31ST OCTOBER IS THE WORLD CITIES DAY
People are moving to cities for better livelihoods which is also bringing many challenges in urban lives. Are we preparing for the doubling of the global urban population by 2050? It’s time for rethinking urbanism and its governance which means designing cities for people, not mere cars; allowing everyone access to urban opportunities; investing in resource-efficient buildings, transport, energy, water and waste systems; and enabling cities to experiment and to learn from each other. But ironically most of the cities are not planned and well designed which brings more challenges for urban dwellers.
We should be aware that the population living in cities is set to rise from 54 per cent in 2015 to 66 per cent in 2050; there will likely be another 2.4 billion urban dwellers worldwide. The bulk of urban growth will happen across the global South, for instance in China, India and Nigeria.
The United Nations General Assembly designated 31 October as World Cities Day (WCD), by its resolution 68/239. The Day is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities addressing challenges of urbanization and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.
This year’s theme ‘people-centred smart cities’ reflects the growing recognition that the transformative power of digital technologies is reshaping urban life globally, offering profound opportunities to enhance how cities and human settlements are designed, planned, managed and governed.
In an era marked by both urban and digital transitions, cities are increasingly adopting digital technology solutions and data to deliver better services for residents and address critical urban challenges and opportunities.
We are already worried about the questions raised because of climate change as it has more questions than answers. A new United Nations report focuses on the looming crisis of climate change and rapid urbanization. More than 2 billion currently living in cities could be exposed to an additional temperature increase of at least 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. At the same time, climate action in cities is still failing to match the scale and intensity of the challenges cities face.
The fact is people move into cities, often settling informally in hazard-prone areas, the exposure of lives and assets has expanded rapidly while local ecosystems have become steadily more precarious. For example, since 1975, exposure to riverine flooding has grown 3.5 times more in cities than in rural areas. This situation is likely to intensify in the coming decades as urbanization continues, though the extent and severity will depend significantly on the decisions we make today. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 formulates the ambition to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable – underlying the relevance of UN-Habitat’s mission.
There is no doubt that urbanization provides the potential for new forms of social inclusion, including greater equality, access to services and new opportunities, and engagement and mobilization that reflects the diversity of cities, countries and the globe. Yet too often this is not the shape of urban development. Inequality and exclusion abound, often at rates greater than the national average, at the expense of sustainable development that delivers for all.
Cities should be encouraged to innovate and experiment, and also to learn from one another in order to ensure sustainable futures. We have seen rapid urbanization in all cities of the North Eastern region which would certainly bring more challenges as we do not have sustainable planning for our cities. Urban poverty can be seen in cities and SDGs cannot be achieved if we do not bring sustainable urban solutions. Together we can make better cities as better cities means better lives for all of us.
(With direct inputs from UN publication and feedback may be send to bkranjan@gmail.com)
Ranjan K Baruah
Guwahati.