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UN Volunteers Policy Paper ‘Caring Cities’ Volunteering in Urban Development and the role of the United Nations Volunteer Programme PART I – URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND VOLUNTEERISM Page 6 Page 7 1. The Challenges of Urbanization Urbanization is an overwhelming phenomenon throughout the whole world, and there is ample and widespread evidence about its occurrence and effects. There is no need, therefore, for this publication to re-confirm this state of affairs in great detail (for more information on the subject see, for instance, UNCHS 1996). However, this section presents some basic facts about urbanization, with special attention to poverty. The focus on the urban poor is justified by the fact that this group bears the brunt of urban problems. The urban population of the world has been drastically expanding, both in absolute and in relative terms and this growth is mainly concentrated in developing countries. According to data compiled by UNDP (1999), in 1970 the ratio of city dwellers in developing as opposed to industrialized countries was one to one. Today this ratio is nearly two to one. It will be three to one by the year 2015, and will approach four to one by 2025. Since 1970, 1.23 billion urban residents have been added to the world population, of which 84% have been in lessdeveloped regions. In the words of a recent report of the World Bank (1999: 1): ‘At the threshold of the 21st century, cities and towns are forming the front line in the development campaign. Within a generation, the majority of the developing world’s population will live in urban areas. The number of residents in developing countries will increase by 2.5 billion – the current urban population of the entire world. The scale of this urbanization, with its implications for meeting the needs of individuals at relatively low levels of national income, is unprecedented.’ The process of urbanization has been accompanied by a plethora of problems of varying nature (and type) e.g. social, economic, environmental, etc. It is outside the scope of this publication to elaborate on evidence about such problems (there is already an enormous literature on such issues). However, it is worth noting the alarming magnitude of urban poverty – because being poor in a city or town entails facing its multiple problems on a day-to-day basis. According to UNDP (1999), approximately half of the poor in the world live in urban areas, and this figure continues to go up, both in absolute and relative terms. 1.1. Urban Poverty The absolute numbers of urban poor may suffice to demonstrate the existence and magnitude of the problem, hence the importance of combating it. This can be reinforced by comparisons with rural poverty. There is an argument among development academics and practitioners that poverty in rural areas is more prominent – and therefore deserves more resources – than poverty in urban areas. Although it is beyond the scope of this publication to provide ultimate evidence about the significance of urban versus rural poverty, it is important here to show that such relative significance has often been underestimated. The following points illustrate the relative importance of urban poverty: – Higher living costs. As noted by UNCHS (1996), in most developing countries urban residents face higher living costs, because many items that have to be bought in urban areas are free or cheaper in rural areas as they grow or are produced locally – e.g. fuel, food, fresh water, traditional building materials, and housing itself. – New/extra needs. In addition to the higher costs of basic needs, urban living also entails new or additional needs, a fact which requires extra expenditure. For example, long distance daily commuting is an ordinary feature of urban living, which means that public transport (and associated costs) becomes an indispensable need. Also, urban living generally involve more complex and costly recreational habits (cinemas, shows, night life), which are important in a milieu that lacks the appropriate space, time and cultural bonds often necessary for rural types of recreation (encountered in nature, in extensive village celebrations, etc.). There is also a much higher pressure for consumption in general (of non-basic goods) in urban areas, due to a much more aggressive marketing milieu, and to the constant day-to-day exposure of the poor to people who ostentatiously show their expensive goods. (It is often argued that access to a wider range of goods and services constitutes an advantage of urban settlements over rural areas. While this may be true for those who can actually purchase such goods and services, the reality for the masses of urban poor is different – they often sacrifice basic needs in order to be able to purchase non-basic goods and services).
UN Volunteers Policy Paper ‘Caring Cities’ Volunteering in Urban Development and the role of the United Nations Volunteer Programme PART I – URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND VOLUNTEERISM The Challenges of Urbanization PART I – URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND VOLUNTEERISM The Challenges of Urbanization Page 8 – Greater vulnerability to changes in income: Urban dwellers often have a greater dependence on cash incomes, which means greater vulnerability to price rises and falls in income. This problem is minimized in rural areas due to subsistence production and foraging (see UNCHS, 1996). – Socio-cultural bonds: Support networks based in family, kinship and/or ethnic-cultural background are generally stronger in rural areas, and prove to be fundamental in many episodes of crisis and emergencies. Socio-cultural bonds and derived support networks tend to be weaker in urban areas, due to the pressures of urban living, associated psycho social stresses, and ethnic-cultural mixtures. For instance, the widespread phenomenon of street children is a clear and sad evidence of this problem. – Greater health risks: The urban poor face the ‘worst of both worlds’: while they still suffer problems common to rural areas (such as infectious diseases and malnutrition), they also suffer problems which are particular to urban areas (chronic and psycho social diseases) (Harpham, 1987). The above reasoning does not deny the significance of rural poverty (and therefore of the need to combat it). The point is that, independently of (or in addition to) combating rural poverty, it is essential to combat urban poverty. There is a widespread belief among many development thinkers and practitioners that urban poverty will ‘naturally’ disappear solely by combating rural poverty. They believe that the urban poor are basically rural migrants running away from poverty in their regions of origin. Therefore, the argument goes, if rural poverty is removed, no more poor people would migrate to cities and towns, and the poor who are already living in such urban settlements would migrate back to the (now economically better) rural areas. Page 9 as homelessness, crime, pollution, unemployment, overcrowding (squatters), and psycho social conditions associated with urbanization. 1.2. Urban Opportunities Whether one likes it or not, urbanization is a global phenomenon. The majority of urban dwellers in all corners of the planet just do not want to move to rural areas. They prefer to work in typically urban occupations (e.g. services) rather than in farming, or they may prefer urban socio-cultural habits to rural ones. The fact that there is widespread poverty in urban areas does not automatically means that urbanization is evil – the same way that the widespread existence of poverty in rural areas should not lead to similar conclusions regarding rural settings. Cities and towns are also loci of many opportunities. No matter how challenging, it is more opportune and at the same time more realistic to fight urban poverty within cities and towns themselves, and to allow the poor to benefit from the opportunities offered by such settlements, than to think about an idyllic urban exodus. Solutions to the problems of urban areas in general and of the urban poor in particular are often complex, and require a wide set of interrelated activities. At any rate, volunteerism plays a significant role as part of such solutions. Removal of poverty and the creation of opportunities in rural areas might perhaps attract a number of urban dwellers. Yet, there is no evidence whatsoever that it would constitute a comprehensive solution to urban poverty. The example of many Western European countries reinforces this point. Rural poverty in absolute terms (i.e. acute deficiency or deprivation of basic needs) in this region of the world is rare. Yet, many dwellers of Western European cities still face harsh living conditions, such
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