transport systems, infrastructure) a more effective type of regional governance emerges that has direct implications on the quality of life both inside and outside the large urban configuration. Environmental sustainability: Environmental challenges transcend political/administrative boundaries. Yet, local authorities may find themselves with little power or resources to counter negative impacts of growth on the environment, particularly in the face of negative externalities generated by neighbouring cities. LARGE URBAN CONFIGURATIONS FACE SPECIFIC RISkS Large urban configurations come with a number of wellidentified, specific risks: poor urban/regional planning, lack of coordination and deficient coping strategies in the face of social and fiscal disparities. Although these affect the whole population, the bulk of the risks fall disproportionately on the poor. Economic forces and spontaneous growth in the large urban configurations tend to sharpen spatial and social disparities, which are further compounded by inefficient use of land and other resources. Close links with world financial Endnotes 1 UN-Habitat (2011) Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements 2011, Earthscan, London 2 United Nations (2010) World Economic and Social Survey 2010: Retooling Global Development, United Nation (DESA),New York, http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/ wess2010files/wess2010.pdf 3 Historically, water, biodiversity, knowledge and some other shared resources, including roads, sidewalks, highways and other public infrastructure have been considered as ‘commons’. ‘Commons’ are also intangible aspects such as clean environmental conditions, identity, cultural and symbolic spaces. More recently, from an institutional governance perspective, ‘commons’ are institutional arrangements such as ‘spaces’ for negotiation and participation, cultural norms and legal and statutory provisions. 4 Dickinson, E. (2011) ‘GDP: A Brief History’, Foreign Policy, January/February 2011, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/02/gdp_a_brief_history. 5 The outcome of China’s “green GDP” index was that if air pollution, water shortages, desertification, and depletion of fish stocks and wildlife were factored into its GDP calculation, the 2004 GDP would have been 511 billion yuan (US$ 66 billion), or three per cent lower (SEPA and NBS, 2006). 6 Dickinson, 2011. 7 Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, B. and P.G. Sampath (2010) Latecomer Development: Innovation and Knowledge for Economic Growth, Routledge, London and New York. 33 POLICy POLICy Urban and Regional Trends Looking beyond their own local interests and cooperating with the other jurisdictions involved, local authorities can improve competitive advantage while also preserving the environment. POLICy Working together, cities in a large urban configuration are in better positions effectively to protect, manage, and plan for physical environments that span multiple jurisdictions. POLICy The economic surpluses that large urban agglomerations derive from productivity gains can be channeled towards the protection of natural resources in the region, with the costs of maintaining these indivisible public goods equitably shared among the population. Should they fail to address those detrimental side effects, large urban configurations may find it increasingly difficult to attract investment, labour and skills, in the process compromising future prosperity. markets and the impacts of global and regional economic crises shape ‘uneven geographies of development’. 8 Further compounding the problem of data dearth is the fact that most of the existing information was not collected in a uniform way to allow for comparisons of cities across countries and regions. 9 This classification has used data from multiple sources for the various components of the UN-Habitat City <strong>Prosperity</strong> Index, and this calls for a word of caution when interpreting some of these variations. 10 Eurostat (2008) ‘Ageing characterizes the demographic perspectives of the European societies’, Eurostat - Statistics in focus, 72/2008, Author: Konstantinos Giannakouris. European Commission, Brussels. 11 United Nations (2010) World population policies 2009, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, http://www.un.org/esa/ population/publications/wpp2009/Publication_complete.pdf 12 Ibid. 13 Mohan, R. (2006) Asia’s Urban Century: Emerging Trends, Key note address delivered at the Conference of Land and Policies and Urban Development, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 5, http://www.bis.org/review/ r060705e.pdf. 14 ONU-HABITAT and SEDESOL (2011), El Estado de las Ciudades de México, ONU- HABITAT (Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe), Rio de Janeiro, 15 World Bank (2009) World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography, World Bank, Washington.
Part Two