NATIONAL URBAN POLICY ASIA AND PACIFIC REPORT NATIONAL URBAN POLICY: ASIA AND PACIFIC REPORT NATIONAL URBAN POLICY: ASIA AND PACIFIC Report First published in Nairobi in 2015 by UN-Habitat Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme 2015 All rights reserved United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) P. O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi GPO KENYA Tel: 254-020-7623120 (Central Office) www.unhabitat.org HS Number: HS/093/15E ISBN Number(Series): 978-92-1-133366-4 ISBN Number:(Volume) 978-92-1-132692-5 Disclaimer This study of the status and effectiveness of NUP in the Asia and Pacific region was undertaken by researchers from the Centre of Urban Research at RMIT, Melbourne Australia, on behalf of the UN Habitat Program. It focuses on surveying and assessing the current state of National Urban Policies in the Asia and Pacific region. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers of boundaries. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, RMIT University - Melbourne, Australia, the United Nations, or its Member States. Working Draft: Please do not quote or cite without permission Contact: [email protected] or [email protected] Acknowledgements Coordinators: Remy Sietchiping Task Manager: Themba Phakathi Author: Jasmine Ali, Jago Dodson Contributors: Alastair Wilkinson, Avi Sakar, Bella Evidente, Bernhard Barth, Bruno Dercon, Christopher Rollo, Cleto Gales, Indu Weerasoni, Jane Reid, Jack Finagan, Jawed Ali Khan, Laxman Perera, Liam Fee, Lucie Charles, Padma S Joshi, Paul Jones, Ralph Horne, Reinero Flores, Srinivasa Popuri, Tim McNair, Tony Dalton, Vanna Sok Design and Layout: Eric Omaya, Herbert Kimani, Jean Robert Gatsinzi, FOREWORD I am delighted to present the State of National Urban Policies Report in Asia and the Pacific, an assessment of urban policies in one of the fastest urbanising region of the world. The report is a valuable source of information, based on national case studies conducted by UN-Habitat. The New Urban Agenda, the outcome document of Habitat III, as well as Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, recognise the transformative power of urbanisation as an endogenous source of development, prosperity and employment. Sustainable urban development does not happen by chance. It must be guided, harnessing the opportunities of urbanisation and mitigating negative external factors through comprehensive and coordinated urban policies, accompanied by the fundamentals of urbanisation – rules and2 regulations; planning and design; and a financing model. Within this new paradigm, the role of national governments in harnessing the opportunities of urbanisation is primary. National Urban Policies are recognized as a powerful instrument for governments to define an urban vision, engage stakeholders and coordinate policy sectors to enable and facilitate sustainable urban development. The purpose of this report is not to provide a universal blueprint for national urban policies, but rather to gain an enhanced understanding of how governments in the region have addressed accelerating urbanisation, and more specifically, assess how national urban policies have been developed, highlighting their challenges, successes and innovations. Asia and the Pacific is a particularly interesting region for such case studies, due to its demographic size – despite being still less urbanised, its absolute urban population is higher than that of Europe and North America – and the variety of economic, cultural, political, and demographic situations it contains. The region also finds itself at a pivotal time: while recent urbanisation was driven by major economic development concentrating in cities, and lifting millions of people out of poverty, it also came at a heavy social and environmental costs. Challenges today include addressing lingering socio-economic inequalities, with large populations still lacking access to decent housing and basic infrastructure, and facing the growing risks of climate change and environmental degradation. To face these, governments are overcoming institutional weaknesses and fragmentation and re-asserting their public leadership through integrated and collaborative policies to direct urbanisation in a more sustainable and inclusive way. The report is part of a series of five regional reports assessing the state of national urban policies that complement the Global State of National Urban Policies Report, conducted in collaboration between UN- Habitat and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. These studies are timely, as they follow up on Habitat III and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the Second International Conference on National Urban Policy, and accompany the World Urban Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in February 2018. I believe that this series of regional reports contributes to building empirical knowledge on the national urban policy process and will provide useful insight for academia, policy makers and practitioners to further refine guidance and practice in national urban policy development, thus contributing to the implementation of the global agenda on sustainable development. Dr. Joan Clos Executive Director, UN-Habitat PREFACE This National Urban Policy, Asia and the Pacific actors to participate in its implementation. Then, Report, was researched and written in 2014 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 2015, and is being published within a 2017-2018 dedicated one of its 17 sustainable development series of regional reports on national urban policies. goals exclusively to cities, with SDG 11 advocating The data and analysis have not been updated, and to “make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and will therefore not reflect the latest information sustainable”. Finally, and most significantly, the about national urban policies in the region. first major international conference following However, the data gathered still provides a useful these sustainable development milestones was baseline against which to measure subsequent the United Nations Conference on Housing and progress of national urban policies in light of new Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), where international agreements. Moreover, the structural the New Urban Agenda was adopted, advocating analysis provided remains relevant to inform long for proactive policies to leverage the dynamics term trends, and characteristic opportunities of urbanization as instruments of sustainable and challenges faced by the region in managing development. This new emphasis on urban issues increasing rates of urbanization through national in intergovernmental frameworks and agreements level policies. This report indeed identifies varying signaled the increased responsibility of national approaches within the vast diversity of geographic, governments in adapting, implementing and demographic and economic contexts of the regions, monitoring these global imperatives. National Urban such as anticipatory, remedial, and transformative Policies have consequently been identified as a key policies. This last category is identified as a instrument for governments to articulate global “new generation of national urban policies”, imperatives, national development visions, and characterized by a more proactive and integrated the successful management of urbanization. The perspective to harness the synergies and dynamics Habitat III Policy Paper 3 on National Urban Policies of urbanization for wider national development for instance argued that “a national urban policy goals. is a powerful tool for government to plan for and direct the many facets of urbanization and for it to This insight has since been rapidly confirmed and be a net contributor to achieving the sustainable solidified in recent and major global agendas for development goals”. National urban policies have sustainable development. Indeed, since 2015, also been proposed as a key component for SDG urbanization has been increasingly recognized as a indicator 11.a.1. The New Urban Agenda also states global agenda priority, and a national governmental that its effective implementation will be anchored responsibility. The Sendai Framework for Disaster in inclusive, implementable and participatory urban Risk Reduction for instance acknowledges the policies, to be developed and implemented at vulnerability and responsibility of urban areas to the appropriate level (NUA: 86); and the Action climate change-related disasters. This was then Framework for the Implementation of the New confirmed by the Paris Agreement on Climate Urban Agenda (AFINUA) places national urban Change, in which cities are identified as key policies as its first pillar. TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................... 1 Fiji’s – Urban Policy yielding mixed results ....... 57 Purpose of Study ............................................ 2 Kiribati – Seeking policy coherence amidst urban challenges ....................................................... 60 INTRODUCTION ............................................ 4 Papua New Guinea – Long history of urban New Generation of National Urban Policy ...... 7 development ..................................................