SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
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FIGURE 5.13:<br />
High shares of urban residents still live<br />
in slums<br />
Source: UN DESA 2015a.<br />
FIGURE 5.14:<br />
The number of people living in slums<br />
is increasing<br />
Source: UN DESA 2015a.<br />
best business environment and being the best<br />
place to live, Singapore was once a city with<br />
polluted rivers and massive infrastructure and<br />
housing shortages. In the 1950s, more than 50<br />
percent of its people lived in slums and squatter<br />
settlements. In 1960, the government initiated<br />
a new public housing programme to provide<br />
affordable housing for low-income communities.<br />
Based on careful planning and coordinated development,<br />
guided by well-equipped institutions<br />
and regulations that have evolved as needed<br />
over time, and rooted in the principle of being<br />
responsive to people’s needs, the programme<br />
has had a central role in making Singapore the<br />
flourishing city it is today. More than 80 percent<br />
of people live in publicly constructed housing,<br />
90 percent of whom are homeowners. Over 99<br />
percent of the city’s slums have been cleared as<br />
alternative, improved housing became available,<br />
contributing to urban renewal. Satisfaction<br />
with public housing consistently surpasses 80<br />
percent. 37<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY<br />
In driving economic activity and human development<br />
gains, cities consume vast quantities of<br />
energy, water and other resources, and generate<br />
more greenhouse gas emissions and waste than<br />
rural areas. The responses of city governments<br />
to these challenges will have direct consequences<br />
on human development and the long-term<br />
sustainability of both cities and nations—and<br />
the world.<br />
World Health Organization (WHO) latest<br />
data on 2,000 cities show pollution worsening<br />
globally, but the problem is most acute in<br />
Asia-Pacific. In 2014, 15 of the 20 most polluted<br />
places were in India and China. The others<br />
were in Bangladesh, the Islamic Republic of<br />
Iran and Pakistan. Of the worst 100, nearly 70<br />
were in Asia and only a handful in Europe or<br />
the United States. 38<br />
Air pollutants in particular are extremely<br />
hazardous to human health, with consequences<br />
such as respiratory illness, lung cancers and<br />
premature deaths among babies. In a number of<br />
Asian cities, levels are significantly above WHO<br />
recommendations. Growing public concern has<br />
motivated stepped-up efforts to curb pollution,<br />
such as by imposing traffic rules to reduce private<br />
15 of the 20 most<br />
polluted cities in<br />
the world are in India<br />
and China<br />
165