STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2012/2013 Prosperity

State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013
these dimensions or respond to the supporting institutions
and policies at the core of these dimensions (see the
‘Wheel of Prosperity’, Chapter 1.4) steering the course
of the city along the path of prosperity and sustainable
development. From this more general, strategic perspective,
innovation can bring four major types of benefits: (1)
reviving and sustaining the social economy (e.g.. better
policies for human needs satisfaction); (2) changes in
social relations (e.g. new societal arrangements, new social
pact); (3) reinforcing existing, or creating new, institutions
for improved urban management and governance (e.g.,
regulation of land or social conflicts, new legislation);
and (4) forward-looking changes to the urban space (e.g.
resource redistribution, expanded access to services and
public goods). Any value added by all these social and
A pedestrian bridge (part of the railing stolen for scrap) near Cape
Town, South Africa
© 2012 Rodger Shagam/fotoLIBRA.com
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institutional innovations will accrue primarily to society
as a whole, rather than private individuals or groups26 ,
enhancing the prospects of prosperity and giving its full
meaning to the notion of ‘spatial justice’. 27
Being a social construct, any city can be steered and
shaped towards higher levels of prosperity. A fresh, different
vision of urban planning and design can combine with new,
more insightful change narratives and development ideas.
As urban risks and challenges keep changing over space
and time, existing safeguards, instruments or mechanisms
must come under review and be adjusted as and where
required. Innovation must also help reduce the cost of
urban living. Innovative rules and legislation must support
the transformation of the existing urban model. The
current model is unsustainable for several reasons: endless
physical expansion, intensive energy use, alarming and
dangerous contributions to climate change, multiple forms
of inequality and exclusion, and inability to provide decent
jobs and livelihoods. 28 If ongoing urbanization is to usher
in the city of the 21st century, then this transformation must
be grounded in a more effective and sustainable use of
urban space. The city of the 21st century is a reinvented city
that is more productive, equitable and sustainable. It is a
more prosperous city.
Urban Prosperity Through
Planning and Design
In the midst of ongoing demographic, socioeconomic or
environmental cross-currents, cities must reassert control
over their destinies with reinvigorated urban planning and
design for the sake of shared prosperity and harmonious
development.
This imperative comes as a reminder of the fact that so
far, in most cities of the developing world, modern urban
planning (where any) has proved unable to nurture shared
socioeconomic advancement. For all the paraphernalia of
legislation, complex regulations and spatial design plans,
a majority of those cities have continued with the flawed
models which, as ‘advanced’ countries have finally found
out, are unsustainable in a variety of ways.
Cities have found themselves woefully unprepared
in the face of the spatial and demographic challenges
associated with urbanization, not to mention those of
an environmental nature. With a few commendable