URBAN PLANNING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD I

GG3302: Urban & Regional Planning Wednesday March 14, 2012

Dr. Kevon Rhiney,

Department of Geography & Geology,

University of the West indies, Mona

• An urban(izing) world? Significant changes since the 1950s

• An estimated 53% of the world’s population now reside in urban areas.

• World pop. expected to reach 9.1bn by 2050

• World urban areas projected to gain 3.1bn (3.3bn – 6.4bn, 70% urban)

• Most of this growth will take place in less developed countries

Global Trends

• The urbanization of poverty?

• Urban growth will be concentrated among the

poorest populations in urban areas

• Increasing demand for food, shelter, water and

health care in countries where basic necessities are

already scarce

• More than 1 billion people now live in urban slums

(typically overcrowded, polluted, lacking access to

basic services etc.)

Managing the Megapolis Phenomenon

• Usually defined as cities with more than 10 million people.

• Characterised by both primacy and a high degree of centrality within their national economy.

• E.g. Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Kolkata (Calcutta), Dhaka, Jakarta, Lagos, Manila, Mexico City, New Delhi, Sao Paulo and Shangai.

Concentration of Megacities

• Megacities in developing countries present major challenges:

• Combination of high pop. density, poverty and limited resources: • Environment highly susceptible to the spread of

various forms of diseases

• Crime

• Sanitation problems

• Adoption of good urban governance practices needed • Involving the urban poor in the planning process

• Urbanization is projected to continue unabated for

at least the next 30yrs

• Virtually all future population growth will likely occur

in urban areas in developing countries

• Deliberate and comprehensive action is therefore

needed

• Local authorities will have to be empowered

Planning as a Solution

• With the unprecedented rise in the number and

severity of natural disasters1, large urban

settlements have become increasingly vulnerable

• Concentration of substandard infrastructure and

housing, and inherent socio-economic inequalities

increase susceptibility to disasters in large- and

megacities

Urban Development & Vulnerability

• Hazard is an event, a condition, or a human activity, with a potential of causing a threat to people and to the physical environment

• Risk is defined as a situation involving exposure to danger (product of hazard and vulnerability)

• Vulnerability is the susceptibility to physical or emotional attack or harm.

• Disaster is defined as a sudden event, such as an accident or natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life

Key terms

• vulnerabilities to natural disasters do not derive

solely from conditions of social and spatial exclusion

• Risks by physical exposure of cities are intensified by

human-induced conditions of urban vulnerability;

some of which are related to issues of urban

poverty

• The Livelihoods agenda

Urban Vulnerability…

• Rapid urbanization coupled with land degradation,

urban poverty, global warming and climate

change produce two major set of vulnerabilities

• Concentration of populations in hazard-prone cities

• Socio-economic and spatial vulnerabilities in urban

centres and their peripheries

• Over three-fourths of the one hundred largest cities

are exposed to at least one natural hazard

Urban Vulnerability…

• Climate change is expected to increase the hazard

risks in many urban centers, particularly—but not

only limited to—those located near coastal areas.

• Likely risks include sea level rise and accompanying

hazards on small island states and coastal cities.

• Nearly 3bn people live in coastal zones

• Most mega-cities are either located on seacoasts or

directly linked with riverbeds, increasing the

exposure in hazard-prone areas.

Climate Change & Vulnerability

Raised slum dwellings, Dhaka

• Illegal and squatter settlements usually situated in peri-urban regions or marginal lands

• Informal settlements have grown in size, number and spatial form in recent decades

• These settlements have become increasingly susceptible to vulnerabilities from natural disasters

• In Calcutta, 66 percent of the population is reported to live in squatter settlements at risk from flooding and cyclones

• Often time comprises inferior building materials; high density settlements

Vulnerability in Informal Settlements

• More than half of Mumbai’s population live in slums

• Toilets are in the streets; open sewers; 4,000 cases a

day of diphtheria and typhoid

• Flood ravaged (topography); effects of the

Monsoon

• Man-made factors as well

Flooding in Mumbai

• Mega-city of Istanbul serve as the heart of

the Turkish Economy

• Located along the Sea of Marmara; one of

the most active geologic boundaries in the

world (The North Anatolian Fault)

Case Study: 1999 Marmara Earthquakes

• The Marmara earthquakes occurred on August 17,

1999 (7.4) and November 11, 1999 (7.2)

• Epicentres were close to the industrial city of Izmit,

east of Istanbul

• Impact:

• 18,000 people lost their lives, 50,000 injured

• 300,000 housing units and 46,000 business premises damaged

• 321,000 people lost their jobs

The 1999 Marmara Earthquakes

Distribution of intensities

• Post-earthquake inspection

• While fault rupture, ground shaking, and soil

liquefaction had caused structural damage, these

were intensified by poor construction techniques

and building material

• Most of the severely damaged or totally collapsed

buildings were four to eight stories in height

• Poor planning decisions that had allowed

construction on liquefiable soils or on the fault line

The 1999 Marmara Earthquakes

• Damage were also attributed to foundation failures, soft stories (mostly used for commercial purposes) with no shear walls, strong beams and weak columns, lack of column confinement eliminating ductility, and poor detailing practices.

• All corresponding to substandard construction practices and lack of enforcement of building codes

The 1999 Marmara Earthquakes

• Traffic and Transport in the US

• In 1945 US had a population of 133 mn who owned 25

mn automobiles

• In 2005, population had grown to 295 mn; 136 million

passenger cars and 53 mn vans and SUVs

• Approx. 1 vehicle for every 1.6 people

• Large increase in real personal income in post war

period

• Wave of postwar suburbanization

• Public transportation more common in large cities like

New York; depends on high volumes on fixed routes

Urban Transportation

• Traffic and Transport in 3rd World cities

• Congestions to grid lock traffics

• More people more vehicles

• Taiwan no. vehicles increased from 11,000 (1960) to

1.25 million in 1999

• Separation of home from work/increased

commuting/Automobile dependent city

• Lower road provisions, poor maintenance, poorly

functioning traffic-management systems

Urban Transportation

• Private

• range from car, bicycle to horse drawn cart

1975 1985 1995

Botswana 5 13 14

Mexico 39 83 91

Ecuador 7 15 39

Thailand 6 14 24

Malaysia 39 90 127

Germany 289 424 495

United Kingdom 254 313 350

USA 491 588 489

Japan 155 303 356

No. of Passenger Vehicles per 1,000 of population

Modes of Transportation

• Public Transportation

• Few cities in the 3rd World have high capacity urban

rail systems

• Buses are essential part of transport system

• Often lag behind population growth: overcrowding,

congested road space, high maintenance costs

• Low fuel efficiency

Modes of Transportation…

• Intermediate Public Transport

• Shortcomings of the public transport system give rise to

informal private-sector transportation services

• Various forms

• Provides employment, provides a well-needed service

• Outside tax threshold, severe overloading, dangerous

driving habits, contributes to congestion.

Modes of Transportation

• Costs: time wastage, reduced productivity, wasted

fuel

• Mexico City: traffic backups total more than 90km

each day

• Bangkok: 15 mile trip from Don Muang Airport to the

city = 3hrs (avg. peak hr. traffic speed as low as

3km/hr)

Transport Planning in 3rd World Cities

• Urban form affects the relative cost, convenience

and comfort

• Transportation and land use issues are often

regional in scope e.g. Kingston-Spanish Town-

Portmore or the East-West Corridor

• Solution require a regional perspective but often

vested at different levels of govt.

Urban Form & Transportation Planning

• Growing role of Tolls and Privatization

• Parking Regulations

• Car-pooling

• One-ways/by pass

• Auto-restricted zones

Transportation Planning Solutions

• Pollution emission

• Social equity

• Health depletion

• Climate Change

Transportation and Sustainability

URBAN PLANNING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD I

GG3302: Urban & Regional Planning Wednesday March 14, 2012

Dr. Kevon Rhiney,

Department of Geography & Geology,

University of the West indies, Mona