state of the world's cities 2012/2013 - United Nations Sustainable ...

Innovating to Support the Transition to the City of the 21st Centurymodel to rebuild local government and improve servicedelivery. Bangalore in India has launched technologybasedpublic-private experiments in governance in a bidbetter to deliver public services, too. In Latin Americaand the Caribbean, Rosario, just like Santo Domingo, hasintroduced significant institutional innovations in terms ofparticipatory governance. In Nairobi, Kenya, the privatesector has launched ‘Pesapal’ a new payment platformenabling low- and middle-income residents to conducte-commerce transactions and even to pay school fees via cellphones or the Internet.Many other social and institutional innovations involvethe creation of new systems and models to meet the needsof underserved populations in a more efficient, effective,and sustainable manner. In Iran’s Tehran, the scope of theWHO-UN-Habitat ‘Urban HEART’ Programme has beenextended to assess equity under not just under the healthdimension but also a more general social perspective.Shenzhen has created a multilevel social security systemthat includes basic social insurance, poverty insurance,compensation for job seekers, and special care for patientsand the disabled, which includes the migrant populationthat represents up to 75 per cent of the population. 20Chongqing has created investment companies to activatestate-owned capital to speed up the construction ofinfrastructure and public facilities, using a combination ofinnovative funding mechanisms: taxes, land reserves, fees,state bonds and state-owned capital. 21Social and institutional innovation can take the form ofenlightened rules or legislation. In Cebu, the Philippines, anordinance now encourages those employed in outsourcedbusiness processing services to enrol in (post)graduatestudies, in a bid to expand the pool of highly skilled people.Rosario, Argentina, has declared itself a “Human RightsCity”, with a commitment to openness, transparency andaccountability. 22 Some other institutional innovationsconnect urban planning and design with the use of socialpublic space. In Colombia,Bogotá has improvedInnovations aremany diverse public spacesfact often copied (sidewalks, public parksor transferred fromand libraries) in a bid toabroad. More often than rebuild social cohesion.not though, this causesSingapore’s ‘Skyway’ is aproblems as foreignspectacular aerial walkwayinnovation runs againstthe grain of the social oramong giant man-madecultural features of the trees that collect rainwatertarget communities. and generate solar energy,and is an invitation to viewthe city from a differentperspective. In Korea,the municipality of Seoulresorts to urban design toimprove the efficiency andenhance the attractivenessof the city with innovativeprojects, such as the ‘HanRiver Renaissance’ schemeand the ‘City in the Park’initiative. 23policyCities haveinterestto promote social andinstitutional innovations inresponse to local problemsto address social needsand improve the efficiencyand quality of urbanmanagement.The Transformative Power of InnovationsAlmost by definition, innovation processes are not linear,nor are they easily controllable. However, as far as urbaninnovation is concerned, a consistent basic pattern seems tobe at work. Whether in response to new risks or immediateemergencies, or in more ordinary circumstances, urbaninnovation seems to result from cooperation and dialogueamong a broad variety of stakeholders. Such dialogue actsas a catalyst, bringing together a variety of perspectives,resources, capacities and types of human capital. 24Innovations introduce knowledge, products, processesand programmes that change the ways of doing business orusing resources, or even social attitudes and preferences.Innovations are at the core of all economic processes andthey contribute to knowledge generation and informationflows’. 25 Innovations of a technological nature have addedvalue and helped transformthe urban space (e.g.,connectivity, proximityIt is in cities’and distance, de-location policy best interestsof manufacturing).to strengthen the linksAlthough innovationsbetween policy-makers,take place mainly in majorbusiness, academia, civilsociety and a variety ofmetropolitan centres,practitioners to promotethey are not restricted tourban innovations.big cities.The transformativepower of innovation isclosely linked to the variousLocal authoritiescomponents of prosperity – fact are becomingincreasingly aware thatproductivity, infrastructure,promoting interactions,quality of life, equitysynergies and adequateand environmentalenvironments cansustainability. Innovation enhance local creativecan contribute to any ofcapital and prosperity.107