Uphill challenges facing megacity management<\/p>\n
Megacity Management in the Asian and Pacific Region
\n Edited by Jeffry R. Stubbs and Giles Clarke
\n Published by The Asian Development Bank
\n Manila, 1996
\n Volume one (541 pages)
\n Volume two (398 pages)<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The population of the Greater Jakarta Area
\n(Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang and Bekasi), already the fifth largest
\nmetropolitan area in the world, will increase from almost 20
\nmillion at present to 23.22 million by 2000. That will be more
\nthan one fourth of Indonesia's total urban population of around
\n90 million by then.<\/p>\n
Managing such a megacity to make it productive, efficient and
\nenvironmentally sustainable obviously poses complex challenges.<\/p>\n
Megacities (with a population exceeding 10 million), are
\ncharacterized by high population densities, pressures on
\nenvironmental services, traffic congestion, proliferation of
\nslums, and obviously have the most severe problems.<\/p>\n
As President Soeharto observed in his National Day address
\nlast month, the various social problems in the cities could
\neasily erupt into conflict.<\/p>\n
Soeharto warned of the impact of the massive demographic
\nmovement, and of the emergence of social problems like
\ncriminality, extortion, impatience, decadence and degradation of
\nthe environment.<\/p>\n
These problems are examined in a two-volume book Megacity
\nManagement in the Asian Pacific Region published recently by the
\nManila-based Asian Development Bank.<\/p>\n
The book, based on a regional seminar on the same topic in
\nManila late last October, projects that 17 of the 27 megacities
\nto emerge in the world by the year 2015 will be located in Asia's
\ndeveloping countries.<\/p>\n
The seminar discussed 29 papers: overviews, issue and theme
\npapers, case studies, city overviews, and country studies,
\nincluding a city study on Jakarta and a country study on
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The book, edited by Jeffry R. Stubbs, an urban development
\nspecialist, and Giles Clarke, a staff consultant, both of the
\nADB, predicts a rapid demographic and massive economic transition
\nfrom rural to urban economies.<\/p>\n
It does not give policy recommendations on how to curb
\nurbanization -- unavoidable because of the close correlation
\nbetween higher incomes and urbanization -- but rather explores
\nnew ways and means of improving megacity management.<\/p>\n
However, the 86 urban development officials and experts from
\n25 countries who took part in the seminar also observed that
\nmegacities, apart from their problems, contribute significantly
\ngreater shares of national gross domestic product than their
\npopulations would suggest.<\/p>\n
This trend therefore calls for more concerted efforts to
\naddress the issue of productivity.<\/p>\n
The seminar discussed the management of megacities from six
\nmost fundamental aspects: Institutional dimensions, environments,
\ntransportation, land, private-sector participation and financing.<\/p>\n
The 950-page book should become a basic reference for urban
\nplanners and development officials because of the wealth of data
\nand analysis it contains.<\/p>\n
The ways in which the seminar was organized and its agenda was
\nstructured is reflected in the comprehensive report derived from
\nthe seminar's proceedings.<\/p>\n
The 29 papers supplemented each other well and provided the
\nseminar participants with a wealth of information for discussion
\nof megacity management.<\/p>\n
The city overviews concentrated on the experiences in urban
\ndevelopment in eight megacities of the developing world and of
\ntwo in the developed, Tokyo and Toronto.<\/p>\n
These city overview papers enabled the seminar participants to
\nhighlight current and emerging urban development and management
\ntrends and to identify best practice.<\/p>\n
The four country studies on India, Indonesia, Japan and China
\nhighlight the correlations between urban and national development
\nplanning and development.<\/p>\n
The six theme papers, supplemented by seven case studies,
\nidentified critical issues and examples of innovative practices,
\nand made recommendations for new policies on urban pollution,
\ntransportation, land, public-private partnerships, privatization
\nof public services and infrastructure financing.<\/p>\n
However, the book does not simply contain the reprints of
\nthose papers. It also sums up the conclusions agreed on in the
\nsix themes and the final recommendations prepared by six working
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
Recommendations<\/p>\n
The book sees the right institutional framework as essential.
\nCentralized administration is seen as grossly ineffective. It
\ntherefore strongly recommends the devolution of responsibilities,
\nresources and power to city administrations.<\/p>\n
The provision of free public services is argued to be
\ninefficient, and user fees and privatization of public services
\nare suggested.<\/p>\n
Traffic congestion breaks down the economics of scale of a
\nmegacity, and adversely affects its economic productivity.
\nCongestion imposes high costs in terms of resources consumed and
\npotentially productive time wasted.<\/p>\n
The control of congestion should therefore be central to a
\nsustainable transport policy. The best strategy is the provision
\nof a first class alternative to the car through a rail-based mass
\nrapid transit system, and discouraging car use in city centers at
\npeak times, through road pricing, supplemented by controls on
\nparking, and car-sharing.<\/p>\n
Land management is also crucial. The main issue, according to
\nthe book, is how responsive the supply of land is to demand as
\nseen from the perspective of the city administration, real estate
\ndevelopers, businesses and households, notably the urban poor.<\/p>\n
An efficient land market requires good information on supply
\nand price. Hence, a good land information base is essential for
\nclear property titles, efficient and transparent land
\ntransactions, better evaluation of land policies and efficient
\nlocation decisions by investors.<\/p>\n
The book also sets out in details the lessons from megacities
\nwhich have successfully juggled private-sector participation,
\nfinancial-resource mobilization, and a healthy environment.<\/p>\n
As the massive urbanization which began in the second half of
\nthe 20th century will continue unabated, urban planners,
\nlegislators, professionals, researchers and students of urban
\ndevelopment all have their work cut out. Megacity Management in
\nthe Asian and Pacific Region will be a good reference work for
\nthem.<\/p>\n
-- Vincent Lingga<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/uphill-challenges-facing-megacity-management-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }