At the cutting edge >>Urbanisation and poverty: a social development perspective


First published: 2009-12-03

By Lucy Earle

View image gallery

Why Now?

There is currently a compelling shift of attention towards urbanisation and poverty amongst the international development community. The UK Parliament's International Development Committee (IDC) submitted a report on DFID's work on urban issues in October 2009. The World Bank will soon be launching its new urban strategy and UN-Habitat is preparing for the fifth World Urban Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010.

Summary of IDC recommendations

The IDC report presented a number of recommendations for DFID that are relevant for social development and governance specialists. These include:

  • renewing the focus on urbanisation within the Department, so that it can take a leading role within the donor community on tackling poverty in urban areas
  • revisiting the urban strategy, to update the document produced in 2001
  • increasing the role of social development, governance and climate change advisors in developing work on urban issues
  • tackling poverty in African cities - the fastest urbanizing area of the world, with the highest proportion of slum dwellers
  • drawing best practice lessons from DFID's work in South Asian cities
  • working with the African Development Bank to increase its commitment to addressing urban poverty
  • ensuring urbanisation is given specific and adequate consideration in PRSPs
  • engaging with UK academics and using DFID's research strategy to generate greater understanding of urbanisation and poverty, in particular on how to manage slum growth
.

Urbanisation and the UK's White Paper 4

Although there is little overt reference to urbanisation as a theme in the Department for International Development's White Paper 4, urban issues resonate with each theme of the paper and provide clear entry points for an urban focus. These are:

Poverty reduction
The numbers of poor people living in African cities is increasing rapidly and rates of growth could potentially cause a humanitarian crisis. Indicators of maternal and infant mortality in some African cities would suggest that women's access to healthcare in urban areas is scarcely better than that of their rural counterparts. However, the concentration of populations in urban areas means that broad coverage of basic services ought to be achievable. As such focusing attention on urban areas could be a way of meeting the Millenium Development Goals(MDG).

Economic Recovery
Successful cities can act as drivers of the economy contributing to national-level growth and economic security. To achieve levels of investment and growth that contribute to poverty reduction, support for improved governance at city and central levels will be crucial. At a more local level, initiatives to promote women and excluded groups' equitable engagement in the labour market are also needed. This is a particularly pertinent given these groups increased vulnerability in the current global economic climate.

Peaceful States and Societies
DFID-funded research has highlighted the link between cities, fragility and nation-building. Cities are the crucibles of democracy, providing multiple opportunities for citizens to engage with the state. The heterogeneity of urban populations can contribute to building inclusive citizenship but cities can also be flashpoints for civil unrest. It was in Kenya's vast slums, for example, that recent post-election violence first flared up, partly motivated by residents' continued and extreme poverty.

Climate Change
Well-governed cities have the capacity to adapt to the changes brought about by global warming over the next few decades. Cities Alliance research predicts that most climate change risks for cities will stem from inadequate housing, infrastructure and services. Many of these risks are associated with low-income settlements found on hill-sides and flood plains. City governments will require the capacity to work with groups of the urban poor and their organisations. A focus in this area will also contribute to meeting target 11 of MDG 7 - significant improvement in the lives of slum dwellers.

Working with the international system
The renewed focus of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on urbanisation, as they develop new urban strategies, will provide an opportunity for high-level policy debate on the future of the world's cities. Momentum generated by UN-Habitat's World Urban Forum in March 2010 could help to improve dialogue on urban poverty with the African Development Bank.

The IDC report provides renewed momentum to refocus development work on urban issues and in particular to promote a more prominent role for social development and governance advisers, specialists and professionals.