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38418 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized ANNUAL REPORT 2006 CONTENTS Foreword ii POVERTY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT 1 The Challenge 1 The City as the Solution? 3 Time to Choose6 Building a Sustainable City 8 CITIES ALLIANCE IN ACTION 14 Lessons from City Development Strategies 15 Lessons from Slum Upgrading Activities 22 Sustainable Financing of Investments 31 CITIES ALLIANCE MEMBERS’ REPORTS 36 LEARNING AND COMMUNICATIONS 48 Lessons from the Chile Evaluation 49 Lessons from the Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Evaluation 50 Knowledge-Sharing Activities 52 Knowledge Products Review 63 CITIES ALLIANCE ORGANIZATION 72 The Consultative Group 73 The Policy Advisory Board 74 The Secretariat 77 FINANCIALS 78 Endnotes 89 Abbreviations and Acronyms91 Cover photo: “The city of Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, lies on the edge of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines.” © William Cobbett/Cities Alliance, 2006. 2006 ANNUAL REPORT FOREWORD Our governments welcome the increasing sense of urgency that is now being paid to the environment. No matter how belated, the recognition of the environmental consequences of the world’s growing population, increased industrial growth and wasteful and unequal consumption have signalled the need for fundamental shifts in policy, and in the way we all live. DR.MÁRCIO FORTES Minister of State, Ministry of Cities, Brazil n behalf of the Governments of The world’s slums are as much an environmental Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa, concern as they are a concentration of urban we are proud to present the 2006 poverty and social exclusion. The consequences OAnnual report of the Cities Alliance, which high- of inappropriate national policy frameworks, and lights the linkages between the urban environ- under–resourced and poorly managed cities, include ment, economic growth and poverty reduction. the appalling living conditions endured by the urban By focusing on citywide slum upgrading and city poor, the increased incidences of preventable dis- development strategies, and by insisting that it is eases, shortened life spans, and unacceptably high the city that takes ownership and actively leads death rates. the process, the Cities Alliance provides a platform We believe that our towns and cities have an for its members to learn from cities all over the increasingly vital role to play in creating the condi- world. tions for sustainable economic growth, improved Our governments welcome the increasing sense environmental management and poverty reduction. of urgency that is now being paid to the environ- To help cities achieve these goals, national govern- ment. No matter how belated, the recognition of ments need to be constantly looking for creative the environmental consequences of the world’s ways to strengthen local governments, match their growing population, increased industrial growth increased responsibilities with real resources, and and wasteful and unequal consumption have sig- ensure that national frameworks help, rather than nalled the need for fundamental shifts in policy, hinder, the developmental role of local governments. and in the way we all live. We joined the Cities Alliance because of the lead- The debate on global warming, however, has ing international role that it plays in providing sup- largely obscured the local and human dimensions port to those cities and countries that want to change: of environmental degradation. For hundreds cities and countries that wish to break out of short- of millions of poor people, the state of the environ- term developmental models, and focus on the sys- ment is neither a global threat, nor a future prob- temic changes that are required to ensure sustainable lem. Its neglect and mis-management has been, for economic growth, a protected urban environment for some decades, a life-threatening, daily reality. the city, and a meaningful citizenship for its residents. DR.OLUSEGUN DR.LINDIWE MIMIKO SISULU Minister for Minister of Housing and Urban Housing, Development, South Africa Nigeria POVERTY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT It is the very same set of policy issues that perpetuates urban (and rural) poverty, allows corruption and constrains economic growth, that also encourages urban environmental degradation, inefficiency, dislocation and decline. The Challenge very common goods, particularly through pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and depletion of water resources. Rapid urbanization in developing countries has resulted in dramatic he demographic changes expected over environmental deterioration, severely affecting the the next decades have been well re- growing numbers of urban poor, with the impact hearsed. Eachyear more than 60 million on water being most acute. Tpeople are added to the global urban population. In Latin America has very high levels of urbanization, the next 25 years, the world’s urban areas will grow but the region is still managing the consequences of by an estimated 1.8 billion people. Almost all this a largely unplanned transition and decades of poor growth will occur in the developing world. How this governance preceding democratization. However, urban expansion takes place has extremely signifi- the most significant shifts yet in the global urban cant implications, both for efforts to reduce the neg- landscape are under way in: (i) Sub-Saharan Africa, ative impacts on health and the built environment, which has recently been described by the United and for efforts to safeguard the natural resource base. Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a re- Urban areas depend on environmental services gion under environmental assault,1 where most of the for their survival. Urban dwellers draw from the urban transition is still to occur; and (ii) Asia, which surrounding areas for the water they drink, the air already has the largest numbers of people in slums. they breathe, the energy they use, and the food they Governments and cities have a unique, yet lim- eat. Yet, these urban dwellers pose a threat to these ited, opportunity to learn from mistakes elsewhere RURAL AND URBAN POPULATION BY REGION IN 2005 AND 2030 5,000 Rural population 2005 (millions) Urban population 2005 (millions) 4,000 Rural population 2030 (millions) Urban population 2030 (millions) 3,000 2,000 Population (millions) 1,000 0 Europe North Africa AsiaLatin Oceania America America and the Caribbean Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision. POVERTY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT 1 and to avoid the costly consequences of failing to adequately plan for an increasingly urban future. By embracing the positive impacts of urbanization, governments have the opportunity to spur economic growth, avoid social attrition, and prevent social conflict, widespread urban degradation, and human misery. Yet, for a variety of reasons, neither policy frameworks nor infrastructural investments have kept up with urban growth and the pressure on environmental services in the developing world. The most essential and difficult decisions are not being made; consequently, the really important choices—those with long-term consequences—are being made by default. These choices are, almost invariably, the wrong ones. At the beginning of the 21st century, more than two centuries after Charles Dickens railed against the conditions of the poor in London’s slums, the majority of the world’s towns and cities have no sewerage. Globally, two-thirds of the sewage from urban areas is sent untreated into lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Each year more than 450 cubic kilometres of wastewater is dumped into streams and rivers that are in many cases the source of urban potable water, and hundreds of thousands of urban dwellers die each year from diseases attributable to unsafe water or inadequate sanitation. Less than a third of municipal solid waste is properly handled UNEP / Siu Woon-Ying or disposed of. According to the World Health Environmental pollution from heavy industrial waste in Yangzhou, China. Organization (WHO), 3 million people die annually as a result of outdoor air pollution from ve- ultimately, inefficient pursuit. Diarrhoea is the sec- hicles and industrial emissions; 1.6 million, as a ond most common cause of under-five mortality, result of indoor pollution from the use of solid fuel, accounting for some 1.3 million deaths annually. mostly in developing countries. These urban environmental issues are among the Millions of children cross streams of raw sewage most pressing problems facing developing cities daily, in many cases right at their own front door. today. Urban environmental degradation is human Because millions of poor people, mainly women and degradation; it is not an issue that can be resolved girls, have only sporadic or no formal access to by technological innovation alone. The poverty of potable water, obtaining it is a time-consuming and, the urban environment is not a marginal issue: 2 ANNUAL REPORT 2006 BOX 1. LINKING POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENT IN HYDERABAD, INDIA ith a population of over 5 million, Hyderabad, India, is Wbeset with severe environmental problems. Water and air pollution and poor sanitation take a heavy toll on the quality of life of city residents, impacting the urban poor most severely. It is estimated that Hyderabad’s urban poor consti- tute 30–35 percent of the population, with many living in slums along polluted water courses and drainage ways. The linkages between urban growth, development, environment, and poverty were examined in a case study in 2001, which concluded that “there are clear indications that environmental conditions; lack of safe drinking water, sanitation, air and water pollution, etc., adversely affect the living conditions of the poor through impacts on health. The burdens of disease and disability lead to loss of man–days and income, and to higher health care and medical costs for the poor. Thus, investments in environmental infrastructure are warranted on grounds of improving productivity of the poor apart from providing basic conditions for economic growth and job creation. Strategies of poverty alleviation . need to consider investments in basic civic infrastructure .

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