26 minute read
Initiating coordinated global urban
Initiating coordinated urban development across the Globe
Urbanisation has been one of the fastest growing trends of the 21st century. Data predicts that by 2050, the global urban population may double in size resulting in 7 of 10 people living in cities. However, the infrastructure in cities may not be able to cope with this growth until all countries across the world unite to undertake integrated, inclusive and sustainable development
Advertisement
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, on October 20, 2016. In little over four years, the NUA has helped countries across the globe in engaging in planned development which not only betters their urban infrastructure but also fulfils aims of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Addis Ababa Action Agenda and several other international frameworks and agreements.
Various programs run by countries across the world have focused time and again on development. A majority of these programs, whether started before or after 2016, contribute greatly to the NUA. These projects can be summed up in three broad categories – city level, regional level and national level.
Development at city level
Various cities across the world, like the Habitat III host city Quito in Ecuador, have begun numerous development programs since the adoption of the NUA. Recently, the city of Quito commenced a mega infrastructure development plan based on the Transit Oriented Development strategy and Land Value Capture plans. The plan will help in maximising residential, commercial and recreational open spaces which are accessible by public transport. This is not only in line with SDG Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), but it also helps the country in fulfilling the Paris Agreement by ensuring planned, sustainable development which does not harm the environment. In Madrid, Spain, the introduction of Cuidamos Centro project, or ‘We Take Care of the Centro District’, fulfills Part D of Point 13 of the NUA while also fulfilling SDG Goal 4, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 16. The project works towards ensuring employment opportunities for those who would have otherwise stayed unemployed while also making sure that they promote social cohesion, awareness and initiative. In 2017, a team of formerly-excluded job seekers (including 4 migrants) were engaged as Dynamizers to raise collective awareness in the community around the importance of waste management and environmental protection, thereby contributing to realising goals of the Paris Climate Agreement too.
The New Taipei City Surplus Food Network (NTCSFN) collects vegetables, fruit, and other edible products that have an unattractive appearance from the New Taipei City markets and sends them to the Social Welfare Department for distribution. Other social-welfare and private organisations help the government in implementing similar programs so that resources can be provided flexibly to people in need. Individual donations to facilitate the implementation of such programs are also accepted. This helps Taiwan in realising SDG Goals 2, 10, 11 and 17 and also Part A and H of Point 13 of the NUA. The initiative also eventually helps in reducing hunger and starvation, child stunting
Ashley PAul
Reporter
and malnutrition. These are only some of the examples that have been implemented at city-level after the introduction of the NUA. As is evident from the analysis, all these initiatives, like countless others, are contributing to fulfilling aims of not just one but various global agreements while still adhering to standard universal frameworks.
Development at regional level
At the regional level, projects like the Urban Agenda for the European Union are making great strides. Not only are they fulfilling various goals, they are also contributing in enhancing coordination and cooperation within and among countries. The Urban Agenda for the European Union is one such project which aims to promote cooperation between member states, cities, the European Commission and other stakeholders, in order to stimulate growth, liveability and innovation in European cities and to identify and successfully tackle social challenges. Another such regional plan is The Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean (RAP) 2016 – 2036. The RAP not only has regional plans for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda but also has sub-regional and city-level plans. This ensures that the development carried out henceforth is universal and inclusive at the same time. Moreover, countries that are part of the RAP meet regularly to discuss future course of action and progress of previous initiatives. For example, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) – the primary author of the RAP, has made plans for improving disaster resilience of cities across the region. The RAP not only helps them in realising this but also encourages every country to take up the issue proactively.
Development at national level
At the national level, countries are placing emphasis on engaging local government right from the inception stage to the execution stage. As per recent report findings, more than 50 per cent of the countries that have so far developed progress reports as a part of voluntary national reviews for the SDGs have included local and regional governments in the process. Another set of 33 per cent of countries have included local and regional governments in high-level decision-making and consultation mechanisms. Emphasis is also placed on strengthening the urban governance system, with Argentina, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Ghana and Kenya providing examples.
Here, one of the key examples comes from India – the National Urban Learning Platform. The platform is basically a tool for facilitating knowledge and experience sharing between urban local bodies (ULBs). This will not only help in promoting equitable growth but also ensuring that ULBs do not end up making the same mistakes as others.
Challenges
Though countries and cities have shown decent improvement in their methods of functioning and their will to realise the goals of the New Urban Agenda, there are still a number of challenges that need to be addressed.
Experts need to ensure the development of a set of universal indicators to measure the progress of various countries in terms of realising the NUA. Without a measuring scale, it is extremely difficult for experts to assess and for countries to claim or plan as to what has already been done and what more needs to be done to achieve the NUA goals. Moreover, the NUA also needs to accommodate capacity building of professionals to carry out such large-scale and meticulously planned development policies. Lastly, one of the biggest shortcomings of the NUA is the lack of private ownership and initiative. Only when governments are able to attract attention and interest of private players can the goals of any agreement be realised in time.
Though many of these policies may have been implemented before the adoption of the NUA, the Agenda has definitely helped countries and stakeholders in realising the importance of not only these initiatives but also of their time durations. The only thing that is left to be seen is how governments manage to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic while still working towards planned and inclusive urban development.
Urban spaces await sustainable mobility
Mobility is no longer about getting from one place to another. In today’s world, mobility means being able to access education, health, culture, employment, and ability to participate in the society. In urban areas, the way people get around is changing rapidly. Governments around the globe, slowly but steadily, have started looking for sustainable transport methods, which can provide safe and affordable mobility without impacting the health of urban residents and the environment
Currently, all across the globe, cars dominate urban areas, taking up a lot of space, adding to air and noise pollution, and restricting the flow of traffic. Developing countries, which are witnessing a swell in their population and growth in economies, are seeing rapid rise in the number of cars on city roads, where often only a single person is travelling in a four or six seater car, which ultimately results in public transport such as buses, trams and autos getting stuck in traffic for hours, thereby nullifying the very purpose of convenient mobility. A project called Connective Cities revealed that in contrast to developing Asian countries, Europe is seeing a fall in the number of trips taken by a private car. People have increasingly started using local public transport, bicycles or car-sharing schemes. According to the data released by Connective Cities, in Berlin, private cars are being used for 31 per cent of all trips, while the rest are being undertaken in a more environmentally friendly way, which includes on foot (30 per cent), using local public transport (26 per cent) or by using a bicycle (13 per cent). In Copenhagen, bicycles are actually the most frequently used means of transport, and in London, more people travel by underground metro, bus or rail than by private car. Countries setting precedent on low carbon mobility
Paris has been pioneering innovations for low carbon mobility and has been putting efforts in making alternative modes of transport attractive. Streets all over the city have been dug up to build more cycling lanes; central squares such as the Bastille and
Paris has started walking the climate change talk. The city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is all set to ban all diesel cars from the city from 2024, and to ban all petrol cars by 2030. She has, has pledged to plant more than 1,70,000 trees across the capital by 2026, with the aim of covering 50 per cent of the city by planted areas by 2030
Madeleine have been transformed to be more pedestrian-and-cyclistfriendly; residents and visitors can now glide along the car-free river banks of the Seine; the Grand Paris Express project is underway with more than 41.5 billion euros’ investment and will make it easier for metropolitan area residents to reduce the use of private cars. It was estimated that car ownership had dropped from 60 per cent of all households in 2001 to 35 per cent in 2019. Paris has started walking the climate change talk. The city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo is all set to ban all diesel cars from the city from 2024, and to ban all petrol cars by 2030. She has pledged to plant more than 1,70,000 trees across the capital by 2026, with the aim of converting 50 per cent of the city into planted areas by 2030. To do so, the French government has loosened building codes, so it is much easier for Parisians to plant trees in their neighbourhoods. The French government had also announced an increase in fossil fuel tax in late 2017, along with rebates on purchase of electric vehicles. The Norwegian government focused most of its effort of promoting alternative energy sources in transport, with generous incentives for electric vehicles: zero import duty, VAT, and road tax; toll-free travel for plug-in cars; publicly financed charging stations, etc. As a result, Norway has the highest per capita number of all-electric (battery only) cars in the world, with electric vehicles representing 47 per cent of the nation’s newly registered passenger
Pooja UPadhyay Editorial Assistant
cars in June 2018. Strategies taken up by cities like Paris have visibly inspired India as its first pop-up cycle lane was developed and introduced in Bangalore in 2020. Even Gurugram introduced its first dedicated cycle track along a 10 km long corridor under the Centre’s Cycle4Change programme to promote green transit in the city. Increasing green cover and making cities more pedestrian and cyclist friendly is a great concept that India can adopt and include in its flagship Smart City Mission. How far is India from smart urban mobility?
Transport demand in most Indian cities has rapidly increased, owing to the multifold increase in urban population, which is a result of both birth rates and migration. This, and increase in commercial and industrial activities, has led to demand outstripping the capacity of urban Indian roads. This has resulted in widespread, increased congestion and delays in Indian cities, indicating the seriousness of transport problems. A high level of pollution has come up as another result of the overloaded streets, along with the prevalence of traffic accidents. The Government of India realised that cities cannot afford to cater to only private cars and two-wheelers, and that cities would become inoperable without a feasible and accessible local public transport system. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance said that the central government is set on working towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through the expansion of the metro rail network and augmentation of city bus service. Sitharaman also announced the government’s plan to introduce two new technologies - ‘MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ to provide metro rail systems at a much lesser cost with the same experience, convenience and safety in tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of tier-1 cities. However, these metro projects pose a challenge in the form of land acquisition. In 2019, green activists and local residents protested and threw light on how the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation was cutting trees and clearing huge areas of the Aarey forest for Metro-3 project and construction of a car shed. Delhi learnt a lesson from the case and has received permission from the Supreme Court of India to transplant trees from a plot next to the current Parliament building to an area close to the artificial ponds near the India Gate. This solution was proposed to avoid cutting down of all trees for the Central Vista redevelopment project. However, experts differ in their opinions on the concept of transplantation of trees. According to C.R. Babu, professor emeritus at the Centre for Environment Management of Degraded Ecosystems at Delhi University, transplantation of trees is a complex process and many native and deep-rooted trees often cannot tolerate transplantation. Tree transplantation nowadays involves lopping off the big branches of the tree, to which C R Babu said that a tree without its canopy will have no ecological function. Whereas, the forest department is set to empanel technical agencies to conduct the transplantation after making a feasibility report and has also set the target of the survival rate of transplanted trees at 80 per cent. The success of this technique could help ensure that no city loses its much needed green cover, although the cost of transplantation of trees is sky high.
Currently, only in the national capital, public bus system in its entirety runs on CNG. Additionally, Delhi is the only city in India having the facility of CNG pumps for commercial vehicles. Therefore, even if the government increases the number of buses in cities for public transit, issues of vehicular emissions and air pollution remain. Is the world entering the decade of electric vehicles?
Cars are responsible for a huge chunk of carbon emissions that are ejected into our atmosphere, leaving us vulnerable to various respiratory diseases. Electric vehicles (EVs) are being seen as a great step towards eco-friendly mobility. EVs get their power from rechargeable batteries installed inside the car and are 100 per cent eco-friendly and do not emit any toxic gas or smoke. Under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV (FAME-II) scheme, India is aiming to deploy nearly 2,600 EV charging stations across the country starting in 2020. This looks like a good start, but there is a need for rapidly scaling up charging infrastructure, and primary battery cell manufacturing in India with the help of strong economic and policy drivers.
Economic revival of cities post-pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has begun to fade but its effects have left deep scars on some important sectors of the country, including healthcare and the economy. The economies of cities, through its businesses and markets, have suffered heavily and continue to bleed financially. It is high time to work actively on their revival
Government of India took major steps in this year’s budgetary allocations trying to negate the downward trajectory of the country’s economy which includes a whopping fund of `2,23,846 crores (137 per cent increase from last year) allotted to the health and wellness sector. The central government has also introduced various welfare programmes in Budget 2020-21 such as the Jal Jeevan Mission, and augmentation of public buses to revive health of cities after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effects of Pandemic on cities and budgetary allocations
Urban spaces accounted for a major chunk of COVID-19 cases in the country and around the world. Moreover, the migrant crisis during COVID-19 pandemic has hit the very core of the urban spaces generating an urgent need to create cities which are spatially more spread out. Despite this, according to the Ministry of Finance, Government of India has set aside `54,281 crore for urban development, a meagre 9 per cent rise as compared to last year’s allocation. The allocation is around 1.5 per cent of the total budget outlay even though, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), almost 34 per cent of the country’s population resides in urban areas. According to a study by WEF titled ‘Indian Cities in the post-pandemic world’, about 35 per cent of the total urban households cannot afford housing at market prices and there is a need to create a new paradigm for inclusive and resilient cities. Economies of cities were also hit badly as an estimated 140 million people lost their jobs due to suspension of economic activities owing to the indefinite lockdown. The Indian economy shrunk by a whopping 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter last year, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This was the biggest economic slip due to COVID-19 pandemic among major economies of the world, including
Dr Ravinder Singh Minhas Deputy Chief General Manager, DTC the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States of America (USA), and China.
Post-pandemic economic revival of Indian cities
Budget allocations of the central government have been presented this year keeping the pandemic in consideration. Ministry of Finance has come up with some new policies to revive the health sector including the Prime Minister (PM) Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, with a fund of `64,180 crores over a period of 6 years. Public Transport is an important sector which supports the economic wellbeing of the cities and has suffered serious repercussions in the times of pandemic. Metro services have been allocated `20,000 crore for this financial year, marking an increase of 6 per cent as compared to last year. In a webinar conducted by Team Urban Update, Dr Ravinder Singh Minhas, Deputy Chief General Manager, Delhi Transport Corporation, said, “The Corporation, in times of pandemic, witnessed a drop in passengers to the tune of 3,073 lakh. This added to the losses of the department.” He added that continuance of public transport is essential as it supports the livelihoods of various people. To boost public transport post-pandemic, central government has come up with innovative PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model to augment public bus transport and has also announced the induction of almost 20,000 buses which will affect more than 100 Indian cities. MetroLite and MetroNeo for tier-2 and peripheral areas of tier-1 cities respectively; Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban); Voluntary Vehicle Scrapping
HitesH Nigam
Editorial Assistant
policy etc., are some of the initiatives in Budget 2020-21 which are intended for economic revival of Indian cities.
Global initiatives and lessons learnt
Different cities across the world have designed their respective models to combat the effects of the pandemic. Inia must learn from them and be a part of such international collaborations. For instance, in November 2020, WEF had selected 36 cities from 22 countries across the world to engage in a dialogue and design a roadmap to safely adopt new technology post-pandemic. Four Indian cities namely Bengaluru, Faridabad, Indore and Hyderabad were selected to lead economic development of smart cities from around the world. International economic organisations will play a major role in the postpandemic revival of cities as almost 600 urban centres from across the world contribute around 80 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to WEF.
Cities cannot stabilise their economy without making them resilient to disasters like those which affected Indian cities at different points of time during the pandemic, and only added to their stress. Some happened due to sheer human carelessness, such as fire at a COVID-19 facility in South Delhi, while some were a result of natural phenomenon such as the Amphan cyclone. In this area, Rotterdam presents a good example where the city is built below sea-level and despite this, the water management and economic cycle of the city is commendable. During another webinar organised by Team Urban Update, Dr Amit Prothi, Director, Global Resilient Cities Network, Singapore, cited the example of Rotterdam and talked about how Surat, Gujarat is working with the authorities of Rotterdam to implement the methodology used by them. Such a co-operative approach is necessary to establish a knowledge sharing framework where authorities from across the world can work together to learn the innovative models of different countries.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important factor which helps the cities to grow and also analyse their policies depending on how favourable the location is to the investors. According to Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi are the top three states to receive highest influx of foreign investments. This shows the efforts of the city to synchronise the policies in such a way that it makes the location favourable for investments. Such efforts will play a major role in every Indian city so that they have enough resources to boost the economy of the region.
The way forward
Economic recovery of cities coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is a continuous and a long process. The most vulnerable section - migrant workers, have to be kept in focus during policy formulation as they play a vital role in boosting the economy of urban centres. Urban replica of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), which was proposed by experts and economists in a letter sent to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, is the popular policy intervention suggested for bettering the condition of the urban poor.
Conclusion
Urban centres are the backbone of a country’s development. Therefore, their economies have to be preserved and promoted to ensure economic growth of the entire country. Sustainable revival of the economy is important in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to get cities back on track. In addition to budgetary allocations and policy formulation, implementation of these policies and utilisation of budget is important to improve the face of the urban economy. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), which are one of the worst hit due to spread of the novel coronavirus, have been allocated `15,700 crore, which is double the amount allocated for them in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Finance. The time has come to remember and realise the vision articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2020, when he said that India will set an example in economic revival for the world.
Cities: Creator, victim & solution to Climate Change
In alleviation and adaptation, cities play a critical role in controlling the unavoidable and avoiding the uncontrollable. Well-planned, compact cities can be highly resource-efficient and lead to improved quality of living for the urban population. To realise this dream of lowering the risks of climate change and leading the way to sustainable development, the centres of expertise and innovation, cities, have to make efforts not only at the international, but at the local level too
According to several scientific organisations including the National Aeronautics Space Administration or NASA, the year 2020 was the warmest year on record. Although, as a result of the lockdowns around the world to control the COVID pandemic, enormous drops in transport and industrial activity resulted in a decline in daily global carbon emissions by 17 per cent in April 2020.
However, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels reached their highest monthly average ever recorded in May last year. The reason is that the CO2 that humans have already emitted can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years; some of it could even last tens of thousands of years.
Besides the lethal carbon emissions, COVID-19 is resulting in changes in individual behaviour and social attitudes and this is consequently changing the approach and ideologies of governments from all over the world. This will have impacts on the environment and on our ability to fight climate change. At this point in time, it is uncertain how these factors will balance out in the end.
However, one thing is certain: large-scale initiatives, along with initiatives at the local level, will be essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
India was one of the ten most affected countries by climate risk in 2015. Based on fatalities and losses in 2015, India is among the fifty most vulnerable countries of the world. The growing urban population and economic growth are two important factors that are increasing the importance of adaptation and mitigation considerations for Indian cities due to associated challenges
How are cities exposed to climate change?
The population in cities is likely to increase by around 500 million over the next 50 years. The cascading impacts of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation are dire: at least 200 cities risk running out of water, heavily impacting food and water security. As the COVID-19 pandemic has already strained city resources, the ability of cities to transition to carbon-neutral economies is particularly at risk; over 10,000 cities have committed to a green transition, but they may not be able to finance this due to these difficult times. Climate change not only has economic consequences but physical too, due to numerous and diverse human activities. With respect to cities, the impacts of climate change are significant. These include increased intensity of heat waves, with direct effects on human health, especially in cities; increased risk of inland flooding; retreat of mountain glaciers, with impacts on water availability and its quality in urban areas; and an increased risk of drought and water shortage in already dry regions.
Cities both victim and cause of temperature change
Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and as estimates suggest, urban population will increase to over two thirds by 2030. Cities use an
Shrila pokhariyal
Editorial Assistant
enormous proportion of the world’s total energy supply and are responsible for approximately 70 per cent of global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which trap heat and lead to global warming. Levels of CO2, the most pervasive GHG, are at the highest levels ever, mostly due to burning of fossil fuels for energy. The immense carbon footprint produced by our cities is caused mainly due to faulty planning and arrangement.
Cities, being the primary cause of climate change, are also the most troubled by it. Most cities situated near water bodies face the risk of floods due to rising sea levels, storms, and cyclones. Nevertheless, given their role as hubs of innovation and creativity, we also look to cities to provide us with answers. Mitigation policies, energy generation, urban infrastructure, mobility, and planning solutions and innovations in cities have the potential to deliver major emission cuts.
India
According to Germawatch, a nonprofit organisation working for environment, India was one of the ten most affected countries by climate risk in 2015. Based on fatalities and losses in 2015, India is among the fifty most vulnerable countries of the world. The growing urban population and economic growth are two important factors that are increasing the importance of adaptation and mitigation considerations for Indian cities due to associated challenges. However, since the very beginning, India has shown proactive leadership in climate change mitigation efforts, evident in its falling carbon intensity of the economy in the last couple of years. Domestic mitigation measures have led to an appreciable reduction in carbon intensity of Indian GDP.
Many Indian cities are already taking action on climate change. For instance, New Delhi, the capital of India, launched India’s first city-level climate change agenda in 2009, while other cities such as Hyderabad and Kolkata have implemented sectorial strategies with climate benefits in areas such as transportation and waste management. Rajkot has conducted emissions inventories using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories, has developed a Low Emission Development Strategy Action Plan, and developed a number of specific mitigation and adaptation actions to achieve its climate goals. Last year, the Government of India launched initiatives for cities to combat climate change. The launch of this initiative intends to address two key areas in urban challenges - climate change and liveability. Recently, India was successful in dropping off 24 per cent in the emission intensity.
Cities around the world breaking ground for others
Barcelona is addressing its fight against air pollution by expanding the municipality’s tree canopy to nearly 30 per cent of the city’s land area by 2037. The city recently created an extensive Climate Plan that aims at cutting per capita greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent before 2030, and additionally promotes strategies such as the superblocks innovate urban model, whereby certain fragments of the city are secured for exclusive pedestrian use to enhance cleaner air and the liveliness of its streets.
On the other side of the world, in Auckland, mitigation strategies prioritize citizen engagement by involving over 150 stakeholders in the co-creation of the roadmap to achieve the city’s target to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 per cent before 2040. The city also started a revolving fund to minimize energy use and emissions, and the reinvested savings are expected to result in over $30 million in the coming 20 years. This will be allocated to further reduce the city’s contribution to climate change.
Oslo, the capital and most populated city of Norway, has set a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 95 per cent before 2030. It is doing this by doubling electric vehicles and charging stations, along with incentives and subsidies. Oslo government also introduced circular waste management systems, purchased a bio-gas plant, and is recycling 50 per cent of all its food waste. Cities are in urgent need of diversifying their energy production. Although in many parts of the world, the federal and state governments administer energy policies, cities wield more leverage over public and private utilities. Cities are exceptionally transforming their energy grids through initiatives such as moving to community solar and wind farms and promoting localised, or embedded energy schemes. They are reducing emissions and generating massive savings in the process. Thus far, thousands of cities have adopted renewable energy, and today more than 40 cities are entirely powered by renewables, from Georgetown in Texas to Reykjavik in Iceland and Shenzhen in China.
Conclusion
The future of perpetual development, poverty removal, and the world’s health and management of climate change are firmly aligned. The capacity of GHG emission reductions in cities and capability of cities of the world to take actions to combat climate change is significant. If this potential is fully deployed, the world will be closer to the aim of keeping global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius.
