Is there a model that combines sustainable urban development and green growth? The recent OECD publication Compact City Policies: A Comparative Assessment attempts to tackle the issue.
The report came up with four key facts:
- There is a global trend toward urbanisation that has environmental and economic impacts. By 2050, 70% of the world's population, and 86% in OECD countries, will live in urban areas.
- The continuing growth of urban populations calls for a policy response that optimises land resources. Land consumption for built-up areas will increase more rapidly than the population in 30 out of 34 OECD countries.
- Demographics have changed. For example, the elderly population has doubled over the past 60 years in OECD countries and tripled worldwide. Urban policies will need to be tailored to the specific needs of the population.
- The impacts of global warming and increasing energy prices require new responses. The recent economic crisis has exacerbated the problem by reducing governments' abilities to invest in solutions such as new infrastructure.
Additionaly, the report made 5 recommendations in order to overcome the most prominent challenges and guide compact cities into sustainable development and green growth.
Read the 5 recommendations for green growth >>
Delhi is the fastest growing city in all of the emerging economies. From 1995 till 2010, the population of the Indian city has grown with 10 million citizens.
For the next 10 years, another 6 million people are expected to follow, according to the Economist. Delhi is followed by Dhaka and Kinshasa.
Currently, about 52 % of the world population lives in cities. This percentage will most likely increase to 58 % by 2025. Nearly all growth in the global urban population takes place in emerging-economies. Predominantly in Asia.
Infrastructure
This trend will put an enormous pressure on city infrastructure, increasing crowds on transport, worsening water scarcity and exacerbating electricity shortages. The Boston Consulting Group reckons that over the next two decades urban areas in emerging economies will account for about two-thirds of worldwide infrastructure spending.
Explore the Economist chart: Emerging-market cities >>
London is the top city in the world for foreign investment. According to latest Global Cities Investment Monitor by KPMG, the capital of the U.K was followed by Shanghai and thirdly Hong Kong.
The fastest grower was Brazilian Sao Paulo, with a staggering 160% investment increase over the past two years. Other cities in the BRIC group also showed significant growth numbers.
Read the BBC Business article: London is top city for investment, KPMG report says >>
Housing more than half of the world’s population and producing 80% of global GDP, cities are more important than ever before to the world’s societal and economic development. Recognizing the rapid growth of the city as an economic driver, Citi commissioned The Economist’s business research branch, the Economist Intelligence Unit, to research and compile a comprehensive report and index of 120 of the world’s most competitive cities. New York is the most competitive city in the world.
Key findings:
- US and European cities are the world’s most competitive today, despite concerns over ageing infrastructure and large budget deficits.
- Asia’s economic rise is reflected in the economic competitiveness of its cities.
- A “middle tier” of mid-size cities is emerging as a key driver of global growth.
- The most significant advantage that developed country cities hold is their ability to develop and attract the world’s top talent.
- Infrastructure investments will drive emerging market growth, but more will be needed to secure their attractiveness to tomorrow’s talent.
- Cities of all sizes can be competitive, but density is a factor in the competitiveness of larger cities.
- African and Latin American cities lag most on competitiveness.
Explore the full report 'Hot Spots: Benchmarking global city competitiveness' on the website of Citigroup.
Read full report >>
Clean, Green and Competitive Cities Key to Asia’s Future
For the first time in history, more than half the world's population now live in urban areas and about 70% will be city dwellers by 2050.The UN estimates that 11 out of 20 mega-cities are in Asia and the Pacific. Projections indicate that by 2050, half the world’s megacities with populations of over 10 million will be in this region. By 2015, an estimated 48% of the region’s population, or 1.9 billion people, will live in urban centers. The region has to act now to begin a concerted regional effort to help cities unleash their potential to spur economic growth and solve social problems.
Rapid economic development in the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific region has lifted millions of people from extreme poverty. The Asian “economic miracle” is driven by the cities, and in turn drives city growth and social transformation. The poor have benefited from economic opportunities that the cities offered. But the wealth production of cities has not necessarily contributed to improved living conditions for the vast majority of Asia’s urban population. More than half of the world’s slum dwellers live in Asia - some 490 million people in 2005, according to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). If nothing is done, that figure may rise to one billion by 2050.
This wave of urbanization is without precedent. The changes are too large and too fast to allow planners and policymakers to react. The cities already face immense challenges, including poorly maintained infrastructure, unplanned growth, scant livelihood opportunities, and susceptibility of the poor populations to ill health. Forty-four million people are added to city populations every year, which is equivalent to 120,000 people each day. These new arrivals require the construction of more than 20,000 new dwellings, 250 km of new roads, and additional infrastructure to supply more than 6 mega-liters of potable water.
It is time for countries to be proactive and take far-sighted action to fully exploit the opportunities that urbanization offers. Developing and financing livable, competitive, socially inclusive, and environmentally attractive cities is central to Asia’s future prosperity and well-being.“With approximately 80 per cent of GDP today coming from urban areas, the quality and efficiency of Asia’s cities and their ability to innovate will determine the region’s long-term productivity and overall stability,” said Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda. “Asian cities need to make continuous efforts to become livable, competitive, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
”The key question is how, while maintaining economic growth, investments can be made to foster sustainable and inclusive development so all Asian urban inhabitants can enjoy a quality of life with access to basic services, shelter, and employment that at the same time is resilient to the impacts of natural disasters.
This will require developing cutting edge, high-value added industries and services focused on regional needs, improving the quality of infrastructure, upgrading training to nurture creative talent, reducing costs to get products to market, and providing a supportive physical environment.
To support that goal, ADB is launching a new publication, ‘Competitive Cities in the 21st Century: Cluster Based Local Economic Development’, at the Asian Urban Forum 2011. The book gives governments, businesses, the private sector, and communities a blueprint for planning competitive, sustainable and inclusive urban economies.
Keywords: Asian Development Bank, Asian Urban Forum 2011, Economic Geography, Haruhiko Kuroda, Megacities
Source: Asian Development Bank
The Treaty of Lisbon states that the European Union (EU) ‘shall work for the sustainable development of Europe’. The EU’s sustainable development strategy aims at ‘continuous improvement of the quality of life and well-being on Earth for present and future generations’. This Eurostat article presents recent statistical data on the sustainable development of cities, focusing on the demographic aspects.
The data presented were collected by the Urban audit covering more than 300 cities from the EU, plus 26 Turkish, five Croatian, six Norwegian and four Swiss cities. It is complemented with the Large city audit, using a more limited set of variables, for all EU cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants not present in the Urban audit.
Full story>>
Keywords: Economic Geography, Eurostat, Global Economy, The Treaty of Lisbon, Urban Audit
