Download 1 URBANIZATION AND VULNERABILITY Goal To provide an

Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
URBANIZATION AND VULNERABILITY
Goal
To provide an understanding of how vulnerability to
natural disasters can intensify during the process of
urbanization
Keywords/phrases
Learning outcomes
After completing this session, you will be able to
• Explain the process of urbanization
• Recognize the need for urban planning
• Relate to national and global initiatives to create
safer urban communities
Learning objectives
As you work through this session you will learn to
9 Discriminate between city and urban area
9 Discover the subjective nature of the definition for
the term ‘urban’
9 Describe the undesirable effects of uncontrolled
increase in urban population
9 List the positive aspects and negative spill-over of
urbanization
9 Discuss urban poverty and how it can create unsafe
communities
9 Give examples of global initiatives to create safer
urban communities
Urbanization
Urban
migration
poverty
sprawl
land use
population
City
Megacity
Infrastructure
facilities
Critical facilities
Utilities
Environmental
pollution
smog
acid rain
ozone depletion
green house effect
IDNDR
ISDR
Habitat Agenda
∗
1.
What is an Urban Area?
Is the term “urban area” synonymous for “city”? Probably the two
are not the same.
All cities are urban areas but not all urban areas are cities. “Urban” is
a statistical concept defined by a country’s government.
A city, on the other hand is more than just large numbers of people
living in close proximity to one another:
Cities are centers of economic production, religion, learning and
culture (1). It is a complex political, economic and social entity.
Cities around the world symbolize their nation’s identity and
political
strength.
Each
country
sets its own definition of “urban”.
/
∗
This course material is being made available by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC),
Bangkok under Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
project, to the participating universities and institutions for educational purpose only. Reproduction of
materials for educational purpose is encouraged as long as ADPC is acknowledged.
1
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
In many countries, the definition is based on a threshold number of
inhabitants; when the population of a region exceeds that threshold,
the region is considered urban.
This threshold varies from a few hundred as in Peru or Uganda to
more than 10,000 as in Italy and Senegal. Other governments base
their definition on a combination of criteria, such as population
density, political function, or predominant activity of the region.
These definitional differences can askew international comparison. If
the Indian government adopted Peru’s definition of urban, India
would suddenly become one of Asia’s more urbanized nations (2).
Even within countries, the definition of urban may vary with time. In
1990, the World Bank reported that China’s urbanization level
jumped from 18% to 50% between 1965 and 1988. The government
adopting a new definition of ‘urban’ in 1986, which included many
agrarian communities, largely explains it. China has again changed
the definition in 1990 according to which China’s population was
considered 26.21% urban (3).
Defining urban is further complicated by the dynamic nature of cities.
In both developed and developing countries, urban activity tends to
move beyond established urban boundaries. For instance, at night,
Tokyo’s central city population may actually be lower, as commuters
leave the downtown area for their suburban homes (4).
The following table provides further illumination of this practice.
Minimum Urban Population Definitions
Country
Sweden
Denmark
South Africa
Australia
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Israel
France
Cuba
United States
Mexico
Belgium
Iran
Nigeria
Spain
Turkey
Japan
Population
200
200
500
1000
1000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2500
2500
5000
5000
5000
10,000
10,000
30,000
Source: United Nations: Population Studies, 44, (1969) 81-84
2
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
Urbanization has two general perspectives in the geographical and
environmental literature:
ƒ
ƒ
It often refers to the movement and concentration of humans
from rural areas and their villages to towns and cities.
It can also be viewed as the transformation of an area on the
surface of the earth to an urban pattern of land-use.
People living in rural areas depend on agriculture and also harvest
other natural resources for their survival. People in rural areas
mostly engage in community activities and organize themselves into
villages. A village is a small number of rural households linked
together because of culture, customs, family ties, and an association
with farming land or harvesting resources. In urban areas the
majority of the people engage in providing services or trade.
Urbanites can have jobs in education, commerce, industry, science
and the arts. Towns are defined as human settlements that are
larger than a village but smaller than a city. Towns generally have
centralized areas within them where commerce and business are the
primary activities of the residing citizens. A city can be described as
a concentration of people with a distinctive way of life in terms of
employment patterns and lifestyle. A high degree of specialized land
uses and a wide variety of social, economic, and political institutions
that coordinate the use of the facilities and resources in the city
make them very complex machines.
Cities with populations greater than 10 million are called megacities.
Urbanization in more developed countries (MDCs) is now beginning
to level off. Most MDC urban areas underwent dramatic urban
growth during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today,
many urban areas in less developed countries (LDCs) are
experiencing similar expansion.
3
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
UN: World Population Already Over 6 Billion,
Growing by 77 Million Annually
World population, which had reached 6.1 billion in mid-2000, is
currently growing at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent, or 77 million
people per year, according to the latest United Nations
statistics.
World Population Prospects: the 2000 Revision, prepared by
the UN Population Division, shows that six countries account for
half of this annual growth:
India
China
Pakistan
Nigeria
Bangladesh
Indonesia
21 %
12 %
5%
4%
4%
3%
By 2050, world population could be as high as 10.9 billion,
although the report also projects lower figures under possible
scenarios.
According to the report, the population of more developed
regions, currently 1.2 billion, is anticipated to change little during
the next 50 years because fertility levels are expected to remain
below replacement level. In 39 countries, population levels are
projected to diminish. Japan and Germany are each expected
to shrink by 14 per cent, Italy and Hungary by 25 per cent, and
the Russian Federation, Georgia and Ukraine by between 28
and 40 per cent.
World population, which had reached 6.1 billion in mid-2000, is
currently growing at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent, or 77 million
people per year, according to the latest United Nations statistics.
World Population Prospects: the 2000 Revision, prepared by the UN
Population Division, shows that six countries account for half of this
annual growth:
India
China
Pakistan
21 %
21 %
5%
Nigeria
Bangladesh
Indonesia
4%
4%
3%
By 2050, world population could be as high as 10.9 billion, although
the report also projects lower figures under possible scenarios.
According to the report, the population of more developed regions,
currently 1.2 billion, is anticipated to change little during the next 50
4
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
years because fertility levels are expected to remain below
replacement level. In 39 countries, population levels are projected to
diminish. Japan and Germany are each expected to shrink by 14 per
cent, Italy and Hungary by 25 per cent, and the Russian Federation,
Georgia and Ukraine by between 28 and 40 per cent.
Assuming continuing declines in fertility, the population of the
less developed regions is projected to rise steadily from 4.9
billion in 2000 to 8.2 billion in 2050. In the absence of such
declines, the population of those areas would reach 11.9 billion.
Particularly rapid growth is expected among the world's 48
poorest countries, where the population could nearly triple
between 2000 and 2050.
The report also predicts a worsening of the impact of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, projecting that during the next five years;
the number of AIDS deaths among the 45 most affected
countries will be an estimated 15.5 million.
2.
The Urban Trend
In 1960, only one city – Shanghai had a population of 10 million.
In 2000, 450 cities worldwide, each shelter a population of more than
I million. Of these 50 cities have a population greater than 3.5 million
and 25 cities have populations greater than 8 million.
By the year 2010, over 3.7 billion people will be classified as urban
dwellers – more people than inhabited the earth just four decades
earlier (5). Researchers predict that by 2025 over 60 % of the Earth's
people will live in urban areas. Most of this growth will occur in
developing countries. The Table below illustrates the urbanization
pattern. It is worthwhile to compare changes in population level
between cities of the more developed (MDCs) and developing
countries. The population in cities of developed countries has
leveled off while those in most developing countries show increasing
population. This puts pressure on limited resources and
infrastructure.
5
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Urbanization - Ten Top Regions for 1900, 1950, 1992 and 2015 projected
(Population in millions of people)
1900
1950
1992
2015*
London
6.6 New York
12.3 Tokyo
25.8 Tokyo
New York
4.2 London
8.7 Sao Paulo
17.0 Bombay
Paris
3.3 Tokyo
6.7 New York
16.2 Lagos
Berlin
2.4 Paris
5.4 Mexico City
15.3 Dhaka
Chicago
1.7 Shanghai
5.3 Shanghai
14.1 Sao Paulo
Vienna
1.6 Buenos Aires
5.0 Bombay
13.3 Karachi
Tokyo
1.5 Chicago
4.9 Los Angeles
11.9 Mexico City
St. Petersburg
1.4 Moscow
4.8 Buenos Aires
11.8 New York
Philadelphia
1.4 Calcutta
4.4 Beijing
11.4 Jakarta
Manchester
1.3 Los Angeles
4.0 Rio de Janeiro
11.3 Calcutta
Module 1
26.4
26.1
23.2
21.1
20.4
19.2
19.2
17.4
17.3
17.3
* United Nations – World Urbanization Prospects: The 1999 Revision
The trend is urbanization. Cities can provide great improvements in
living standards Cities have the potential to combine safe and
healthy living conditions and culturally rich and enjoyable lifestyles
with remarkably low levels of energy consumption, resource-use
and waste (6).
The positive role of cities
Cities are centers of power and prestige – economic, political and
social. They are crucial to economic productivity. Almost half of the
gross domestic product (GDP) of many countries is generated in
cities. The fact that cities concentrate production and population
gives them some obvious advantages over rural settlements or
dispersed populations.
High densities mean much lower costs per household and per
enterprise for
ƒ The provision of piped, treated water supplies
ƒ Increased energy efficiency for heating and cooling of clustered
housing (more an issue in developed countries)
ƒ The collection of household and human wastes
ƒ Advanced telecommunications
ƒ Increased access to Education, Jobs, Health Care and Social
Services
ƒ Collective community based recreational facilities
It also makes much cheaper the provision of emergency services –
for instance, fire fighting and the emergency response to acute
illness or injury (7). Thus, the infra structure facilities such as
housing, roads, railway; critical facilities such as education, health,
emergency services, transport, communication and utilities such as
power and water supply are better in the urban areas. The attraction
of people to live within such areas to enjoy a better quality of life is
understandable.
6
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
3.
Module 1
Governance
What ensures the optimal enjoyment of these facilities and utilities
by urban communities? The responsibility lies with the institutional
structure available for ‘urban governance’. Mostly we recognize
this mechanism in Municipal Councils under the leadership of a
Mayor.
What creates good governance?
V
The negative spill-over
In the absence of ‘good governance’, cities can be unhealthy and
dangerous places in which to live and work.
Each household and enterprise can reduce their costs by passing
their environmental problems of solid and liquid wastes and air
pollution on to others. Some of the environmental problems due to
human activity in cities may be enumerated as follows:
ƒ
The temperature of a city is often warmer than that of
surrounding rural areas. There are a number of heat sources
within a city that can contribute to increased temperatures.
Combustion of fossil fuels for industry, transportation and heating
supply extra heat to the atmosphere. Because of this, cities are
often referred to as urban heat islands.
ƒ
Air pollution is a major problem associated with most urban
areas. Sources of air pollution include industrial and vehicle
emissions and energy production. Some problems are:
Photochemical smog,
Acid rain
The ozone layer depletion
Enhanced greenhouse effect
ƒ
Roads, parking lots and buildings do not absorb precipitation as
soil under vegetation does. This increases surface runoff of
rainwater. The water is expected to quickly drain from streets into
storm sewers. These become clogged (as is the case in many
developing countries) with polythene bags etc. due to inadequate
maintenance and contribute to inefficient drainage. Often
wetlands, which efficiently act to absorb excess water, are filled
for the development of the floodplains for homes and industry.
This reduces extent of land to absorb excess runoff. This
increases both the number and magnitude of floods.
ƒ
There are many ways that urbanization contributes to the
pollution of both surface and ground water. The dumping of
wastes into waterways is common. Some sources of aquatic
pollution include industry, sewage, runoff and sediment.
Physically, sediments can build up in waterways causing floods.
7
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
In many areas of the world, industrial water pollution is declining
due to government regulations on discharges.
4.
Urban Poverty
At least 600 million urban dwellers in the developing and less
developed countries live in very poor conditions – many of them are
squatters– with very inadequate provision for water, sanitation,
drainage garbage collection and other basic services. Meanwhile in
the absence of a planning framework, city expansion takes place
haphazardly and often with urban sprawl over the best quality
farmland. Hundreds of millions of low income households live in
illegal or informal settlements that developed on land ill-suited for
housing – for instance, on flood-plains or steep slopes with high risk
of landslides and mudslides. They live here because these are the
only land sites, which they can afford, or where their illegal
occupation will not be challenged because the land site is too
dangerous for any commercial use (7).
With lower levels of literacy and education, the urban poor may also
contribute a larger share to rapid growth of the populations
(especially in large urban concentrations) in hazard prone areas
(particularly coastal areas susceptible to both tropical cyclones and
earthquakes).
Some of the undesirable features and consequences of such
settlements are as follows:
ƒ Poor planning and construction in high-risk regions
ƒ Poor enforcement of building codes
ƒ Inadequate public awareness and education
ƒ Limited financial and technical resources
ƒ Environmental degradation
5.
Urban Human Settlements and Natural Disasters
About 50% of the world’s largest cities are situated along major
earthquake belts or tropical cyclone tracks. The average number of
disaster victims is 150 times greater in the developing world
compared to the developed countries. The economic loss, as a
percent of GNP is 20 times greater. The concern over the risk to
megacities, particularly in the developing world, is their growing
vulnerability caused by their hyper-concentrations of population,
dependence on complex and aging infrastructure and unprepared
local institutions. (8)
Natural disasters impact on human settlements in a variety of ways.
Disasters can cause many injuries and the tragic loss of human
lives. Disasters disrupt economic activities and urban productivity,
particularly for the more susceptible low-income groups that tend to
concentrate on disaster prone areas for reasons outlined earlier.
Disaster can cause widespread environmental damage such as the
8
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
loss of fertile agricultural land and the contamination of water
resources. Finally, disasters can lead to the forced major
resettlement of populations.
Over the past two decades, disasters have caused an estimated 3
million deaths and affected 800 million people worldwide. Global
economic losses have been estimated by the Office of the United
Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator to be in the range of US$ 30-50
billion.
6.
Global Concern
The management of human settlements is one area the AGENDA 21
addresses (9). The overall objective of this area is to improve the
social, economic and environmental aspects of human settlements
and the living and working environments of all people. The issues
that relate to this concern are
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Adequate shelter
Settlement Management
Land-use planning
Urban environmental infrastructure
Energy and transportation
Disaster prone areas
The construction industry and
Human resources.
In recognition of the damage and suffering caused by disasters, the
General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as
the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). It
has been followed up with the International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR). The Strategy will serve as a platform for disaster
reduction. It is based on the IDNDR experience, and the Strategy "A
Safer World in the 21st Century: Disaster and Risk Reduction". It
reflects a cross-sect oral and interdisciplinary approach to disaster
reduction.
The Habitat Agenda of the UNHCS under Section IV C has made a
series of recommendations to reduce disaster vulnerability of human
settlements, which needs serious consideration (10).
9
Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Module 1
References
1. World Resources 1966-97: Chapter 1, http://www.wri.org/wri/wr96-97/ud_b3.html
2. Harody Jorge. E., and Satterthwaite David (1986) “Urban
Change in the Third World: Are Recent Trends a Useful Pointer
to the Urban Future?’ Habitat International, Vol. 10, No. 3, p 34.
3. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific, (1993) State of Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific,
p 2-2.
4. Cybriwsky Roman (1993) “Tokyo”, Cities, Vol. 10, No. 1,
February, p. 3.
5. United Nations Population Division (1994), World Urbanization
Prospects: The 1994 Revision, U.N., New York, p 87.
6. Satterthwaite David (1994), ‘Sustainable Cities’, Resurgence,
Issue 67, November/December, pp20-23.
7. UNCHS (Habitat), (1996), An Urbanizing World: Global Report
on Human Settlements, Oxford University Press, Oxford and
New York, pp 417 – 421.
8. Bendimerad
Fouad,
The
World
Bank
http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/dmf/megacities.htm
Group,
9. Sitarz Daniel (1993), Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to
Save Our Planet, Earthpress, Boulder, Colorado.
10. <http://www.unchs.org/unchs/english/hagenda/ch 4C11.htm>
10