Island Towns Managing Urbanization in Micronesia John Connell and John PLea Occasional Paper 40 Center for Pacific Islands Studies School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies University ofHawai'i at Manoa Honolulu and Research Institute for Asia & the Pacific University of Sydney to 1998 by John Connell and John PLea The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of AusAID or any other body associated with it. ISSN 0897-8905 Contents Preface v Acknowledgments vii PART ONE: THE CONTEXT OF URBANIZATION IN MICRONESIA 1 1 Introduction 3 Urban Beginnings 17 2 Population Migration and Urbanization 35 The Demographic Structure 37 Migration in the Region 48 International Migration 60 3 Urban Economy and Society 80 The Urban Economy 86 Employment and Urban Society 97 Conclusion 105 PART Two: URBAN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES 109 4 Urban Management and Planning 110 Land-Use Planning Goals 114 Land-Use Planning in the Federated States of Micronesia 119 Urban Management in Kiribati 122 Urban Planning in the Marshall Islands 126 Master Planning in Palau 127 Strengthening Planning Capabilities in Micronesia 130 5 Urban Land Policy 135 Federated States of Micronesia 137 Kiribati 146 Marshall Islands 149 Palau 151 Addressing the Priorities 154 6 Housing 158 The Urban Housing Process in Micronesia 160 Housing Conditions in Micronesia 163 ,ji Housing Policy in the Micronesian Countries 169 It Accommodating Micronesia 177 7 Public Utilities 181 Water Supply, Sewage Treatment, and Waste Disposal 183 Palau 185 Power and Energy Supply 199 Involving the Community 203 8 Toward Sustainable Urban Oevelopment 205 References 211 Tables 1 Population Growth in Micronesia 37 2 Population of the Islands of the Federated States of Micronesia, 1920-1994 39 3 Population of Kiribati, 1852-i995 42 4 Population of the Marshall Islands, i 920-1988 45 5 Population of Palau, 1900-1986 47 6 Local and Foreign Population in Palau for Selected Census Years 67 7 Urban Management FunctionS in South Tarawa 124 8 Housing Units in the Federated States dfMicronesia, 1994 164 9 Housing Indicators in South Tarawa 167 Maps 1 Micronesia 2 2 Republic of the Marshall Islands 6 3 Federated States of Micronesia 8 4 Republic ofPahiu 9 5 Republic of Kiribati 11 Preface SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT has become the catch-cry of our time as we approach century's end. The necessity of achieving, or at least aspiring to achieve, economic growth that is sustainable in environmental and human terms is widely acknowledged. But when we enter the morass of the modem world, with its layers oflegal complexity, competing political interests, and the vastly different needs of developed and developing economies across the globe, it is clear that generic solutions imposed from above or outside will not take us far toward our goal. Local solutions to local situations are a more realistic means of achieving sustainability in a meaningful way. The Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP) at Sydney University has focused its research activities on developing the human resources that can drive the quest for sustainability throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Through our role in the Human Resource Development Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, we have led and participated in several projects that will enhance the skills of Asia-Pacific managers of the future. The consultative and consensual nature of the APEC forum serves to preserve the integrity of local situations, while providing a regional perspective to issues of common concern. RIAP has likewise been proud to provide expert support for the Australian Agency for International Development (Au sAID) in studies of the Mekong region and now, with this new study, of the Pacific Island states of Micronesia. This study examines the problems of urban growth in the Micronesian island states of the Pacific, where rapid rural-urban migration in the 1960s and subse­ quently produced unusually high urban population concentrations. The under­ lying approach seeks to ensure the establishment of a form of future sustainable urban development in the region, where the urban economic and social system reflects the needs of all citizens and where service delivery management does not result in uncontrolled environmental degradation. These are major challenges for island microstates, whose small economies depend significantly on external support. v PREFACE The chief purpose of this study is to examine the condition of urbanization in the four independent countries of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Palau from a comparative perspective. Where possible, this is supported with contemporary materials from official government docu­ ments, consultants' and nongovernment organizations' reports, the press, and by speaking with a range of individual people in the Micronesian towns. The study follows two earlier investigations by the same authors, on urbaniza­ tion in Melanesia (Connell and Lea 1993) and Polynesia (Connell and Lea 1995). Their focus and that of the present study is first, on the key underlying factors that determine the context of urbanization; second, on an examination of selected major urban sectoral issues; and third on the challenge present in the towns to achieve better urban management and planning. It is not the intention to identify definitive solutions to long-standing problems or to develop new planning strate­ gies. Rather, the objective is to improve the understanding of regional urban affairs among Micronesians in a part of the world that is among the last to experi­ ence urbanization. For too long Pacific peoples have had their development prob­ lems assess~d in terms of other cultures and societies, when all along there has been a wealth of experience in Oceania itself that can lead to the formulation of locally appropriate urban policies. We wish the peoples of Micronesia well in implementing their own solutions to the issues that confront them. RIKKI KERsTEN Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific University ofSydney References Connell, John, and John PLea 1993 Planning the Future: Melanesian Cities in 2010. Canberra: National Centre for Development Studies. 1995 Urbanisation in Polynesia. Canberra: National Centre for Develop­ ment Studies. VI Acknowledgments THE AUlHORS would like to thank the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific at the University of Sydney, especially Director Dr Rikki Kersten, for enabling the funding of this study to become a reality. RIAP in turn gratefully acknowl­ edges the support of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), which made the research possible. Thanks are also due to the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University ofHawai'i at Manoa, and its Director, Professor Robert C Kiste, for publishing the study and thus ensuring that it will meet a wide audience in the Pacific. The authors are deeply appreciative of the assistance provided by Australian diplomats during the course of the fieldwork in Micronesia. We are also particu­ larly grateful to Australian Ambassador Perry Head and his embassy staff in Pohnpei. Fiona Bricknell and Leo Kuipers helped us in many ways and greatly improved our ability to meet as many people and organizations as possible. We were received all over the region with great kindness by many Micronesians, too numerous to list here individually, and to all of them we express our thanks. Last but certainly not least, we have been very well served with great editorial skill by Janet Rensel of Honolulu. I Vll Part 1 The Context of Urbanization in Micronesia 'I 130"E 140" lSO" 160" 170" 180" 2O"N MICRONESIA Woke I. COMMONWEALTH . Pogan (USAj OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS Tinian l Saipan ,-1Io1a REPUBLIC OF THE GUAM f', MARSHALL ISLANDS Rangelap Enewetok <) ~~', ...,:J .~ .' Ulilhi H)" ,,:,' ., /Wotje ~- • Fais GaIervt Kwaj~lei"-, • .:'.:."J Yap Pikela! Namanuito HaUlslands . ':.:,. ':"0 ';, Faraulep • .; .. ~\. tIft , ;.~ "- \ " ,l -"- "Sara -.;" Ngulu 9roluk " ' PALAU ',,-: ,"Ch ~' ,i Babeldaab Wolea; • ilalik lamotrek''l'uluwat"~ uuk Pohnpei -", Mojuro '"" Or Arno Eauripik' ',- ". , ;:~Jaluit ,::c, Mortlock"'­ Kasrae Islands ....--- P~D~llA.1'ED -Nukuoro Tabi STA.TES Sutaritari -.J OF MICRONESIA -.\ . KIRIBATI ~ Tarawa -Kapingomerangi ~ '.I ' 0" Kepulauan Ayu "~ NAURU ,/ 4: / 'Banaba o SOOMiles I ! !! I i I j I o SOD 800 Kilometers Map 1 1 Introduction Infrastructure is a magic word out here now. In the old days, the magic word was per diem. Per diem meant freedom, travel, adventure for blithe spirits with white shoes and belts-"tap dancers"-who wandered the world, conferring and fact-finding. The U.S. was their sugar daddy and their whipping boy. Those were the red-eyed, white-shoed, globe-trotting days. And now: infrastructure. Narrowly construed, it means water and power systems, roads and docks and airports. Paul Kluge, The Edge ofParadise: America in Micronesia By THE END of this century and for the first time in history more people in the world will live in urban than in rural areas. Even the small island states of Micronesia are coming close to that situation; in both Palau and the Marshall Islands substantially more than half the national population already live in urban areas. Everywhere the populations of towns are growing faster than those of rural areas. Although urban centers there are much smaller than in most other states of the Pacific, urban problems are worsening in each of the four independent states of Micronesia. The difficulties of providing adequate urban infrastructure and services-long of critical concern in the larger cities of the developing world-are now readily apparent. The relatively small size of urban centers in the Pacific has not prevented the recognition of serious problems or the need for an active response. In Kiribati, for example, urban management in Tarawa is much more developed and appropriate than in other much larger states, while in the Marshall Islands, appalling urban conditions in Ebeye (Kwajalein Atoll) have been improved through a program of planning and investment.