Asia‐Pacific Network for Global Change Research IInntteeggrraattiinngg ccaarrbboonn mmaannaaggeemmeenntt iinnttoo ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ssttrraatteeggiieess ooff cciittiieess –– eessttaabblliisshhiinngg aa nneettwwoorrkk ooff ccaassee ssttuuddiieess ooff uurrbbaanniissaattiioonn iinn tthhee AAssiiaa--PPaacciiffiicc Final report for APN project 2004-07-CMY-Lasco The following collaborators worked on this project: Rodel Lasco (PI), CIFOR, Philippines, [email protected] Louis Lebel (co-PI), USER, Thailand, [email protected] Agus Sari, PELANGI, Indonesia, [email protected] A.P. Mitra, National Physical Laboratory, India,[email protected] Nguyen Hoang Tri, CERE, Vietnam, [email protected] Ooi Giok Ling, National Institute of Education, Singapore,[email protected] Antonio Contreras, De La Salle University,Philippines, [email protected] Integrating carbon management into development Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities – establishing a network of case studies of urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific 2004-07-CMY-Lasco Final Report submitted to APN ©Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research 2 Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities Overview of project work and outcomes Non-technical summary The way urbanization unfolds will have a profound implication for future growth in energy use and emissions, and consequently, global environmental change. Cities offer many potential environmental protection benefits, arising from efficiencies in transport, energy used in cooling and heating, as well as opportunities to sequester additional carbon on land release from use by denser human settlements. On the other hand, cities have often been centres of wasteful consumption and serious air pollution problems. This project drew on past and on-going research efforts on emissions and urban management in Asia to establish a new set of coordinated case studies of New Delhi, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Chiang Mai. This group now collaborates under the label U-TURN or the Urban Transformation and Urbanization Research Network. A protocol for urban carbon management research was developed, explored and revised through applications in these five cities with their different constraints of data, prior research and political systems. Overall, the project achieved its three main initial objectives: to establish a network, develop a protocol, and provide guidance to a longer-term research programme. In addition, it hinted at several key new areas where research in urban areas could contribute to better understanding of, and actions in response to, global environment change. 1 Objectives The main objectives of the project were: 1. Establish a long-term research network of 4-6 integrated regional case studies from around the Asia-Pacific region, centred around cities with different urbanization and economic development histories; 2. Agree on common protocols and datasets that will allow comparability of results across these and other similar collections of case studies; 3. To synthesise the state of the knowledge about integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities in a way will help guide a longer-term research programme. Amount received for each year supported and number of years supported Supported for 2 years: 2002- 33,000 USD; 2003 – 27,000 USD. Participating Countries Case study work was undertaken in five countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and India). In addition one researcher from Singapore completed the core group of collaborators. Work undertaken The first step was to develop a shared protocol that jointly considers both social processes of urbanization and governance as well as emission inventories. This was developed through an initial planning meeting of collaborators in Manila and then revised as a result of a web conference and initial efforts in applying it to the case studies. 1 This report was prepared by Dr. Louis Lebel and Drinya Totrakool from the Unit of Social and Environmental Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University,Thailand on behalf of the collaborating organizations in U-TURN. i Overview The protocol then helped guide secondary and primary data collection and analysis to the urbanizing regions around cities in 5 countries: New Delhi (India), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Manila (Philippines). These studies were then written up as individual working papers. First drafts of these were discussed in a web conference and final drafts in a synthesis workshop in Chiang Mai in January 2005. Results The results of this activity are both scientific in terms of method development and findings, and capacity building in terms of creating and supporting a regional network. Methodologically the group identified several challenges to aggregating statistics for urbanizing regions in developing countries that constrain the quality of emission inventories over time. It also explored but did not resolve some of the accounting and attribution issues associated with deemed emissions. In terms of basic findings the diversity in contributions of different sectors is itself noteworthy, suggesting urban forms and functions do matter. An important output of this activity was the creation of a network (U-TURN) of collaborating institutions. This network, for example, successfully competed for 2 small grants in an air quality and emissions program in Taiwan. Relevance to APN scientific research framework and objectives This activity further establishes cities and urbanizing regions as a key foci for research on global environmental change, confirming and extending the significance already demonstrated by earlier APN funded work on mega-cities. Self evaluation The activity was successful in raising awareness about urbanization’s role in the global carbon cycle, and in the sense of proof-of-concept in developing a more integrative protocol. To go much further into urban planning and practice, however, would require substantially greater human resources and funds both for inventory work, sectorial and more integrative policy analyses, and creating forums to deliberate regional and municipal development strategies. Potential for further work The potential for a radical, or transformative, role for urban transformation and urbanization in helping moderate carbon emissions remains. This study suggests a more rigorous and well- funded inter-regional comparative effort would be plausible and likely to yield valuable insights. It also suggests that much more such work needs to be done in intermediate size cities and newly urbanizing regions, and not just the mega-cities of the world, from which comparatively much more is already known. ii Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities Publications Public web page (U-TURN) www.sea-user.org/carbon_management.php Web Community Site (U-TURN) www.sea-user.org/communities.php Web Conference Site www.sea-user.org/e-conference.php Working Papers www.sea-user.org/publications.php Contreras, A., G.-l. Ooi, and L. Lebel. 2005. Integrating carbon management into urban development in Asia: a preliminary synthesis. USER Working Paper WP-2005-06. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Lebel, L. (in prep.). Urbanization and the Carbon Cycle. Invited Editorial. Global Environmental Change. Lebel, L., J. Manuta, P. Garden, D. Totrakool, and D. Huasai. 2004. A carbon's eye view of urbanization in Chiang Mai: improving local air quality and global climate protection. USER Working Paper WP-2004-09. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Lasco, R., F. Pulhin, and R. Banaticla. 2005. Integrating carbon management in the development of Metro Manila-Laguna Lake basin, Philippines. USER Working Paper WP-2005-02. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Mitra, A.P., Charma, C, Pundir R. (in review). Emission of pollutants from transport sector in Indian Mega-cities: case studies of Delhi and Kolkata. (Submitted to Atmospheric Environment). Mitra, A. P., and C. Sharma. 2005. Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities: Delhi case study. USER Working Paper WP-2005-03. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Sari, A., and N. Salim. 2005. Carbon and the city: carbon pathways and decarbonization opportunities in greater Jakarta, Indonesia. USER Working Paper WP-2005-04. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Tri, N. H., P. T. A. Chau, N. K. Thanh, P. Duc, P. T. N. Diep, and N. T. B. Ha. 2005. Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of cities: Ho Chi Minh City and surrounds. USER Working Paper WP-2005-05. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Acknowledgments We thank the START International Secretariat for managing a portion of the APN grant. We also thank the SARCS Secretariat in Taiwan for follow-up grant for a comparative urban air-quality study that closely compliments the activities began with the APN and START support. iii Technical Report Technical Report Preface This report summarizes and documents the findings of a U-TURN (Urban Transformation and Urbanization Research Network) pilot project in Asia. The main body of the report synthesis the findings of a set of working papers included in the full as appendices. This activity drafted