Study Warns Of Failure To Plan For Rapid Urbanization In Developing Nations
Governments in Africa and Asia must embrace
and plan for rapid urbanization or risk harming
the future prospects of hundreds of millions of their citizens.
This was revealed in a study published by IIED and UNFPA (the UN Population Fund) recently.
According to the latest projections, Africa’s urban population is expected to grow by 936 million in the first half of this century while Asian urban areas will grow by more than 2 billion. Although the numbers may vary somewhat, the trend is inexorable.
The proportion of developing countries that have adopted policies to curb urban growth rose from 46 percent in 1976 to 74 percent in 2007 and the study warns that this will “undoubtedly result in increasing poverty and environmental degradation.”
It says policymakers should heed lessons from Brazil whose failure in the past to plan for rapid urban growth exacerbated poverty and created new environmental problems and long-term costs that could have been avoided.
The study was carried out Dr George Martine (past President of the Brazilian Association of Population Studies) and Dr Gordon McGranahan (Representative of IIED)
Reports further states that the critical first step is for policymakers to recognize the rights of poor people to live in cities and share in the benefits of urban life, and the next is to plan ahead for their land and housing needs within a constantly updated vision of sustainable land use.
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