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Other Titles in the Pacific 2010 Series Other titles in the Pacific 2010 series Strategies for Melanesian Agriculture for 2010: tough choices J. Brian Hardaker and Euan Fleming Pacific 2010: women, education and economic development in Melanesia K.G. Gannicott and Beatrice Avalos Planning the Future: Melanesian cities in 2010 John Connell and John P. Lea The Future of Asia-Pacific Economies: Pacific islands at the crossroads? Rodney V. Cole and Somsak Tambunlertchai Pacific 2010: challenging the future Rodney V. Cole UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO 3 1822 02 9 9617 INIX. RELATIONS / PACIFIC STUDIES UBRAR1 UNIVERSITY Of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO IA JOUA CALIFORNIA PACIFIC 2010 OldlOVd | <N PACIFIC 2010 Urbanisation in Polynesia John Connell and John P. Lea © National Centre for Development Studies 1995 This work is copyright. Apart from those uses which may be permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. ISSN 0817-0444 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Connell, John, 1946- Pacific 2010 : urbanisation in Polynesia Bibliography ISBN: 0 7315 1954 X 1. City planning - Polynesia. 2. Urbanization - Polynesia. I. Lea, John P. II. Australian National University. National Centre for Development Studies. III. Title. IV. Title : Urbanisation in Polynesia. (Series : Pacific policy papers ; no. 14). 307.760996 Series editor: Maree Tait Editor: Debra Grogan Pagesetting: Tikka Wilson Maps: Keith Mitchell Cover photographs: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Printed in Australia by Paragon Printers Key to symbols used in tables n.a. Not applicable Not available Zero Insignificant URBANISATION IN POLYNESIA Contents Acknowledgments vi Foreword vii 1 Managing urbanisation in Polynesia 1 2 Population, migration and urbanisation 16 3 The economic context of urbanisation 38 4 Urban planning 57 5 Urban land issues 79 6 Housing 93 7 Water supply, sanitation and other services 114 8 A question of implementation 135 Glossary 149 References 150 Tables 1 Populations of independent Polynesia (de facto), 1991 17 2 Population of Tonga, 1891-1990 18 3 Population of Tuvalu (de facto), 1876-1991 22 4 Population of Western Samoa, 1853-1991 25 5 Urban growth in Tonga, 1931-86 33 6 Population of Apia, Western Samoa, 1860-1991 35 Maps Polynesian region Frontispiece Tonga 2 Western Samoa 2 Tuvalu 4 v Authors John Connell is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Sydney. He first began research in the South Pacific in 1974 when he worked with the Siwai people on Bougainville. From 1981 to 1983 he was Director of the South Pacific Commission/International Labour Office (SPC/ILO) project 'Migration, employment and development in the South Pacific'. Among his publications are a series of SPC/ILO country reports, Migration, Employment and Development in the South Pacific, dealing with Tonga (1983), Tuvalu (1983) and Western Samoa (1983) and a Pacific Research Monograph published by the National Centre for Development Studies, Migration and Development in the South Pacific. He also co-authored with John P. Lea, Pacific 2010: Planning the Future: Melanesian cities in 2010. John P. Lea is Director of the Ian Buchan Fell Research Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Sydney. He has been involved with development studies since 1969, working in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. In recent years he has been regional planning adviser to the Central Planning Department of the Kingdom of Tonga and to the Regional Council of the Torres Strait. Among his publications are: Housing in Third World Countries (Macmillan 1979); Cities in Conflict (World Bank 1985); Yellowcake and Crocodiles (Allen and Unwin 1986); Tourism and Develoment in the Third World (Routledge 1988); and with John Connell, Pacific 2010: Planning the Future: Melanesian cities in 2010 (National Centre for Development Studies 1993). Acknowledgements This study was directed by Rodney Cole, formerly Research Director of the Islands/ Australia Program of the National Centre for Development Studies at the Australian National University. It was funded by the Australian Agency for International Development. The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the staff of the National Centre for Development Studies, especially Maree Tait, Debra Grogan and Tikka Wilson. Assistance in Polynesia was given generously by Isikuki Punivalu, Ieti Taule'alo and Reupena Muagututia (Western Samoa) and Sione Ngongo Kioa and Taniela Tukia (Tonga). The authors were unable to make a separate visit to Tuvalu in the course of this project, but were generously assisted by Tauasa Taafaki. vi URBANISATION IN POLYNESIA Foreword Overview of the Pacific 2010 project The Pacific 2010 project has been concerned with development issues facing the South Pacific island countries. The main thrust has been the concern for population growth and how it is likely to affect development over the next two decades. For the Melanesian group of countries like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, high population growth rates and declining mortality pose a real threat to future wellbeing. This threat is real in the sense that children who will require improved health and educational services as well as employment opportunities in the year 2010 are now already born. Substantial increases in government expenditure in these services and greater political commitment to economic reform to create these employment opportunities are necessary to avoid a possible decline in standards of living and wellbeing. For the Polynesian countries, high levels of emigration have tended to release much of the pressure on health and educational services. Emigration has also created opportunities for remittances, which over the years, have become an important source of foreign exchange and income for Polynesians. This has had the impact of absorbing the pressure on these governments for foreign exchange and domestic employment opportunities. The safety net of emigration is not necessarily endless. Hard decisions must continue to be made to provide and maintain services and create productive employment opportunities outside those available in the public services. vii Agriculture and resource development for countries so endowed, provides an important avenue to create domestic opportunities for productive growth and employment. The role of government and its ability to facilitate this process and the need for sustainable resource use are critical issues. Customary land tenure systems present an interesting twist to this development agenda, the solution for which must come from within these countries. Although small by world standards, urban development in the South Pacific presents challenges and problems as severe as they are anywhere else. Different forces appear to be at work in the growth of urbanisation within the region. For the Melanesian countries, population growth and rural-urban migration have driven urban growth while for the Polynesians, urban growth has been slow because of low population growth and low rural-urban migration. This study is an extension of the urbanisation project, focusing on urbanisation in the Polynesian states of Tonga, Western Samoa and Tuvalu. It provides an interesting insight into the urbanisation process and compares this with the process in Melanesia. Although the problems of urban growth are quite similar between the regions, the need for effective urban management is identified as the critical issue for urbanisation in Polynesia. Ila Temu Director Islands/Australia Program National Centre for Development Studies September 1995 viii URBANISATION IN POLYNESIA 1 Managing urbanisation in Polynesia Here is a small town battling a terminal illness threatening to put her down. Filth and disease are swimming in swamps and puddles everywhere.. .The saddest thing of all is that nobody seems to know what to do. Where are the govern ment's so-called thinkers, the town planners and engineers? Why hasn't anybody been able to figure out how to move the disease-ridden swamps of Fugalei and Taufusi into the sea? The truth is that Apia's growth has been advancing rapidly over the last few years, so that now it is far ahead of development... Even though it is plain as daylight that proper drainage and sewage systems are as essential as food and water, they have been taking the lackadaisical attitude... Apia in its present state is a filthy, depressing little town, totally empty of inspiration. Its ugliness constantly defies the imagination... But here is a town we were once so proud of... Whoever dreamed up that reclaimed area must have been addled (Samoa Observer 25 February 1992). Throughout Polynesia urban conditions are worsening, though cities and towns are growing much more slowly than their Melanesian and Micronesian counterparts. The difficulties of providing adequate urban infrastructure and services that have long been of critical concern in the larger cities of the developing world are now readily apparent. The relatively small size of urban centres in the South Pacific has delayed the recognition of serious problems and the need for an active response because development Managing urbanisation in Polynesia 1 2010 Tonga o NIUAFCOU NIUATOPUTAPU » 'ATA Western Samoa 2 Managing urbanisation in Polynesia URBANISATION IN POLYNESIA policies have tended to focus on economic growth and on the rural sector. Rapid expansion of the larger Melanesian cities such as Port Moresby
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