pose for which they were built.

It was realized by international organiza-

tions that without community participation

and training, it was pointless to execute any

scheme. Accordingly, the focus was shifted to

educating people, especially women and chil-

dren on various aspects of hygiene such as the

need to defecate in allocated spaces, washing

hands after toilet-use, etc. A number of demon-

stration toilets have been built in the slums to

illustrate the benefits of having them.

The efforts to educate people seem to have

borne fruit at the slums covered by the Wa-

ter for Asian Cities Programme. “A scheme

has been evolved whereby if a toilet costs Rs

3,000 to build, the slum dweller would need

to put up Rs 1,000 in terms of labour and ma-

terials, while the remaining Rs 2,000 could be

obtained from a revolving sanitation fund,”

says Mr. Mohan Mudgal, Technical Advisor to

UN-HABITAT.

Women are at the forefront of the movement to

build toilets for their households. “It is a boon to

have a toilet in your own house. There is no need

to get up early in the morning to walk to the fields.

We don’t have to worry about the safety of our

daughters and daughters-in-law,” says a woman

from the slums. Implements to build squat toilets

are being provided free. A change in the mindset

is evident from the enthusiasm displayed by the

slum dwellers to show off their toilets.

Schools are spreading the word

Every slum cluster has a primary school in its

vicinity. Apart from regular subjects, children

are being taught hygiene and good values, which

are so important for the betterment of a commu-

nity. Innovative ways to impart the message of

hygiene include the teaching of nursery rhymes

on the subject.

“We must wash our hands with soap before

eating, after eating, after using the toilet, before

cooking and whenever our hands get dirty,”

chant the children in unison at one of the schools

visited. On being asked why one should wash

hands, a child quickly answers, “Because germs

will get into our body and make us sick!”

“The children come back from school and

teach us so many things,” smiles a proud mother

at Laxmanpura. On being questioned whether

she believed in an education for her daughter,

she replies: “Of course. Both my daughter and

son go to school.”

Many schools have rainwater harvesting fa-

cilities on their rooftops, an initiative that needs

to be pursued more vigorously.

Empowering women

It is evident from the confidence of women at the

slums targeted by the Water for Asian Cities Pro-

gramme, that the right strategies have been ad-

opted. Being involved in all aspects of decision-

making and giving them ownership of assets has

given the women a new sense of empowerment.

The men could be seen listening deferentially to

the women or making way for them to speak at

various meetings.

“Women can do everything that men can do,”

says one beaming woman. This leads to some

jovial bantering between the men and women

seated at the gathering. At a meeting in another

settlement, a woman was spotted breast-feeding

her baby gracefully within the confines of her

saree while taking part in a debate. A sense of

sisterhood prevails among the women who co-

operate with each other to get tasks done.

“We are saving money for the hard days,” says

one woman, showing her bank pass book with a

total of Rs 500 in her account. When any one of

us needs money for some urgent expenses, we

lend to each other,” says another woman.

Mayor says social component is

important

A visit to the Mayor’s office located in an el-

egant building dating to medieval times, re-

vealed a person who is deeply involved in

FEATURESWater

art classroom equipped to train children and

teachers alike about important issues related

to water and sanitation. Groups of children and

teachers from schools all over Gwalior are reg-

ularly brought to this classroom. Similar class-

rooms have been set up in other cities covered

by the Programme.

With creative posters giving a wealth of

information in the local language Hindi,

models illustrating the process of water

treatment and an area for presentations,

the classroom provides an atmosphere

highly conducive for learning. There is also

a stress on values related to water such as

the need to pay water bills regularly and not

to use water illegally. The importance of in-

culcating these values at an impressionable

age cannot be over-emphasized.

On one wall of the classroom are some

original, innocent poems related to water

issues composed by children for themselves

at a recent contest. At another corner of the

room, an interesting experiment has been

laid out. “We ask the children to leave a tap

open for say five minutes and make them

collect all the water which flows. Then we

make them measure the volume. In this

manner, they learn how much water is

wasted each time they leave a tap running,”

explains Mr. K.K. Srivastava, Manager of

the Urban Water Supply and Environment

Improvement Project. Indeed, the reactions

of the children noted in the visitors book

reveal that most of them have absorbed a

great deal of information.

Community participation – the key to

success

It is clear that the successes of the Gwalior

initiatives are due to a great deal of commu-

nity participation and cooperation between

a multitude of organizations, not to forget

NGOs such as Sambhav and Water Aid – all

working towards the same goals.

Many committed officials have taken per-

sonal interest in the project. The intensive

training imparted to officials at various lev-

els has helped to keep them focused on the

goals. An integrated structure which takes

into account everything from financing to

motivation of individuals is evident in the

programme. There was a heartening sense

of optimism about the future.

Yet slums keep growing. As Dr. Kulwant

Singh, Chief Technical Advisor, UN-HAB-

ITAT observes: “Supposing we achieve the

Millenium Development Goals related to

water and sanitation in 2015, we will still

have the same number of unserved people

as we do today.” u

water and sanitation issues. “A lot of work has

been done to improve the situation in our city,

but a lot more needs to be done,” admits Mr.

V.N.Shejwalkar, the Mayor of Gwalior. “We

must increase the capacity of treatment plants.

We need to move with the times and have

modern tools for monitoring. We must carry

out 100 percent metering. At the moment, we

only charge flat rates for water. We also need

to reduce non-revenue water. We must achieve

zero open defecation.”

At present, Gwalior does not have any sew-

age treatment plants since sewage is directly

discharged into water bodies. “We have con-

structing two sewage treatment plants; one in

2007, and the other in 2008,” says Mr. She-

jwalkar. He adds that it was important for the

social component to be included in engineer-

ing projects. “Community participation is a

must,” he asserts.

WATSAN classroom

An excellent initiative of the Water for Asian

Cities Programme is the WATSAN (Water and

Sanitation) classroom. This is a state-of-the-

FEATURES Water

March 200934 W O R L D u r b a n

*This article was edited to meet space restrictions. For a full version and further information see, www.asianwater.com.my or www.shpmedia.com/pub_asianwater.htm

Gwalior slums fast facts

Even in a small city like Gwalior, there are 230 slums. The WAC programme has only covered 16 slums so far. In the other three urban centres of Madhya Pradesh under the purview of the Programme, the number of uncovered slums is even greater. Besides, the four cities of Madhya Pradesh are just a min-iscule fraction of India – a country bursting with over one billion people, and 22 percent below the poverty line. Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, the world’s largest, is home to one mil-lion people. Under the Community Managed Water Sup-ply Scheme in Ramaji ka Pura a distribution network to provide water to 1,200 households (about 6,000 people) has been completed. The system is being successfully operated and managed by the Community Water and Sanitation Committee. The residents are get-ting water for a fixed monthly fee. A commu-nity managed sewage scheme has also been completed with support from UN-HABITAT under the Water for Asian Cities Programme. It benefits 2,500 households.

The Slum Environmental Sanitation Ini-tiative in 16 Gwalior slums has helped about 5,000 households (25,000 peo-ple), with water and sanitation facilities. The Management System for Commu-nity Toilets at Laxmanpura developed under the Water for Asian Cities Pro-gramme was shortlisted as a model for best practices on sanitation for National Urban Water Awards 2008 instituted by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.

Other initiatives being implemented by Gwalior Municipal Corporation in partnership with UN-HABITAT include the renovation of 10 community toilets serving some 5,000 people; a com-munity movement of more than 300 residential and welfare assisociations mobilized to improve water and sanita-tion and awareness in Gwalior’s slums.

Source: UN-HABITAT

The delivery of clean, running water is vital for health of slum dwellers Photo © S.Singh


FEATURESxxxxxxx

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FEATURES Housing finance

Where will the money come from now?Misguided housing credit is the root cause of the global financial crisis writes Daniel Biau, Director of UN-HABITAT’s Technical Cooperation Division.

The construction sector is rarely placed at the centre of economic recovery policies PHOTO © DROUU


FEATURESHousing finance

On 7 September 2008, the two

giants of American mortgages,

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,

were de facto nationalized through the injec-

tion of USD 200 billion by the US Treasury.

Together they had a credit portfolio of over

USD 5 trillion but also a rapidly increasing

debt and collapsing share values.

Although the two institutions were already

Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs),

their fall and forced nationalization was the

signal and beginning of the current world

crisis.

On 25 November 2008 the Federal Reserve

announced that it would purchase up to USD

600 billion of their debt and troubled mort-

gage-backed securities. In February 2009 the

Treasury announced a Financial Stability Plan

of more than a trillion dollars and injected

200 new billions in Fannie Mae and Freddie

Mac. These figures have been interestingly

compared with the Official Development As-

sistance (ODA) to developing countries.

According to the Organization for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD), ODA

amounted to USD 103.5 billion in 2007 (21.8

billion from the USA, 67 billion from Europe, 7.7

billion from Japan, four billion from Canada).

Root-causes of the crisis

Among the many comments on the 2008 fi-

nancial turmoil, the worst since 1929 and the

first of a truly global nature, too little attention

has been paid to the starting point of that cri-

sis, i.e. the complete failure of the US housing

finance system.

Let’s try and summarize what has hap-

pened in the United States between 2001 and

2008, noting that similar events took place in

other countries such as the United Kingdom

and Spain.

The root-cause is the manipulation of the

housing credit system by the banking sector.

This was done basically by playing on interest

rates, on down-payments and on loan reim-

bursement periods.

In simple terms: the banks provided low-

interest credit to middle-class borrowers, re-

sulting in excessive indebtedness and drastic

reduction of saving capacities (down to zero

or even negative). At the same time, they pro-

vided high-interest credit to low-income fam-

ilies (the infamous sub-primes in which ad-

justable rates were used to hide actual rates,

often above 10 percent). This combined with

insufficient down-payments and overestima-

tion of foreseen income growth, resulting in

massive default on these loans.

Both actions were intended to promote the

ownership society which has always been one

of the core ideological values of the American

nation (if you are not a home-owner you can’t

be a good citizen; you have no roots). Artifi-

cially low-interest rates are the traditional

American way to subsidize middle-class hous-

ing (and thus to limit official public subsidies)

while the new high-interest strategy without

serious guarantee of repayment appeared as

a miraculous way to improve housing afford-

ability to the poor.

Errors or fatality?

Why did the banks follow that risky track and

why did the households fall in the trap?

For households the response is relatively

straightforward. During 2001-2006 housing

prices were growing much faster (more than

60 percent in five years) than prices of other

goods. Therefore buying a house was seen as

a good investment (they could hopefully resell

their properties at a higher price, provided the

upward trend continued). The demand was

high both from the middle-class (very happy

with low interest rates) and from poorer seg-

ments of the society (betting on their improved

future and finally, through ownership, getting

a slice of the American dream). But unfortu-

nately housing prices cannot increase forever

at a faster pace than inflation, simply because

at a certain level the demand is saturated, it

vanishes and a downward trend starts.

This happened in 2007 when house prices

went down by nine percent in the country (in

2008 they went down by more than 10 per-

cent). And it happened simultaneously with

an overall credit rationing, resulting in the vi-

cious circle which brought about the financial

crash of September-October 2008.

For the banking sector the response is more

complex. Indeed bankers are supposed to be

smart and intelligent people. Why should they

lend to insolvent clients (between two and three

million families) through sub-prime mortgages

totalling roughly USD 1 trillion, out of a mort-

gage bond market of USD 6 trillion in 2007?

On this, one finds very few explanations in the

world media. Apart from rather obscure con-

siderations on the securitization of sub-prime

mortgages and on the contamination of toxic

or exotic loans, it is hard to understand why


FEATURES Housing finance

financial institutions developed these particu-

lar instruments.

Selling loans

The starting point was that they had too much

money and needed to lend as much as possible,

even by taking exaggerated risks. Second, they

found complicated and uncontrolled ways of

sharing these risks among themselves. This

was done by reselling packages of home loans,

mixing these packages to dilute the risks, and

taking a profit at every step. The loans were in

fact sold in the form of mortgage bonds on the

expanding mortgage bond market.

Example: Brother Bank gives a loan of USD

200,000 to the Smith family, at 7 percent over

30 years. In total, the Smith will have to re-

pay USD 480,000 or USD 16,000 per year.

Then Brother sells that loan to Sister Bank (or

another investor) for USD 220,000. Brother

gets a profit of USD 20,000 and moves away.

Sister Bank may keep or resell the loan. If

they resell it they may make a profit; if they

keep it they take the risk of faulty repayment.

That risk was to be reduced not by reselling

loans one by one as in our example, but by re-

grouping many of them together (this is called

securitization, the process through which a

company like Brother Bank bundles its home

loans into securities or bonds and sells them

to investors), de facto auctioned on the finan-

cial market, more precisely on the mortgage

bond market.

At this stage bankers were probably expect-

ing both a miracle (good returns) and some

losses. This is precisely the essence of capital

investment in a market economy: taking con-

trolled risks. They were of course expecting

more returns, due to high enough interest rates,

than foreclosure losses. Many banks jumped on

the new tools developed by the gurus of Wall

Street, those who had already imagined the junk

bonds of the 1980s (culminating in the savings

and loans crisis of 1987). And these banks dis-

covered only in 2007 that the risks were much

too high, that losses were getting out of control

and outgrowing the returns. This was too late.

More than one million American families

(precise statistics are not available) were al-

ready facing the threat of eviction because

they could no longer repay their mortgages.

Fan and Fred were in deep trouble. They might

have had in mind an automatic bail-out in case

of difficulties. This is known as a moral hazard

(abuse of the Treasury as lender of last resort),

strongly criticized by the Wall Street Journal (in

“Bailout for Billionaires”, 11 September 2008).

The house of cards comes down

The sub-prime sub-sector collapsed in August

2007, announcing the general financial crisis

which started a year later and which affects di-

rectly all American tax-payers and indirectly all

human beings of the planet. The securitization

miracle did not happen. The former President of

the Federal Reserve, Mr. Alan Greenspan, in a

late flash of lucidity, declared: “Securitization of

home loans is the major cause of the crisis.” Dur-

ing the summer of 2008 trust among banks van-

ished, credit became scarce (the so-called credit

crunch) and expensive, and the entire world en-

tered into recession. The financial bubble burst.

In October all bourses fell sharply, from

Wall Street to Tokyo, from London to Shang-

hai, from São Paulo to Johannesburg. On that

occasion many governments declared that they

needed to revise completely their economic

and financial policies and instruments, that an

in-depth review and reform of the internation-

al financial architecture was necessary, that

capitalism had to be regulated. Public opinion

was dubitable: the crisis was the result of a

mix of conjectural and structural causes but it

was difficult to draw the line between human

errors and economic fatality.

The co-founder of the Bretton Woods in-

stitutions, John Maynard Keynes, is back

in force but the role of the housing finance

system as the most frequent initiator of all

Seattle: thousands of people in the US are unable to repay their mortgages


FEATURESHousing finance

recent financial crises does not seem to be

fully understood yet (The Doha Declara-

tion of 9 December 2008 on Financing for

Development does not mention housing fi-

nance anywhere in its 90 paragraphs). The

fact that a house is generally the most valu-

able purchase a household can make in its

lifetime should give policy-makers and their

economists a clue. The vicious cycle housing

bubble – financial crisis – economic reces-

sion seems to repeat itself with a 10 year

frequency (1987-1997-2007). It is time to

break it by acting on its starting point.

Construction, engine of economic growth

Housing finance and subsidies – the core of

any housing policy – should be the primary

responsibility of governments, as suggested

in the Habitat Agenda, and not be left to

speculators, traders and unaccountable cor-

porations. In fact housing finance should

become a kind of public good or fictitious

commodity, placed under close public scru-

tiny. The present time of economic recession

and retraction of real estate markets could

offer opportunities for radical policy reform

which may be politically popular in many

countries.

It should be founded at least on the follow-

ing pillars: (i) a leading role for government

though proper institutional strengthening at

all levels; (ii) rehabilitation and encourage-

ment of household savings; (iii) regulated in-

terest rates and down-payments; (iv) public

incentives to the expansion of rental hous-

ing, particularly for low-income groups; (v)

increased and well-targeted subsidies for

lower middle-classes.

Such a financial policy should go hand in

hand with proper urban development poli-

cies aiming at making land affordable, reduc-

ing the cost of services by increasing density,

combating spatial exclusion and improving

the living environment.

So far both in the United States and in Eu-

rope, governments have designed unfocused

and hybrid reforms to address the crisis. They

seem to lack any strategic vision. By injecting

funds into banks and large corporations to save

jobs, or by reducing taxes to boost consump-

tion, they mostly deal with the consequences of

the crisis. By lowering long-term interest rates

they even take new risks. In spite of some wel-

come attention to infrastructure investment in

the US stimulus plan of February 2009 (seen

as insufficient by the Nobel Economics Prize

2008, Paul Krugman), the construction sector

is rarely placed at the centre of recovery poli-

cies. Instead of sprawling public money in all

directions, it would be more effective to use in-

frastructure and housing investment as a driv-

ing force to leverage activities in other economic

branches, create millions of jobs and strengthen

intersectoral synergies (the well-known multi-

plier effect). Linking housing loans to savings,

providing targeted incentives to households

and developers, encouraging both rental hous-

ing and home ownership, investing in all types

of environmental infrastructure, these could be

the basic features of an ambitious revival strat-

egy, modelled on what was successfully done in

the 50s and 60s in Western Europe and more

recently in China.

In the United States the USD 75 billion

Homeowner Stability Initiative launched on

18 February 2009 by President Obama to

subsidize the monthly repayments of three

to four million at-risk homeowners (particu-

larly those who received sub-prime and exotic

loans) should be accompanied by a complete

overhaul of the housing finance system if a

new bubble is to be avoided in the future.

After 25 years of neo-liberalism and dereg-

ulation, a serious discussion on infrastructure

and housing finance might take place. In our

global economy, this would be in the best in-

terest of humankind for which the dream of

adequate shelter for all becomes every day

more illusive. u

PHOTO © LARS SUNDSTRÖM

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BEST PRACTICES Construction

Environmentally friendly construction is not just a fad perpetrated by eco activists; it saves money, creates jobs and improves the quality of life for residents who live in green buildings, as well as slashing greenhouse gas emissions. Green building offers a viable solution to help combat climate change because projects do not only focus on using renewable energy, but they also aim to reduce the amount of energy used in the home and during construction. By Sarah Marks.

Canada blazes a trail in green building

The award-winning Dockside Green development in Canada PHOTO © THE TARTAN GROUP


there’s a third that couldn’t care less – I find

them the most intriguing – they get in there

and they become environmental braggarts!”

The fact that green building remains a

growth area despite the current economic

climate, signifies that Dockside developers

have hit upon a truly sustainable template for

future growth.

Upgrading existing buildings

Green building is not just about new con-

structions however. Canada is also undertak-

ing retrofit programmes to improve energy

usage in existing buildings. One example

of this is the Emergency Medical Services

(EMS) Headquarters and Fleet Centre, com-

pleted in 2004. It was the first building in

the province of Ontario to attain LEED Gold,

and its energy consumption is 57 percent less

than that of similar buildings designed to

building code energy standards. That trans-

lates into an annual saving of approximately

BEST PRACTICESConstruction

Evidence from a Green Building

Awareness poll conducted by Har-

rison Interactive in the US shows

that buildings are the cause of more CO2 emis-

sions than cars, yet not even building profes-

sionals know this. The World Business Coun-

cil for Sustainable Development conducted

interviews with 1,423 building professionals

in eight countries (developed and develop-

ing), from late 2006 until early 2007, as part

of their Energy Efficiency in Buildings proj-

ect. Participants were quizzed regarding the

percentage of CO2 emissions they believed

came from buildings. The average response

was 19 percent, which is actually less than

half the correct answer of 40 percent. In the

US, building professionals believed on aver-

age that buildings were responsible for just 12

percent of emissions.

Fortunately, their North American cousins

seem far more aware of the impact of build-

ings on the carbon footprint. “In Canada 35

percent of greenhouse gas emissions come

from buildings,” says Thomas Mueller, Presi-

dent of the Canada Green Building Council.

“People are so concerned with how much

gas the car uses, but they should look at how

much energy it costs to heat your home.”

The Council, formed in 2002, has played a

vital role in advising designers, builders and

developers on how to make buildings more

energy efficient, and in particular, on how to

adapt the US Leadership in Energy and Envi-

ronmental Design (LEED) rating system for

Canada.

The system is now being taken up volun-

tarily as a standard by all tiers of the Cana-

dian construction industry (see box). The

Council aims to improve 100,000 buildings

and one million homes across Canada by

2015, with a verified 50 percent reduction in

energy and water use from a 2005 baseline.

A report released in September 2008 by the

Canadian Urban Institute claims that Canada

is now leading the green building movement

worldwide.

The Council is working towards its goal in

two ways: they have three pilot projects aimed

at improving the energy performance of exist-

ing groups of buildings (the Green Building

Performance Initiative) and they use the LEED

building standards to assess and certify build-

ings that have meet the green standards.

“The only thing that we’re not targeting right

now is existing homes,” says Mr. Mueller.

Applying LEED standards in Canada

The Leadership in Energy and Envi-

ronmental Design (LEED) rating sys-

tem is designed as a leadership system

– it targets about 20-25 percent of the

leading construction companies in the

market with the idea that if those 20

percent adopt it, it will pull the rest

of the market with them. Gaining a

rating certification costs, on average

CAD 50,000, but there are savings to

be made once energy usage is cut. An

optimum improvement of operational

practices in existing buildings adopt-

ing the standards can bring 16 to 25

percent in performance improvement.

The first phase of the pilot project has

seen 500 buildings sign up covering

seven million square metres. In the

next phase, the Building Council will

work with hospitals and universities.

“When it comes to the private sector —

40 percent of our projects are private

sector projects — the private sector will

adopt it voluntarily if given the right

incentives,” says the Building Council’s

Mueller.

New green projects and financial vi-

ability

The realisation that cars and industry are not

solely to blame for our carbon footprints has

led urban planners in Canada to undertake

impressive new green building projects. The

Dockside Green development in the city of

Victoria, capital of Vancouver Island on the

Pacific west coast, is a new eco-community,

whose first phase, Synergy, has set a world re-

cord for the most points achieved under the

new rating system.

The developers, Vancity Credit Union and

Windmill West, led by visionary director Joe

Van Belleghem (who is also a founding mem-

ber of the Green Building Council) are aiming

to achieve a LEED Platinum rating for every

building in the development, which would be

a first for North America. So confident are they

of their project’s success that they have backed

up their promise with a USD one million guar-

antee, to be paid to the city of Victoria should

they fail to meet the target.

Dockside Green, situated on 15 acres of har-

bourfront industrial land, is being developed

for residential, retail, office and commercial

buildings. Belleghem admitted that the eco-

nomic crisis has affected Dockside Green.

“From October 2007 to March 2008 the

market started to slow but our sales actually

went up 215 percent,” says Belleghem. “The

observation from that was to ask if the market

has got more selective in what they are buying?

They really started to do their research.” Bel-

leghem adds citing a shift in values. “I think

this is the time when people are going to start

to say they want to be involved in projects that

are addressing climate change.”

Government figures show that the cost of

constructing a LEED-certified building is

typically between two and four percent more

than a conventional construction.

Dockside Green homes have sold to a wide

range of people from countless social back-

grounds, affirming Belleghem’s belief that

green building is a growth industry. But the

key to knowing if green building can really

take off, is knowing who your buyers are – are

they a solitary section of society with green

interests, or is there a increasing supply of

buyers ready to snap up eco-friendly homes?

Bellegham says: “A third are buying be-

cause of the attributes and a third are buy-

ing because it makes a difference when they

compare our product to somebody else’s. And


Once an application for funds is submit-

ted, it usually takes four to five months for

a decision. Taking the standards of Leader-

ship in Energy and Environmental Design

into account is a good way of increasing

the chance of finding funding. “Currently,

green building applications have to target

at least LEED Silver and achieve a greater

than 40 percent improvement in energy

consumption compared to the Canadian

Model National Energy Code for Buildings

(which defines minimum requirements for

energy efficiency). For applicants seeking

grants and loans for retrofits, their proj-

ect must reduce energy consumption by at

least 30 percent. Although the Green Mu-

nicipal Fund uses the LEED rating system

as a standard, we also accept equivalents,”

says Sullivan.

A global perspective

The necessity to build sustainably has also

been recognised by the International Orga-

nization for Standardization (ISO), which an-

nounced a new ISO standard in January this

year. This will help the building sector to con-

tribute to energy saving by providing it with

specific design guidelines.

“Today’s worldwide increase in efforts

toward rational use of natural resources is

increasing the markets for energy-efficient

buildings and building equipment,” says

Stephen Turner, leader of the ISO group.

“The building sector holds great prospects for

energy saving through the design of buildings

BEST PRACTICES Construction

CAD 21,800 (USD 16,895) in natural gas and

electricity according to a statement by the re-

gion of Waterloo.

Despite the relative ease in obtaining fund-

ing and the consequent money saved in paral-

lel to a reduction in energy usage, some of the

problems encountered while planning and con-

structing the EMS headquarters indicate why

green building is not more prolific. Yet the local

government has formally adopted a LEED Sil-

ver standard for all new facilities it constructs.

Government backing

One of the reasons for Canada’s success is

that the private sector is receiving government

support. The Canadian government established

the Green Municipal Fund in its 2000 budget

with the aim of stimulating investment in pio-

neering municipal environmental projects that

move the progress of sustainable development

forward in Canadian society.

The Federation of Canadian Municipali-

ties (FCM) is the mouthpiece of municipal

governments and they control the Green Mu-

nicipal Fund.

Ray Sullivan, the FCM Communications

Manager, says: “FCM’s Green Municipal

Fund can provide grants and loans to munici-

pal governments and to their partners in the

private and non-profit sectors. In each case,

however, a municipal government has to be a

partner in the initiative.” And there is an add-

ed incentive: “Currently, we are able to make

loans to municipal governments at about one

percent interest,” says Sullivan.

with improved thermal performance and in-

creased efficiency of mechanical equipment,

as well of course through the entire range of

buildings’ lifecycles.”

This raises the question why other coun-

tries are not forging ahead with green build-

ing projects at the same rate as Canada. The

answer could be ignorance. As the World

Business Council for Sustainable Develop-

ment indicated in its report, even building

professionals are unaware that buildings are

responsible for a significant proportion of

CO2 emissions.This ignorance may well be

due to unfamiliarity: only 13 percent of sur-

vey participants had ever been involved in a

green building project.

Cost plays an important role in how green

a developer chooses to make a construction.

Less energy efficient heating and air condi-

tioning for example, are generally cheaper to

install, so a developer can then sell houses at

a lower price.

Developers will always be motivated to

answer market demands, so, until consumer

demand is for energy efficient housing, the

developers will keep on building less energy

efficient, but cheaper housing. Fortunately

in Canada, both consumer demand and stan-

dards such as LEED are tipping the balance

in favour of green construction. And the

fact that the government is openly support-

ing green building initiatives is spurring on

the process through advanced education and

training, development of supportive regula-

tions, advanced research and development,

and a commitment to build communities that

are energy efficient, cost effective and eco-

logically sensitive.

To make a real impact green building has

to happen on a global level. A 2007 report

on buildings and climate change from the

United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) Sustainable Construction and Build-

ing Initiative (SBCI) recognizes that develop-

ing countries do not always possess the fund-

ing or tools to build greener buildings. Achim

Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and

UNEP Executive Director, says: “By some

conservative estimates, the building sector

worldwide could deliver emission reductions

of 1.8 billion tonnes of CO2. A more aggres-

sive energy efficiency policy might deliver

over two billion tonnes or close to three times

the amount scheduled to be reduced under

the Kyoto Protocol.” u

View from Dockside Green PHOTO © THE TARTAN GROUP


BEST PRACTICESInnovation and news from Europe

A new form of sculpture, which mixes the art world with the science, has been unveiled in Dundee, Scotland. The life-size model of a car draped in a sheet can turn toxic gases from cars back into oxygen and nitrates.

The Scottish artists who created it, Dalziel and Scullion, say that it is a UK first. “Catalyst points the way to how cities with notoriously bad air quality, from Delhi to Bangkok to Beijing, could, in the short term, mitigate some of the worst ef-fects of airborne pollutants, ” says Louise Scul-lion.

The artwork is also a technical achievement in how it operates. Made of catalytic titanium dioxide, it reacts with light and triggers nitric ox-ides, carbon monoxide and sulphur monoxide to break apart. Materials such as nitrates drain off after a rainfall and flow into the earth for plants to use.

“In the wake of the current financial crisis, consumerism has never been more examined,” says Scullion. “At the same time ecological is-sues have taken a much more central position in our consciousness, environmental sustain-ability is no longer the topic of specialists and most people now recognize that our generation will play a critical role in shaping and adapting to an uncertain future.” u

Ireland’s first ever eco-bus has hit the streets of Dublin in a three-year trial, with the aim of dra-matically cutting emissions and noise.

The hybrid-electric vehicle, which is powered by an electric motor as well as a 2.4 litre diesel engine, will cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions by a third.

The new double-decker bus, which has wheel-chair access, is part of a project by the Irish Gov-ernment’s Transport 21 investment programme

that aims to invest in and develop greener busi-ness practices.

As well as helping the environment by reducing carbon monoxide by 97 percent, hydrocarbons by 76 percent and nitrous oxides, it will benefit residents, as the bus will be 50 percent less noisy. The three-year trial period aims to check the bus’ reliability and maintenance requirements, to see if it is affordable to roll out vehicles across more routes throughout Ireland. u

A new green initiative will use London canal water and heat exchange technology to provide a more sustainable alternative to traditional air conditioning. Pharmaceutical company Glaxo-SmithKline, whose headquarters sit alongside one of the many canals that wind their way around London and England, aims to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 920 tonnes a year and also lower its energy bills.

Tony Hales from British Waterways which controls the 3,500km canal network believes that a further 1,000 waterside businesses across the UK could follow GlaxoSmithKline’s lead.

“A legacy of their industrial past, waterways pass alongside thousands of waterside orga-nizations in cities from London to Bangkok, Myanmar and Dhaka, seeking greener ways of doing business,” says Hales. “More companies

can embrace and realize the benefits of utiliz-ing their canal-side location to lower energy bills and reduce impact on the environment.”

This first initiative replaces traditional air-con-ditioning systems and uses recyclable water from the canal to cool the company’s computer data centre via heat exchangers and a water-cooled chiller. It works in a similar way to a car radiator where cool air passes through the hot engine to lower its temperature. Because this results in wa-ter being returned to the canal slightly warmer, it has required an environment analysis and con-sent from the UK Environment Agency.

Hales believes that while this technology has been used in northern Europe, it has never before had the scope nor opportunity for its full potential to be realized with Britain’s extensive network of rivers and canals.

“The nation’s waterways have long provid-ed a green network for boats, bikes, walkers, and wildlife but they can do even more to help Britain become a cleaner and more sustain-able place,” continues Hales. “The genius of the waterways is that, 200 years after they were first built, they continue to adapt and contribute to modern society. We are only at the start of unlocking their full potential.”

EnergyUK companies use canals to replace aircon units

TransportEco-sculpture can reduce traffic pollution

TransportIreland unveils first eco-bus

Canals can help energy efficiency PHOTO © GSK

The new bus is 50 percent quieter than traditional buses PHOTO © DUBLIN BUS


A new tidal power plant, to be installed in the Messina straits between Italy and Sicily, could be scaled up for ocean use within five years if the trial goes well.

The Sea Power plant, being developed by the Italian based company Fri-El Green Power, is a 500 kilowatt (kw) model and consists of sub-merged turbines that use the tidal currents to generate electricity.

“These tidal power plants are an economi-cal way of producing electricity,” says Werner Ebner of Fri-El Green Power. “The system is comparatively inexpensive to build and also to maintain, not least because it is based on mod-ules, which can also be easily transported.”

The tidal power plant consists of a floating platform which is held in place by anchors. Attached to this platform, which generates the electricity, are four cables tied to 20 buoys placed at regular intervals. Under each buoy are the turbines which have diameters of four me-tres. Similar to wind turbines, the tidal variety are equipped with three rotor blades that spin at right angles to the water. As tides are quite predictable, the energy, particularly in the Mes-sina straits, can be a reliable source of energy.

This link to the electricity grid is easy to do when the tidal plants are close to land, but future

InfrastructureMaximizing the power of the sea

BEST PRACTICES Innovation and news from Europe

development will enable the plants to be based far out at sea, especially in the energy intense oceans such as the Atlantic and South Pacific.

To resolve the problem of distance, the electricity generated would be converted to hydrogen using electrolysis and then be shipped by tank ships to land.

“The infrastructure needed would be relatively simple,” says Ebner. “To keep electricity prices low it is important to re-duce investment costs and also to minimize maintenance expenses. The device can be used wherever there are currents, and is a highly modular device and can be arranged in various configurations to maximize energy production.”

Turbines under the buoys capture wave energy PHOTO © FRI-EL

Captured energy is turned to hydrogen and shipped to the mainland PHOTO © FRI-EL Twenty buoys generate the electricity PHOTO © FRI-EL


LEADERSOpinion

T he messages of the latest reports of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change are clear: climate change is happening, it is accelerating

and, in its current form, it is very probably created largely by mankind.

In view of these developments, the German Federal Govern-ment has decided to take action on international climate pro-tection and energy policy by promoting ambitious goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and by adapting to climate trends and weather extremes.

In June 2007, under German chairmanship, for the first time the G-8 Summit achieved consensus among the industrial states that global warming should be limited to a maximum of two degrees. In order to achieve this, the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases will have to be halved on a global level by 2050.

With the High-Tech Strategy for Climate Protection, the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has put in place a cornerstone of its innovation-driven, international approach to energy efficiency, climate protection and precautionary measures. Embedded within this frame, BMBF launched its funding priority on Future Megacities – energy- and climate-efficient structures in urban growth centres. BMBF invest-ments come to EUR 42 million for a five-year period.

Urban agglomerations and, in particular, megacities in devel-oping and newly industrialising countries are important arenas for energy use and production. Although cities only take up 2% of the earth’s land surface, they are responsible for three-quarters of global energy consumption as well as approxi-mately 85% of the global production of greenhouse gases. The underlying trend to urbanisation (with an approximate 1.8% increase per annum in the global urban population) is not stopping.

Cities not only drive climate change, they also receive the full brunt of its consequences, not least because about a fifth of the world’s population lives less than 30 kilometres from the coast in areas with a high population density. Floods, storm tides, strong winds, heavy rain as well as heat waves and droughts

will occur more frequently in the future, endangering human life, residential areas, infrastructures, ecological systems, economic life and public health and safety in cities. Politics, economics and institutions of civil society will be faced with new challenges.

Goals

Megacities offer strategic starting points for energy efficien-cy and climate protection. On the one hand, concentrations of people and material flows make it possible to reduce the consumption of resources. On the other hand, the functional integration of urban industries, infrastructures and networks ensures the accelerated dissemination of innovations, not least in the energy sector. In order to take advantage of this, integrative urban development is required.

Megacities are thus facing critical decisions on the direction to take. Their expansion could further fuel mankind’s energy consumption. In addition, however, innovations in technolo-gy and urban planning could help to set up sustainable struc-tures and guidelines for energy demand and production (for instance in the residential and construction, household, traf-fic, industry and waste sectors), decouple economic growth and energy consumption, and take emissions at least from an exponential to a flattening growth curve.

The goal of bilateral, dynamically developing R&D co-operation projects is to analyse, plan, develop and realise in an exemplary way technical and non-technical innova-tions for the establishment of energy- and climate-efficient structures. These should enable the city, along with its de-cision makers and inhabitants, to bring about increased performance and efficiency gains in energy production, dis-tribution and use. Likewise, consumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced in a sustainable way in the future.

In order to achieve the above mentioned goals the sponsored research projects of the BMBF pursue – among others – the following methodological approaches:

• Research concepts are developed in close coordination with decision makers and stakeholders in the respective

Future Megacities: Energy- and Climate- Efficient Structures in Urban Growth Centres

Partnership in R&D—A Funding Priority by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Sponsored statement

urban growth centres and elaborated in the context of joint projects based on part-nership and the division of work. Relevant interest groups from politics, business and society are integrated.

• The elaboration and realisation of innova-tive, solution-oriented planning and man-agement concepts can, as far as possible, be transferred to other cities as cases of “good practice”.

• The integrative, multi-disciplinary bun-dling of competencies and capacities within a manageable framework and the creation of competence networks are required.

• The approach links up with the concept of sustainable development. Ecological, eco-nomic and social facets of the development of energy-efficient structures and climate protection are to be considered in a closed and long-term concept.

• Co-operation with enterprises from within the German economy as well as local compa-nies is expected.

• Synergies with existing or developing par-allel national and international research programmes and other initiatives are to be encouraged.

• The prospects for appropriate involvement of the partner country, as well as, where ap-plicable, third-party funding, are promoted.

Focus

The projects strike a geographic as well as the-matic balance. They deal with urban agglomer-ations in China, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Morocco, Peru, South Africa and Vietnam. Projects are aimed at specific energy- and climate-efficient structures in areas like housing and construc-tion, nutrition and urban agriculture, public health and quality of life, urban planning and governance, direct energy supply and consumption, mobility and transport, water supply, waste treatment, and environmental management. The emphasis of the research lies on “prevention and therapy” instead of just “diagnosis”. Projects have to demonstrate that they are commendable (good practice) and transferable (best practice).

Partnership approach

The above approach will only function in close co-operation with local partners. Decisions on urban development in urban growth centres need to draw on a solid foundation of scientific knowledge. Those taking the decisions must be able to take advantage of new and well adapted technologies, identify effective management

tools and appraise and transfer good practice from other cities where appropriate. Scien-tific research and the development of adequate technologies, therefore, are key resources to widen the range of policy options for the governance of mega-urban development. Ca-pacity building and international networking figure prominently in this programme. From the outset, stakeholders from politics, economy and society have been included to ensure that the research questions are suited to pressing, local needs. These inevitably need to be stud-ied multi-dimensionally and, as far as possible, in an interdisciplinary, even transdisciplinary fashion.

Expected results

First results were presented at the World Urban Forum 4 in Nanjing (3-6 November 2008). Team representatives from Ethiopia and Morocco alongside their German partners presented their cooperative projects on waste management and urban agriculture. The ultimate outcome of the research will be strategies and pilot projects that show new ways for the introduction of energy- and climate-efficient structures in urban growth centres through:

• technical innovations in urban infra-

structure adapted to local conditions and

accepted by citizens;

• new forms of political decision making

and governance;

• new management instruments in urban

decision making;

• tools to evaluate the effectiveness of urban

planning measures;

• capacity building and vocational training;

and

• new partnerships combating climate change.

AUTHOR: ANDREA KOCH-KRAFT

For further reading, please visit:

www.bmbf.de and www.future-megacities.org

Sponsored statement


LEADERS Conflict in Africa taking the Responsibility to Protect


INTERVIEWClimate change

Why did you want to become Chairman

of the C40 Cities group?

Because I very much believe that climate

change is the challenge of our time, of all

time. And the cities have a leading role and

can make that change. I felt that when May-

or Livingston [the previous chairman of the

C40 Cities group] lost his position as Mayor

of London that it would be important to have

somebody from the board that was already

there who could share his passion to keep the

C40 moving strongly forward as it had been.

C40 and the Clinton Climate Initia-

tive have set up a scheme to make city

buildings more energy efficient with

five banks putting up USD one billion

each to finance a retrofit plan for 15

participating cities. What renovations

are taking place in Toronto as part of

the plan?

The Clinton Climate Initiative’s partner-

ship with the C40 is loosely based on a pro-

gramme that Toronto has had for about 20

years called The Better Building Partnership,

Toronto is aiming for an impressive three to five percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of one programme – the Mayor’s Tower Renewal – which will see the refit 1,000s of high-rise apartments in the city. The man behind the programme, Toronto Mayor David Miller, has now set himself a global challenge. As chairman of the C40 Cities group — formed by city mayors to exchange ideas and best practices with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions — Miller is leading the campaign to make cities more environmentally aware. By Kirsty Tuxford.

A man for all seasons

Mayor David Raymond MillerBorn 26 December 1958, San Francisco, California63rd Mayor of TorontoChairman of the C40 Cities Group (2008 – present two-year term)

Harvard UniversityUniversity of Toronto Law SchoolPolitical party: Independent (2007 – present)

Mayor David Miller PHOTO © COURTESY OF MAYOR’S OFFICE

Biography


in which we’ve done energy retrofits on public

and commercial buildings. We have now con-

nected with the C40, and expanded to private

apartment buildings and to public department

buildings. The programme is called Mayor’s

Tower Renewal.

What we’re doing is energy retrofits, in-

cluding steel cladding on concrete apart-

ment buildings built in the 50s, 60s and

70s. Concrete has no insulating properties

at all and the buildings are terrible wasters

of energy. There are 2,000 such buildings

in the Toronto region and the University of

Toronto has estimated that if we clad them

we will lower our carbon footprint and our

greenhouse gas emissions by somewhere be-

tween two and five percent. With an energy

retrofit you rejuvenate the building so you

get a whole layer of wins: you get significant

environmental improvements, significant

job creation, better places for people to live

and rejuvenation of poor neighbourhoods –

it all comes together.

For how many years will Toronto be

working on this plan?

I can’t express it in terms of a finish date.

There are two separate streams to it – one is

rejuvenating our own public housing and the

second is private housing. We’re further ahead

with the buildings we own. We’re in a good

position to do that because we’re Canada’s

largest landlords – we’ve got about 140,000

tenants. We recently sold our telecom utility

and took CAD 75 million from that sale and

put it directly into building retrofits, includ-

ing energy retrofits. The private ones are just

underway, starting with four buildings, but

there are 2,000 in the Toronto region. You’re

looking at least a decade’s worth of work and

corresponding job creation.

One of the reasons behind the creation

of C40 cities was because there was a de-

sire for faster action from governments.

Clearly there’s a need for mass commu-

nity movement on climate change. Do

you think the C40 message would be

stronger if it were spread through the

public voice?

The way we’re [C40 is] structured is that we push

the individual mayors to engage the residents of

their own cities. That’s a strength; something

mayors can offer – they’re very good at public

engagement. We participate in things like Earth

Hour, which is all about that.

There are tremendous opportunities to

share knowledge, share best practices, mo-

tivate people and show people what to do. If

you connect them with some brains and some

money to make it easier for them to know

what to do, you can have some extraordinary

results.

How much power do the C40 mayors

have when it comes to influencing deci-

sions made by world leaders? Are C40

“With an energy retrofit you rejuvenate the building so you get a whole layer of wins: you get significant environmental improvements, significant job creation, better places for people to live and rejuvenation of poor neighbourhoods – it all comes together.” Mayor David Miller

INTERVIEW Climate change

Tower blocks will be refitted in the Mayor’s Tower Renewal project PHOTO © COURTESY OF MAYOR’S OFFICE

Mayor’s Tower Renewal

More than 1,000 concrete slab apart-ment blocks are undergoing a green retrofit with the aim of slashing their C02 emissions. The work involves the buildings being covered with thermal external cladding to cut down on es-caping heat; the addition of more com-munal spaces and facilities to reduce the need for car trips; the construction of a high-speed public transport train system across the city; open spaces will be used for food production, local com-posting, youth training and seasonal markets and the installation of green infrastructure such as green roofs, grey water recycling, solar water heat-ing and storm water retention amongst other initiatives.


We learn from each other and sometimes

we learn from cities that aren’t C40 cities in

the summits, for a whole range of reasons

– but this exchange of best practices is ex-

tremely significant. Although it’s not a C40

city, we took the ideas behind our energy

retrofit, the Mayor’s Tower Renewal, from

Chongquing, when I visited Chongquing in

the spring. There were different issues – cool-

ing the buildings, not heating them, but con-

crete buildings are terrible wasters of energy.

So these ideas spread virally, very powerfully,

and the C40 is an instrument to do that on a

world scale. There are probably 700 million

people living in the city regions that are rep-

resented.

One of the aims of C40 is to create

a purchasing alliance to drive down

the cost of energy saving technology.

Companies such as Siemens, Johnson

Controls, Honeywell and Trane have

committed to increase operations and

lower prices to help move the retrofit

along. Do you think it would it be ben-

eficial to include the CEOs of private

sector companies as members of C40

to ensure their continued support?

I’m very supportive of mayor-led organiza-

tions because the nature of the position of

mayor is that you’re required to act. That’s

the job of a mayor: to make change and do

it quickly. I see the chairs, CEOs or presi-

dents of these companies as being strong

partners, so I think it’s very appropriate to

welcome them as partners but I think the

organization should be an organization of

mayors because that’s how we get things

done. These kinds of companies, like

Johnson Controls, really stepped up not

just with C40 cities, but with other cities

that have an interest. It is certainly very

significant when you see a business leader

take these kinds of projects to heart. That

is what mayors are about. We’re about

bringing together the public, the pri-

vate sector and labour with the academic

sector.

How often do the C40 mayors get to-

gether to discuss plans?

The board has conference calls regularly and

there’s a lot of work mayor to mayor. We also

have various meetings about particular is-

sues – we recently had a conference in Tokyo

recommendations taken seriously and

acted upon?

We do have significant changes [happening]

because people in Canada and other C40

countries see the cities and the mayors as

the ones who are acting and making change.

When we act, it encourages others to act. I’ll

give you a couple of examples.

Just last week we announced that we were

going to require all retailers to charge for

plastic bags because they’re made out of oil

and they’re not a renewable resource and we

need to reduce. The moment we passed the

law, one of the leading national retailers an-

nounced they were doing it nationwide. No-

body was compelling them to do it.

They catch up to us, and sometimes the

governments don’t even need to act. I’ll

give you another example. One of the lead-

ing builders in Canada is a company called

Tridel, which builds high-rise condominium

apartments. We created a programme so that

they as the builder could afford to build green

buildings because the cost savings accrue to

the purchaser not the builder. It costs more

for the builder to build a green building, but

less, once people buy the apartments, for them

to run it. We created a programme where we

gave them [Tridel] a loan to do the green work

and the loan was repayable by the eventual pur-

chaser. So they built green buildings and the

purchasers got lower operating costs, and the

chance to live in a green building, which is a win

for everybody. The private sector has now taken

that over and found a way to do it themselves –

they don’t need our loans any more. These are

examples of public policy initiatives that other

governments took up, and actions that private

businesses took over. Because the city did it, it

became the national standard.

INTERVIEWClimate change

Green spaces in Toronto PHOTO © COURTESY OF MAYOR’S OFFICE

about adaptation. There is regular contact

between the mayors as a whole and groups of

mayors within the organization.

Does C40 work with any other agencies

aside from the Clinton Climate Initia-

tive?

Yes, I’ve appeared at OECD forums and we

are in discussions with the World Bank. We

partner where we can. Our interlinked part-

ner though, is the Clinton Climate Initiative

and what they have brought to the table is the

ability to bring on board significant interna-

tional corporations, the ability to take a great

idea from one city and scale it on a massive

world scale to make real change and to start

work on lowering the costs on some of these

opportunities – that’s the mass buying power

that’s possible.

The parallel for me in the developing world

is cell phones. Some countries went right

from nothing to cell phones; they didn’t have

to go through wire. And if we can do that on

environmental issues – leap to the next stan-

dard – there are huge opportunities. They

don’t start parallel – the way some countries

industrialized 150 years ago was not the same

way England did. And to get that great leap

forward we need some of the costs for some

of these – particularly renewable generating

– to come down quickly. If you do that you

can leap over the steps that the west took,

and that’s why buying power really matters –

for solar pholtovoltaic or hot water – there’s

a tremendous potential if you get the costs

down.

The energy retrofit programme is the best

example of where we’ve got the buying costs

down. And it’s only been two years since the

C40 summit in New York, which was our

launch really – fairly extraordinary achieve-

ments so far, but we’re working closely with

the Clinton Climate Initiative to see what else

can be done and we should have some an-

nouncements to make at the Seoul summit in

May 2009.

The C40 Seoul Summit in May will ad-

dress challenges in the fight against

climate change. For cities, what would

you say is the single-biggest obstacle

preventing the implementation of en-

ergy-saving initiatives?

The fact that many of the tools we need are

beyond our legal control. To fight climate

change there are so many things you can


There is. I’m not in a position to announce

plans yet, but we are working on a very major

project to ensure that those who lead cit-

ies in the developed world can reach out

directly to the developing cities. And we’re

working with some prominent internation-

al institutions on that because we want to

give the opportunity to cities to make sure

people start off on the right foot. But they

need the funding, they need the assistance

technically sometimes, and we’re working

directly with some major international in-

stitutions to do that. I think that’s a unique

opportunity that the C40 has, because we

are cities from developed and developing

worlds. We can come together, and even

though the challenges the cities face may

be of different magnitudes, they are similar

in principle.

What are your hopes for the next five

years for C40? Where do you foresee

the biggest achievements?

I’d like to see projects like the building

retrofit on a very significant scale in every

Marzo 2009

INTERVIEW Climate change

actually do: it’s about the use of energy, it’s

about transportation, it’s about how we

distribute energy and it’s about literally how

you build cities. So we can control where new

buildings go but the building codes for exam-

ple are often under the control of national or

sub-national governments.

Cities have different abilities to control en-

ergy. Some cities have their own public utility

that generates and distributes energy, some

distribute, and some have no role on it. So

our biggest challenge is having the national

and sub-national governments be as activ-

ist as the cities are, and coordinate national,

state or provincial level policies in line with

our initiatives.

We’re making big impacts – you think about

Mayor’s Tower Renewal and a three to five per-

cent reduction in greenhouse gases through one

programme. Extraordinary. If the national and

provincial governments would harmonize their

policies with ours, for example their granting

programmes for energy retrofits, and make

them larger, and if they would have the building

codes in Ontario reflect Toronto’s green build-

ing standards, we could make lots more change

quickly – and improve the economy, create jobs

and lower operating costs. So that’s our biggest

challenge: getting the governments to act with

the same sense of urgency.

Is there always financial support for

poorer cities that may not have the

funds to implement plans?

C40 city and commercialized in a way that

building retrofits are just naturally hap-

pening through the private market in cities

around the world.

I’d like to see the right kind of technological

link between the cities so that we are speaking

the same language about how we’re reducing

greenhouse gas emissions and have the same

technology available to us to measure and to

reinforce our actions. And I’d like to see at the

end of five years, the national governments

being as active and activist as the C40 cities.

So I think if we stick together through the Co-

penhagen UN climate change conference this

year then we will force the national govern-

ments to act the same way cities are – that’s

when we will have really started to fight cli-

mate change.

We’re very much focused on Copenhagen

this year, and I think there’s a tremendous

opportunity in Seoul. We’re going to show the

world what we’re doing. We’re going to go to

Copenhagen and say to our national leaders:

‘It’s time for you to act! It’s not an issue to

debate any more, it’s about action’. u

Toronto has sold off its telecom utility to fund the retrofit of buildings PHOTO © COURTESY OF MAYOR’S OFFICE

“We are working on a very major project to ensure that those who lead cities in the developed world can reach out directly to the developing cities.” Mayor David Miller


When a North American company decides on its next move — which market to target, which brand to

launch or which competitor to buy — directors face some tough choices. As they pass round the sparkling mineral water, opinions will vary. “The Nomis acquisition looks a better option. We can streamline production and reduce overhead.” “What about the spend on R&D? The new casing we are using for impermeables has raised margins 7.2 percent.”

The majority of the population of South America and the Caribbean, some 360 million citizens, have an even tougher option: a com-plete lack of choice. They don’t get to choose which bank to go to because they aren’t part of the formal financial system. They may not even have identification papers so they can’t get an account or credit anyway. In fact, they can’t even choose where to live, as they have

no access to mortgage finance or even a right to a legal title to sell their existing so-called home. Mineral water? A pipedream.

Such people seem so removed from those man-aging large corporations that to consider that their interests might converge seems absurd. But there is now one option which could help them both — to work together.

This thinking stems from the theories of Uni-versity of Michigan professor C.K. Prahalad who believes poverty can be alleviated by encouraging companies to offer goods and services to the poor-est members of society while assisting such people to become entrepreneurs in their own right. It may not be right for all businesses, but as part of a strategic company review, a company may wish to consider the underserved majority population of a country or region — known as the “bottom of the investment pyramid” — as part of its future client base. This term coined by Prahalad refers to the

lowest socio-economic group in society. In the Lat-in America region alone this is a potential market of 360 million people estimated to be worth USD 5 trillion by Washington D.C.’s World Resources Institute. To reach such people, it means directors not only looking at the customer with new eyes, but also reviewing their whole business model. In Prahalad-speak you have to rethink your cost structures, your distribution chain and your core competences.

One agency at the forefront of promoting such a rethink is the Inter-American Development Bank through its Opportunities for the Majority initia-tive. “When you think of one industry that has cracked the code of how to approach low-income markets and which has established a real busi-ness opportunity for growth and profit, I think you have to look at the cell phone industry,” says Francisco Mejia, an IDB investment officer who is working closely to promote the Initiative. “If

IN-FOCUSLatin America and the Caribbean

Tiling dirt floors raises health and education levels PHOTO © ALVARO REYES

Over the past two years, investment from multilaterals and the private sector in Colombia has not only improved living conditions but has helped develop a new class of entrepreneurs within such communities. By Richard Forster.

Colombia recruits female entrepreneurs to transform housing


the IDB’s Mejia. The IDB is funding around USD 17 million of the USD 80 million costs for this and a similar programme for NGO Mario Santo Domingo in Colombia where people are involved in self-construct homes. “Part of the technical assistance [the IDB is funding] is to give people training in constructing bricks, making up mortar and cement and the activities to make them self-sufficient in construction,” says Mejia. So it is not just about providing access to a home: it is also about sustaining development by encouraging people to become microentrepreneurs.

Mobilizing private capital to invest in the ma-jority population is vital to achieve such goals. Mexico’s most profitable bank Compartamos has launched Latin America’s first social ven-ture fund IGNIA, which will invest in companies whose strategic goal is to improve the lot of the poor. The fund had attracted USD 34 million in equity commitments by the end of 2008 and will act as a regional conduit for investment. “The whole concept behind IGNIA is to serve as an investment vehicle for social entrepreneurship,” says Carlos Labarthe, joint CEO of Comparta-mos. “It’s not about donations, it’s the concept of social investment in social companies that need economic support but that also need advice.”

The key to such social entrepreneurship will depend very much on a grassroots approach and targeting businesses that have grown from the community. Those directors sitting in a US boardroom who can appreciate that may find a new source of organic growth perhaps where they least expected. u

IN-FOCUS Latin America and the Caribbean

you see what the cell phone industry did, they changed their business model going from post-paid to prepaid, from very complicated contracts which they still have in the upper income market to no contracts. They introduced a whole new set of business processes so people could afford it.” The results were not only an increase in incomes of those making use of the new services but also access to other benefits. Financial services by cell phone have brought the poorest people into the financial system for the first time in India, the Philippines and South Africa. The question then is, if the cell phone industry has been able to crack that code what does it take for other industries such as housing, health and construction to do the same?

Innovation alone is not sufficient. While inno-vation can reduce costs and lower prices, it is not just about providing a tailored product stripped of some quality at a lower price. Importantly it means building a business within the community so its members become entrepreneurs in their own right and the supply chain and consumption grow.

Private companies which are looking at mar-keting products to these communities know it is not enough to have the lower-cost product with-out a distribution chain which can reach the local community. Most often this means that the local community is the distribution chain. Nestlé has rolled out its products in Brazil for low-income communities which rely on local people providing a door-to-door sales force. Without the local sales-women, perception of the products as high-priced or even counterfeit would have meant the project falling by the wayside in communities where trust is not a commodity which can be developed in a sales training school.

In the housing sector, Colombia’s Colcerámica provides a good example where the company’s normal distribution channel did not necessarily reach the low-income population they wanted to reach. Up to 2006, the company had been a tile and bathroom products company which served the middle and high-income markets enjoying a dominant position in tile manufacture and supply for over 10 years. But after a cost reduction pro-gramme leading to the manufacture of a special tile for the low-income market, the company saw an opportunity to assist the estimated 1.5 million homes that had untiled, dirt floors.

To open up the new market, the company had to establish a new distribution chain leveraging the capacity of community NGOs in particular and engaging local women heads of households (madres comunitarias or day care mothers) as the sales force. These sales teams were managed by Colcerámica staff housed in a small service centre. The sales women not only had a monetary incentive to sell and plan the floors in their neigh-bours’ houses but also had been made aware of

the health benefits from tiling dirt floors which was necessary for madres comunitarias to carry out their work as day care mothers.

The women were hired to work with Colcerámi-ca on a commission basis: part of the commission went to the community organization itself which managed the saleswomen and exhibited the tiling products. As well as allowing local commerce to flourish by encouraging women to sell the prod-uct, it also allowed day care mothers to increase their income from the continuing day care homes they could provide to the hygienic standards re-quired. The attendant health benefits also mean longer-term successes: according to the IDB, studies have demonstrated that having perma-nent floors is associated with lower incidences of disease and higher achievement in cognitive tests. In addition, house values are estimated to increase on average 15-20 percent with a tile floor. “Everybody wins under this distribution model,” comments Mejia.

Grassroots companies What is important though in reviewing these suc-cesses is that while the top-bottom approach of these big companies has succeeded with the right product and the right distribution, it is equally important, if not more important, to look at the approach of local small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs) growing from a grassroots level. The challenge for such companies is different to those faced by the bigger national players. Small local businesses already have a product co-cre-ated, understood and distributed within the lo-cal community but a lack of financing caps their growth and opportunity to scale up the business.

In such cases, multilaterals can step in to pro-vide the finance to develop successful operations on a wider basis. The World Bank has set up a USD 370,000 programme in Colombia’s capital Bogotá partnering with UN-HABITAT and local banks to provide wider access to microfinance for low-income housing. The aim is to provide the 40 percent of the population who lack access to formal housing credit with sustainable housing microfinance by developing the financial and regulatory infrastructure necessary for the wider dissemination of housing credits.

The Inter-American Development Bank has also been active in the Colombian housing sec-tor to assist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) moving from a local community model to a countrywide or regional model. The Bank is working with Minuto de Dios in Colombia to give displaced and homeless people longer term micro-mortgages. “The difference in a micro-mortgage for three years compared to a 15 year tenor could be the equivalent of a minimum salary so it is significant and that could actu-ally unlock having a house for someone,” says

Colombia

Source: UN-HABITAT

Urbanization

Total population: 43 millionUrban population: 76 percentSlum to urban population: 22 percentAnnual population growth rates:Urban: 3 percentSlum: 1 percent

Slum Indicators

Percentage of urban population with access to: Safe water source: 98 percentImproved sanitation: 94 percentSufficient living area: 86 percentDurable housing: 97 percent


IN-FOCUSLatin America: News


Mexico recently began generating electricity

from a new wind farm in La Ventosa region

which coincidentally translates to ‘windy

city’. It will be the largest in Latin America

and once fully complete will consist of 167

wind turbines and generate 250 megawatts

(MW) of electricity.

After almost relying exclusively on its vast

petroleum stocks for decades, Mexico is now

realising the potential of its wind and solar

resources. Oil production fell by 9.2 percent

in 2008, and to assist tap its natural renew-

able resources it has turned to foreign com-

panies to develop the technology. The new

wind farm will help reduce CO2 emissions by

six million tons within 10 years.

Based in Oaxaca state, the farm is run by

Spanish energy companies Iberdrola and Ac-

ciona Energia and Mexican giant CEMEX.

It is the first in Mexico to be constructed,

owned and operated by a private firm.

The importance of the event was not

overlooked as Mexico’s president Felipe

Calderón inaugurated the wind farm him-

self. “If we don’t do something about this

problem of climate change it probably could

become — I’m sure it already is — one of the

biggest threats to humanity,” he said at the

inaugural ceremony.

The region was chosen especially for its

near perfect breezes of 25km/h to 35km/h,

of which similar areas have been identi-

fied for further wind farms to be built.

“The intensity of wind in various parts of

the country can make our plants among the

most efficient in the world,” energy secre-

tary Georgina Kessel told reporters at the

opening of the new facility.

The final output of the farm will generate

enough electricity to meet 13 percent of the

state’s demand, or enough energy to power

a city of half a million people.

Last year, Mexico became the first major

emerging economy to commit an emissions

reduction target, announcing it would halve

greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 based

on 2002 levels. It is aiming by 2012 to build

a series of wind farms that will generate

2,500 MW of electricity. u

IN-FOCUS Latin America and the Caribbean: News

DISASTER MANAGEMENTUSD 600 million fund launched for disaster managementThe Inter-American Development Bank has made a USD 600 million credit facility available to assist Latin American countries with their urgent financing needs follow-ing natural disasters. In order to qualify for funding, countries must prove that their cur-rent disaster risk management programme is adequate, and then they will be eligible for facility loans of up to USD 100 million, or one percent of their GDP, whichever is less. Funding is also dependent on the scale of the disaster.

INFRASTRUCTUREBrazil receives World Bank support for urban developmentThe World Bank approved a USD 46 mil-lion loan in February, which will go towards boosting economic activity, improving ur-ban infrastructure, and enhancing regional management capacity in the state of Creará in north-eastern Brazil. The region has 600,000 inhabitants, 67 percent of whom are classed as poor. However, the World Bank believes the area to possess significant economic development potential, particu-larly in tourism and manufacturing.

CONSTRUCTIONMinisters promise to make green building a realityA forum organized by the Dominican Repub-lic government in January saw Caribbean and Latin American environment ministers resolve to promote sustainable building across the continent. Representatives from 28 countries attended the event and discus-sions emphasized the need for long-term regional strategies, awareness programmes, incentive implementations and risk assess-ments for areas prone to disaster. The move to promote sustainable building was initially proposed by the Mexican government after the United Nations Environment Pro-gramme and the Sustainable Buildings and Construction Initiative (UNEP-SBCI) had undertaken projects in the region.

INFRASTRUCTURECEMEX backs improvements to Mexican pavementsA public-private sector initiative called Me-jora tu Calle (Improve your Street) is being supported by Mexico’s cement company CEMEX. The company is providing 35,000 microloans for low-income families to help pay for upgrades to street paving. Research shows that residential areas with good pav-ing have lower crime rates, a higher level of sanitation and better access to services such as electricity, sewage disposal, transporta-tion and rubbish collection.

A floating city based on a giant lilypad’s struc-

ture, is one idea to beat rising sea levels that has

come to the fore from French-Belgian architect,

Vincent Callebaut and could be built off the coast

of Trinidad and Tobago.

Estimates by the United Nations’ Intergovern-

mental Panel on Climate Change, predict that sea

levels could rise by as much as 20 – 90 cms this

century. This would lead to dire consequences for

countries such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh,

India and the Pacific Islands.

“Not less than 250 million ‘climate refugees’

and nine percent of global GDP are threatened

if we do not build protections related to such a

threat,” says Callebaut. Trinidad and Tobago is

about to begin plans to build a man-made island

off the coast of Otaheite Bay, in which the lilypad

option could be used.

The lilypad eco-city is directly inspired by the

great ribbed leaves of the Amazonia Victoria Re-

gia lilypad. The half aquatic, half terrestrial city

is able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and

would be completely self sufficient, in energy,

food and water. This enables it to be compliant

with environmental goals of balancing climate,

biodiversity and water.

EnergyMexico unveils biggest regional wind farm

InfrastructureFloating cities could help combat climate change

La Ventosa Valley PHOTO © LAURA ULLOA


Mexico City, infamous for being one of the most polluted in the world, aims to be clean and green, as its new green plan was announced by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard.

Called the Green Plan, its USD 5.5 billion bud-get plans to attack problems in water, air, trans-port, green space and waste management over the next 15 years.

“We’ve taken the first step on a long path to build the sustainable city that we want,” says Eb-rard. “We need to recover streets and roads for efficient, non-polluting, mass transportation with properly trained drivers, and to promote non-mo-torized transportation. I want Mexico City to be the greenest city in the Americas.”

The plan includes building 10 corridors to be used only for zero emission metrobuses, replac-ing the 35,000 outdated mini buses that currently ply the streets. A new metro line will be built and completed by 2012, and more bike lanes to be added that would make Amsterdam’s network small in comparison.

“Sustainable development actions in trans-portation, especially mass transportation, will lay the foundations upon which the future of a sustainable city will be built, preventing the un-favourable tendency for environmental degrada-tion,” says Ebrard.

Ebrard joins thousands of other city officials in riding their bikes to work on the first Monday of every month. The government’s own vehicle fleet has already been updated as more than two hun-dred gas-fuelled vehicles have been replaced by electric cars, and other action will be undertaken to convert or acquire new low-emission units.

Further measures include mandatory bus trans-portation for private schools, creating pedestrian only zones in downtown areas, installing intelli-gent traffic lights and restricting car use in central areas on Saturdays and Sundays. u

IN-FOCUSLatin America and the Caribbean: News

ENERGYBahamas seeks renewable energy solutionsThe Bahamas Electricity Company is to re-ceive a grant to fund exploration of renew-able energy alternatives. The company will investigate solar power usage along with waste to energy innovations and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), which is a revolutionary new technique where tropical islands can produce both power and desalinated water. The grant is being provided by the Inter-American De-velopment Bank.

ENERGYGDF Suez to construct largest-ever energy project in BrazilFrench energy company, GDF Suez, has received a 20-year loan from the Brazilian Development Bank BNDES towards the con-struction of a 3,300 MW greenfield hydro-electric power station in Jirau in Brazil. The loan totals BRL 7.2 billion (approximately EUR 2.44 billion). The bank loan is the larg-est ever granted by a development bank in Brazil and will cover 68.5 percent of the total investment of EUR 3.3 billion.

TRANSPORTBrazilian municipality to benefit from plan to upgrade public transport systemMaringá, a municipality in the State of Panraná in Brazil is receiving funding to upgrade its urban transport systems. USD 13 million will be used to consolidate a new in-tegrated public transport system, modernize traffic lights, upgrade the traffic network and revamp central areas.

ENERGYChile begins construction of USD 120 million wind farmThe Monte Redondo wind farm has begun construction in Chile, 320 kilometres north of Santiago at a projected cost of USD 120 million. The wind farm will be fully opera-tional by October 2009 and will register un-der the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism for carbon credits.

ENERGYBarbados to reduce dependence on fossil fuelsIn a drive to promote sustainable energy sources, the Inter American Development Bank has agreed to grant Barbados USD one million to set up a Sustainable Energy Framework. The initiative aims to make renewable energy more affordable and regu-latory and financial incentives will be devel-oped to make renewable energy use more attractive.

TransportMayor reveals green ambitions for Mexico City

It reaches a positive energy balance with zero

carbon emissions through the integration of

renewable energy (solar, thermal, photovoltaic

energies, wind energy, hydraulic, tidal power

station and osmotic energies). Everything would

be recyclable and the island would produce as

much oxygen and electricity as it needs.

The floating city would be constructed out of

polyester fibres covered with titanium dioxide

that minimizes atmospheric contamination. The

city is mobile and can float with the currents and

the wind. Three ports provide access to the city,

with each covered by gardens for fresh produce

cultivation.

“The eco-city lilypad meets the political and

social challenge of integrating human sustain-

able development with the natural world,” says

Callebaut. “It will be a major challenge of the 21st

century to create new means to accommodate

environmental migrants. The lilypad eco-city is

one idea that can achieve this.” u

The proposed floating city PHOTO © VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHITECTURES

A new metro line is part of the green plan

PHOTO © BENJAMIN EARWICKER


IN-FOCUS Asia-Pacific

Singapore: a model forsustainable development?As a pioneer in sustainable development, Singapore has been approached by the World Bank to provide technical assistance on urban planning in neighbouring countries. Vicente Carbona analyses Singapore’s successful development and reveals the latest initiatives in the city-state.

Artist’s impression of the Conservatory Complex PHOTO © NATIONAL PARKS BOARD.


URBAN WATCHAsia-Pacific

Singapore has long understood that

as a buoyant, industrialized urban

centre with extremely limited re-

sources in water, energy and, especially, land,

its sustainability depends on bold urban plan-

ning and ambitious environmental controls. In

a recent development that recognizes Singa-

pore’s outstanding reputation in development,

World Bank President Robert Zoellick and

George Yeo, Foreign Minister of Singapore,

signed an agreement last December to create

a joint World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub.

This will be tasked with providing expertise

and technical assistance on the major urban

challenges facing developing countries.

“Through its own unique development

experience, Singapore has built a vast

knowledge base on meeting these sorts of

challenge,” says the World Bank’s Zoellick.

“Bringing this knowledge together with the

World Bank Group’s development opera-

tions in East Asia and around the world cre-

ates a vital source of relevant and tested ex-

pertise that we believe many countries can

benefit from.”

The Hub will bring together Singapore’s

recognized expertise in urban development,

education, and public administration, with

the Bank’s global development knowledge and

operational experience. The aim is to provide

advice and technical services to South-East

Asian countries with plans to expand to other

Asian countries including China, and eventu-

ally to go truly global into Africa.

New Inter-Ministerial Committee

Singapore has been a key player in urban de-

velopment since it became an independent

republic in 1965. One of the most recent ini-

tiatives was the establishment last year of an

Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable

Development (IMCSD) to articulate a na-

tional strategy and to ensure that Singapore

grows as a lively and more livable city, with

a Master Plan for the next 10-15 years, and

a wider-ranging Concept Plan that has a 40-

50 year horizon. The main challenge is to see

that continued growth does not come at the

expense of quality of life for its citizens.

“We want to position Singapore as a lead-

ing, distinctive Eco-City State that is not just

economically vibrant but also environmen-

tally sustainable,” says Minister for National

Development Mah Bow Tan who co-chairs

the IMCSD. “This means growing as fast as

we can, whilst ensuring that our good living

environment and economic growth potential

for future generations are not affected.”

After a series of forums and meetings, which

has resulted in over 1,300 suggestions obtained

through an online consultation initiative, the

Inter-Ministerial Committee and other public

officials are pleased with the positive public

response. Suggestions and views covered a

wide range of topics, from recycling, energy

efficiency, cycling and clean energy, to marine

nature area conservation, solar energy usage as

a renewable energy, and the use of more sus-

tainable building construction materials. The

Committee has now brought the public consul-

tation process to a close, and will take the next

few months to study the feasibility of the sug-

gestions raised and respond to key ideas. The

government has recently announced it will set

aside USD one billion over the next five years

to implement the Committee’s recommenda-

tions.

A tradition of innovation

Sustainability in Singapore is centred around

three priority areas: resource management,

pollution controls and improving the qual-

ity of the physical environment. In a dense-

ly-packed, high-rise urban centre, this is

achieved by making new and existing build-

ings more resource and energy efficient, and

actively promoting these goals among indus-

tries, businesses and transport services.

“In Singapore, high density presents not

only the most viable housing solution but

also creates an opportunity to generate some

of the most innovative sustainability ideas,”

says Tai Lee Siang, President of the Singa-

pore Institute of Architects. “One of the best

practices that has emerged is the incorpora-

tion of high-rise greenery into high-density

housing. Such incorporation not only creates

additional social interaction spaces to replace

the lost ground, but also brings a unique bal-

ance of built and natural environments. The

incorporation of greenery also serves to re-

duce heat gain on the roofs and allows natu-

ral rain harvesting.”

Part of this new focus includes a return to

the fundamentals of good design and archi-

tecture, such as north-south orientation of

new buildings to minimize solar exposure,

and the use of natural ventilation to reduce

reliance on air conditioning. “Such a mindset

shift has seen many buildings to be environ-

mental friendly without heavy investment in

technology,” says Tai.

Promoting an ambitious renewable re-

sources programme requires involving the

global business community in innovative

ways, and Singapore has undertaken a pio-

neering strategy of investments in this sec-

tor. Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) of

Norway, one of the largest solar companies in

the world, recently committed to establishing

what is envisaged to be the world’s largest ful-

ly integrated solar manufacturing complex in

Singapore, a SGD 6.3 billion (USD 4.1 billion)

investment to produce up to 1.5 gigawatts of

solar products at steady state. In early 2008,

Oerlikon Solar, a leading supplier of equip-

ment for making solar cells, chose Singapore

as its Asian manufacturing and R&D hub.

And most recently, NorSun AS, a Norwegian

firm, announced the construction of a SGD

300 million cutting-edge solar wafer manu-

facturing facility in the city-state.

In March last year, clean energy was sig-

naled out as a key growth area for Singapore,

with a goal to generate up to 7,000 jobs, by

2015, through an infusion of SGD 350 million

in public funds. Besides solar energy, which is

“In Singapore, high density presents not only the most viable housing solution but also cre-ates an opportunity to generate some of the most innovative sustainability ideas, one of the best practices that has emerged is the incor-poration of high-rise greenery into high-density housing.” Tai Lee Siang


IN-FOCUS Asia and Pacific

the main focus area, Singapore’s industry de-

velopment efforts in clean energy also cover

fuel cells, wind power, tidal power, energy ef-

ficiency and carbon services. In a related de-

velopment, Ms. Grace Fu, Senior Minister of

State for National Development, recently an-

nounced an ambitious plan to provide train-

ing opportunities for 8,000 new, high-skill

green collar jobs over the next five years.

To oversee the growth of this industry, the

inter-agency Clean Energy Program Office

(CEPO) has put forward a set of initiatives in-

cluding investing SGD 50 million (USD 32.7

million) toward a Clean Energy Research Pro-

gram (CERP) to support R&D efforts, a SGD

25 million graduate scholarships programme

to groom top-notch talent for the industry, and

various incentive programmes for clean energy

solutions and to assist private sector partici-

pants offset part of the capital costs of installing

solar technologies in new building projects.

Singapore has long been exemplary in its

efforts to institute highly successful water

demand and wastewater management prac-

tices, taking into consideration quantity and

quality, public and private sector participa-

tion, equity and efficiency, and strategic and

economic considerations. Singapore has man-

aged to attain self-sufficiency by reducing

domestic water consumption and unaccounted-

for-water. In a 2006 report, Cecilia Tortajada of

the Third World Centre for Water Management

(Mexico), stated:

“By ensuring efficient use of its limited wa-

ter resources through economic instruments,

adopting the latest technological developments

to produce new sources of water, enhancing

storage capacities by proper catchment man-

agement, practicing water conservation mea-

sures, and ensuring concurrent consideration

of social, economic and environmental factors,

Singapore has reached a level of holistic water

management that other urban centers will do

well to emulate.”

The effort to increase the city’s green spaces

has also seen excellent results. Over the

past decade, despite the physical develop-

ment required to accommodate a 70 per-

cent increase in population, the city-state’s

green cover (percentage of land area with

vegetation, as seen from satellite images)

has increased by 10 percent, so that almost

half of Singapore’s main island is now cov-

ered with vegetation. Between 1986 and

2007, despite the fact that the population

in Singapore grew by 68 percent from 2.7

million to 4.6 million, the green cover in

Singapore grew from 35.7 percent to 46.5

percent.

Singapore recycles what can be recycled,

and incinerates the rest in state-of-the-art

plants. Aside from reducing the need for

landfills, the city-state also began to con-

vert waste-to-energy from the incineration

process, which currently provides up to

three percent of total electricity demand,

while at the same time stabilizing carbon

emissions into the atmosphere. What they

do with all that incinerated rubbish is an-

other of Singapore’s success stories.

The rise of eco-tourism

In 1997, at a cost of SGD 610 million, the

government built a seven kilometre rock pe-

rimeter enclosing the sea between two south-

ern islands, thus creating the Semakau Land-

fill, which covers an area with a capacity of 63

million cubic tons. Once this offshore landfill

became operational in 1999, the last landfill on

the main island was closed. Divided into cells,

the seawater is then pumped out, the seafloor

lined with thick plastic, and the incinerated ash

is then dumped into the cell. Lastly, it is covered

with dirt and seeded with grass. Water quality

is sampled monthly to check for any seepage.

This has resulted in a new, thriving eco-

system that has been developed into a nature

sanctuary and a site for ecotourism. Since

mid-2005, Palau Semakau has been open for

guided tours of its mangroves, intertidal zones,

and coral reefs. It has come to represent a clear

example of Singapore’s unique, creative way of

working toward urban sustainability.

In adopting the next round of priorities and

initiatives, the Inter-Ministerial Committee

recognizes that the effective implementation

of some of the new measures could mean ad-

ditional costs in the short term, costs that will

be offset via longer-term benefits for individu-

als and businesses. The government has stated

that while studying the new recommendations,

it will take into consideration the rising costs.

“The IMCSD will be pragmatic and results-

oriented,” says Minister for Finance Tharman

Shanmugaratnam. “It will assess the effective-

ness and benefits of the various options against

their costs to businesses and consumers. We

will set meaningful goals but pace the changes

so that everyone can adjust smoothly.”

Singapore is on the move in all these fronts,

and officials are optimistic. They are actively

encouraging people and industries to adopt

long-term sustainable practices, and devel-

oping new capabilities to optimize resources

and improve environmental performance

further still. And there is widespread under-

standing that new technologies will also have

to be harnessed to improve performance and

mitigate current limits to growth, perhaps

the city-state’s main constraint, given the

difficulty of balancing and accommodating

its entire national infrastructure, includ-

ing housing, recreation, commerce, defence,

waste and water treatment, transportation,

and airports, within an area of just 700

square-kilometres. u

Waste Management - Semakau Landfill PHOTO © NEA


IN-FOCUSAsia and Pacific


IN-FOCUS Asia-Pacific: News

URBAN STRATEGYNew report highlights urban poverty in IndiaA new report on the nature and dynamics of urban poverty in India has been issued by the Indian government’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report was released in New Delhi in February. The UNDP hopes this new information will assist the government to build a national strategy to help the urban poor. The report says that urbanization in India will be at a rate of 50 percent by 2030 yet the urban poor lack basic services.

WATERBold plan for sanitation in KoreaAsia’s rapidly growing population is placing a tangible strain on drinking water resources and basic sanitation facilities. A new project in Korea - Partnership for good governance and knowledge on urban water management - will endeavour to assist water utility companies to manage and provide improved services. Funding of USD 500,000 is being provided in the form of a grant from the Republic of Korea’s e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, which is administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). An additional USD 100,000 to pay for training, venues and equipment is being provided by the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water).

DISASTER MANAGEMENTBurma’s cyclone is worst ever natural disasterThe latest annual report from Munich Re, the world’s second-largest insurer, has revealed that last May’s cyclone Nargis took the most human lives of any one disaster when it hit Burma. Estimates say that 135,000 people were killed: 85,000 deaths have been officially confirmed in Burma, while 54,000 people are still missing. Despite the number of natural disasters falling from 2007 to 2008, more damage was caused and more people lost lives in 2008.

WATERSingapore backs revolutionary new project by Siemens Siemens Water Technologies’ new project aims to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent by utilizing new desalination technology. The venture has been awarded a SGD four million research grant from Singapore’s Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI). The announcement was made at the Singapore International Water Week summit in January. Chuck Gordon, CEO of Siemens Water Technologies said: “We truly consider this developing technology a breakthrough in the desalination market, with significant global implications on water resource management and the wider use of desalination in the future.”

On-demand solar power could soon be assisting

the remotest towns in Australia and provide a

global solution to urban development. Not only

will the use of the sun’s energy reduce dependen-

cy on coal-generated electricity or costly diesel

powered generators but large amounts of coal-

fired energy are lost during transmission to re-

mote towns. meaning towns at the end of the grid

system suffer the most from power shortages.

Steve Hollis, from Lloyd Energy Storage, says

that his new on-demand solar system, which will

be built in three Australian towns this year, can

alleviate this problem for remote urban develop-

ments.

“We’re putting environmentally friendly gen-

eration out at the end of the branches of the tree if

you like, so it can pump energy back in when the

branches are in trouble,” says Hollis.

The system uses a series of mirrors that redi-

rect the sun’s heat onto a 10 tonne graphite block

on top of a 15-metre tower. The block gets heated

up, and stores the heat at a minimal loss. As it is

an on-demand system water is then passed over it

when it is needed; creating steam that then turns

a conventional three MW steam turbine. An on-

demand system means that the problem of where

to store the energy once generated doesn’t arise.

Hollis says that it can assist towns in three ways:

“Firstly it is a renewable energy replacement for

coal. Secondly, it avoids the energy authorities

having to upgrade their transmission lines so they

can get more power out in the peak. Thirdly, it

will provide an energy source at the end of the

line that can return power back into the grid.”

The system’s mobility and flexibility are other

advantages that can make the technology easily

transportable on the back of trucks.

“We have made it modular so it can be rede-

ployed in remote towns in rural Australia and

overseas, without involving monstrous towers,

such as what you see with wind turbines,” says

Hollis.

The company has already begun building a

three MW project that powers two towns and a

second, larger, project will commence later this

year, which will provide 10 MW to another grow-

ing region. “So far there has been strong interest

from many countries as they see the long-term

advantages and savings that on demand solar en-

ergy offers,” adds Lloyd. u

The Mithi River, which runs through the middle

of the bustling and sprawling Indian city of

Mumbai, is set to receive a lifeline from a group

of environmentalists and local citizens.

The group, with the support of award-winning

conservationist, Rajendra Singh, wants to replicate

the work that Singh did in the 1980s with his work

on various rivers in Rajasthan. To that end they have

created the Mithi sansad, or river parliament. The

hope is that the sansad will enable them to learn the

extent of abuse the Mithi has suffered and also to

learn how the water and rivers are managed.

The sansad’s tasks are to gather alternative

experts who can suggest measures on how to

control flooding in the city that is economical and

using only environmentally friendly methods to

save the river.

“The people of Mumbai were not aware of

floods and its dire consequences until July 2005,

when the city was lashed by the largest monsoon

in recent memory,” says Singh. “Today the situa-

tion has completely changed. Everyone is scared

to the core and wants a permanent solution to the

problem.”

EnergyOn-demand solar energy raises the bar for renewables

WaterEnvironmentalists launch clean up of Mumbai river

On-demand solar power PHOTO © LLOYD ENERGY SYSTEMS


join the sansad, as they know best the bio-di-

versity of the area,” says Singh. u

IN-FOCUSAsia-Pacific: News

DISASTER MANAGEMENTUN-HABITAT assists victims of Pakistan earthquakeAn earthquake of 6.4 on the Richter scale destroyed the homes of 800 families in Baluchistan, south western Pakistan last October. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority says that 68,200 people were affected and were left facing a freezing winter without roofs over their heads. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) granted USD 900,000 to assist with providing shelter for the homeless, and UN-HABITAT worked with the Pakistani government, the military, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Emergency Shelter Cluster to organize the construction of 947 transitional shelters in 19 villages throughout the Baluchistan province.

CONSTRUCTIONReport urges China to move to green buildingAn Asia Business Council report published at the end of 2008 claims that Asia’s share of global energy consumption has doubled in 30 years and the energy consumed by Asian buildings is increasing at a similar rate. China is building almost half of the world’s new floor space, which breaks down to nearly two billion square metres annually, and the report says that these buildings consume two to three times more energy per unit of floor space than those in developed countries. That is the equivalent of the weekly energy needs of two 500-megawatt coal plants.

ENERGYNew lightbulbs will save USD 100 million a year in PhilippinesThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) is financing a project to distribute 13 million energy-saving lightbulbs in the Philippines. The government wants to slash energy bills and homeowners and businesses will be given the bulbs for free. A loan of USD 31.1 million will finance the project. The new compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) will be distributed for free in exchange for old incandescent bulbs, and estimates say that each new bulb will save customers 400 pesos, or USD 8.50 every year for seven to 10 years. Incandescent bulbs only use 20 percent of the energy they consume to produce light, whereas CFLs don’t waste any electricity.

URBAN DEVELOPMENTEnvironmental protection plan unveiled for ShanghaiChina wants to make Shanghai more environmentally friendly and has revealed a plan to create green housing and public buildings, along with cutting exhaust emissions. The Environment Protection Bureau chief, Zhang Quan is in charge of the plan, which will also see 800 city petrol stations fitted with gas recycling facilities. The Bureau wants the plan to be implemented in time for the 2010 World Expo.

The Western region of China will see the construction

of the first ever railway line connecting the northern

city of Lanzhouin, in Gansu province, with the south-

ern city of Chongqing, a major manufacturing hub

and a major exporter to the greater Mekong.

The 820 km line will boost economic growth in

one of the poorer regions of China and will become

the shortest land route between these two economic

centres. The total cost of the project is estimated to be

USD 8.6 billion. Financing will come from a group

of Chinese banks, the ministry of railways, local gov-

ernments and the Asia Development Bank (ADB).

“The project is expected to stimulate the develop-

ment of industrial and natural resources and tour-

ism, generate employment, raise living standards

and help reduce poverty,” says Manmohan Parkash,

transport specialist for the ADB.

Nearly 17 million people live in the region, many

of them poor. They will take a hands-on role in the

construction through hiring preferences, to build

and operate the railway line. The project is part of

the Chinese government’s strategy to expand in-

frastructure and to stimulate growth in underdevel-

oped interior regions of the country.

The railway track will be capable of handling

double-stack containers, raising its carrying capac-

ity over regular lines, reducing land use, and im-

proving energy efficiency. Over 30 railway stations

will be built and state-of-the-art safety equipment

will be installed.

To help create a ‘green corridor’ along the

rail route, financing from the ADB will include

environmental protection equipment worth USD 12

million. A switch in traffic from roads to the new

rail link will result in significant cuts in fuel con-

sumption and emissions of harmful carbon dioxide.

The network is part of a grander scheme to

boost connectivity and trade between China the

greater Mekong, Central Asia and Europe.

To travel by rail from Europe to China is rela-

tively trouble free, but the connections and infra-

structure into south east Asia are still either non

existent or found wanting.

Funding from Japan, France and the ADB are

making this realm of dreams turn into reality,

which within eight years will see connections

from Singapore via Phnom Penh in Cambodia, up

to Ho Chi Minh City and then onto China. u

TransportNew Chinese railway will be energy efficient

New railway line for China PHOTO © SANTIAGO LLOBET LLIGÉ

The Mithi river PHOTO © AYRA VIDYA

Development has brought about many envi-

ronmental problems to Mumbai. “Thousands of

mangroves have been destroyed and these were

the main deterrents to air and water pollution,

flooding and climate change which the city is

facing now,” says Singh.

The environmentalists stress that any action

taken will need to coincide with the environ-

ment. “We encourage development of all kinds

but we want to conform with nature. This is the

guiding objective of Mithi sansad,” says envi-

ronmentalist Janak Daftari.

The sansad will have between 50-200 mem-

bers at the beginning, with more people to be

invited in the future. “We encourage all local

people who live around the Mithi to come and

W O R L D u r b a n 66 March 2009W O RW O RW O RW O RW O RRW O RW OWWWWWW L DL DL DDL DDLu r bu r bu r bu r bu r brru r br a na naa nnnnnn6666666666666666 MarMarMMarMarM rM rrrM rrcccch ch chchchchhhch ch chch chch cch 2020202020020020202020202020020020020020000200200000202 999999999999

IN-FOCUS Middle East and Africa

Abu Dhabi to build the world’s first zero carbon cityThe United Arab Emirates is no stranger to grabbing the headlines when it comes to construction. From the world’s tallest building to the biggest man-made island, its reputation for extravagance and excess is now being put to an eco-friendly use as it builds from scratch the world’s first sustainable city. Jonathan Andrews reveals the ambitious plans for Masdar and asks whether such a zero carbon city can change the habits of one of the most oil rich nations on Earth.

Islamic-inspired garden spaces and piazzas are featured in the new city PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE


IN-FOCUSMiddle East and Africa

S itting on the edge of Abu Dhabi’s air-

port lies a fenced off six square kilo-

metre area of scrubland. To the casual

observer, there is little to indicate that this site

could soon be the home to 50,000 people, 1,500

businesses and a high-tech university that will

specialize in renewable energy technology.

Buildings go up fast in the ever-changing sky-

line of Abu Dhabi, and by 2016 the government

hopes that this USD 22 billion project will be the

world’s first zero carbon, zero waste, and car-

free city that will be run entirely on renewable

energy.

“Masdar city represents more than a real es-

tate development: it aims to be a Silicon Val-

ley for the clean technology age,” says Khaled

Awad, director of property development at the

Masdar Initiative. “It will be a living, breathing

community that will seek to develop sustainable

solutions to the global energy and environmental

challenges we face.”

Masdar, literally meaning the source, has

attracted high profile organizations that want

to be associated with the phenomenal task of

designing, building and running the eco-city.

UK architecture firm, Foster and Partners, has

designed Masdar and has employed tradition-

al planning techniques used to build ancient

Arab cities.

Gerard Evendon, senior partner at Foster and

Partners, believes its one of the most important

projects in the world at the moment. “It’s ad-

dressing all the issues that we have to address

in future design as architects and engineers can

no longer carry on designing in a backward way.

We have to seize the challenge and design build-

ings which are much lower in energy consump-

tion and are sustainable.”

Encased in a wall, the city will feature

dense, low-rise buildings to create a compact

community with narrow streets to help keep

out the fierce desert sun, yet allow gentle

breezes to flow through. All streets will be

pedestrianized, and residents and workers

will walk around a string of Islamic-inspired

garden spaces and piazzas more commonly

found in southern Italy. The entire city will be

suspended on stilts rising six metres from the

ground, so as to increase air circulation and

to keep the city off the hot desert floor. It will

further be split into three levels. Located on

the middle level will be the functioning life

of the city with shops, businesses and homes,

much like any other city, except it will be com-

pletely car free.

One level above, residents can hop on any

number of driverless personal rapid transport

pods, which are metro cars that seat four people.

Based on studies from European urban develop-

ment agencies, a maximum walking distance

has been set at 200 metres. Essential services

will always be located within this distance from

any point, including shops that will sell locally

grown produce. Goods will also be transported

this way.

Evendon, from Foster and Partners, says that

it will be a fully integrated city complex. “We’re

not having a situation whereby we have ‘oh that’s

the medical quarter over there and the entertain-

ment over there’. What we are trying to do is say,

‘Okay, we’ve got this community here and that

one relates to another so what do they share?’”

The residential space within the city will be

provided for those people who work there. As

tenants are signed up, companies are allocated

residential space for their employees. Photo-

voltaic panels will generate power for the city,

while cooling will be provided via concentrated

solar power. A large patch of land adjacent to the

city has been given over to solar panels, where

70 percent of the 10 MW grid connected solar

plant is complete – the largest in the Middle East

and North Africa region. It is so far developing

enough energy that developers believe it could

power most of the construction work in the first

building phase.

Roofs and shading over the streets will incor-

porate thinner film photovoltaic canopies. Al-

though most of the panels and technology come

from Chinese, German and US suppliers, the

main goal for Abu Dhabi will be to move up the

solar value chain, by becoming a solar industry

hub in its own right.

Water will be provided through a dew and

solar-powered desalination plant. Landscaping

within the walls and crops grown outside the

city, will be irrigated with grey water and treated

waste water produced by the city’s water treat-

ment plant. As the city grows so too will the trees

and natural environment, as wastewater will

feed the gardens. An intelligent metering system

will also allow any citizen to view how much en-

ergy, water and carbon he or she is consuming

compared to the average citizen.

Overall the city will need about a quarter of

the energy of a normal city of comparable size.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is another big

name that is throwing its support behind the

project. “This will quite literally kick-start a

global revolution in renewables,” says Eduardo



Gonçalvez, from WWF’s programme One Planet

Living, that is taking a hands-on role in the Mas-

dar project. “The UAE is the only country in the

world that has agreed to work with WWF to set

targets for reducing its national carbon footprint.”

Zero carbon: fact or fallacy?Criticisms still abound though about Masdar’s

claim to be completely emission and carbon free.

Businesses that do not meet the city’s strict eco-

friendly requirements will not be able to set up

shop but will have to go somewhere outside the

perimeter. Some foods will still need to be im-

ported and although a light rail system will con-

nect the city to the airport and the rest of Abu

Dhabi, many will still have to drive to the city.

Outside the city walls there will be giant car

parks, leading many to dub it an eco-city theme

park for day-trippers.

Gonçalvez from the WWF rebuts these criti-

cisms and says the project needs to be looked at

in the context of a range of initiatives being un-

dertaken by Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

“Abu Dhabi, and the Masdar city project are

working to lead the way in both the developed

and developing world and put many governments,

especially the G8 countries to shame,”says Gon-

çalvez . “The G8 countries alone account for one

third of total human ecological footprint.” Mas-

dar will of course have an impact on the UAE’s

carbon footprint, as it will help Abu Dhabi fulfil

its pledge to source seven percent of its domestic

energy needs from renewables by the year 2020

– a major step for a country that is the world’s

fourth largest oil exporter.

While Masdar has the luxury of being financed

by big petrodollars, many question whether a

city such as this can be financed and built again

in another part of the world.

“We realize that not everyone or every coun-

try in the world has the resources to build a city

such as this,” says Khaled Awad. “We must re-

member that the goal of the new city is to set new

standards and develop new clean and sustainable

technologies that can be transferred to other cit-

ies around the world.”

Masdar officials refer to the technological de-

velopment of computers, and that whilst less de-

veloped countries in the world cannot purchase

the latest computer technology, industry devel-

opment is making them ever cheaper, efficient

and affordable for all.

Gerard Evendon from Foster and Partners con-

curs and sees the project as a Petri dish, that will in

future years provide sustainable energy technolo-

gies that will be easily adaptable for all cities.

“For the first time all ideas and technologies

can be brought together into a city context. That

means we can test things that have never been

really tested before,” he says.

The city not only aims to be the world’s green-

est city, but will also be home to the Masdar

Institute for Science and Technology (MIST), a

partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), that aims to bring together

some of the world’s leading post-graduates to re-

search and develop ideas for renewable energy.

MIT faculty and staff will provide advice, schol-

arly assessment and assistance in connection

with the establishment of MIST. It aims to open

its doors to the first batch of postgraduate stu-

dents by July this year. “MIST will feed the city

with talent and innovative technologies that will

enhance the economic development and promote

new industries using renewable energy and re-

sources in the emirate and the region,” says Sul-

tan Al Jaber, head of the Masdar Initiative.

Foreign partnersReaping the economic windfall of this emerging

market, Masdar’s long-term aim is to leverage its

early entry to become the authority of the sus-

tainable movement. Whilst most of the construc-

tion will be financed by the Abu Dhabi Future

Personal rapid transport pods will ferry people around PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE Dense, low-rise buildings help keep the desert sun at bay PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE


IN-FOCUSMiddle East and Africa

Energy Company, Credit Suisse, has invested

USD 100 million in the initiative’s clean tech

fund. Other sources of funds to cover running

costs will be raised through the UN’s carbon

trading scheme. Since Masdar will perform bet-

ter than any pollution regulations require, they

will sell one million carbon credits to companies

that do not meet local standards, raising approxi-

mately USD 15 million.

Masdar is also working with other partners

such as Anglo-Australian mining company Rio

Tinto and UK oil company BP which will work

together on carbon-capture and storage schemes.

Such partners not only allow Masdar to take ad-

vantage of foreign expertise but also to have its

ideas independently scrutinized. GE has signed

on as a partner, where it will build its Ecomagi-

nation Centre, by 2010. Here it will showcase its

innovations and will house up to 100 technolo-

gists developing new sustainable water, energy

and environmental systems.

GE’s Middle East and Africa CEO and Presi-

dent, Nabil Habayeb, believes that the fact this

is taking place in a country better known for oil

consumption and exploitation speaks volumes.

“This is a part of the world where a few years

ago if you were to talk about renewable energy

in a meeting, it would end in a nanosecond,”

comments Habayeb. “ How could you talk about

renewable energy to a hydrocarbon-based econ-

omy? To see the transformation of Abu Dhabi,

into that of leading the investment and devel-

opment of a zero carbon emission city, and the

technology that impacts the whole world, is phe-

nomenal.”

Other questions are being asked about wheth-

er or not this project can be built and attract ten-

ants to undertake intensive research into renew-

able energies. The stampede into the renewable

energy sector when oil hit USD 150 a barrel has

become an amble now that the price has dropped

considerably. Already, construction work on

China’s proposed zero-carbon city, Dongtan, has

been postponed for two years.

Awad dismisses such concerns. “We are look-

ing beyond the downturn. Nothing has been de-

layed and nothing has been postponed. We are

in this for the long-term. We want to be in the

energy business, not just the oil business and re-

newable energy must remain high on the agenda

and continues to make absolute sense, even in

difficult times such as these.”

Likewise, Habayeb from GE is adamant: “Our

plan is to go forward with what we have com-

mitted for Ecomagination and Masdar city. We

haven’t slowed down or revised our figures.”

Last year homo sapiens turned into homo ur-

banis for the first time in human history, with the

majority now living in cities. Between 2009 and

2050 the world’s urban population will double from

3.2 billion to 6.5 billion. Gonçalvez of the WWF

says: “Masdar city is one way that is aiming to keep

city living an option but one that doesn’t drive us

into deeper and more dangerous ecological debt.”

Construction will be complete by 2016 PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE

Located on the middle level of the three will be the functioning life of the city PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE

“We realize that not everyone or every country in the world has the resources to build a city such as this. We must remember that the goal of the new city is to set new standards and develop new clean and sustainable technologies that can be trans-ferred to other cities around the world.” Khaled Awad


Gonçalvez from WWF says that whatever

the economic situation, time is running out.

“The bottom line is we need a global para-

digm shift. We need to fundamentally change

the way we – the human race – live, work and

play. And we need to do it very quickly.” u

“There will not be in-dividual restrictions in place. If you want to have a 20-minute shower, you still can. Our approach is about making people aware of their carbon impact, and it’s then up to them to change their behaviour.” Khaled Awad


But will people be willing to check their lib-

erties at the city gates of Masdar? Or will they

prefer to live in the relative freedom outside

the walls, with all the creature comforts that

a country rich in oil can provide? Foster and

Partners argue that their plans for Masdar pro-

vide people with more choice than ever before.

“I think we just need to give people choice and

freedom to make the decisions themselves as

to how they want their bodies to react to the

climate, rather than being sealed into an air-

conditioned building and dictated to about the

environment they have to live in,” says Even-

don. “Once we give the options back, people

will realize the things that they’ve lost.”

Likewise, the Masdar Initiative argues that it

will not be an ecological prison. “There will not be

individual restrictions in place,” explains Awad. “

For example – if you want to have a 20-minute

shower, you still can. Our approach is about mak-

ing people aware of their carbon impact, and it’s

then up to them to change their behaviour.”

Aerial view of Masdar city once completed PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE

Khaled Awad PHOTO © MASDAR INITIATIVE


LEADERSOpinion


Namibia is set to receive a USD 6 million

grant to help boost its fledgling cultural

tourism sector via the Spanish Government

and the Millennium Development Goal

(MDG) Funds.

The UN says the grant will aim to use

cultural tourism development as a vehicle

for poverty reduction in the country, par-

ticularly among women, disadvantaged and

vulnerable groups, and for HIV-AIDS suf-

ferers. “To achieve this, the programme will

promote the sustainable use of cultural and

natural resources, sustainable employment

creation and income-generating opportuni-

ties through the implementation of five pilot

models,” says a UN spokesperson.

These models include cultural villages,

cultural trails, cultural and interpretive cen-

tres, cultural industries and a geopark. The

geopark will be the first of its kind in Africa

and encompasses sites of scientific impor-

tance, not only for geologists but also by

virtue of its archaeological, ecological and

cultural value.

“It will also aim to redirect tourists, who

prefer to visit natural tourism areas to cul-

tural tourism, by bringing them to the people

to experience their ways of living,” says the

UN representative. The pilot locations for the

cultural villages include Kavango, Kunene

and Tsumkwe and the trails in Oshikuku,

Elim, Tsandi and the Hardap region. u

Participants from 10 countries surrounding the

Lake Victoria region in south-eastern Africa re-

cently received training on water quality monitor-

ing and how to develop action plans for their own

towns and cities.

The three-day course organized by the Lake

Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative and UN-

HABITAT, explored ways of how to help battle

waterborne diseases and to raise awareness be-

tween water quality and disease.

The CEO of the Lake Victoria South Water

Services Board, Michael Ochieng, reminded par-

ticipants that the provision of safe drinking water

poses a serious challenge to water providers as a

result of the rapidly growing populations in Afri-

can towns and cities, with many residents, partic-

ularly the poor, resorting to the use of water from

alternative, and often unclean sources.

“As service providers, it is our obligation to

undertake periodic water quality monitoring in

order to ensure that the water we supply to our

consumers is properly treated,” says Ochieng.

A portable bacterial test kit (the Portable Mi-

crobiology Laboratory or PML) was presented

and explained to the group. It offers a simple and

cost-effective approach to monitoring the bacterio-

logical quality of water. The tests can be performed

within two to 18 hours, with the results providing a

disease risk assessment of water sources.

“Piped water, dug wells and springs are not reg-

ularly or properly tested and treated in many Afri-

can cities,” says Ochieng. “The tests are an effective

means of demystifying water quality testing and

raising awareness on the direct linkage between

water quality and disease.

“The development objective of the project is

to support the Lake Victoria Region to enable

the locals to achieve water and sanitation related

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to

contribute to an equitable and sustainable devel-

opment,” says Ochieng. u

IN-FOCUS Middle East and Africa: News

SANITATIONNew UN-HABITAT project for KenyaThe Water for African Cities project was launched in December 2008 in partnership with three NGOs: Sustainable Aid in Africa International (SANA) in Kenya, the Uganda Environmental Protection Forum (UEPF), and KATEDFU in Tanzania. The aim is to improve hygiene by installing latrines, giving the poor access to secure places with sufficient water for personal use and educating women and members of vulnerable households about the effective use of these sanitation facilities. Women are being targeted by the project as typically in Africa, they hold the responsibility for water, sanitation and hygiene in the home. The project is aimed at 45,000 people in the Lake Victoria region, plus an additional 49,000 should benefit under the Water for African Cities II programme.

SECURITYDisplaced citizens in Chad to get new housingUN-HABITAT has announced that it will help the government in Chad to improve housing conditions for the country’s internally displaced people. Long-running ethnic conflicts in the Central African Republic and the Sudan Darfur region have meant that thousands of people have been uprooted. The UN team Resident Coordinator in Chad, Mr. Kingsley Amaning has proposed collaborative efforts between several UN organizations and the Chadian government to push forward housing development. Thanks to the UN’s MINURCAT mission, the eastern area of Chad has now been sufficiently stabilized to allow planning and implementation of housing to begin.

CLIMATE CHANGEAfrican mayors angry over effect of greenhouse gasesMayors from capital cities all over African have expressed their worries over the effects of climate change felt by their respective cities. Rising sea levels, f looding and extreme weather conditions are affecting Africa disproportionately considering the amount of emissions generated there. The mayors met for a two day conference hosted by UN-HABITAT in Nairobi in February. Samba Faal, mayor of Gambia’s capital Banjul voiced concerns that a one metre rise in sea level would result in 50 percent of landmass being lost. The 116 Seychelles islands are also under threat, according to mayor Marie-Antoinette Alexis of Victoria: a sea level rise would wash away beaches. The conference highlighted African cities’ need for assistance to deal with the consequences of climate change.

TourismSpanish government boosts Namibian tourism

WaterUN-HABITAT backs scheme to help reduce disease

Namibian landscape PHOTO © UTE VON LUDWIGER

Potable water in Malawi PHOTO © UN-HABITAT


IN-FOCUSMiddle East and Africa: News

WATERUNEP atlas shows shrinking resources in KenyaKenya’s Lake Olbollosat might soon disappear forever, according to analysis of a new atlas published by the United Nations Environment Progamme (UNEP). Kenya: Atlas of our changing environment was requested by the Kenyan government and has been assembled using detailed satellite images from the past three decades. The atlas does highlight some positives in terms of environmental management in Kenya, but it also clearly shows that natural water resources such as lakes are shrinking. The Olbollosat lake has previously dried up, but returned. However, there are fears that Kenya’s rapidly growing population could put increasing pressure on the lake and it might disappear for good. In 1960, Kenya’s population was eight million; today it has reached an astounding 38 million and is expected to continue growing.

CLIMATE CHANGEAfrica under pressure to join Climate Neutral NetworkEven though Africa has one of the world’s lowest carbon footprints, other nations are saying it should join the year-old Climate Neutral Network (CN Net). At a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) news conference in Nairobi in February, Costa Rica’s Minister for Environment and Energy, Roberto Dobles Mora, said: “Successful economies of the future will have to be carbon neutral and Africa and other developing countries must not be left behind.”

Mora went on to emphasise that Africa could benefit by twinning with developed nations and learning how to follow their best practices.

UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said: “The entire world must go green, become less dependent on fossil fuels; this is not targeted at developed economies only.”

HEALTHSoap solves problems caused by urban growth in Mali’s capitalThe non-profit organization, JIGI, is helping female slum dwellers combat poor hygiene and earn money by making and selling soap. Local NGOs in Bamako in Mali say that rapid urban population expansion has lead to an increase in the size of slums such as Nafadji on the city’s outskirts. Inhabitants suffer social and economic problems; hardly any children attend school, and unemployment is high. Hygiene standards are also low due to beliefs that hand washing augments poverty, and also because many inhabitants of the slums cannot afford soap. The new initiative has drastically reduced the price of soap, so now more residents can afford to keep clean. JIGI are also educating people about the necessity of good hygiene.

Kenya will soon see construction begin on a

new wind farm in the north of the country

that will produce 300 MW of electricity by

2012. The Turkana Wind Power consortium

(LTWP), made up of Kenyan and Dutch

partners, will build 353 wind turbines in

northwest Kenya near Lake Turkana, and

will be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Using the latest wind turbine technology

LTWP can provide reliable and continuous

clean power to satisfy up to 30 percent of

Kenya’s current total installed power,” says

project development manager Carlo Van

Wageningen.

The valley has historically been known as

a giant wind corridor, where winds, known

locally as the upepo sweep through the Tur-

kana valley between the Kenyan and Ethio-

pian highlands.

“One consortium partner, and long-term

resident of Kenya, Willem Dolleman, used

to go to this particular site to fish and was

always flabbergasted that he could never

set up a tent because it would always blow

away,” explains Van Wageningen.

The German Wind Energy Institute con-

firmed Dolleman’s idea when it conducted

on-site wind measurements for three years,

and concluded that the average monthly

wind speed of 11 metres per second was the

best that they had ever encountered.

“Once we had government support and

control of a feasibility study over the 60,000

hectares, our next problem was logistical,”

explains Van Wageningen. “The closest sea

port is Mombasa, which is 1,200km away.

So we had to bring in a Dutch company that

was experienced in heavy lifting and that

could do a load and port facility survey, so

as to get the materials from the port to the

valley.”

Financing will come from development fi-

nance institutions, in which the consortium

plans 30 percent equity and 70 percent debt

for the project. Already the African Develop-

ment Bank has pledged to provide 30 per-

cent of the USD 760 million total needed.

The initial phase of the wind farm will

begin generating electricity in June 2010

and will reach full production of 300MW by

June 2011.

“Eighty percent of Kenya’s energy pro-

duction already comes from renewable en-

ergy via hydroelectric dams and geothermal

technology,” explains Van Wageningen.

“When this project is completed, Kenya will

become one of the top countries in the world

that uses renewable sources of energy.” u

Renewable energyLargest African wind farm to be built in Kenya

Lake Turkana: a giant wind corridor PHOTO © LTWP


IN-FOCUS Middle East and Africa: News

TRANSPORTPopulation explosion in Saudi cities causes traffic chaosThe population density in major Saudi cities grew by more than 120 percent between 2002 and 2008 according to a new study by the Land Transport Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The study concluded that Jeddah has the highest population density and that it was still increasing each year by 20-28 percent. The high number of people in cities is resulting in traffic congestion and transportation problems. Officials behind the study say that there is a need for an awareness campaign encouraging residents to only own one vehicle. The study also emphasized the need to expand public transport.

CONSTRUCTIONWHO building in Jordan aims for LEED certificationThe Middle Eastern environmental services company, Energy Management Services, has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization to advise on the construction and management of the WHO’s new premises in Jordan, with the aim of achieving a gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the US Green Building Council (USGBC). This is the first time a Middle Eastern WHO office will attempt to meet LEED standards. LEED certified buildings make savings on reduced use of water, energy and operational costs, and provide a high quality indoor environment.

ENERGYSudan turns to wind power A new 500 MW wind power farm is being constructed along the Red Sea coast by a consortium including the National Electricity Corporation (NEC) of the Republic of Sudan, the Aeolus Association, and the Dubai-based OMENE Holdings LLC and its Sudan affiliate. The farm is a small component of an ambitious expansion plan by the NEC, which will reach 17,000 MW by 2030. Currently 80 percent of Sudanese homes are without any electricity.

EnvironmentWinners of Dubai Awards revealedAn independent international jury, chaired by Ms. Banashree Banerjee of India, announced the winners of the 2008 Dubai International Awards for Best Practices to improve the Living Environment. Each winner is awarded prize money of USD 30,000, a trophy and a commemorative certificate.

APROCOBU (Association for the Promotion of Cooperative Stores for Production, Selling and Supplying in Burundi) - A multi-ethnic project promoting reconciliation and alterna-tive livelihoods to ease pressure on land due to over-reliance on agriculture. This is in a region where land shortage is one source of conflict.

Involving Indigenous People in Forest Management Decision Making, Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo - A partnership that transfers global positioning satellite map-ping techniques for participatory resource man-agement in indigenous forest communities. Micro-Gardens in Dakar, Senegal - Shows how to make small inner-city spaces agricultur-ally productive to reduce poverty, improve food security, increase aesthetic value and provide an input into solutions to global warming. Marianhill Landfill Conservancy, South Africa - A state-of-the-art landfill addressing environmental issues including pollution and waste management and protection of nature while enhancing community benefits. Encour-ages sustainable land use by turning landfill areas into energy producing areas.

The New Qingpu Practice - Sustainable Construction of Ecology and Humanity, China - Showcasing the conservation of a historic Shanghai neighbourhood taking into account cultural, environmental and social values.

Integrated People-Driven Reconstruc-tion in Post-Tsunami Aceh, Indonesia - A successful and participatory programme for the physical, social and economic reconstruction for tsunami survivors.

Spanish Network of Cities for the Cli-mate, Spain - Joining more than 60 Spanish cities, a shared local climate change strategy has been developed, promoting more efficient use of energy resources in public lighting and transportation.

“Heartfelt Houses” The pilot Project: Housing Consolidation and Environmental Recovery of the Juan Bobo Stream Basin Area, Colombia - An initiative that relocates families from the Juan Bobo river bank, in a consultative and participatory process, resulting in better living conditions as well as environmental recovery of the river bank.

From Discontent to Collective Action: A Social Movement that Protected Balandra Bay, (a social and natural icon) northwest Mexico - Through a citizens’ movement - involving over 18,000 citizens, plus federal, state and municipal governments’ efforts, social and policy results were achieved for the long-term protection of Balandra Bay, La Paz, preventing it from being developed into tourist and exclusive residential accommodation that would have affected 250,000 inhabitants.

Partnership in Opportunities for Empowerment through Technology in the Americas –POETA, The Americas - This practice demonstrates social use of technology by providing IT training to help overcome unemployment and social exclusion of people with physical disabilities in marginalized areas in 18 Latin American countries.

The 10 winners for the Best Practice category are:

For the Best Practice Transfer category, the two winners are:

The Palestinian Housing Council, Palestine - Has created a participatory and collaborative structure with significant results in housing, benefiting more than 5,000 families and influencing national housing policy.

Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP), Pakistan - A large scale participatory programme for improvement of safe water supply and sanitation services.


IN-FOCUSMiddle East and Africa: News

HEALTHArab countries suffer major damage from air pollutionThe Arab Environment and Development Forum recently published a report say-ing that Arab countries suffer immensely from the impacts of primary and second-ary air pollutants. The Arab population are displaying an increase in respiratory and skin diseases, and eye infections, which are believed to be a consequence of exposure to and inhalation of pollu-tion. The Arab Environment Agency say that governments are currently obliged to spend more than DH 18 billion to fight health problems arising from vehicle emissions. The authorities have reacted by implementing new legislation to limit CO

2 emissions.

WATERCleaner water for YemenA new project to improve water and sani-tation facilities in Al Howta city in Ye-men means that 36,000 people will ben-efit. The work is being financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the UK Department for International Devel-opment (DFID). The two organizations signed a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

SECURITYUN sends help to desperate Gaza resi-dentsUN-HABITAT sent a field mission to Gaza as part of the larger UN assessment team dispatched by the Secretary-Gener-al of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, after his visit to the region in January. UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka said: “In line with UN-HABITAT’s techni-cal mandate, the focus of this advanced mission will be on shelter and settle-ment recovery, and basic infrastructure rehabilitation. We will also support local authorities in managing post-conflict re-construction.”

ENERGYChevron to open USD 20 million cen-tre in QatarUS energy company Chevron is planning to set up a Centre for Sustainable Energy Efficiency in partnership with the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). The Centre’s focus will be to investigate lighting and cooling technologies that are required in the extreme climate of the Middle East.

A new bicycle built from bamboo is set to re-

launch the bicycle as a form of transport in

areas where historically it hasn’t been well

suited – Africa. Most bicycles in Africa are

imported from China or India. The major-

ity are wholly inappropriate as they are not

suited to the local potholed dirt roads that

turn into mud baths immediately after a

heavy downfall of rain. Nor can they be used

to transport products or materials. For these

reasons anything with an engine, whether

it be a motorbike or a car, is the means of

transport most Africans aspire to.

Yet, being cheap to buy and with low run-

ning costs, the bicycle should be the main ve-

hicle for transport for the rural poor and could

help unblock congestion in African cities.

One of the world’s elite bike designers and

builders, Craig Calfee, first latched onto the

idea of building bicycles from bamboo when

he noticed his dog struggling to sink teeth

marks into a stick of bamboo. “The first bike

I built was a little rough,” says Calfee. “I

then built a few more for friends, and people

started asking about them, so I decided to

start offering them to the public.”

Calfee then started thinking about his un-

usual form of transport on a grander scale.

“Bamboo is plentiful in Africa and Asia and

can be easily grown in dry areas with mini-

mal irrigation,” explains Calfee. “It isn’t la-

bour intensive, and doesn’t require electric-

ity or a large investment in equipment.”

Indeed bamboo, often seen as the poor

man’s timber, is probably the strongest natural

material on the planet. It is also environmen-

tally friendly and highly renewable – some-

times growing at more than a metre a day.

After Calfee placed his idea on his web-

site, hoping some investors would support

it, he received an email from David Ho who

was more interested in buying one of Cal-

fee’s carbon-fibre bikes.

“I’m an avid cyclist and came across

Craig’s website,”explains Ho. “I decided that

there was great socio-economic potential to

be had in bringing the concept of the bam-

boo bicycle to the developing world, and was

able to seek seed funding from the Earth

Institute at Columbia University to further

this aim.” Further discussions followed

where an agreement was met for a project

to be developed with two main objectives: to

build a better bike for poor Africans and to

stimulate a bicycle building industry in Af-

rica to satisfy local needs.

Trials began in Ghana, which surveyed

the needs of locals in order to guide the de-

sign of the bamboo bike. “Everyone we met

was very excited by the sight of bicycle: it

was like nothing they had ever seen before!”

says Ho. “The locals helped us better under-

stand the need for a bike to withstand rough

off-road terrain; we also got very positive

feedback about the cargo rack we designed,

and have added small design details like

bells and lights due to the constructive input

provided by local residents.”

Production is set to begin next year in

Ghana’s second city, Kumasi, in the hope of

selling the bikes for USD 55, half the cost

of an imported Chinese bike, on a business

plan backed by KPMG.

“Requests for prototypes are coming in

from investors in countries ranging from

Kenya to Argentina and more,” says Ho.

The aim is to set up a network of bamboo

bike-producing factories around sub-Saha-

ran Africa, and other parts of the world, that

will each produce upwards of 20,000 bam-

boo bicycles annually for use in their respec-

tive local markets.

Ho says: “We hope to eventually produce

and sell approximately five million bikes

per year. In order to make that happen, we

will continue to dialogue with interested

parties worldwide, and conduct further

tests on the bikes we are constructing here

in New York.” u

TransportBamboo bicycle launched in Ghana

The bamboo bike PHOTO © EARTH INSTITUTE


IN-FOCUS Central and Eastern Europe: News

The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said the world had to avoid backsliding in the fight against global warming and devise a “Green New Deal” to fix the twin climate and economic crises.

He made the remarks in an address to more than 100 environment ministers from around the world. He said the crises were an oppor-tunity to address both challenges simulta-neously: “Managing the global financial crisis requires massive global stimulus. A big part of that spending should be an investment - an in-vestment in a green future, an investment that fights climate change, creates millions of green jobs and spurs green growth.

“We need a Green New Deal”, he told the mi-nisters gathered in Poznan, Poland for UN cli-mate talks overshadowed by the concerns about a global recession. “Yes, the economic crisis is serious,” he said. “Yet when it comes to climate change, the stakes are far higher. The climate cri-sis affects our potential prosperity and peoples’ lives, both now and far into the future.” He described the need for a deal that works for all nations, rich as well as poor, saying it had been embraced with enthusiasm at the recent develo-pment conference in Doha, Qatar, and at a mee-ting of finance ministers in Warsaw. “We also urgently need a deal on climate change to provi-de the political, legal, and economic framework to unleash a sustained wave of investment. In short, our response to the economic crisis must advance climate goals, and our response to the climate crisis will advance economic and social goals,” Ban Ki-moon said. “What we need, to-day, is leadership – leadership by you.”

Prior to the address he held a private meeting with heads of UN agencies, including Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, to discuss these issues. She also later attended an open meeting of the Chief Executive Board of the United Nations presided by Ban Ki-moon.

The progress so farThe Poznan talks reviewed progress at the halfway mark of a two-year push to work out a new global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the UN pact binding 37 nations to curb emissions by about five percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-

mate Change, said in a keynote address: “We need to hear, feel and see your resolve to com-plete the task that you set us all in Bali a year ago. You launched the Bali Road Map to fulfill this task – not to procrastinate on it. The Bali Road Map is about issues of today, not about delay.” He cited examples of what he called clear signs of urgency – Mauritania in the grip of a triple stranglehold with a spreading desert, encroaching ocean and worsening floods. The Maldives island nation saving up for exodus because of rising seas. “Distrust and suspicion have haunted these talks for much too long,” Mr. de Boer said. “This is your opportunity to move on, to tell the world how you will deliver together, to tell the world how you will reach out to each other on finance and technology, to tell the world how you will create governance struc-tures for finance in which no one is more equal than the next.”

Speaking outDeveloping nations, such as China and India, say recession is no excuse for the rich to delay fighting climate change. “If Europe sends a sig-nal that it can make deep cuts only in the pros-perous times, what are the developing countries supposed to say?” asked Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo.

In Poznan, a new Adaptation Fund to help poor countries cope with the impacts of rising seas, droughts, floods and heat-waves were among the most contentious issues.

Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia, who-se Pacific island nation is threatened by rising seas, accused some industrialized nations of “burying us in red tape” to deny access to cash in the Adaptation Fund. The fund could reach about USD 300 million a year by 2012 to help build coastal defences or develop drought-resis-tant crops.

“We will not sink,” he said to applause. “We’re not contemplating migration, we will survive.” Addressing the plenary on behalf of the world’s least developed countries, Mr. Mohamed Sha-reef, Deputy Minister of Housing, Transport and the Environment of Maldives, said there was no time to lose. “We understand the need for dis-cussion and to bring ideas to address climate change – but we don’t have the luxury to waste time any more,” he said. “We have to consolidate

URBAN STRATEGYUN-HABITAT official bestowed with honorary citizenshipMs. Ligia Ramirez, the head of the UN-HABITAT’s Belgrade office, has been granted the honorary citizenship award by the city of Nis in Serbia, in recognition of her contribution to the city’s development strategy and work promoting Nis, both in Serbia and further afield. The ceremony took place on 11 January, the same day that the city celebrates its liberation from the Ottoman occupation. The city mayor, Milos Simonovic presented the award together with the chairman of the city assembly, Mile Ilic. Ramirez is also the chief technical advisor for Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP).

TRANSPORTBudapest wins award for promoting clean transport alternativesThe city of Budapest in Hungary has won the European Mobility Week Award for 2009. A panel of independent experts deemed the city to have done the most to raise public awareness regarding traffic air pollution and to promote cleaner alternatives. Budapest’s efforts in promoting sustainable public transport included two car-free days, a race for VIPs to demonstrate the efficiency of public transport, an exhibition of clean and energy-efficient vehicles, a conference on air quality and noise mapping and a day promoting the pleasures of walking in the historical city centre along the banks of the Danube. Permanent measures such as expanding the downtown pedestrian area, increasing parking fees in the city centre, improving metro and tram infrastructure and services, and introducing new bicycle lanes and park-and-ride facilities have also been executed. Budapest also closed its ring road during EMW, reducing transit traffic in the city by around 25 percent.

TRANSPORTCentral and Eastern European cities to benefit from new fund for green transportThe European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing funding to help cities invest in more environmentally friendly buses. Special assistance is being given to Eastern European countries that need to establish public transport authorities and an initial fund of EUR 15 million will be available for cities needing technical assistance with developing emission-cutting projects. Mario Aymerich of the EIB spoke in at a conference in Brussels in February about the intention behind the fund, saying that it was to encourage hydrogen or hybrid buses to be implemented in cities. Cities that are given financial assistance will have to first prove that they are working to the EU’s 20-20-20 policy: reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent by 2020, and covering 20 percent of the cities’ energy needs with renewables by the same date.

Climate changeTHE 14TH UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES IN POZNAN, POLAND (COP 14)

Secretary-General warns world leaders: don’t backslide


IN-FOCUSCentral and Eastern Europe: News

our ideas and concrete steps should be agreed to take the decision on time. Copenhagen is not even a year from now.” He said the world’s poo-rest countries appreciated steps being taken by the European Union. Speaking for the Union, French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Bar-loo said the world’s most powerful economic bloc would be ready to cut its emissions by up to 30 percent if an agreement is reached in Copen-hagen next year.

Mayors, local authorities say the urban dimension crucial to climate change talksMayors and local authorities representing cities around the world in December urged delegates attending a milestone session of climate change talks to ensure that cities are kept high on the agenda given that they are home to half the world’s population and res-ponsible for most of the emissions that cause climate change.

“The voice of cities has to be heard at the COP in Poznan,” said the city’s mayor, Ryszard Grobelny, referring to the 14th Confe-rence of the Parties held under the auspices of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC). He was speaking at a Local Gover-nment Climate Session co-organized by Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the Association of Polish cities.

Think cities, mayors warnIn a joint message to the conference, the ma-yors said: “We, cities and local governments, represent half of the world’s population. Cities consume up to 80 percent of all energy, and must implement strong local climate actions. Cities must commit to ambitious reduction targets, mobilize citizens around the globe; and offer national-local partnership to limit global warming.”

“It is the local authorities which have a much closer relationship with their citizens than natio-

nal governments. It is our duty to ensure that the opinions and voices of our citizens are heard when it comes to climate change,” Grobelny said.

Echoing his views, the Mayor of Entebbe Ugan-da, Stephen Kabuye who serves as Vice-President of ICLEI, said that local authorities were in a spe-cial position.

“We need to go to the leaders and we need to go down to the schools, the places of worship to spread the gospel of climate change,” he said. The issues were so important that if not well handled – all the other problems (of urban poverty) could get worse, he said.

World leaders meeting in Poznan worked hard to create a successor treaty to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in which dozens of nations, but not the United States, agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Several mayors said they hoped this position would now change.

In Bali last year, nations set a goal of negotia-ting a successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, in Copenhagen in 2009. Delegates in Poznan laid the foundations for Copenhagen.

But the economic crisis and the timing of the talks dampened expectations in Poznan. There was concern that sour economy may discourage wealthier nations from agreeing to help fund clea-ner energy in developing countries.

In a message to Poznan, President Barack Oba-ma, who promised to take strong action on clima-te change, said: “The time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administra-tion to do.”

David Cadman, a Vancouver City Councillor and President of ICLEI added that the problems were urgent and that the world could no longer delay on a sound climate change agreement.

“Climate change is happening all around us. The world’s cities have got it; now national go-vernments need to hear us.” u

CLIMATE CHANGEDOW Chemical Company and Alstom Technology sign MOU to reduce CO2 in PolandEurope’s largest coal-fuelled thermal power station is about to become greener. The plant, built by Alstom Power Inc. is in Belchatow in Poland and a new pilot project is underway to construct a carbon capture plant at the site. The DOW Chemical Company’s advanced amine-based scrubbing technology is expected to be used to help the new plant capture an estimated 65,000 metric tons of CO2 annually.

TRANSPORTAsia Minor and Europe to be linked in pioneering projectAn historic rail project that will connect Europe and Asia will finally become a reality. The rail link will travel under the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul and will be partially constructed under the Sea of Marmara. Work was due to be completed in 2006, but had to be stopped after important archaeological finds were unearthed. The Schindler manufacturing company is supplying 59 escalators and nine elevators for stations along the line. The project is one of the biggest construction developments currently taking place.

ENERGYSlovak housing associations win awards for energy efficiencyThree Slovak housing associations from Žilina, Prešov and Dolný Kubín were chosen as winners in 2008’s Energy Efficiency Excellence Awards. The awards were organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) together with the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. There were three categories of judgement: highest energy-saving achievement, most effective investment in energy and highest project return. The winners all received project financing through EBRD partner banks. Slovak energy use is 75 percent higher that the EU average.

CONSTRUCTIONBuilding better in SerbiaThe first phase of a EUR 15 million programme to provide housing for refugees in Serbia concluded at a colourful ceremony the capital Belgrade. The Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP) ran from 2004-2008 and was financed by the Italian government and implemented by UN-HABITAT. It provided some 670 new homes for 3,000 refugees and vulnerable people. The programme has also built institutional capacities for social housing development, assisted the social and economic integration of refugees and displaced people, and helped boost the development capacity of local governments. The programme was also used to assist Serbia’s integration into the European Union.

Rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions threaten coastlines PHOTO © PATRIZIO MARTORANA


LEADERS Conflict in Africa taking the Responsibility to Protect


URBAN WATCHPeople

Peter Oberlander, a founding father

of UN-HABITAT, passed away

peacefully on 27 December 2008,

his family announced. An architect and

teacher who became Canada’s first Professor

of Urban and Regional Planning, he was 86.

Just weeks before his death, Professor

Oberlander wrote the main cover story for the

inaugural issue of Urban World on the role of

cities in the future.

He played a crucial political role in con-

vening the UN Conference on Human Settle-

ments (Habitat 1) in Vancouver in 1976 and

the third session of UN-HABITAT’s World

Urban Forum 30 years later.

In 1970, he was called to initiate Canada’s

first Ministry of State for Urban Affairs, and

become its inaugural Secretary (Deputy Min-

ister). He served in that post for three years.

After the Habitat 1 conference he founded the

Centre for Human Settlements at the Univer-

sity of British Colombia in Vancouver.

Between 1980 and 1990 he served on the

Canadian Delegations to the annual meetings

of the UN Commission on Human Settle-

ments, Nairobi, Kenya.

“He was a father to us all. Peter was one of

the greatest and most prominent supporters

of the creation of UN-HABITAT,” said the

agency’s Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tiba-

ijuka in a message of condolences.

“When Mr. Pierre Trudeau was Prime

Minister, he started the Federal Ministry of

Urban Affairs that brought cities to the cabi-

net table in Canada. His personal efforts then

helped bring the United Nations Habitat Fo-

rum to Vancouver in 1976. Thirty years later,

he played the pivotal role in bringing UN-

HABITAT back to its birthplace in Vancouver

for the third session of the World Urban Fo-

rum,” she said.

Professor Oberlander, OC, PhD FRAIC LLD

(HON), was born in Vienna on 29 November

1922. He moved to Canada in 1940 as the Na-

zis rose to power. The first Canadian to obtain

the Master of City Planning and subsequently

the PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from

Harvard University, he served as the UBC Pro-

fessor Emeritus in Community and Regional

Planning, pursuing an active research pro-

gramme at the UBC Centre for Human Settle-

ments until his death.

Concurrently, since 1995, he served as Ad-

junct Professor in Political Science at Simon

Fraser University. Between 1998 and 2008,

he also served as a Federal Citizenship Court

Judge.

Among the many honours conferred upon

him, he and his wife were both named Officers of

the Order of Canada. He is survived by his wife,

three children, and four grandchildren. u

S lumdog Millionaire starts at the

end, with 18 year-old orphan Jamal

Malik, from the slums of Mumbai,

just one question anyway from winning the top

prize of 20 million rupees on the Indian version

of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? However,

when the show breaks for the night, before the

all important final question, Jamal is bundled

out of the television studio and taken to the

police station where he is tortured and beaten

by corrupt police, who demand to know how he

cheated. Determined to prove his innocence,

Jamal recalls the story of his life in the Mum-

bai slums, where he and his brother grew up,

of their adventures on the treacherous streets,

of witnessing the murder of their mother in

anti-Muslim riots, the violent and terrifying en-

counters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl

he loved and lost. Through a sequence of dra-

matic flashbacks, Jamal reveals how each of his

own life experiences provided him with the key

to answer each of the game show’s questions.

The brilliant cinematography enables the film

to travel with swiftness and stealth through the

slums and palaces of Mumbai, as the viewer be-

comes engrossed in how and why Jamal came

to be sitting in the Millionaire hot seat. Slum-

dog Millionaire was nominated for 10 Academy

Awards at the 2009 ceremony and went on to

win eight Oscars, the most for any film that

year, including Best Picture and Best Director

for Danny Boyle. It also won five Critics’ Choice

Awards, four Golden Globes, and seven BAFTA

Awards, including Best Film. For an interesting

glimpse into UN-HABITAT’s work in India’s

slums, see the Gwalior story page 32. u

Peter Swan, an Australian nation-

al who served many years with

UN-HABITAT, suffered a heart

attack at his adoptive home in Bangkok,

Thailand on 23 November, 2008. He was

64. Mr. Swan joined the agency in 1989 as

officer in charge of its information division.

From 1995 to 1998 he served in Bangkok,

as Coordinator of the Community Develop-

ment Programme for Asia, before assuming

responsibility for UN-HABITAT’s Cam-

bodia programme in Phnom Penh. Mrs.

Tibaijuka, cited his popularity among col-

leagues, and the role he played in making

the 1996 Istanbul City Summit a success.

He is survived by his wife. u

ObituaryPeter Oberlander

From rags to riches on the streets of Mumbai

ObituaryPeter Swan

Peter Oberlander PHOTO © CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLOMBIA


URBAN WATCH People

Professor Anthony Gar-On Yeh won

the 2008 UN-HABITAT Lecture

Award. The Award is presented by

UN-HABITAT through the Global Research

Network on Human Settlements (HS-Net), an

international board that advises the agency on its

Global Report on Human Settlements. The award

seeks to recognize outstanding and sustained

contribution to research, thinking and practice

in the human settlements field. A key compo-

nent of the award is the delivery, by the winner,

of a lecture before a live audience. Professor Yeh

presented his lecture, entitled GIS as a Planning

Support System for the Planning of Harmonious

Cities at the fourth session of the World Urban

Forum, Nanjing, China, in November, 2008. One

of Asia’s foremost urban planners, he is Dean of

the Department of Urban Planning and Design at

the University of Hong Kong. uProfessor Anthony Gar-On Yeh PHOTO © UN-HABITAT

Former US President Bill Clinton chats with Mrs. Tibaijuka in February at a meeting organized by the Clinton Global Initiative University in Austin, Texas PHOTO © THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE

D eveloping countries should

be practising sustainable

development. This was the

upshot of talks between UN-HABITAT’s

Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka

and former US President Bill Clinton at a

meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative

on 14 February in Texas. The pair also

discussed the United Nations Global

Campaign for Sustainable Urbanization and

how the potential of today’s youth should be

harnessed to help in the fight against climate

change and the alleviation of poverty. Other

themes discussed were education, global

health, peace and human rights.

Mr. Clinton convened over 3,000

participants, including university presidents,

students, activists and policy makers to

mobilize their commitments to solve some

the world’s most pressing challenges. The

university prioritized five themes: education,

energy and climate change, global health,

peace and human rights, and poverty

alleviation. u

UN-HABITAT and the Interna-

tional Olympic Committee have

signed a landmark memoran-

dum of understanding aimed at empowering

underprivileged communities across the globe

by encouraging them to take part in sport. The

UN-HABITAT executive director, Mrs. Anna

Tibaijuka stated that “over 50 percent of slum

populations are made up of young people and

there is no better way to give direction and

motivation than by encouraging them to par-

ticipate in sports.”

There are also plans for the formation of

a follow-up committee to help maintain in-

ternational cooperation and the exchange of

information. u

Hong Kong Dean wins UN-HABITAT award

UN-HABITAT Executive Director meets Bill Clinton

New drive to bring sport to slum dwellers


New UN-HABITAT publications

Asset-based Approaches to Community Development

Best Practiceson Social Sustainabilityin Historic Districts

Land, Property, and Housing in Somalia

Housing Finance Mechanisms in Thailand

UN-HABITATP.O.Box 30030, GPO

Nairobi 00100, KenyaTel. (254-20) 762 3120

Fax. (254-20) 762 3477

www.un-habitat.org


URBAN WATCH Book review

Reshaping Economic Geography By Daniel Biau

The World Bank 2009 World

Development Report is a

masterpiece. By propos-

ing to reshape economic geography,

it is not always politically correct but

it provides a lot of food for thought,

particularly on the role of urbaniza-

tion in development.

The report starts by analyzing geo-

economic transformations along three

dimensions: density, distance and

division (development in 3-D) and

three geographic scales: local, na-

tional and international. It states that

density is the most important dimen-

sion locally, distance to density the

most important dimension nation-

ally, and division the most important

dimension (or indeed obstacle) inter-

nationally.

Therefore it advocates that urban-

ization, mobility and regional ex-

changes should be encouraged with

the overall objective to facilitate market

access. This is based on the fact that “over

the last two centuries growing cities, mo-

bile people, and vigorous trade have been

the catalysts for progress in the developed

world”. Noting that “a striking attribute of

economic development is its unevenness

across space,” the report also deplores that

“politicians generally view this economic

imbalance disapprovingly.” The authors

criticize “the prescription that economic

growth must be more spatially balanced,”

and affirm: “Governments generally cannot

simultaneously foster economic production

and spread it out smoothly.” Slowing down

urbanization constitutes an ineffective pol-

icy response: this view may not be politi-

cally correct but it is well documented, with

examples taken from all over the world.

In its third part the report elaborates

policy recommendations which claim to

be universal on how to combine economic

growth with social development. It discuss-

es the spatial transformations that must

happen for countries to develop.

The report acknowledges that in many

countries such as India and Nigeria the re-

sponse has to be a blend of spatially blind,

connective, and targeted policies. Indeed

many countries face a three-dimensional

challenge and it is over-simplistic to con-

sider that targeted interventions (such as

slum upgrading) should only take place in

highly urbanized countries.

The cornerstone of integration is certainly

public investments in institutions and connec-

tive infrastructure, independently of the level of

urbanization. The WDR prescription to follow

three successive stages sounds rather theoreti-

cal and exaggeratingly normative: If one

accepts that higher densities and shorter

distances make the difference, targeted

interventions can be a useful tool to in-

fluence these two spatial factors.

The division dimension (the third

D) is more problematic as it refers

to the impermeability of borders and

national differences in regulations.

Here the report recommends – in

its last chapter – systematic regional

integration, as divisions hamper the

movements of labour and capital. But

it falls short of criticizing the barriers

to international migration. Regional

integration is certainly desirable,

particularly in Africa, but global in-

tegration and cooperation remain an

economic challenge, specifically for

developing regions located near large

world markets.

Finally some comforting state-

ments deserve, because they come

from the World Bank, to be highlighted

such as “the best predictor of income in the

world today is not what or whom you know,

but where you work” or “more rapid pov-

erty reduction will probably require a faster

pace of urbanization, not a slower one”, or

“climate change calls for a different urban

form, not slower urbanization” and even:

“cities without slums is not a realistic vi-

sion for developing countries”!

Drafted by dozens of researchers Re-

shaping Economic Geography is a much

welcome and provoking must-read for all

human settlements experts. u

World Bank, World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009. Re-viewed by Daniel Biau.


URBAN WATCHConference and events calendar

C40 Climate Leadership Group Seoul Summit

18-21 May 2009

The Shilla, Seoul, Korea

www.c40seoulsummit.com

GC22 (UN-HABITAT event): The 22nd Session of the

Governing Council

30 March-3 April 2009

Nairobi, Kenya

http://www.unhabitat.org/list.asp?typeid=11&catid=26

Global City

7-8 April 2009

Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi

www.globalcityforum.com

eeGlobal: Energy Efficiency Global Forum and

Exposition

27-29 April 2009

Palais des Congres, Paris, France

http://eeglobalforum.org/

Euro-Syrian Cities Congress

9-10 May 2009

Damascus, Syria

http://websites.mam-sy.org/home.php

Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network: Fourth

international conference on sustainable development

and planning

13-15 May 2009

Limassol, Cyprus

http://www.csin-rcid.ca/event.aspx?id=5612

Low Carbon Cities: 45th ISOCARP International

Congress

18-22 October 2009

Porto, Portugal

www.isocarp.org

C40 mayors – including C40 Cities group chairman, David Miller –

and mayors from affiliate cities, together with policy makers, experts

and scholars in climate, transportation and energy fields will meet to

discuss opinions with regards to tackling climate change in large cities.

There will also be a simultaneous Climate Change Expo offering the

latest climate change related technologies. Bill Clinton will be among

those attending the event on behalf of the Clinton Climate Initiative.

The Governing Council meets every two years to examine UN-HAB-

ITAT’s work and relationships with its partners. The Council is com-

posed of 58 member states. It is a high-level forum of governments at

the ministerial level during which policy guidelines and the organiza-

tion’s budget are established for the next two-year period.

A forum for the public and private sector to exchange best practic-

es and exchange ideas on sustainable urban strategies. Attendees

will include mayors, urban planners, decision-makers, leaders and

renowned speakers such as government advisors, CEOs of major

corporations, architects and municipality officials.

The eeGlobal Forum is organized by the Alliance to Save Energy and

aims to discuss and define why energy efficiency is paramount in the

battle to keep up with the world’s energy demands in the cleanest way.

Speakers include world-class energy efficiency leaders from industry,

government, and non-profit organizations. Discussions will share

information and strategies on the latest technical, commercial, and

policy information.

The Regional Centre for Sustainable Local Development organize

the two-day Euro-Syrian Cities congress, which is the initiative of

the EC funded Municipal Administration Modernization (MAM)

programme. The aim is to bring together European and Syrian

representatives from local authorities and decision-makers in local

development. The congress and its workshops will set the frame-

work for knowledge-sharing, and will instigate networking to lay

down the foundations of future Euro-Syrian local partnerships.

Following three previous, successful conferences in Skiathos, Bo-

logna and the Algarve, this event will focus on issues pertaining to

regional sustainable development and planning. The mission of the

conference is to encourage planners, environmentalists, architects,

engineers, policy makers and economists to work together in order

to ensure that planning and development can continue sustainably.

The conference will be of interest to planners, environmentalists, en-

gineers, architects, ecologists, economists, policy makers and other

governmental officials, researchers and academics involved in the

field of sustainability.

The Low Carbon Cities Congress is the annual meeting of the global

group of experienced, professional planners who make up ISOCARP.

Attendees to the event will discuss ways to find an international strategy

to reverse the current trend of increasing C02 emissions. The congress

will explore the role of planning and development in reducing green-

house gas in the atmosphere through creating low-carbon cities.


Barely a speaker at the UN-HABITAT bi-

ennial gathering missed a chance to give their

views of what a harmonious city is all about.

Setting the tone in the first opening state-

ment, Mr. Jiang Hongkun, the Mayor of Nan-

jing, said: “Building harmonious cities is our

vision. This session of the Forum convened

to discuss the theme, harmonious urbaniza-

tion, will promote new ways of building cities

at home and abroad.”

The city was adorned with flyers and post-

ers welcoming Forum visitors and laser light

shows lit up the night skies from high build-

ings in the newly modernized city.

URBAN WATCH Conference briefing

A t the epoch making Fourth Ses-

sion of the UN-HABITAT World

Urban Forum hosted by the Chi-

nese city of Nanjing, the strongest message

coming out was that the swelling cities of the

world are posing fresh challenges every day.

The 3-6 November 2008 Forum drew

nearly 8,000 participants from some 155

countries with its exhibition alone attracting

more than 20,000 visitors in just four days.

These staggering figures are testimony that

the UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum, held

every two years, is now firmly established as

the world’s premier conference on cities.

As delegates from around the world ex-

changed views in the newly built giant Nan-

jing convention and exhibition centre, the

buzzwords on everyone’s lips at the fourth

session of the World Urban Forum were “har-

monious urbanization”.

More and more people are swarming into cities, causing overcrowding PHOTO © CÉCILE GENG

Slum dwellers worldwide are being forced into deeper poverty PHOTO © VIVEK CHUG

The poorest people in cities face appalling living conditions PHOTO © ALEX BALINT

The World Urban Forum – the world’s premier conference on citiesSwelling cities pose fresh global challenges, leaders warn By Paul Okunlola


URBAN WATCHConference briefing

World leaders caution on rapid

urbanization

Against the milieu of the global financial cri-

sis, world leaders at the meeting warned that

dangerous new threats had emerged on the

international development agenda, as devel-

oping countries grapple with the effects of the

growing tide of people swarming into cities in

search of better livelihoods.

For his part, Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila

Odinga said the urbanization challenge now

facing countries in the developing world had al-

ready snowballed into a “crisis of global dimen-

sions,” while United Nations officials alerted

that some 1.2 billion slum dwellers worldwide

may be on the verge of being forced deeper into

poverty by prevailing economic conditions.

New studies published by UN-HABITAT at

the Forum show that no fewer than three million

people are being added to the population of the

world’s cities every week – or some five million

people each month – as demographic changes

ensure that the world’s population becomes

predominantly urban for the first time ever, this

year.

Said Mr. Odinga: “The UN predicts that by

2030, the number of city inhabitants will be

over five billion, or 60 percent of the world’s

population. We have been warned that unless

policy makers undertake a radical rethink, we

face disaster. When we look at the progress of

human migration to urban centres over the

years, we will know that time is not on our

side, and we will treat 2030 or 2050 as if they

were next year, if not next week.”

In her address, UN-HABITAT Executive

Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, noted that

the times are testy for development planners

around the world, who now have to tackle the

growing consequences from the world’s pre-

vailing economic crises.

“Since the end of last year, we have wit-

nessed a succession of crises, the scale and

pace of which took us all by surprise. The year

started with a fuel and food crisis, after cli-

mate change had been confirmed as a fact of

life to which we must adapt or perish. Before

we could come to grips with these serious

matters, a sub-prime mortgage meltdown in

the United States was to unleash a financial

crisis whose contagion has been so fast and

so vast that the entire world is now grappling

with the effects.

“The financial crisis, the threat of global reces-

sion and the huge swings in commodity prices

and stock markets further threaten the founda-

tions of globalization that have underpinned

global growth for the past decade. We are wit-

nessing a resurgence of protectionism combined

with credit contraction that can further exacer-

bate and worsen a global recession.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also

warned delegates that the attainment of the

Millennium Development Goals could be

threatened if the urbanization crisis was not

effectively addressed.

“There are many billions of people suffering

from a lack of affordable housing and all the fa-

cilities that make life decent,” the Secretary-Gen-

eral said. “We must work together and generate

the political will to have a smooth implementa-

tion of the Millennium Development Goals and

work more closely and harder than before.”

The Vice Premier of the People’s Republic

of China, Dejiang Zhang, told the gathering

that in the light of the population challenges

facing his country, China itself was opting to

adopt a coordinated development approach

between its cities and regions, with spe-

cial emphasis on energy saving and climate

change mitigation.

The urbanization story in numbers

A UN-HABITAT status report, The State of

the World’s Cities launched at the forum has

revealed that the growing level of inequali-

ties in income and access to adequate shel-

ter have become socially and economically

unsustainable, posing such threats as social

unrest, reduced economic efficiency, reduced

level of investments and, diversion of security

funds to security issues. No fewer that 25 mil-

lion people in Africa are at risk of sea level

rise from climate change, with the most vul-

nerable cities being Alexandria (Egypt) Da-

kar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Abidjan (Cote

D I’voire), Cotonou (Cameroon), Tunis (Tu-

nisia), Mombasa (Kenya), Freetown (Sierra

Leone) and Maputo (Mozambique).

For the poor represented by some civil

society groups, for young people represent-

ed by youth groups, or women’s organiza-

tions, the concept carried a message of hope

easy to understand in a world urbanizing so

quickly that, according to UN-HABITAT

UN predictions state that by 2030 more than five billion people will reside in cities PHOTO © CARARR

Human migration to urban centres continues PHOTO © SOFIA HENRIQUES


URBAN WATCH Conference briefing

multilingual young people who were at every

venue to give a helping hand – and always with

a smile.

“If we think back on the Forum, it is the

smiles and kindness shown us all that remain

uppermost in our minds,” she said.

She also thanked the Governments of

Norway for providing financial support

towards civil society participation at the

Forum and the Kingdom of Bahrain for

sponsoring the Khalifa bin Salman Al Khal-

ifa Award, which will from now onwards

become a standing feature of the biennial

event. u

the Vice Premier of the People’s Republic

of China, H.H. Dejiang Zhang; China’s

Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural De-

velopment, Hon. Jiang Weixin; the Gover-

nor of Jiangsu Province Lou ZhiJun, the

Mayor of Nanjing Jiang Hongkun; and

for their warm welcome to us and our del-

egations. And not least Mr. Qi Ji, Deputy

Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural De-

velopment, and the Forum, Chair, Deputy

Mayor Lu Bing of the City of Nanjing,” said

Anna Tibaijuka.

“This word of thanks goes out also to their

assistants, their staff and the ever attentive

figures, two-thirds of humanity will be living

in towns and cities in another generation.

Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Di-

rector United Nations Office on Drugs and

Crime, warned that in a new urban age with

most people living in cities, urban crime was

likely to increase.

“The rise in crime is bound to continue and

accelerate as urbanization – especially in Af-

rica and the Caribbean – continues to grow at

a rapid pace. This carries important implica-

tions for global – and not simply local – secu-

rity,” he said.

He cited reports on regions where crime

had had an impact on development – for

example in Africa, the Balkans, the Carib-

bean and Central America. His office had

demonstrated the link: under-development

increases vulnerability to crime, and crime

hurts development.

The success

The success of the Forum in 2008 was due to

the intense interest and concern about mod-

ern life in a rapidly urbanising planet shown

by participating partners from nearly every

walk of life. And it was also thanks t0 the tre-

mendous efforts of the People’s Republic of

China to ensure that everything in Nanjing

worked smoothly, even though the meet-

ing was held in the aftermath of the Sichuan

earthquake – one of the most devastating

in living memory. Not least, it also followed

closely on the heels of the 2008 Olympic

Games in China.

“In expressing our heartfelt apprecia-

tion, it is important especially to cite here

Other highlights of the Forum

The World Urban Youth Forum

More than 500 youth activists from over 50 countries worldwide, gathered in Nan-

jing, China, for the opening of the UN-HABITAT World Urban Youth Forum.

The two-day conference, hosted by the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Chinese

Communist Party Youth League, is third biennial session of its kind, and takes place

traditionally on the eve of the World Urban Forum. This year, youth delegates dis-

cussed the theme: “Harmonious Urbanization: The Challenge of Balanced Territorial

Development.”

African Mayors

African Mayors from the Lake Victoria region signed an agreement with the Yangpu

District of the Municipal Government of Shanghai for enhanced cooperation and

exchange programmes. The agreement was signed during the fourth session of the

World Urban Forum in Nanjing.

Ms. Zong Ming, Magistrate of Yangpu joined the mayors of 21 towns from Tanzania,

Kenya and Uganda which all border Africa’s greatest lake at a colourful signing cer-

emony witnessed by UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka.

Business leaders

Private sector leaders brainstormed on how to build greener cities even as they push

their bottom lines. Business leaders committed to corporate responsibility discussed

ways of improving living conditions and achieving harmonious cities. They sought

ways to ensure responsible business practices for sustainable urbanization and the

core principles that could underpin it. They also discussed affordable technologies

and business models that could work for the urban poor at the bottom of the eco-

nomic pyramid, so that cities and towns are safer, more equitable, harmonious – and

better for business.

New youth fund

UN-HABITAT in November unveiled a groundbreaking fund to finance youth-led

development projects around the world. The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-

Led Development, announced at the Forum was created to engage young people in

achieving sustainable urbanization. The Fund is initially being financed through a

USD 2,000,000 grant over two years from the Government of Norway. Other gov-

ernments and donors are being invited to contribute.

Space in city centres is hard to come by PHOTO © C2 RINGO

In 1996, during the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, the right to housing was enshrined, and the Right to the City was launched successfully on a world level. The Urban Forums that took place after Istanbul narrowed their focus to cities at the same time as the world’s population was migrating to cities on an increasing basis. But at that time, cities were still not ready to accommodate such people, who were seeking shelter, services and to participate in the economy.

Today we need to rethink and renegotiate the fundamental bases of the city we want. We live in different countries but consume global products, we move around in the same way and use the same natural resources. The World Urban Forum aims to address problems that are repeated in each of our cities, where we want to enjoy, collectively, the benefits offered by modernity and human development.

We understand that the city is a collective space, culturally rich and diversified, that belongs to all its inhabitants and where their social functions must assure the universal, just, democratic and sustainable distribution of wealth, services, goods and opportunities. The Right to the City should be understood as a right to fair use, within the principles of sustainability, democracy, equity and social justice. The city of people linked through emotional and cultural ties with diversity and plurality expressed through ways of life and identity, is the main stage of social experiences enlivened by disputes over territory and power.

Adoption of the Right to the City, as a frame of reference to lead to the construction of a more hu-mane, democratic and sustainable city, has been chosen by Brazil as the strategic and conceptual theme of the 5th World Urban Forum and will be submitted for approval to the Secretariat of the World Urban Forum in Nairobi during the 22nd Session of the Governing Council.

The World Urban Forum to be held in March 2010 in the city of Rio de Janeiro will seek to encourage discussions to establish the Right to the City in other countries and to ensure its implementation and effectiveness by means of appropriate regulations, programs, activi-ties, projects and policies. Interested parties from various countries will present their own experiences including a list of rights which have not yet been addressed by policies and public action.

One of the goals of the Forum must be to admit that these rights should be established and that governments, the private sector and the general public can and must act to make them concrete and not theoretical. When defending the Right to the City, one

The Right to the City: bridging the urban gapForum 5 World Urban

is also defending the right to a democratic space that challenges the exclusion and fragmentation existing in our cities today.

These concepts will be brought to life in WUF5 through six strategic themes which will drive discussion and the media debate. The panels and networking events will contribute to the content of session summaries to be presented at the end of each day.

The six strategic themes are:

l Right to the City l Funding of Cities l Participatory Democracyl Inclusive Cities l Cultural Diversity in Citiesl Sustainable Urban Development

An agenda of events and discussions will also be drawn up from the “concept documents” provided by international specialists in each of the six stra-tegic areas. The idea is to improve the debate not only for the benefit of attendees at sessions but also for those attending the networking events.

We hope that from these events, the Forum will promote a dialogue and build common commit-ments that result in new solutions for our cities. To rethink our urban utopia is the main task. Our challenge now is to learn with the rest of the world, taking into account the needs of our partners so that best practices and actions are multiplied in every city, creating a better world where every-one can live with dignity, respect and citizenship.

Urban World: Climate Change: Are cities really to blame?

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