Thinking small, or differently, about polluted Asian cities<\/p>\n
By Leni B. Cifra<\/p>\n
MANILA: Fed up with garbage, crime, potholes, traffic
\ngridlock, water shortages, more people ask: Will Asian cities be
\n\"livable\" in the 21st century?<\/p>\n
Jakarta is lagging in sewage disposal. Bangkok is barely
\ncoping with traffic gridlock, despite its new elevated roadways.
\nLong-range water supplies concern Manila and Singapore.<\/p>\n
This is thinking old -- and small.<\/p>\n
It contrasts with the message in the World Development Report
\n1999\/2000 chapter on \"Making Cities Livable: Think Different\".<\/p>\n
Third millennium cities, this new World Bank study says, must
\nshuck off the dominant 19th century model. That's where City Hall
\nprovides most infrastructure and service.<\/p>\n
Overwhelmed by babies, migrants and economics, cities run
\ndown. Like Bolivia's La Paz River, Manila's Pasig River that
\ncreated its lush vegetation is now \"biologically dead\", the
\nreport points out. So are the rivers of Dhaka and New Delhi.<\/p>\n
Inept, often corrupt, public agencies widen service gaps
\nfurther. These are partly bridged by the \"unregulated private
\nsector and community initiatives\", the report's millennium
\nedition adds.<\/p>\n
These initiatives are laudable. But they are not adequate
\n\"building blocks for sustained citywide improvements\". More
\npeople, meanwhile, flood from impoverished farms into Asian city
\nslums.<\/p>\n
\"Cities around the world are divided into those who can
\nprovide for their own needs and those that cannot,\" the report
\nnotes.<\/p>\n
\"Municipal governments and public agencies often cater to one
\npart of a city and, at best, adopt a posture of benign neglect
\ntoward the other,\" it adds. These make \"the divisions even
\ndeeper\".<\/p>\n
Such gaps wring extortionate social and economic costs. Eight
\nout of every 10 Delhi, Jakarta and Manila residents are gassed by
\nindustrial and vehicle fumes at levels that exceed World Health
\nOrganization standards.<\/p>\n
A Jakarta becak (pedicab) driver pays 10 times more than a
\nrich resident for a liter of water. But his family suffers two to
\nfour times more from gastroenteritis, typhoid and malaria.<\/p>\n
Should not city governments, therefore, trim their tattered
\nsails \"as primary service providers\"?, the bank asks. An
\nalternate model of \"enabler\" is need. City Halls would instead
\nrely increasingly on the private sector to deliver basic
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\"Success stories\" assure overwhelmed city officials they, too,
\ncan unclog their \"brown\" (urban) agendas. None required rewriting
\nconstitutions. Some of the successes:<\/p>\n
Vietnam's Haiphong state water company cobbled a partnership
\nwith consumers -- and increased service from eight to 24 hours
\n(compared to Manila's 17). It tripled bill collection.<\/p>\n
Paraguay opened its water market to private firms. About 500
\naguateros (water vendors) \"compete to supply households, with
\nfull cost recovery and negligible water losses\". In contrast, 44
\npercent in Metro Manila is either filched or leaks away.<\/p>\n
The Philippines' San Miguel Corporation (SMC) clamped on
\nemission standards in 1993. A full third of vehicles, entering
\nits Bulacan brewery, were smoke belchers. Today, it's down to 3
\npercent.<\/p>\n
SMCs and more than 100 companies adopted \"No Smoke Belching
\nCompounds\" since then, the bank notes. \"Good environmental
\npractice can be good marketing.\"<\/p>\n
Citizen participatory budgeting operates in Argentina, Brazil
\nand Uruguay. \"Citizens Report Cards\", started in India, proved
\neffective. They are now spreading to other cities, including
\nWashington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Accountability is strengthened by surveys on residents' views
\non city services. Hard data, provided by NGOs and investigative
\nmedia reports, create pressure for reform.<\/p>\n
High-cost centralized sewerage systems, like those of Canada,
\nare priced beyond reach of small Asian cities, making metro open
\nspaces one big latrine.<\/p>\n
But communities in Lesotho, Brazil and Pakistan forged
\npartnerships with governments to build low-cost but technically
\nadequate sewerage systems.<\/p>\n
Successful partnership-based models are \"the quiet revolution
\nin local governance\", the bank observes. This pattern holds
\n\"genuine promise for improving urban living conditions\".<\/p>\n
Few city officials rethink old ways due to lack of
\n\"influential political lobbies for urban reform\", the bank report
\nnotes. This \"is partly responsible for the lack of progress in
\nproviding decent services\".<\/p>\n
The \"quiet revolution\" has improved the livability of many
\ncities underscoring the \"need to turn away from an unsuccessful
\nmodel\" that excludes the most dynamic providers of service.<\/p>\n
The next step: Initiate an empowerment process whereby
\ncommunities define their goals and assume responsibility for
\nthem, the report stresses.<\/p>\n
-- DEPTHnews<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thinking-small-or-differently-about-polluted-asian-cities-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }