rural-urban dynamics_report.pdf - Khazar University

GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2013 URBANIZATION AND THE MDGS 165
BOX 3A.1
Tackling urban poverty in Ghana
As urbanization has proliferated in Ghana, particularly
in the central and northern regions, the level
of urban poverty has also been on the increase. An
estimated 2 million urban dwellers in Ghana are classified
as poor. In Accra alone, 45 percent of the population
lives in the poorest neighborhoods and lack
water, sanitation, and educational facilities. As a pilot
country, Ghana benefited from the AfDB urban poverty
reduction project worth about $40.25 million.
The objectives of this project were to develop
urban settlements through participatory management,
job creation, and strengthened public-private
partnerships and local governance and management
capacity; improve living conditions in urban and periurban
zones by increasing access to basic quality services
and socioeconomic infrastructure; and facilitate
access to income-generating activities through capacity
building and a strengthened urban small-scale
enterprise sector.
The project covered 12 metropolitan, municipal,
and secondary towns with a total population of 4.45
million. The expected benefits include improvement
in the livelihoods of the urban poor through better
access to good socioeconomic infrastructure, creation
of 6,000 jobs for unemployed youth, and skills
development training for at least 4,000 women. The
project was expected to generate 350 urban and periurban
socioeconomic subprojects and 50 environmental
subprojects.
Source: AfDB 2011.
the ADB’s support for inclusive growth. ADB
operations help address regional and urbanrural
disparities, improve rural livelihoods,
and facilitate urbanization with job creation
for migrant workers.
In China, more than 90 percent of the
ADB’s operations are focused on the lesserdeveloped
central, western, and northeastern
regions to promote regionally balanced and
integrated urban-rural development. Transport
operations have facilitated movement
of people for better access to job opportunities
and public services, particularly among
migrant workers. Urban operations have
supported integrated urban-rural infrastructure
development and improvement of urban
services, including provision of employment
services and technical and vocational
education and training. Natural resources
and agriculture operations have supported
biomass energy and water and natural
resources protection, which help generate
income and expand livelihood improvement
opportunities.
The Chinese government is accelerating
its support of the development of the country’s
small- and medium-size cities. The
country’s macroeconomic urban strategy
aims to rationalize the unbalanced urban
structure at all levels of the urban hierarchy,
which currently provides a weak base for
supporting sustainable and inclusive development.
The approved loan amounts for urban
development ranged from around $485 million
in 2008 to $350 million in 2012. These
projects aim to enhance the development
potential of small- and medium-size cities,
thereby directly and indirectly providing
support to reduce regional imbalances and
income disparities between urban and rural
areas. The ADB has been a close partner
to the Chongqing Municipality, the first
provincial-level demonstration area for
piloting urban-rural reforms in China. In
2010, the first $100 million in funding for
the Chongqing Urban-Rural Infrastructure
Development Demonstration Project was
approved to finance key infrastructure of
urban-rural roads and small-scale potable
water supply plants in eight poor districts
and counties of Chongqing. In 2013, the
ADB and the national government are working
on a proposed $150 million loan project
for the second phase, which will further