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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)P.O. Box 30552Nairobi 00100 KenyaTel: (+254) 20 7623287Fax: (+254) 20 7624309unepinfo@unep.orgwww.unep.org

LIVEABLECITIES

THE BENEFITS OFURBAN ENVIRONMENTAL

PLANNING

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LIVEABLECITIES

THE BENEFITS OFURBAN ENVIRONMENTAL

PLANNING

A Cities Alliance Study onGood Practices and Useful Tools

© The Cities Alliance, 2007

1818 H Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.http://www.citiesalliance.org/index.html

All rights reservedFirst printing, October 2007

The material in this publication is copyrighted. Requests for permission to reproduce whole or portions ofit should be directed to the Communications Unit of the Cities Alliance Secretariat at the above address.The Cities Alliance encourages the active dissemination of its knowledge. Permission to disseminate willnormally be granted promptly and, when reproduction is for noncommercial purposes, without asking fora fee.

Cover Photo: Aerial View of the city of Bangkok at dusk—a large metropolis coping with the effects ofpopulation growth and its impact on the local environment.

Photographer: © Mike Kemp/Corbis

Design: Circle Graphics, Inc.Printing: York Graphic Services

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1

S E C T I O N O N E

CITIES ANDTHE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

his section examines how cities affect and are affected by their environment.It shows how a successful city cannot operate efficiently in isolation from itsenvironment, and how the environment can be integrated into urban devel-

opment processes. The section also discusses the health-environment-poverty nexusand underlines the advantages of formally integrating environmental considerationsinto urban planning.

Urban Life—The Face of the Future

Cities and urban settlements in general are the face of the future. Today, some 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas. In 2005, the world’s urbanpopulation was 3.17 billion out of a total of 6.45 billion. The year 2007 marks awatershed in human history, when for the first time, half of the world’s populationwill be living in cities. How will this fact affect the cities of the future?

Cities are centres of excellence, bringing together innovators, entrepreneurs, financiers and academics. They attract a rising tide of humanity, of people hopingfor a better life for themselves and their children. Cities provide opportunities,economies of scale, a future with more choices. And yet cities have also been blamedfor causing environmental catastrophes, for marginalising communities, for dimin-ishing the quality of life of the poor. They have been castigated as centres of disease,social unrest and insecurity. Cities are also at risk from industrial hazards, naturaldisasters, and the spectre of global warming.

A successful city must balance social, economic and environmental needs: it hasto respond to pressure from all sides. A successful city should offer investors secu-rity, infrastructure (including water and energy) and efficiency. It should also putthe needs of its citizens at the forefront of all its planning activities. A successful cityrecognises its natural assets, its citizens and its environment and builds on these toensure the best possible returns.

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Today’s cities are part of the global environ-ment. Their policies, their people and their questfor productivity have an impact far beyond thecity borders. City level experiences are essentialto the formulation of national policies, and cityand national policies in turn translate onto theglobal level. Today, global policy makers recog-nise that cities have a tremendous impact onissues ranging from local economic stability tothe state of the global environment.

Over the past 50 years, cities have expandedinto the land around them at a rapid rate. Highways and transport systems have been builtin tandem to support this physical growth.Valuable farmland has been eaten up and car-dependency has increased. Urban populationsare expected to grow by another 2 billion peopleover the next three decades, and it is expectedthat cities in developing countries will absorb 95 percent of this increase. Most worryingly, asUN-HABITAT’s State of the World’s Cities

Report for 2006/7 points out, is the fact that inmany cases urban growth will become synony-mous with slum formation. Already, Asia ishome to more than half of the world’s slum pop-ulation (581 million) followed by sub-SaharanAfrica (199 million) and Latin America and theCaribbean (134 million) (UN-HABITAT 2006).Cities and urban settlements must be prepared tomeet this challenge. To avoid being victims oftheir own success, cities must search for ways inwhich to develop sustainably.

No single recipe for managing change can beapplied to all cities. Cities are affected by theirlocation, their climate and natural features. Citiesand urban settlements don’t operate in isolation—they are part of a national structure, subject tocentral government, strengthened or limited byregional and national infrastructure, budgetarypolicies, development priorities, decentralisation

Liveable Cities

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Sustainable Cities and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

In September 2000, at the United Nations Mil-lennium Summit, world leaders agreed to aset of time bound and measurable goals andtargets for combating poverty, hunger, dis-ease, illiteracy, environmental degradationand discrimination against women. Thesegoals—the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs)—are at the heart of the global devel-opment agenda. The effective achievementof many of these goals will depend heavilyon cities and urban communities.

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/MDGs-FACTSHEET1.pdf, accessed February 2007.

The Melbourne Principles for Sustainable Cities

The Melbourne Principles were developed as part of the Cities as Sustainable Ecosys-tems (CASE) initiative of the UN EnvironmentProgramme-International Environmental Tech-nology Centre (UNEP-IETC). CASE produced aset of principles to guide communities to-wards sustainable development—the Mel-bourne Principles for Sustainable Cities—withthe intention of providing a basis for interna-tionally recognised criteria on what makes acity sustainable. They provide a basis for inte-grating international, national and local pro-grammes (UNEP-DTIE-IETC et al, 2002), andconsist of a vision statement and ten generalprinciples.

Source: www.iclei.org/mp.

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policies. To meet the urban challenges of today,and the challenges to come, appropriate manage-ment frameworks must be available, throughwhich cities can apply innovative approachessuitable for their local circumstances.

Urban settlements can learn from the naturalworld—cities can be seen as ecosystems. In thesame way that a natural ecosystem like a rainfor-est or coral reef is a complex system of interlink-ages between elements, everything in a city isconnected to everything else. If land use ischanged in one area of a city, it will affect thetransportation system, infrastructure and econ-omy in other areas. Local governments today

play a leading role in developing new approachesto treat the natural and built environment, andthe people that interact with it, as one intercon-nected “city ecosystem”. Their innovation andcreativity in striving for sustainable urban devel-opment will reach into all areas of policy devel-opment and decision-making.

The Environment—An Essential Asset for Cities

Managing environmental resources as a group ofstrategic assets that are crucial to a municipality’sgoals, important to ecosystem health, and benefi-

Cities and the Urban Environment

3

What Is Sustainable Development?

The 1972 UN Stockholm Conference focused inter-national attention on environmental issues, espe-cially those relating to environmental degradationand “transboundary pollution.” Over the decadesfollowing Stockholm, this concept was broadenedto encompass environmental issues that are trulytransnational in scope, requiring concerted actionby all countries and all regions of the world in auniversal manner in order to deal with them effec-tively. Such important global environmental prob-lems include, for example, all kinds of pollution,climate change, the depletion of the ozone layer,the use and management of oceans and freshwater resources, excessive deforestation, desertifi-cation and land degradation, hazardous waste anddepleting biological diversity.

In the years that followed, it also came to berecognised that regional or local environmentalproblems, such as extensive urbanisation, deforesta-tion, desertification, and general natural resourcescarcity, can spread to pose serious repercussionsfor broader international security. Environmentaldegradation in diverse parts of the developing aswell as the developed world can affect the polit-ical, economic and social interests of the world asa whole.

International recognition of the fact that envi-ronmental protection and natural resources man-agement must be integrated with socio-economicissues of poverty and underdevelopment culmi-nated in the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. This idea wascaptured in the definition of “sustainable develop-ment,” as defined by the World Commission onEnvironment and Development, also known as theBrundtland Commission, in 1987 as “developmentthat meets the needs of the present without com-promising the ability of future generations to meettheir own needs.” The concept was designed tomeet the requirements of both the supporters ofeconomic development as well as of those con-cerned primarily with environmental conservation.

Today, it is recognised that social, economicand environmental considerations are completelyinterconnected. In the city context, this means thatsustainable urban development is not a choice buta necessity if cities are to meet the needs of theircitizens. Urban centres must be socially equitable,economically successful and environmentally sus-tainable if cities are indeed to be the home ofhumanity’s future.

(http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/basic_info/unced.html, accessed February 2007).

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� Clean air is essential to a healthy environment.� Rivers and water bodies provide drinking

water and act as natural pollution filters.� Biodiversity is essential for food, materials,

medicine and improved quality of life, not justlocally but also globally. Biospheres range farbeyond the boundaries of a city, and urbanactivity in a single location can damage foreststhousands of kilometres away, or disruptmigratory patterns. Biodiversity increases theresilience of ecosystems to environmentalchange.

� Forests serve as watersheds, habitats, carbonsinks, leisure amenities and tourist destina-tions. If managed sustainably, forests are alsoa source of energy and building materials.

� Wetlands filter and process waste and act as anursery for fisheries.

� Sand dunes, coral reefs and mangroves protectcities from storm surges, prevent erosion andsiltation, and in the case of the latter two actas nurseries for fisheries. Attractive coastsdraw tourism.

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Costa Rica’s Payments for Environmental Services Programme

Costa Rica was one of the first countries torecognise the value of ‘environmental ser-vices’ when it established the Payments forEnvironmental Services Programme. The pro-gramme requires those who benefit from theenvironmental services of forests to pay forthose services. Those payments go into anational forestry fund, which is used to con-tract private landowners of forestland to payfor forest conservation and sustainable man-agement practices.

Benefits of the natural environment—farmlandsin Antananarivo, Madagascar.

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cial to the community is key to successful urbanmanagement. What are the ways in which theenvironment can be viewed as an asset for cities?

The natural environment provides cities withcountless ecosystem services. Some of these areso fundamental to urban liveability that theymay seem invisible to urban managers: air,water, open space. Environmental resources arefrequently taken for granted, rather than beingutilised, enhanced, and invested in.

These are just some of the countless examplesof the services that the natural environment pro-vides to urban settlements:

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� Parks and greenbelts act as sinksfor carbon dioxide (CO2) andcounteract the heat island effectof large built-up areas. They alsoprovide essential open space forurban residents, flora and fauna,counteract traffic noise and im-prove the general ‘liveability’ ofa city.

To assess just how valuable thenatural environment is to cities,let’s look at the role that forests onthe outskirts of a city play. If a for-est is cut down for firewood and topermit city expansion, the value ofthe forest is reduced to the value ofthe wood as fuel, and the value ofthe land for development. How-ever, forests help watershed protection, and theirremoval can jeopardise urban water supplies. Inaddition, clear-cutting forests often results in seri-ous erosion, damaging surrounding agriculturallands and causing urban flooding. Sprawlingurban development imposes much higher costs onthe provision of infrastructure such as roads, sew-ers, water and power. It is therefore more costeffective for a city to maintain its forest ecosys-tem as the city’s watershed, benefiting from all of the environmental services that the forest provides—drinking water, erosion control, soilprotection, flood control, recreation, biodiversity—and to harvest the wood products at a sustainablerate from the forest in perpetuity.

Making sure that a city’s environmental assetsare used sustainably is important to the urbaneconomy for many reasons, in addition to thereduction of costs. As society and the economymarches inexorably towards globalisation, cities

across all regions must compete with each otherto attract enterprise, investment and employ-ment. The quality of life or ‘liveability’ which acity offers is important in ensuring its future eco-nomic performance.

Environmental resources are assets to a city:investment in environmental protection helps theeconomy and reduces city budget expenditure. Itis far less costly to avoid environmental degrada-tion than it is to live with its consequences, or torepair its damage. Interestingly, many municipalactivities ultimately do protect the environment,even if that was not the primary intention: forexample, actions to improve transport, protectwater catchment areas or develop tourism alsoimprove air quality, benefit sensitive wetlandsand address coastal pollution. The case study ofGoiânia included in this report shows that certain urban plans and projects resulted in huge environmental gains, but these were a by-

Cities and the Urban Environment

5

Attracting Investment: The Role of the Environment in Hong Kong

According to a 2006 survey by the American Chamber ofCommerce in Hong Kong, almost four out of five profession-als based in Hong Kong were thinking of leaving, or knew oth-ers who had already left, because of the quality of theenvironment. 95 percent of respondents were worried aboutthe air quality in Hong Kong and the potential long-termeffects on the health of themselves and their children. In addi-tion, more than half—55 percent—of respondents knew ofprofessionals who had declined to move to Hong Kong be-cause of the quality of its natural environment. The same sur-vey showed that “quality of the natural environment” toppeda list of seven factors in terms of importance when selecting aplace to live: 94 percent ranked it as either the most impor-tant or the second most important factor. The Hong Kong ex-ample shows that if the environment were cleaner and the airquality better companies would invest more money in thecity. A healthy environment is vital to attract and keep invest-ment capital.

Source: American Chamber of Commerce, (2006).

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advantages and which in turn reduces the burdenwhich the city places on its surroundings. Urbanlife provides opportunities for economies of scalein regard to human energy and material require-ments. This has been referred to by William Reesas the “urban sustainability multiplier”, or theprocess through which the high density of urbanliving significantly shrinks the per capita ecolog-ical footprints by reducing energy and materialneeds. (Rees, 2003.) These factors include:

� High population densities, which reduce theper capita demand for occupied land;

� Lower costs per capita of providing pipedtreated water, sewer systems, waste collection,and most forms of infrastructure and publicamenities;

� A high proportion of multiple-family dwell-ings, which reduces per capita consumption ofbuilding materials and services infrastructure;

� Increasing interest in forms of cooperativehousing with mass transit facilities, whichreduces demand for individual appliances andpersonal automobiles; and,

� Easy access to the necessities for life and tourban amenities by walking, cycling, and publictransit. This further reduces the demand for pri-vate automobiles, thereby lowering fossil energyconsumption and air pollution (Rees, 2003).

Despite the essential services offered by the envi-ronment, however, cities tend to view environmen-tal considerations as supplementary to economicand spatial strategies, or as issues which can bedealt with through infrastructure programmingbased on conventional civil engineering standards(Cities Alliance, 2006). In other words, the envi-ronment has not been viewed as a matter of pri-mary importance. Instead, prominence is given to the economic growth/public investment in

Liveable Cities

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Fora de Risco: Good EnvironmentalResults from a Housing Programme in Brazil

The Municipality of Goiânia’s Fora de Risco(Out of Risk) programme aims to move7,000 families from slum settlements in envi-ronmentally sensitive, flood-prone zones,and to provide these families with dignified,affordable housing and social assistance.Since the start of the project, no major flood-ing in risk areas have occurred, protectedenvironmentally sensitive areas from whichinformal housing was removed have notbeen resettled, over 4,400 families havebeen helped, 1,325 housing units have beenbuilt in seven different project areas, andquality of life has improved for those affectedby the project.

Source: www.iclei.org. Accessed February, 2007.

product of the main goal: concern for the envi-ronment was not the main driver.

The most successful urban centres have amutually rewarding relationship with the envi-ronment which builds on the city’s natural

Filtering out air pollution in Tokyo, Japan.

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infrastructure/poverty eradicationnexus as the foundation for socialdevelopment, and sustainability isnot given the attention it deserves(Swilling, 2006). This approach istypical in many urban centres, par-ticularly but not exclusively in devel-oping countries. Mayors are underpressure to focus on economic per-formance and capital investment ininfrastructure during their term of office. In China,for example, while many mayors are interested inenvironmental management, their performance inoffice is assessed by the local GDP growth rate(Conference on Eco City Development ExperienceExchange (ECODEE), Yangzhou, China, 2004).

If the environment is such an asset to cities,why is it often last on the list of priorities forurban managers? A key reason is the use ofaccounting systems that externalise real costs anddo not account for natural capital. The planet’sforests, watersheds, wetlands, minerals and othernatural resources all have a value that must beaccounted for: these are natural capital. While itis not difficult to place a capital value on an envi-ronmental asset, it can be difficult to calculateand to quantify the exact financial value of thebenefits derived from that asset. A range of toolsdo exist, however, including environmentalassessments, ecological budgeting and full-costaccounting methods. Some of these tools are out-lined in an annex to this report.

Internal City-Environment Interactions

Misuse of the urban environment can have graveconsequences for the city. Poor urban planningwhich permits construction on unsuitable landsuch as wetlands can result in damaging floods.

Inadequate waste disposal leads to the spread ofdisease. Coastal cities which fail to manage theircoastline efficiently will find themselves with ero-sion and siltation problems, and are likely to losevaluable income from tourism. Urban sprawl willdamage urban biodiversity, and the costs of pro-viding infrastructure will be significantly higher.Many urban settlements will be completely unableto keep pace with urban expansion, and unser-viced slums will proliferate, with their attendantproblems of poor health, poverty, social unrestand economic inefficiency. While healthy ecosys-tems provide cities with a wide range of servicesessential for their economic, social and environ-mental sustainability, damaged ecosystems have avery negative effect on urban residents, and in par-ticular on the urban poor.

The Health-Environment-Poverty Nexus

Cities and urban settlements attract peoplebecause they offer the hope of a better future, buturban life can pose grave threats to humanhealth. Cities and urban settlements can face arange of environmental hazards. These include arange of water and air related diseases and pol-lution. Cities may also be vulnerable to naturaldisasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes

Cities and the Urban Environment

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Key World Health Organization (WHO) Figures on Environment and Health

● An estimated 130,000 premature deaths and 50–70 mil-lion incidents of respiratory illness occur each year due tourban air pollution in developing countries, half of them inEast Asia.

● Breathing Mumbai’s air is the equivalent of smoking two-and-one-half packs of cigarettes per day.

● In Quito, Ecuador, infant mortality is 30 times higher in theslums than in wealthier neighborhoods.

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/features/en/index.html, accessed February 2007

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or man-made disasters such as chemical explo-sions. Today, cities are also increasingly feelingthe effects of global warming. Which groups ofsociety are most affected by the environmentalhazards of a city? Why?

Population Most at Risk

Not all urban residents are affected by environ-mental hazards in the same way. Environmentalhazards are responsible for the most commoncauses of ill health and mortality among theurban poor. Environment-related infections andparasitic diseases thrive where there is a lack ofclean drinking water, sanitation and drainage,and where air quality is poor (Nunan and Sat-terthwaite, 1999). They are exacerbated by un-

dernourishment, poor health and inadequatepublic health services such as waste collection.

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Water Kiosks Fight Cholera in KenyaIn Nakuru, Kenya, the water supply providedonly 35,000 m3/day, although water require-ments were estimated at 75,000 m3/day.Nakuru residents cited water shortages as oneof the town’s major problems. A severe choleraoutbreak in the low-income areas of Kaptem-bwa and Rhoda in 2000 was attributed to theconsumption of contaminated water fromunknown sources. As a result the Nakuru Munic-ipal Council supported the creation of waterkiosks to prevent further outbreaks.Source: ICLEI/Africa/Resources/Case Studies. AccessedSeptember 2007.

Reflecting under a tree shade with a view of the Cairo skyline.

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UN-HABITAT has started to high-light the “urban penalty”, notingthat urban poverty and its atten-dant ills are in many developingcountries as severe as rural poverty(UN-HABITAT, 2006).

Poverty forces the urban poorinto hazardous areas, unsuitablefor habitation: flood plains, steepor unstable hillsides, parts of thecity exposed to high concentra-tions of pollution. The urban poorlive where nobody chooses to, because they have no other option. Of the threebillion people who live in urban settings, an esti-mated one billion live in slums (UN-HABITAT2006, WHO 2007). The exposure of the urbanpoor to environment-related health risks con-flicts with the concept of ‘equity’, often regardedas one of the guiding principles of sustainabledevelopment (Fudge, 2003). The most physicallyand socially vulnerable groups tend to be theleast influential economically and politically. Inaddition, the urban dwellers who are mostdependent on local environmental services andconditions are the urban poor in low-incomecountries—better-off urban dwellers can findalternatives for many services (UN-HABITATand UNEP, 2003).

Infants and young children, and some groupsof workers, also suffer from a high degree ofexposure to environment-related health risks.Children are considered to be at greater risk fromair pollution than adults because their bodies arestill developing and they spend more time out ofdoors on strenuous activities. Lead, in particular,has had a pernicious effect on the health of gen-erations of urban children. Women and girls areoften vulnerable to environmental hazards be-

cause of the work they do, their role in society orthe discrimination they face in terms of access toresources, income or housing (Nunan and Sat-terthwaite, 1999).

Environmental Health Risks and Hazards

In cities where governments fail to deliver ade-quate services and disease-carrying agents multi-ply, large concentrations of people living in closeproximity to each other are particularly at riskfrom disease transmission.

A lack of access to clean drinking water cou-pled with inadequate sanitation and waste collec-tion present the most serious environment-relatedhealth risks. In the developing world, up to 80percent of all environment-related diseases areattributable to a lack of clean, safe drinkingwater. Diarrhoea is the greatest water-bornedisease burden in developing countries and hasbeen described as ‘the silent killer of the slums’(UN-HABITAT, 2006a). Overcrowded livingconditions can be breeding grounds for thespread of respiratory infections, tuberculosisand meningitis.

Cities and the Urban Environment

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Children playing by an open sewer in a Rio de Janeiro slum.

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The use of biomass fuel, coal for cooking andheating in a confined living space can producetoxic fumes that damage lungs: indeed, indoorsmoke can be a far greater risk to health than airpollution in city streets. Poor air quality in infor-mal settlements is often exacerbated by the prac-tice of burning household waste.

Outside the home, air pollution affects citiesin both the developed and developing world.Particulate matter can affect respiratory and car-diovascular systems (for example, asthma) andaccelerate mortality. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), atrelatively high concentrations, causes inflamma-tion of the airways and long-term exposure mayaffect lung function. Exposure to carbon monox-ide (CO) reduces the capacity of the blood tocarry oxygen and deliver it to tissues. Sulphurdioxide (SO2) causes constriction of the airwaysand may cause acute mortality. Exposure to highlevels of lead (Pb) affects the haemoglobin, thekidneys, gastrointestinal tract, joints and repro-ductive system and damages the nervous system(Greater London Authority, 2002a). It is esti-mated that 800,000 people die prematurely eachyear due to urban air pollution (WHO, 2002).Traffic fumes are a particular cause of ill-health,

and in addition to this, traffic itselfis a significant physical hazard in theurban environment.

It should be noted that cities indeveloping countries often lackdetailed and accurate databases ofenvironment-related diseases andlonger-term health implications. Inthe absence of comprehensive data,the environment-related health risks identified are those that areeasily measured, and which usu-

ally affect middle and upper incomegroups (Nunan and Satterthwaite, 1999). More information is needed about the health-environment-poverty nexus, including poverty-mapping (UN-HABITAT and UNEP, 2003).

Five of the cities case studies prepared for thisreport highlight the health-environment-povertynexus (Bangkok, Bohol, Cape Town, Goiâniaand Nakuru).

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Traffic: A Major Health Hazard for Urban Residents

In spite of nightmarish congestion, motorvehicle use in developing cities is soaring. In1980, the developing world accounted foronly 18 percent of global vehicle ownership.By 2020 about half of the world’s projected 1.3 billion cars, trucks and buses will clog thestreets and alleys of poorer countries.

The World Health Organization considerstraffic to be one of the worst health hazardsfacing the urban poor, and predicts that roadaccidents by 2020 will be the third leadingcause of death.

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/features/en/index.html, accessed February 2007

Air pollution affects cities in both the developed and developing world.

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Local Governments and the Urban Environment

Local governments have an enormous influenceon how urban-environment relationships evolve,and on how their cities interactwith the hinterland and with thewider global community. Effectivelocal government can make citiesmore competitive, more efficientand more attractive to investorsand workers by promoting the sus-tainable development of the urbanenvironment.

The power of good planning andeffective management in strong,empowered city governments is crit-ical to propelling cities towards sus-tainability. Depending on the degreeof decentralisation, cities may havethe power to pass legislation; to planand design transportation systemsthat support rational choices on

where to live and work; the power toensure strong and robust local eco-nomic development patterns; thepower to address land tenure andland rights in the city; and the powerto develop creative financing toolsfor mobilising investment towardssustainability. Even in cases wheredecentralisation is not very faradvanced, cities wield importantinfluence over building codes andzoning by-laws and can adopt flexi-ble standards governing constructionand infrastructure. They have thecapacity to encourage participationand engage with citizens and local

organisations, and their role in the implementa-tion of Agenda 21 at the local level is essential.

Local governments and local governmentleaders also have the potential to contribute toglobal sustainability by using lessons from

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Monitoring Poverty at the Municipal Level in the Philippines

The Municipality of Bohol, Philippines, has established a LocalGovernance Poverty Database Monitoring System (LGPDMS),which records and ranks levels of deprivation. Developedwith the Bohol Local Development Foundation, the softwarehas 18 indicators, which are child mortality, child malnutri-tion, crime, disability, electricity, food shortage, food thresh-old, garbage disposal, literacy, income threshold, meals,health insurance, sanitation, school drop-outs, tenure status,unemployment, water and waste water disposal. The database can identify and rank levels of deprivation atthe municipal, village and household level. It is currentlybeing expanded to include more environment-related indi-cators. As a tool, it accurately identifies households and vil-lages for projects in need of poverty reduction support. It canalso track the impact of specific interventions including theircorrelation over time. This database is invaluable in that itprovides data on which policy decisions can be based.

Family life in a Manila slum—poverty needs to be monitored at the municipal level.

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innovative urban management practices at thelocal level to inform national and even inter-national policy. Today, a wide range of or-ganisations actively focus on city networking,

encouraging the sharing of lessons of experi-ence, lobbying for greater recognition of thevalue of urban management experience in cen-tral government, reaching out beyond nationalborders to share know-how with other cities atthe regional and global level. Local govern-ments today play a leading role in developingnew approaches to the management of the nat-ural and built environment.

Integrating Environmental Considerations into Urban Planning: The Advantages

We have seen how disregarding environmentalissues has a significantly damaging effect oncities and urban settlements. What are theadvantages and benefits of formally includingenvironmental considerations in urban plan-ning and management systems? How canmunicipal decision-makers best manage thesocial, economic and environmental demandsplaced on the city? Where are the entry points

for integrating environmental con-siderations into urban planningand management? What are thearguments for integrating the envi-ronment into city developmentstrategies?

The arguments for sustainabledevelopment are clear and univer-sally accepted. For a city to growand develop in the long term, it can-not disregard its environment. Theenvironment cuts across all sectors,income groups and managementareas. An ad hoc approach to en-vironmental issues is fragmentary,expensive and inefficient. For a city

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A Municipal Response to Industrial Damage: Development and Sustainability in Bulgaria

In the city of Bourgas, Bulgaria, the Mayor and municipal staffhave sought ways to alleviate the environmental impacts ofthe municipality’s intensive industrialisation. The MunicipalDevelopment Strategy for 2007-2013 recognises the needfor an integrated long-term approach to balance currentdevelopment with resource protection and sustainability.

The new strategy places greater emphasis on the inter-con-nections between environmental policies and other aspects ofmunicipal life. The majority of municipal responsibilities areformally linked to environment (for example, procurement,public transport, urban planning, energy management), andpolicy-making attempts to address economic and social issuesin synergy with environmental questions.

Agenda 21, Chapter 28, Paragraph 1

Because so many of the problems and solu-tions being addressed by Agenda 21 havetheir roots in local activities, the participationand cooperation of local authorities will be adetermining factor in fulfilling its objectives.Local authorities construct, operate and main-tain economic, social and environmentalinfrastructure, oversee planning processes,establish local environmental policies andregulations, and assist in implementing na-tional and subnational environmental poli-cies. As the level of governance closest to thepeople, they play a vital role in educating,mobilising and responding to the public topromote sustainable development.

Source: iclei.org/index.php?id=16130. Accessed Sep-tember 2007.

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to be effective and efficient, it must consciouslyintegrate the environment into its planning andmanagement mechanisms.

The social, economic and envi-ronmental challenges which urbansettlements face today, coupledwith the speed of urban expansion,have encouraged the developmentof new and innovative approachesto local governance. Local govern-ments are becoming increasinglyaware of the benefits of citizen par-

ticipation in urban decision-mak-ing. Governance approaches which encourageurban stakeholders to have a say in the manage-ment of their city provide several entry points

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Reducing Poverty and Improving the Environment and Citizen Health in Brazil

Favelas (slums) are a primary feature of urbandevelopment in Brazil. These informal settlementsoften occupy environmentally precarious areassuch as steep hillsides and riverbanks, and usuallylack key infrastructure, in particular sanitation andsewerage systems. This has resulted in increasedrates of disease and mortality. Brazil has, however,made significant steps in addressing the problemswhich beset the favelas.

The Municipality of Goiânia’s “Fora de Risco” (Outof Risk) Project was driven by three motivating fac-tors: poverty reduction, environmental improve-ment and citizen health. Most of Goiânia slumsettlements are located in sensitive watershed areas,primarily on urban riverbanks and springs. Conditionswere very unhealthy, due to a combination of flood-ing and open-air sewage. The project addressed theenvironmental factors in relation to the social andeconomic issues, and was able to achieve successesin all areas. The key has been the social inclusion ofthe community at risk. Up to 20 community groupswere involved in the project and thus the Fora deRisco has acted as a catalyst for social development.

Pollution from copper mine in Bulgaria.

Hillside favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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for the inclusion of environmental issues inurban planning.

Donors, in turn, are focusing on providing aidin a more integrated and effective manner. TheParis Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, agreed in2005, saw over one hundred ministers, heads ofagencies and other senior officials commit theircountries and organisations to increase efforts inharmonisation, alignment and managing aid for

results with a set of monitorable actions andindicators. A growing focus on aid deliverythrough general budget support puts the priori-tisation of issues in the hands of the recipientcountry, freeing up further avenues for the inte-gration of environmental issues in urban plan-ning and management.

Several of the case studies in this report showthat some cities do integrate the environment

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EnviroSystem: How Calgary Works Towards Its City Vision

In Calgary, the environmental management systemthat is used is referred to as Enviro-System. It de-scribes the City of Calgary’s strengths, accountabilityto itself and its citizens, and commitments to protectthe natural environment. EnviroSystem enables thecity to uphold its vision of “working together to cre-ate and sustain a vibrant, healthy, safe and caringcommunity”. It allows the city to manage the im-pact its activities have on the environment.

EnviroSystem has improved internal communi-cation significantly as it provides a strong link across

all business units. In addition, it has created a cul-ture of environmental caring and an understand-ing of the importance of protecting the watershed,preserving natural areas and green space, andprotecting the air. While the results within the mu-nicipality have been impressive, the benefits ex-tend to the community by improving citizenperception of the city as an environmental leader,attracting industry, people and business. The Envi-roSystem report, which is made public and readilyavailable, highlights major achievements in air,land, water, and materials management alongwith summaries of the city’s accomplishments.

City of Calgary skyline.

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into their urban planning and developmentstrategies. Key drivers for this depend on localcircumstances but include commitment by thepolitical leadership and the administration(Bangkok, Bayamo, Bourgas, Calgary, CapeTown and Yangzhou), European Union (EU) Di-rectives and standards (Bourgas and London)and the influence of an external agency(Bangkok, Bourgas and Yangzhou).

A number of case studies also highlighted citypromotion of environmental assets in the courseof city marketing. Bohol, Bourgas and Cape Townall recognise the importance of their naturalecosystems as tourist attractions and the beneficialimpact of tourism on the local economy. Calgaryrecognises that its environmental credentials arepersuasive marketing assets. A healthy and attrac-tive environment is important in urban marketing:it is virtually impossible for an unattractive city tomove into higher value economic activity (CitiesAlliance, Guide to City Development Strategies,2006, p. 4).

A city’s environmental credentials, and there-fore its marketability, are strengthened if pro-spective investors can see that sustainableresource use has been factored into the citydevelopment strategy, especially the cost ofknown restraints such as finite water supplies,energy costs, the economic and job-creatingpotential of eco-efficient industries (for example,waste recycling and renewable energy), and localurban agriculture (Swilling, 2006).

Aside from the goal of sustainable develop-ment and the impetus to maximise economic,social and environmental benefits, integratingthe environment in urban planning and manage-ment has additional attractions on a very localscale. The city budget may benefit from environ-mental policies which encourage recycling and

produce income from the sale of recyclableresources, while at the same time needing lesslandfill space. Energy efficiency can reducemunicipal spending. Eco-efficiency can result inlower operating costs for local businesses, givingthe city a competitive advantage (Swilling,2006). Energy systems planning could enhancethe competitiveness of local industry, while solarwater heating, district heat and power systems,

Commercial street scene in Shanghai, China.

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micro-cogeneration (combined heat and powersystems) and methane production all benefit thelocal economy (Moffatt, 1999). Circular Econ-omy methods like local industrial planning havethe potential to reuse water resources. (Shi Lei,2004 and Zhu Dajian, 2004).

An integrated environmental policy can helpstimulate the local economy by planning for sus-tainable neighbourhoods. This might includesustainable construction involving energy effi-ciency and the use of compact fluorescent light-ing, rainwater tanks/water-conserving irrigationsystems, renewable energy alternatives (such assolar water heaters, insulation, geothermal heat-ing and cooling systems), and neighbourhood-based sewerage systems (Swilling, 2006). Inaddition, modest income-generating activities

that provide some income for the urban poor,such as water vending, the provision of toiletfacilities, biogas, waste recycling, and compost-ing (UN-HABITAT and UNEP, 2003) also haveenvironmental benefits.

An integrated environmental policy alsoworks to reduce environmental hazards andhealth, especially those which affect the urbanpoor. Absence due to sickness among the work-force adversely affects the economic efficiency oflocal industry, competitiveness and the at-tractiveness of the city to external investors.Moreover, localised environmental hazards es-pecially in peri-urban areas are potential sourcesof pandemics (Cities Alliance, 2006), and runcounter to the principles of equity and socialinclusion.

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Environmental actions

Improved provisionof water and sanitation services

Less crowded, betterquality housing—through supportinglow income groupsto build, develop orbuy less crowded,better quality housing

Avoidance of haz-ardous land sites forsettlements

Promotion of cleanerhousehold fuels

Improved provisionof solid waste man-agement services

Support for com-munity action toimprove local environment

Support for moreparticipatory plans

Improved publictransport

Direct effects

Can bring a very large drop in healthburdens from water-related infectiousand parasitic diseases and some vector-borne diseases—and also in prematuredeaths (especially for infants and youngchildren).

Safe disposal of excreta from home andneighbourhood is a great health bonus.

Can bring a large drop in household acci-dents (often a major cause of seriousinjury and accidental death in poor qual-ity, overcrowded housing) and removethe necessity for low income groups tooccupy land sites at high risk from floods,landslides or other hazards.

Can also help reduce indoor air pollution.

Reduces number of people at risk fromfloods, landslides or risks from other haz-ardous sites. The damage or destructionof housing and other assets from, forinstance, floods or landslides can be the‘shock’ which pushes low income house-holds into absolute poverty.

Reductions in respiratory and other prob-lems through reduced indoor and out-door air pollution.

Removes garbage from open sites andditches in and around settlements.Greatly reduced risk of many animaland insect disease vectors and stopsgarbage blocking drains.

If well managed, lots of low-cost ways toreduce environmental hazards andimprove environmental quality in infor-mal settlements.

Low income groups with more possibili-ties of influencing city authorities’ prioritieson environmental policy and investment.

Cheap, good quality public transportkeeps down time and money costs forincome earners of low income groupsgetting to and from work.

Other effects

For income earners, less time off workfrom illness or from nursing sick familymembers.

Better nutrition (for example, less foodlost to diarrhoea and intestinal worms).

Less physical effort needed in collectingwater.

Lower overall costs for those who, priorto improved supplies, had to rely onexpensive water vendors.

Lower risk for low income groups to losetheir homes and other capital assets toaccidental fires or disasters.

Secure, stimulating indoor space anenormous benefits for children’s physical,mental and social development.

Sites within cities that may be hazardousfor settlements are often well-suited toparks or wildlife reserves.

Reduced contribution of householdstoves to city air pollution.

Considerable employment opportunitiesin well managed solid waste collectionsystems where recycling, reuse andreclamation are promoted.

Employment creation; minimumincomes help households avoid poverty.Can reduce sense of social exclusion.

Precedents set in participatory localAgenda 21s and other action plans canlead to low income groups gettinggreater influence in other sectors.

Can reduce air pollution and its healthimpacts. Can reduce the disadvantagesof living in peripheral locations and helpkeep down house prices.

Examples of How Environmental Actions Can Help Reduce Poverty or the Deprivations Associated with It

Source: Shaping the Urban Environment in the 21st Century—A Resource Book, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/19/1956241.pdf, accessed February 2007

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