STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2012/2013 Prosperity

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Treating Quality of Life as a By-product UN-Habitat survey results show that the more committed the city is to promote quality of life, the more the chances that the effects will be broad-ranging. There is a clear positive association between a high degree of commitment to address quality of life and the possibility of designing specific policies. Unfortunately, the opposite also applies, and many cities treat quality of life as a by-product or an ‘after-effect’ of policy interventions. Even where some cities perform well under other dimensions of prosperity, they fail to deliver better quality of life. Abidjan, Dakar, Dar es Salam and Kampala illustrate well this situation: they feature moderate or weak values in the “City Prosperity Index”, but rank even much lower for quality of life, which goes to show that this dimension cannot be considered as an indirect component of any urban policy agenda. A number of studies have shown that the various determinants of quality of life generate complex interactions and diverse causal relations. Sometimes, efforts to promote one element can have unexpected detrimental effects on other elements; for example, prioritizing economic growth per se can result in negative environmental impacts. In other cases, positive linkages between these determinants are quite obvious; for instance, the provision of green open spaces brings health benefits to the population. In some other cases, the relationship can be less evident; for example, individual housing choices may have environmental impacts that affect quality of life in different ways. 10 All too often, cities do not clearly perceive the complexity of these interactions and assume that interrelations will always be positive. Several cities in Asia and the Arab States that are experiencing high economic growth are mostly focusing on infrastructure development in the pursuit POLICy Cities that focus only on economic development and provide services that are not public goods, may leave the urban poor, migrants, ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups with serious difficulties to pay for the improved services, reducing the possibilities for them to enjoy quality of life. of higher productivity and therefore higher incomes, assuming that this will lead to better quality of life in the long term. Generally, that is what happens, since economic growth increases purchasing power and demand for goods and services including education, entertainment, financial services and housing, which, in turn, not only create new 61 Quality of Life and Urban Prosperity employment opportunities but also contribute to higher quality of life. But there may also be negative consequences. However, UN-Habitat policy analysis shows that most surveyed cities in the developing world have no clear policies, actions and reliable procedures to deliver and expand quality of life to the whole population. With the exceptions of Singapore, Davao, Ho Chi Minh City and Chon Qing in Asia, Fort-de-France and Medellín in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Doha in the Arab States (whose commitment to quality of life was highly commended), experts took a critical view of the 42 other cities on that count. They found public administrations to be generally inefficient and with poor incentives to devise specific quality of life policies for lack of adequate financial resources, trained staff or political interest. Positive exceptions can be found, such as Cebu, Singapore, Dubai, and Ho Chi Minh City, where, in the words of a local expert, “investing in human resources is considered to be the best way of seizing more opportunities and turning them into wealth and quality of life to make the city more prosperous”. 11 Social equity FACT and quality of life go hand in hand. In practice, though, any policies and actions aiming to expand societal well-being largely depend on the political will of governments and the degree of participation of civil society organizations and, in particular, their degree of autonomy when it comes to advocating, upholding and fighting for the rights of all. When a city POLICy focuses solely on economic prosperity, it is very likely that the benefits and improvements in terms of quality of life may not be geared to the urban poor, particularly in those cities where corruption and poor governance are endemic. In Cebu, a local expert argues that “it is not only a matter of expanding the pie (i.e., economic FACT Experts in 60 per cent of surveyed cities in Africa and Arab States and slightly more than 40 per cent of cities in Asia and Latin America believe that corruption and poor governance conspire against local prosperity and quality of life.
State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013 POLICy Cities that are committed to quality of life are almost always committed to enhanced productivity and equity, emphasizing the strong relation between these dimensions. development), but dividing the pie and ensuring that the poor benefit, too (i.e., equity and quality of life)”. 12 Dubai, as other cities in the Arab Gulf, recognizes quality of life as Box 2.3.1 Quality of Life – the ‘Spokes’ and the ‘Hub’ of the Wheel of Urban Prosperity Quality of life and productivity Productivity and quality of life are increasingly associated. Skilled workers and talented people will flock to, and concentrate in, liveable cities with high quality of life, and firms will follow suit. Consulting firms rank cities based on their ‘good living’ factors to make informed locational decisions. High human capital, which is a main ingredient of quality of life, attracts firms that cluster in cities to take advantage of common labour pools. Well-planned and designed urban environments, with pedestrian-friendly areas, bicycle paths, mix-land uses and sufficient public goods, attract people and businesses which, in turn, contribute to finance further social amenities and public goods. More and more city leaders are investing in education and the provision of ‘commons’ and public goods as part of a quality of life. Inversely, cities that do not invest in quality of life tend to feature poor public health, low education, limited mobility, and marginalization of the urban poor, all resulting in low productivity. Quality of life and infrastructure development The prosperity of a city largely depends on infrastructure. Physical facilities like transportation, power and communications contribute to economic development, industrialization, trade and mobility of labour. Water supply, sanitation and sewerage, together with education and health facilities, have a direct impact on quality of life. All of these types of infrastructure connect people to people, goods to markets, workers to jobs, families to services, and the poor in rural areas to urban centres − a connectivity process that is essential to induce economic growth, reduce poverty and increase general well-being. More and more cities today are launching into ambitious initiatives to expand/improve infrastructure to sustain economic growth, prepare for population decline, address climate change issues and/or reduce slum incidence. Conversely, under-developed infrastructure makes life more difficult and more costly: poor facilities discourage industrial development, trade and investment and reduce competitiveness, besides generating air pollution, wasted time, fuel and safety costs, noise and more greenhouse gas emissions. 62 a key competitive advantage that contributes to promoting city productivity, attracting and retaining highly qualified individuals and prestigious firms and investors. Priority is given to those most easily perceived elements of quality of life such as parks, clean sidewalks, leisure, art and culture amenities as well as hospitals. Although not generalized to all the population, the pursuit of prosperity through quality of life is an interesting connection and entry point to development. Quality of life and equity Quality of life and equity are constitutive of progress and development. No city can claim to be prosperous when large segments of its population are excluded or live in abject poverty, or when large sections of the population are deprived of basic goods or services while other sections live in affluence. Cities that look to more equity in the distribution of resources and opportunities, in law enforcement, in the rules and relationships that govern institutions and in access to public goods will be those where shared prosperity and quality of life are improved. More equitable cities enhance the prospects for people to take part in democratic processes and participate in a more decisive manner in cultural and political life. The benefits of social participation and political voice extend to other domains such as health, employment and the urban environment. Quality of Life and Environmental Sustainability Environmental conditions have an immediate impact on the quality of people’s lives. They affect human health both directly (air, water pollution, noise) and indirectly (climate change, biodiversity). Well-managed urban commons and public goods can improve environmental conditions and quality of life. Conversely, the pursuit of short-term quality of life objectives can be detrimental to the more long-term sustainability objectives that collectively affect the lives of the whole population. Indeed, individual short-term aspirations to quality of life, such as affordable, low-density housing, can act as major factors behind urban sprawl, which in turn is detrimental to the natural environment through higher use of land, energy and water, along with greenhouse gas emissions. Quality of life and the ‘hub’ of the wheel of prosperity Effective institutions, more appropriate laws and regulations, proper urban planning and new value systems are essential power functions and can make sure that policies, actions and solutions involving any of the ‘spokes’ of prosperity can have positive effects on the others. Sources: Glaeser, E. and Berry, C. (2005); Gidwani, V. and Baviskar, A. (2011); European Environment Agency (2009); Stiglitz Joseph, Sen Amartya, Fitoussi Jean-Paul (2009); UN-Habitat (2008/9); Jones, Harry (2009); Lalnunmawia H, (2010); AusAid (2009).
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PRODUCTIVITY ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINA
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Copyright © United Nations Human S
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Foreword This is a time of crises.
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Acknowledgements CORE TEAM Director
Page 11 and 12: Chapter 1.1 Conceptualizing Urban P
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Page 35 and 36: Part Two
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Page 69 and 70: Chapter 2.4 Equity and the Prosperi
Page 79 and 80: Chapter 2.5 Environmental Sustainab
Page 89: Part Three Policies for Prosperous
Page 92 and 93: 91 From Comparative Advantage to Ur
Page 94 and 95: Urban planning can contribute to th
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Page 108 and 109: model to rebuild local government a
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Working on the five ‘spokes’: I
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As suggested earlier, it is in the
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Urban Planning/Design & Prosperity
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Box 3.2.3 Individual versus collect
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uilding codes to support urban refo
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10 Government of Singapore (2010) S
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Table 1 City Prosperity Index and c
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Table 2 Proportion of urban populat
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Urban Slum Population at Mid-year b
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Country/City BRAzIL City Population
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Country/City Table 4 City Populatio
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Country/City City Population of Urb
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Country/City InDIA Table 4 City Pop
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Country/City IRELAnD City Populatio
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Country/City myAnmAR City Populatio
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Urban Population (’000) Level of
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