STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2012/2013 Prosperity

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prosperity.” 6 Remedies here include such public goods as political freedom, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency and security, with the safeguards against a variety of risks that they ensure for basic capabilities. THE RISkS OF UNCHALLENGED DIvISION A growing body of research connects the competitiveness of cities with social cohesion. Analysis increasingly links the importance of tackling inequality at earlier stages of development to the achievement of prosperity. Reducing inequality and poverty has been highlighted as a key aspect of urban quality of life. A UNICEF study on poverty reduction mentioned that “evidence from India, China and Brazil indicates very clearly that efforts to ease inequalities generate larger dividends for poverty reduction than a more conventional focus on economic growth”. 11 An OECD study has reached similar conclusions: the notion of social cohesion includes dimensions of social relationships, social inclusiveness and social equity, which are major components of broader-defined prosperity. “The key idea that has emerged to link these concerns is that social cohesion improves economic performance. This is a more positive way of saying that social division and fragmentation undermine long-term economic success”. 12 However, the absence of social cohesion, particularly in the form of equity, does not just challenge economic success: it also jeopardises prosperity as a whole through the multidimensional, and far-reaching consequences which inequity spreads throughout urban society. UN- Habitat analysis (2010) of urban inequality in 47 developing countries challenged the notion that inequity is an acceptable, inevitable aspect of economic growth. 13 71 Equity and the Prosperity of Cities Kibera, Nairobi: Looking out ... access to good education is one way out the slum. © Eduardo Lopez Moreno Recently, OECD experts agreed that economic growth and equality were by no means contradictory variables but instead can, and arguably should, act in a complementary way, stressing that “researchers are increasingly finding that regions marked by higher levels of inequality, in fact, find their economic performance damaged.” 14 The statement that ‘more equal cities are more prosperous cities’ is increasingly supported by evidence, and has become More and a development proposition. FACT more empirical Without elaborating on data suggests a strong the moral principle that connection between equity and economic inequality is inherently prosperity, with equity unacceptable, it would being a cause not a appear that when certain result of economic groups of people are prosperity.
State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013 POLICy If left unaddressed, socioeconomic fragmentation can jeopardise urban prosperity and pose major risks to nationwide political stability. repeatedly and disproportionately refrained from taking their fair, full share of the multidimensional benefits of the ‘urban advantage’, the above statement comes with two interconnected corollaries. First, inequality can be linked to poor economic productivity, and experience shows that more sustainable urban economies are frequently associated with lower inequality. Second, persistent, ever-higher inequality carries direct risks. Stark disparities within cities have proven to be social detonators, as recent revolutions in the Arab world and social unrest in some cities in the developed world have recently demonstrated. Take a city anywhere in the world that can boast sustained economic growth thanks to high productivity, adequate infrastructure, a high quality of life and environmental preservation: the more this prosperity is inequitably distributed, the more precarious it is bound to be. All five ‘spokes’ in the ‘prosperity wheel’ must be developed in a well-balanced way for a smoother ride on the path of sustainable, shared prosperity. The recent society-wide upheavals in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt did not occur against a background of extreme poverty or deprivation. In all three countries, national poverty reduction programmes had gained considerable traction. Slum improvement or eradication had been achieved or was on-going. Large infrastructure projects with adequate transport networks had been deployed or were underway and, in terms of education and health, achievements were approaching or surpassing national Millennium Development Goals. Still, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were shown to have feet of clay. The sobering message from the Arab Spring, though still in a When prosperity state of flux, is that leaders POLICy remains an and societies ignore elusive proposition for a inequality at their own peril. majority of the population, A recent report on the the prospects of social East African Community unrest or full-blown has highlighted a number of conflicts increase, since the majority’s claims are remarkable achievements in nothing but demands for terms of economic growth effective human dignity. over the past decade, propelled by massive 72 increases in trade based on new, all-weather roads and uptake of mobile telephone technology. Still, the actual number of East Africans living below the poverty line has increased from 44 million to 53 million, and income inequality indicators, as measured by Gini coefficients, have also worsened in most countries. 15 As a regional expert put it, ”The reason for this is that inequality is both deepening and widening. Fewer people are enjoying the benefits of economic growth.” 16 Inequality and criminality appear to be part and parcel of the same equation. This is all the more so when lack of opportunities and rising unemployment are added to the balance. Perceptions of rising criminality, and the fears thereof, may be strong in cities characterised by high inequity, and even stronger than actual numbers actually state. In one poll, comparing perceptions and expert opinion in São Paulo and London, criminality emerged as a major concern in both cities, even though actual numbers in São Paulo were a multiple of London’s. 17 In the same survey, residents of cities as diverse as Mumbai, Chicago, Cairo, London, Paris, Beijing and São Paulo overwhelmingly agreed (89 per cent) that “a non-dangerous city” was their prime criterion for the ‘good urban life’, a notion that has much to do with prosperity. LINkING EQUITy TO PROSPERITy “Inequalities are increasing day after day”, according to a local expert in Hyderabad. This comment echoes findings from the United Nations General Assembly 2011 Report on Progress towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which stressed that “despite advances towards achieving the MDGs, insufficient emphasis in the MDG agenda had been given to the issue of inequity which is increasing within and between countries.” 18 Even in those countries that have made progress towards the MDGs, inequalities have grown. Therefore, as suggested by the UN General Assembly, equity must be mainstreamed in the development agenda, based on more inclusive growth. Evidence showing that equity is a critical dimension of prosperity runs against the conventional development approaches that prevailed before the 2008–09 global financial crisis. A particular case in point is the ‘Washington Consensus’, which reinforced the notion that POLICy Cities must pay more attention to inequity as a critical factor affecting prosperity. Deliberate and conscious policies now need to emphasise the importance of equity in urban decisionmaking.
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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
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Chapter 1.1 Conceptualizing Urban P
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State of the World’s Cities 2012/
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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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STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2012/2013 Prosperity

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