STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2012/2013 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.