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Towards a Sustainable Urban Future – Contributions from Germany Documentation of German development cooperation contributions to the UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – March 22-26, 2010

ImprInT

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH was formed on 1 January 2011.

It brings together the long-standing expertise of DED, GTZ and InWEnt. For further information, go to

www.giz.de. Since the text of this publication was prepared shortly before the formation of GIZ, the

documented events and projects still refer to GTZ, DED and InWEnt.

Published by:

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Sector project Policy Advisory Services for Urban and Municipal Development

Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5

65760 Eschborn, Germany

T +49-6196-79-1660

F +49-6196-79-801660

E [email protected]

I www.giz.de

Responsible: Annette Bähring, Head of

Section Decentralisation,

Regionalisation, Municipal and

Urban Development

Executive editors: Chris Schmelzer,

Carl Philipp Schuck

Text editors: Julia Crause (KfW), Tanja

Feldmann, Anja Kramer (KfW),

Luciana Francisco Maia,

Dr. Marianne Scholte

Contact at the Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development (BMZ):

Franz-B. Marré, Head of Division

313 – Water, Energy, Urban

Development

Photos:

Cover: © GIZ / Tuca Vieira

Back Cover: FUNDASAL

p. 4, 10-11, 20, 33, 54-55, 60,

62-63: © GIZ / Anna Böhm

p. 56: © GIZ / Udo Lange

p. 26 / 58: FUNDASAL, KfW

other WUF 5 photos: © GIZ

Cover design and layout: die Basis, Wiesbaden

Printed by: KlarmannDruck GmbH

March 2011

The views expressed in this documentation represent

those of the respective speakers and the editors and

do not necessarily reflect the position of the Deutsche

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

We would like to thank KfW Entwicklungsbank for their

contribution to this publication.

TablE oF ConTEnTS

1. UN-HABITAT AND THE WoRLD URBAN FoRUM

2. THE FIFTH SESSIoN oF THE WoRLD URBAN FoRUM (WUF5)

3. ToWARDS A SUSTAINABLE URBAN FUTURE – CoNTRIBUTIoNS FRoM GERMANy

3.1. The German pavilion in the WUF5 exhibition area

3.2. Thematic events of German development cooperation

4. URBAN (IN)SECURITy – NETWoRKING EVENT oF GERMAN DEVELoPMENT CooPERATIoN

4.1. BMZ: Greeting and thematic introduction

4.2. El Salvador: Crime and violence prevention in informal settlements

4.3. South Africa: The challenge of crime and violence in urban areas/urban youth,

crime and violence – The threat and the way forward

4.4. Bangladesh: Safer cities for vulnerable groups – Violence and crime prevention

for the urban poor and women

4.5. Is a socially inclusive city a safer city? – A moderated debate among the

speakers, the discussant and the audience

5. CITy DEVELoPMENT: THE RoLE oF NATIoNAL GoVERNMENT - BMZ SIDE EVENT IN CooPERA-

TIoN WITH THE CITIES ALLIANCE

5.1. Moderator: Greeting and thematic introduction

5.2. BMZ: Welcome and opening statement

5.3. Cities Alliance: Welcome and opening statement

5.4. Syria: The way forward in Syrian cities

5.5. Indonesia: Between decentralisation and local self-governance

5.6 An open debate: How much freedom for local self-governance is needed?

Where are the limits?

5.7. Concluding statements of panellists

6. CITIES, GoVERNANCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN ASIA – BMZ/GTZ SIDE EVENT

7. VIoLENCE PREVENTIoN THRoUGH URBAN UPGRADING – BMZ/KFW SIDE EVENT

8. oRGANISERS oF THE EVENTS

5

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12

15

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27

31

34

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56

60

5Un-HabITaT anD THE WorlD Urban ForUm

1. Un-HabITaT anD THE WorlD Urban ForUm

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies and policies. It is projected that in the next fifty years two-thirds of humanity will be living in towns and cities. A major challenge is to minimise burgeoning poverty in cities, improve the urban poor’s access to basic facilities such as shelter, clean water and sanitation and achieve environment-friendly, sustainable urban growth and development.

Today the World Urban Forum is the world’s premier conference on cities. It is one of the most open and inclusive gatherings of its kind on the international stage, bringing together government leaders, ministers, mayors, diplomats, members of national, regional and international associations of local governments, non-govern-mental and community organisations, urban professionals, academics, grassroots women’s organisations, youth and slum dweller groups as partners working for better cities.

The World Urban Forum gives all these actors a common platform to discuss urban issues in formal and informal ways and come up with action-oriented pro-posals to create sustainable cities.

6 THE FIFTH SESSIon oF THE WorlD Urban ForUm

2. THE FIFTH SESSIon oF THE WorlD Urban ForUm

From March 22-26, 2010, the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF5) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was jointly organised by UN-Habitat and the Brazilian Government. The theme of WUF5 was ‘The Right to the City – Bridging the Urban Divide’ in harmony with UN-HABITAT’s flagship report, State of the World’s Cities 2010–2011. Participants explored the issues and discussed ways to integrate marginalised sections of the population into the urban context, so that decent living conditions can be created for all city dwellers.

Since the first meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, the World Urban Forum has grown in size and stature as it travelled to Barcelona in 2004, Vancouver in 2006 and Nanjing in 2008. The fifth session in Rio built on the lessons and successes of the previous four events.

AN oPPoRTUNITy FoR KNoWLEDGE BUILDING

Almost 14,000 participants from 150 countries, representing national and local governments, parliaments, the United Nations, inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, local authorities, academia, the private sector, media and foundations, attended and contributed to the event. Among them, two heads of state, various vice presidents, a prime minister, senior ministers and other political leaders brought a new level of sophistication to the meetings.

WUF5 consisted of 6 dialogue sessions with open debates and 12 round table meetings, which guided the thematic proceedings. The 150 networking events and about 50 side events, together with various other thematic events, made up the greatest share of the forum’s thematic programme. There was also an exhibition area with 110 lively and vibrant displays from 35 countries around the globe.

KEy MESSAGES oF WUF5

The open and often frank debate on the main theme, ‘Bridging the Urban Divide,’ produced a fresh range of interesting ideas for policy and practice that enhance the ideals enshrined in the Habitat Agenda.

7THE FIFTH SESSIon oF THE WorlD Urban ForUm

UN-HABITAT’s summary report holds up the following key messages, which require follow-up and action:

mESSaGE 1: It is now time to move beyond advocacy and normative commitment on the ‘Right to the City’ by putting in place appropriate legal and institutional frame-works as well as the necessary investments to make the right of the city a reality.

mESSaGE 2: Unacceptable levels of social exclusion and deprivation, reminders of the human and social costs of disenfranchisement, call for a thorough review and reflection on governance institutions, institutional renewal, including changes in behaviour and political relations, innovative approaches to planning, new paradigms for service delivery and new business models for urban development, as well as bold policy frameworks and leadership at the national and local levels.

mESSaGE 3: Urban inequality is not limited to income, but includes a number of other important dimensions. Bridging the urban divide thus requires an integrated approach that articulates economic, social, political and cultural forms of inclu-siveness. There is a need to complete the three pillars of sustainability – social, economic and environmental – with the crosscutting dimensions of technology and governance.

mESSaGE 4: Making our cities more resilient and climate-proof on a socially inclusive basis requires better and more rational land use planning, greener and more robust building codes and smart infrastructure and services. In this regard, new technologies are making a difference. Nonetheless, they require governance structures capable of motivating and mobilising people, communities, companies and public authorities.

mESSaGE 5: Poverty reduction requires working with the poor, not for them – those living in poverty have the right to uplift themselves, the right to legal assistance in doing so and the right to a say in decisions that affect their lives.

All these measures help build the capacities of urban dwellers to progressively realise their rights to the city. In bridging the urban divide, it is important that poor people be respected as the subject of interventions, rather than simply the object. They have to be consulted in all matters pertaining to improving their lives. The right to the city must be enshrined in law, forged in gender rights and guided by civil society. For further information on UN-HABITAT and the World Urban Forum, please visit: www.unhabitat.org

8 GErmany: ConTrIbUTInG To a SUSTaInablE Urban FUTUrE

3. ToWarDS a SUSTaInablE Urban FUTUrE – ConTrIbU-TIonS From GErmany

With half of humanity already living in urban areas, it is projected that in the next 50 years, two-thirds of us will be living in towns and cities. A major challenge is to minimise burgeoning poverty in cities, improve access of the urban poor to basic facilities such as shelter, clean water and sanitation and to achieve environmentally friendly, sustainable urban growth and development.

Together with partner countries around the world, Germany has taken up the challenge of achieving sustainable urban development. At the Fifth World Urban Forum, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), together with their partners, presented the innovative methods and strategies German research and development cooperation can provide to tackle the urgent problems of smaller and medium cities as well as megacities.

THE GERMAN PAVILIoN IN THE WUF5 ExHIBITIoN AREA

Under the motto ‘Germany: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future,’ a shared pavilion in the exhibition area accompanying the conference was organised by: • BMZ and its implementing organisations – German Development Service (DED),

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Inwent - Capacity Building International, Germany and KFW Entwicklungsbank

• BMBF with its partner Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres• City of Stuttgart• ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability• HafenCity University Hamburg, Technical University Darmstadt.

The pavilion provided lively and comprehensive information on urban issues, structured around three overarching topics that provided the thematic framework: inclusive, sustainable urbanisation; bridging the urban divide; governance and participation.

While introductory texts explained the various challenges in urban devel-opment and the approaches of German development cooperation, video clips showcased a number of practical German research projects and development programmes. Interactive elements encouraged visitors to contribute their ideas for sustainable urban development in a playful manner. International experts offered

9 GErmany: ConTrIbUTInG To a SUSTaInablE Urban FUTUrE

information and were available for professional discussions throughout the entire forum.

The interactive form and thematic design of the German pavilion made it one of the most frequented meeting points at the WUF5 exhibition. Visitors stopped in to learn more about the specific focus of German technical cooperation; experts gathered to discuss the numerous urban development issues being showcased. All the presentations, advertised in a widely distributed brochure, drew large numbers of people and were an immense enrichment to the official World Urban Forum programme.

INCLUSIVE, SUSTAINABLE URBANISATIoN Rapid urbanisation, particularly in developing countries, is frequently unsustainable. It results in social segregation and forces citizens into informal settlements, where they are vulnerable to the effects of cli-mate change and man-made disasters. The unchecked exploitation of natural resources is causing widespread environmental degradation, thus further threatening social inclusiveness and sustainable urbanisa-tion. Germany is supporting numerous sustainable urbanisation projects and research initiatives around the world, many of them in the con-text of climate change, which are addressing issues such as modern sewerage, water management, solid-waste management, energy effi-ciency, urban transport and affordable services and shelter for the poor. BRIDGING THE URBAN DIVIDE About one-third of the world’s urban population live in informal settle-ments, often without access to sanitation, deprived of health care and education and exposed to high crime levels. Most of the rapidly growing cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America are facing an urban divide that can only be bridged by integrated approaches. Germany is supporting projects to mitigate inequality in urban areas, drawing on its worldwide experience in upgrading settlements, providing advisory services for integrated urban development planning, supporting capacity development of urban stake-holders and seconding personnel for municipal administrations. Several research projects have also been initiated in cities to investigate ways to bridge the urban divide and translate the findings into policy and practice. GoVERNANCE AND PARTICIPATIoNCities and conurbations harbour considerable political, socioeconomic and cultural diversity. Steering this diversity and ensuring integration and quality of life is an enormous challenge for municipalities – a challenge that the concept of good urban governance seeks to address by involving political and administrative decision-makers, the private sector and civil

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society in dialogue and cooperation. Germany has extensive experience in capacity development for sustainable urban development at the city level while promoting decentralisation and urban development policies at the national level. It provides technical expertise on urban management and participatory processes, finances urban development and supports capac-ity development of municipal administrations and citizen organisations.

THEMATIC EVENTS oF GERMAN DEVELoPMENT CooPERATIoN

German development cooperation actively contributed to the official WUF5 programme with the following events:• Urban (In)Security – Networking event of German development cooperation

(see page 12)• City Development: The Role of National Government – Joint BMZ/Cities Alliance

side event (see page 34) • Cities, Governance and Climate Change in Asia – BMZ/GTZ side event

(see page 50) • Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading – BMZ/GTZ side event (see page 60).

These events are described in detail in the following sections.

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Additionally, on each day of WUF5, German research and development coopera-tion organisations, together with their partners from around the world, used the stage in the German pavilion to showcase good practices and innovative approaches through presentations, discussion rounds and lounge talks. Almost 20 thematic events provided the opportunity to discuss fascinating topics. The presentations on the German pavilion stage included:

• Financing Urban Infrastructure for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation – The experience of the Cities Development Initiative for Asia

• Master Plan for the Urban Development of Fortaleza, a Participatory Effort of the Network Núcleo de Habitação e Meio Ambiente – An introduction by DED Brazil

• Triangle Cooperation: New Modes of Delivery in Latin America – A discussion with GTZ Chile.

In order to provide access to the information presented at the German pavilion, a joint web portal has been set up, also containing further background documents: www.germany-wuf.de

12 Urban (In)SECUrITy – nETWorKInG EvEnT oF GErman DEvElopmEnT CoopEraTIon

4. Urban (In)SECUrITy – nETWorKInG EvEnT oF GErman DEvElopmEnT CoopEraTIon

13Urban (In)SECUrITy – nETWorKInG EvEnT oF GErman DEvElopmEnT CoopEraTIon

Cities are magnifying glasses that amplify social problems within densely popu-lated areas. Statistics show that urbanisation, particularly in the developing world, has been accompanied by increasing levels of crime, violence and lawlessness. The associated fear and insecurity are a threat to quality of life, human rights, social and economic stability and sustainable development.

But crime and violence do not occur spontaneously. Typically, they grow in unequal and stratified societies in which the urban poor are excluded from the benefits of urbanisation, economic opportunities, participation in decision-making processes and development – largely due to inadequate planning, public adminis-tration and political participation processes in urban environments.

GooD GoVERNANCE AND INTEGRATED APPRoACHES To REDUCING INSECURITy IN URBAN AREAS

Today, it is accepted that coping with escalating crime, violence and insecurity is not the exclusive task of criminal justice systems and local governments. In complex urban systems, mayors and local authorities, the criminal justice system and civil society partners (including increasingly important community based organisations) must play a role in developing community-wide crime and violence prevention and reduction strategies.

Thus, creating a safer city is, first of all, a matter of good governance that emphasises citizenship and inclusion by consulting citizens and involving them in decision-making and planning processes, especially those who are marginalised and living in poverty. An inclusive city that offers its social, economic and political opportunities to all citizens regardless of economic means, gender, race, ethnicity or religion will be a safer city.

Additionally, further measures to reduce crime and violence, such as integrated approaches to strategic municipal and urban development, can be employed. These include targeted physical planning and environmental design as well as social pre-vention measures aimed at vulnerable groups, new and alternative forms of justice, such as community policing, informal and alternative forms of conflict resolution and mediation.

GERMAN DEVELoPMENT CooPERATIoN FoR SAFER CITIES

German development cooperation has extensive experience in the field of urban safety and maintains longstanding cooperation with its partner countries, helping them to create safer cities.

On March 22, 2010, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, KfW Entwicklungsbank, InWEnt - Capacity


Building International, Germany and the German Development Service (DED) facilitated the networking event Urban (In)Security.

The event offered an opportunity to present and discuss innovative approaches and good practices for safer cities from three countries in three continents: El Salvador, South Africa and Bangladesh. More than 100 participants attended the event in order to discuss the topic and learn about the practical examples presented by the speakers. What follows will reflect the course and the content of the net-working event, including:

• A THEMATIC INTRoDUCTIoN GIVEN By mr. FranZ-b. marré, Head of Division Water, Energy, Urban Development, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

• SUMMARIES oF THE PRESENTATIoNS By: mr. EDín JESúS marTínEZ, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Housing and Urban Development, El Salvador

mS. nElly lESTEr, Deputy Director General, South African Department for Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs

Dr. SHIrIn SHarmIn CHaUDHUry, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Bangladesh

• A SUMMARy oF THE FINAL DEBATE AMoNG THE PANELLISTS AND THE AUDIENCE.

The networking event was moderated by Professor Caroline Moser, Director of the Global Urban Research Centre at the University of Manchester, who also acted as a discussant throughout the event, enriching the presentations and debates with her many years of experience in the fields of urban safety and international develop-ment cooperation.

Further, an in-session paper was distributed to the audience, providing background information and describing good practices of German development cooperation.

The in-session paper can be found online at: http://germany-wuf.de/upload/InsessionPaper_Screen.pdf

15mr. FranZ-b. marré | bmZ: GrEETInG anD THEmaTIC InTroDUCTIon

4.1. BMZ: GREETING AND THEMATIC INTRoDUCTIoN

Distinguished delegates, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, I have the honour of welcoming you to the networking event on Urban (In)Security.

‘Bridging the Urban Divide’ has been rightly chosen as this year’s World Urban Forum theme. This forum provides a unique and open space for reflection that we – as urban citizens, community, local and central government representatives, development experts and scholars – need to discuss possible sustainable and socially inclusive pathways and bridges for the challenges and opportunities that we face in the urban millennium.

URBAN GROWTH AND (IN)SECURITy

A key consideration in dealing with the new urban opportunities and challenges lies in a better understanding of the dynamics of rapid urbanisation. As is evident in the majority of developing countries, we are witnessing unprecedented urban growth involving 70 million additional urban residents per annum, which is equiv-alent to the creation of seven megacities the size of Sao Paulo. This trend, in itself, poses major social, economic and environmental challenges, especially given that urban growth, across all regions, has become synonymous with slum growth.

In addition, studies underline that especially rapidly expanding cities through-out the world are experiencing escalating rates of violence and crime. This devel-opment is often driven by the socio-economic exclusion of large parts of urban society, remaining poverty and its spatial concentration in slums, limited access to basic urban services, especially in the densely populated areas, and poor prospects of social mobility. In other words: rapid urban growth without considerable invest-ment into basic public services and without guarantees that the most vulnerable urban groups can access these services tends to lead to higher rates of crime and violence.

mr. FranZ-b. marré, Head of Division Water, Energy, Urban Development, German Federal Ministry for

Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)


Urban crime and violence generate and sustain an environment of fear that threatens economic stability and social cohesion in cities. It disrupts public life, erodes the social capital of the poor, restricts their mobility and thus perpetuates poverty. In the absence of effective state systems, this tendency puts at risk our efforts to achieve sustainable economic development, increase the quality of urban life and promote the realisation of human rights – in short: it jeopardises develop-ment results that have already been achieved.

Addressing safety and security issues in cities is therefore an important way to ensure that development efforts are sustainable and that the most vulnerable com-munities are not being excluded from the benefits the urban transition has to offer.

CRIME AND VIOlENCE PREVENTION IN GERMANy’S DEVElOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS

Urban development partnerships as promoted by German development coopera-tion in some 54 countries worldwide have been increasingly confronted with these challenges. During recent years a considerable number of prevention strategies aimed at both reducing the vulnerability of particular poor urban households and sustaining the development efforts of local communities have been formulated and implemented.

These partnerships facilitate the development of capacities and resources in individuals, communities and institutions, enabling them to develop resilience in the face of risks. Apart from supporting rather traditional approaches that strengthen an effective and democratic justice system, we support integrated approaches to crime and violence prevention that combine social measures targeting the most vulnerable groups of residents, such as slum dwellers, youth and women, with situational approaches focusing on the built environment to reduce the risks of becoming a victim.

Within our technical development cooperation, we help local and central governments as well as local communities to develop appropriate institutional frameworks and the conditions that are needed to pursue participatory crime and violence prevention strategies. For example, the Strengthening local Governance Programme in South Africa, implemented by GTZ, has combined youth devel-opment, conflict management and safer living environments as part of a broader initiative to improve public administration and participation. In Colombia, Inwent - Capacity Building International, Germany is supporting violence and conflict affected population groups through vocational education and training in negotia-tion techniques and mediation approaches to conflicts.

Within German financial cooperation, the KfW Entwicklungsbank has effec-tively shown that area-based initiatives, such as Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading in Khayelitsha (Capetown), South Africa, can increase urban safety and improve the socio-economic situation of local communities in informal settlements

17mr. FranZ-b. marré | bmZ: GrEETInG anD THEmaTIC InTroDUCTIon

through the combination of social, institutional and distinct situational prevention measures in the built environment.

These development partnerships supported by the German Government reveal that there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution to creating sustainable and resilient cities. Successful prevention partnerships are dependent upon the existence of a dialogue with local communities and development partners about which approach is required and appropriate. Just as the vulnerabilities caused by crime and violence affect every level and aspect of society, achieving a sustainable and resilient urban community is a responsibility that must be shared by all institutions, services, groups and individuals.

Development partners have a pivotal role in coordinating and evaluating these activities, and in engaging key players. The ability to pool and analyse diverse information sources, identify and disseminate innovative tools and approaches and detect and respond to emerging trends is critical to success.

However, even though German development cooperation is increasingly addressing crime and violence prevention in its existing urban portfolio, we are so far looking at an early stage of an emerging policy field. Thus, there are a number of challenges and open questions that development partners encounter in their efforts to help establish and mainstream crime and violence prevention in urban development:

• How can integrated approaches be effectively mainstreamed in public service deliv-ery and scaled up?

• What is the appropriate combination of situational, social and institutional approaches to crime and violence prevention?


• What are the limitations of community-driven initiatives such as community policing when it comes to ensuring physical safety in neighbourhoods?

• How and to which extent can synergies between development concepts related to safety and security, such as local adaptation and city development strategies, be created?

• Is it feasible and reasonable to formulate programmes focusing exclusively on urban safety and security, or should these be integrated as cross-cutting issues in sectoral approaches?

WElCOMING THE SPEAKERS

It is therefore a pleasure to discuss with you and with this distinguished panel of highly renowned international development experts, scholars and government representatives the scope and constraints of current crime and violence prevention policies.

It is a great honour to welcome Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, State Minister of Women and Children Affairs in Bangladesh. With her longstanding career as an advocate in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, she is one of the leading experts on human rights and constitutional law as well as gender and human security issues in Bangladesh.

I would also like to warmly welcome Mr. Edín de Jesús Martínez, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Development in El Salvador and former director of FUNDASAl – a not-for-profit organisation which, since its founding in 1968 in San Salvador, has developed into a leading international player in the field of social housing for deprived slum residents.

It is a pleasure to have Ms. Nelly lester, Deputy Director General of the South African Department for Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs on the panel. With her experience in the coordination and management of integrated urban development programmes in South Africa, she will help us shed light on the development efforts and challenges in the implementation of integrated urban development approaches.

Finally, I would like to welcome Professor Caroline Moser, Director of the Global Urban Research Centre at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) and Senior Research Associate at the Overseas Development Institute in london, who will guide us through this session. Without her groundbreaking research and contributions, crime and violence would not have entered or remained on the agenda of multi- and bilateral development partners.

Again, on behalf of the German Government, I would like to thank you in advance for joining us today and I hope that you enjoy an engaging and lively debate.

19mr. EDín DE JESúS marTínEZ | El SalvaDor: CrImE anD vIolEnCE prEvEnTIon In InFormal SETTlEmEnTS

mr. EDín DE JESúS marTínEZ, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Housing and Urban Development, El Salvador, and former director of the foundation FUNDASAL (Fundación Salvadoreña de Desarrollo

y Vivienda Mínima/Salvadorian Foundation for Development and Social Housing).

4.2. EL SALVADoR: CRIME AND VIoLENCE PREVENTIoN IN INFoRMAL SETTLEMENTS

El Salvador is facing a critical housing situation. The poor population in the cities live mainly in illegal settlements and marginalised districts. These settlements not only lack basic infrastructure and are vulnerable to natural disasters; they are also adversely affected by social exclusion. They are hot spots of criminality and violence with comparatively high rates of murder, rape and domestic violence. A recent survey in El Salvador found that more than 40 percent of the population considers crime the biggest problem in the country, even before unemployment. POOR AND INFORMAl SETTlEMENTS ARE AFFECTED By A HIGH INCIDENCE OF VIOlENCE, MAINly RElATED TO GANG-RElATED CRIME Insecurity is often felt and rooted in the cities’ informal settlements. The presence of organised, often gang-related, crime such as drug trafficking and extortion com-bined with the incapability of security systems to be present at crucial times creates an environment of fear, hampering sustainable development.

The root causes of these developments in informal areas are social and spatial inequality and exclusion, including the lack of basic physical and social infrastruc-ture, such as sanitation, health, water, recreation and community centres as well as job opportunities, for the urban poor.

In El Salvador, public spaces, especially in precarious settlements, are not part of city management. This failure of city governments to prioritise the management of settlements and public spaces and the resulting degradation renders them unsafe for citizens and progressively increases the detachment of informal settlements from the formal city.

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Consequently, successful approaches to combating urban insecurity need to tackle these root causes of increasingly exclusive cities, not only with a focus on the situation within existing informal settlements but also through preventive mea-sures that take into account future urban growth. The aim must be to create more inclusive cities.

THE El SAlVADORIAN PROGRAMME: COMMUNITy SOlIDARITy – INTEGRATED IMPROVEMENT OF PRECARIOUS SETTlEMENTS

As part of a larger approach to tackling the challenge of poverty in times of financial and economic crisis, the Government of El Salvador has launched a state programme called Community Solidarity – Integrated Improvement of Precarious Settlements (Comunidades Solidarias – Mejoramiento Integral de Asentamientos Precarios).

The programme changes the conditions of violent habitats in poor and infor-mal settlements by tackling the lack of opportunities and offering alternatives to criminal activities. It aims to improve the quality of life of individuals, families and communities in the municipalities with the highest poverty and the most precarious urban settlements.

The Community Solidarity programme is coordinated by the Technical Secretary of the Presidency and the lead implementing organisation is the Social Investment Fund for local Development (FISDl), while the Vice Ministry of Housing and Urban Development cooperates, above all, in the area of slum upgrading.

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The institutions of the central government and the municipalities work hand in hand, applying a multi-level approach to reduce urban crime and violence and improve the living conditions of the urban poor. The programme follows an inte-grated approach, meaning that it not only combines infrastructure and social mea-sures but also aims to include the physical, social, political and institutional aspects of poor settlements and their inhabitants in the urban setting through sustainably strengthening the self-help potential of the marginalised population.

The approach of the programme includes the following main components: • Physical integration of poor and informal settlements into the urban environment is

achieved through construction and improvement of, or connection to, public infra-structure and basic services (such as water, sanitation and electricity), legalisation of land tenure, provision of credit financing for land purchase or housing situation improvements and amelioration of risk situations.

• Socio-economic integration is achieved by strengthening existing neighbourhood organisations and their self-help potential to improve their living conditions; creat-ing youth and leisure facilities; conducting community work as well as community activities emphasising youth involvement; training women and facilitating connec-tions to formal markets.

• Political and institutional integration is achieved by introducing and consolidating legitimate, elected structures in the neighbourhoods and ensuring citizenship, with rights and obligations, for marginalised slum residents, whose elected representa-tives engage in political processes with local authorities. This will strengthen their capacity to negotiate with representatives of the government and enable community participation in local planning and policy development.

These measures will be implemented in 43 municipalities of the country that are characterised by precarious urban settlements. Already since October 2009, pilots have been launched in the municipalities of Ahuachapán in the department of Ahuachapán and San Martín, one of 14 municipalities which comprise the met-ropolitan area of the capital city, San Salvador. Full implementation will start in 2010, first targeting urban settlements in 15 municipalities with high rates of poverty and violence. It is expected that by 2014, 81,300 families will have ben-efited from the interventions in urban areas.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVATE INITIATIVES

In addition to public-sector-led programmes, citizens haves started private initia-tives, such as development centres for children of street sellers or solidarity banks for mothers, focusing on productive and income generating activities that target national and international markets. Additionally, various church programmes are

mr. EDín DE JESúS marTínEZ | El SalvaDor: CrImE anD vIolEnCE prEvEnTIon In InFormal SETTlEmEnTS

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working to reduce crime and violence. Good examples include programmes at the parochial level that focus on recovering youth involved in gangs, such as Adiós Tatuajes (farewell tattoos) in the municipality of Mejicanos.

In the future, it will be important to consolidate private initiatives as well as programmes and policies that seek to improve the situation in precarious settle-ments by recovering public space with a focus on children and youth and by direct-ing funds to the rehabilitation of informal settlements and the creation of tenure security. It is therefore necessary to replicate and upscale successful approaches and pilots in order to inject the gained knowledge into national policy processes and thus enable institutional learning.

INTERNATIONAl DEVElOPMENT COOPERATION – HOW IT CAN HElP

On the one hand, development partners can provide advisory services on the pol-icy level and promote the policies that are in place. On the other hand, they can contribute to the operationalisation of domestic programmes on the sub-national levels in an aligned and coordinated manner as required by the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action in order to avoid disperse action.

Thus, the support programmes of development partners need to take a multi-level approach, incorporating the local, regional and national levels, as well as all relevant actors.

SAlVADORIAN-GERMAN DEVElOPMENT COOPERATION

Germany and El Salvador have a longstanding history of development coop-eration in the field of informal settlement upgrading and crime and violence prevention. Currently, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the KfW Entwicklungsbank is financing a slum rehabilitation programme that is tackling the root causes of urban crime and violence. The programme is being implemented by the Salvadorian founda-tion FUNDASAl, an NGO with more than 40 years of experience. The pro-gramme operates at the local level, promoting physical, socio-economic, political and institutional integration and thus helping to implement the objectives of the Salvadorian Government.

The total cost of the programme amounts to approximately EUR 10.4 million, of which a maximum of 77 percent will be provided by German financial coop-eration (EUR 8.03 million); own contributions of the Salvadorian partners will constitute at least 23 percent.

Urban (In)SECUrITy – nETWorKInG EvEnT oF GErman DEvElopmEnT CoopEraTIon

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mS. nEllIE lESTEr, Deputy Director General, Department for Cooperative Governance &

Traditional Affairs, South Africa

4.3. SoUTH AFRICA: THE CHALLENGE oF CRIME AND VIoLENCE IN URBAN AREAS/ URBAN yoUTH, CRIME AND VIoLENCE – THE THREAT AND THE WAy FoRWARD

In South Africa, the townships developed over six unique historical periods defined by government interventions and their impact.

The township transformation timeline provides an under-

standing of the emergence of townships from the early

1900s to the 2000s and the various influences over time.

mS. nEllIE lESTEr | SoUTH aFrICa: THE CHallEnGE oF CrImE anD vIolEnCE

1900 – 1922

early segregation

1923 – 1947

segregationconsolidation

1948 – 1975

apartheid

1976 – 1993

apartheiddismantleld

1994 – 2004

administrativeIntegration

2005 – 2009

towards acompact city

1923 land act – national legisla-tion that segrega-ted townships

Emergence Adoption Control Resistance Upgrading Inclusion

Impact on townships

1945 national party comes into power

1976 Soweto riots commencing mass resistance

1994 First demo-cratic elections

Ten years of democratic rule

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SOUTH AFRICA’S TOWNSHIPS SINCE 1994

Today, some forty percent of all households in South Africa (4.6 million) and half of all metropolitan households (2.7 million) live in townships. However, since South Africa’s democratic elections of 1994, conditions in the urban townships have only marginally improved.

In the same period, incomes of households in townships generally remained static and failed to increase in line with overall national trends. For example, between 1996 and 2004, the average income of households in Soweto grew very slowly com-pared to the average incomes of Gauteng and overall South Africa, and especially compared to Johannesburg. While in 1996 the average income in Johannesburg was about 2.5 times higher than in Soweto, in 2004 it was nearly 4 times as high.

CoNDITIoNS IN METRoPoLITAN ToWNSHIPS oVER 10 yEARS (1996 To 2007): • Households in formal housing – marginal change (61% to 63%) • Percentage of households in informal housing – significantly

worse (28% to 37%)• Percentage of households with access to services: ›› Piped water – significant improvement (80% to 98%) ›› Electricity for lighting – moderate improvement (71% to 80%) ›› Refuse removed weekly – decrease in access (83% to 80%) ›› VIP toilet or better – decrease in access (88% to 82%)


25

Thus, households in townships are relatively poorer and have only limited access to services. Furthermore, regional instability in the recent past has resulted in a population increase due to new migrants (refugees/asylum seekers) largely in rundown, inner city pockets. As a result of the lack of basic services and growing inequality, increasing crime in urban areas has become a crucial factor hindering economic development and impacting negatively on the living conditions of the population, particularly those living in previously disadvantaged areas.

IN RETROSPECTIVE – lESSONS lEARNED

Since 1994, the government has started several initiatives with the aim of improv-ing the living conditions of the urban poor and reducing crime rates in urban areas. They all provided valuable lessons for future programmes:

• Although township initiatives have been undertaken since 1994, coherent, enforce-able physical planning and integration of townships into the broader city have been lacking.

• The failure to align township transformation interventions with current urban spa-tial frameworks and development has limited the impact of these initiatives.

• Inclusive urban development strategies that regard the city as a holistic system serv-ing all citizens rather than the privileged few are needed.

• City growth and public investment priorities need to be guided by citizens’ needs and not only by the interest of private developers.

• Interventions in townships should also focus on public space and social amenities design and management to visibly improve the public environment presently charac-terised by neglect.

CONTEMPORARy URBAN DEVElOPMENT STRATEGIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

As we know, crime and violence tend to find breeding ground in neglected urban environments. However, if townships can be turned into places of hope rather than incubators of crime, they can become an integral part of progressive and inclusive urban regeneration and economic vibrancy. Crime prevention efforts are clearly part of such a transformation, not only because the cost of policing can be exorbitant.

Today, the South African Government is committed to urban integration and to addressing the needs of households in informal settlements. To achieve these ends, it is essential to position townships and informal settlements centrally in urban policy debates and priority-setting processes. Further, adequate land-use management tools need to be applied in order to ensure accelerated inclusion of

mS. nEllIE lESTEr | SoUTH aFrICa: THE CHallEnGE oF CrImE anD vIolEnCE

26

previously segregated areas. Townships/informal areas posses human, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets that need to be harnessed in the process of transformation towards safer cities.

SOUTH AFRICAN-GERMAN DEVElOPMENT COOPERATION

For many years, South Africa and Germany have been working hand in hand in the field of socially inclusive urban development and crime and violence reduction. South African-German development cooperation supports various government and non-government partners on the local, as well as the provincial and national levels, thus pursuing a multi-level, multi-sectoral approach.

The support of both German technical and financial cooperation, aligned with South African domestic policies in the field of urban development and crime and violence prevention, has helped the national and local governments to significantly reduce violence and crime in targeted urban areas.

Through technical cooperation measures such as policy advisory services on innovative approaches that combine measures for youth development, conflict management and safer living environments, Germany has helped enable local stakeholders to develop community based solutions for conflict management and crime prevention. A good example is the Peace and Development Promotion com-ponent of the South African-German development programme Strengthening local Governance.

The South African-German financial cooperation programme Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) in Khayelitsha (a township near Cape Town suffering from socio-economic, institutional, cultural and spatial exclu-sion and high levels of crime) has helped to drastically decrease the level of priority crime (robbery, murder, rape) in the targeted urban areas.

These initiatives effectively demonstrate that a combination of social, insti-tutional and pronounced situational prevention measures in the built-up envi-ronment, so-called safe node areas, can increase urban safety and improve the socio-economic situation of local communities in informal settlements.

vpUU target site: before and after the programme’s intervention.

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Dr. SHIrIn SHarmIn CHaUDHUry, State Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Women and

Children Affairs, Bangladesh

4.4. BANGLADESH: SAFER CITIES FoR VULNERABLE GRoUPS – VIoLENCE AND CRIME PREVENTIoN FoR THE URBAN PooR AND WoMEN

From the time of its independence in 1971, Bangladesh has moved steadily forward to legally guarantee equal rights for women and protect women from discrimination and violence. Further, the continual promotion of legal and social empowerment of women has worked to enable women to increasingly access their rights through the formal and informal justice systems.

In practice, however, it has proven very difficult to implement commitments to full gender equality. Women are the most frequent victims of crime, including domestic violence and human trafficking, in Bangladesh’s urban areas.

Because the police are still perceived as an institution that violates human rights and is biased against women, rather than an institution that upholds the law and protects human rights, women rarely approach the police for assistance.

GENDER RESPONSIVE COMMUNITy BASED POlICING

One of the approaches the Government of Bangladesh supports to further women’s access to formal and informal justice systems is gender responsive community based policing. It is a relatively new concept in Bangladesh, presently being explored in some regions by the Bangladesh Police, NGOs and community based organisations.

Gender responsive community based policing is both a philosophy and a strategy to creatively address community needs and prevent and address crime and violence, particularly against women.

Firstly, while traditional police interventions focus on the criminal, community based policing considers the criminal, the victim and the place. Knowledge of the environment and the people who are vulnerable to urban crime and violence is utilised to improve crime and violence prevention measures (for example, cutting down bushes where men hid to harass and attack women).

Dr. SHIrIn SHarmIn CHaUDHUry | banGlaDESH: SaFEr CITIES For vUlnErablE GroUpS

28

Therefore, secondly, the approach aims to build trust between local communi-ties and the police through institutionalising interaction between the police and the community on the local level.

Transforming traditional policing – trust building through community policing forums.

Mechanisms of consultation between the police and communities, so-called community policing forums, have been established. These forums are utilised to identify and resolve problems, establish security at the local level and, above all, prevent crime through identifying intervention areas before crimes are commit-ted. Further, community policing forums open up space for articulating critical women’s issues in order to build awareness. Through increased women’s participa-tion in decision making and local governance processes in community policing forums, gender responsive community based policing promotes the legal and social empowerment of women.


TranSFormInG TraDITIonal polICInG

Area for mistrust

Community policing forums

CommUnITy polICE

29

bottom-up and top-down mechanisms of gender responsive community based policing in a multi-level

governance system.

The approach ensures that all proposals complement existing work and are under-taken in consultation with the Bangladesh Police, who have the legal responsibility and authority for policing in Bangladesh; their primacy is always respected.

Dr. SHIrIn SHarmIn CHaUDHUry | banGlaDESH: SaFEr CITIES For vUlnErablE GroUpS

loca

l le

vel

natio

nal

leve

l

Increased participation of women in decision making and local governance processes

Creating demand through successful crime reduction

Community and women accept women´s prob-lems as community problems

moWCa and moHa support Cbp strategy, police allocate resources

Community based policing creates a space to discuss women´s issues and problems

Citizens’ faith in the possibility of reform is increased

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IMPlEMENTING GENDER RESPONSIVE COMMUNITy BASED POlICING THROUGHOUT BANGlADESH

The sheer scale of the task is daunting: newly formed community forums, poten-tially involving hundreds of thousands of people, must be given information about their new role and must be helped to carry it out effectively.

In the course of introducing gender responsive community based policing, a group including government officials, representatives of the Bangladesh Police, NGOs and communities undertook study tours to the United Kingdom and Nepal. While the many differences between the countries were recognised, participants returned with valuable lessons for the Bangladesh context. The most basic was that the two groups, police and community, can establish mechanisms to operate in ways that may have been alien in the past.

This all requires trust building activities in order to initiate interaction between communities and the police. For example, after joint activities such as football matches, quizzes or bicycle races, community participants stated that their percep-tion of the police had changed for the better. Furthermore, enabling the com-munity policing forums to carry out their role effectively and sustainably requires extensive skill training and knowledge transfer.

Given the positive results among the implementing communities, the approach is increasingly recognised as a good practice, and today organic dissemination of the approach is occurring through spill-over effects – neighbouring communities recognise the success and ask the police to replicate the model where they live.

BANGlADESHI-GERMAN DEVElOPMENT COOPERATION

Through the technical cooperation programme legal and Social Empowerment of Women and its work on gender responsive community based policing, Bangladeshi-German development cooperation is helping women in Bangladesh to increasingly access their rights through the formal and informal justice systems.

In the course of joint promotion of gender responsive community based polic-ing to date, 160 wards in 4 districts with a population of 700,000 people have been reached. These experiences, best practices, new concepts and innovative approaches will be shared with high ranking police officials and delegations from the neigh-bouring SAARC countries.


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4.5. IS A SoCIALLy INCLUSIVE CITy A SAFER CITy? – A MoDERATED DEBATE AMoNG THE SPEAKERS, THE DISCUSSANT AND THE AUDIENCE

In addition to the previous presenters, Mr. Joachim Prey, Deputy Director General, Planning and Development Department, GTZ, as well as Mr. Horst Schwörer, Division Chief, Sector and Policy Division Urban Development, KfW, joined the debate.

proF. CarolInE moSEr, who served as the moderator and a discussant throughout the networking event, opened up the debate, again encouraging the participants and the audience to put forward provocative ideas and suggestions. Referring to her well-known academic work, she highlighted that it is important to differenti-ate between different types of violence, such as institutional violence, financial violence and social violence – all requiring different kinds of responses. Further, she underlined a key finding of the previous presentations: the issue of crime and violence prevention in urban areas must be approached in a holistic manner.

mr. JoaCHIm prEy reminded the audience of the multitude of instruments avail-able to improve urban safety, exceeding the scope of this networking event. He underlined the crucial role of capable local governments, which are closer to the issue than national governments. He observed that successful approaches are usually characterised by the inclusion of civil society, community based organisa-tions and the private sector. Such inclusive and integrated governance approaches require targeted capacity development for all involved stakeholders. However, he also critically pointed to the frequently lacking political will of governments to approach the issue of urban crime and violence and its root causes in an integrated way. He closed his argument by reminding the audience that all examples given in the course of the event included the police and that there is an overarching need for local governments, urban planners and civil society organisations dealing with the issue of urban safety to work towards and maintain tight cooperation with the security sector, meaning the police forces and judicial systems.

mr. HorST SCHWörEr highlighted the role of institutional crime. In this context, he pointed to the example of private sector companies that pollute water resources, soil or settlements, primarily affecting the poorest city dwellers, often in peri-urban areas. Such crimes further reduce the living conditions of the urban poor and contribute to the process whereby deprived young people are driven into criminal activities. The answer is not only to tackle institutional crime, but also to improve the living conditions of the urban poor by improving shelter, transport,

IS a SoCIally InClUSIvE CITy a SaFEr CITy?

32

basic services and community infrastructure in order to reduce their overall vulner-ability. However, such urban development measures to promote social inclusion require that governments improve public finance systems as well as urban infra-structure financing on the local, regional and national levels – a crucial, but often neglected issue.

mr. EDín DE JESúS marTínEZ reminded the audience of the difficulties of integrat-ing prevention and repression as two aspects of crime and violence mitigation in urban areas. In response to the audience, he addressed the big challenge of organised crime in El Salvador’s cities and the difficult task of the police and local governments as well as the national government to deal with it. In this context, also the sometimes harsh responses of the police, for example, against organised crime, were openly discussed. Finally, he once more underlined the crucial role of economic opportunities for the urban poor and especially youth as an alternative to criminal activities, making it necessary to also focus on local economic develop-ment in poorer urban areas.

mS. nEllIE lESTEr underlined that making cities inclusive requires dealing with the city as a whole, even if crime and violence are limited to certain areas or districts. However, townships and informal settlements do indeed need special attention, including preventive measures, which have regularly been underused in the past. In this context, the root causes such as lacking public services and infrastructure, including educational institutions, need to be targeted. Neglected spaces in townships can be enhanced through partnerships for community utilisa-tion, creating ownership and pride. She emphasised that local governments need to include and cooperate with local communities, also to better prioritise the use of resources available for crime and violence prevention – in short: solutions need to be derived from people’s needs and not only from what governments think is right. Summing up, she made clear that in order to make cities safer, improvements in basic and social infrastructure and in inclusive urban governance led by capable local governments are needed.

Dr. SHIrIn SHarmIn CHaUDHUry pointed to the need to continuously design new strategies in order to creatively respond to community needs and prevent and address crime and violence, particularly against women. In this regard, she once more emphasised that the traditional focus on the criminal is one dimensional. Additional consideration of the victims’ perspectives and the urban setting is key to increasing the impact of preventive measures. While such innovative strategies are usually piloted by communities and local governments, adequate mechanisms and communication channels to inject newly gained knowledge into national


33

policy processes are needed. In other words, mainstreaming and up-scaling suc-cessful pilots and good practices is a must. This requires constant improvement of domestic multi-level governance systems. mr. FranZ-b. marré concluded the session by once more highlighting the follow-ing valuable lessons: 1) include communities and community based organisations in urban development through more communication and partnerships and less corruption on all levels of the state; 2) actively address urban crime and violence in an inclusive and integrated way in collaboration with the police; 3) consider the criminals, victims and places in equal measure; 4) do not neglect institutional vio-lence or the need for good (local) governance and working public administrations; 5) understand that access to basic services and the provision of economic opportu-nities, especially for urban young people, means less violence and vice versa.

He ended by reminding the audience that while traditional policing is necessary, prevention is equally important and means dealing with the root causes of urban crime and violence. Only when both sets of instruments are used will there be a sustainable reduction of urban insecurity.

IS a SoCIally InClUSIvE CITy a SaFEr CITy?

34 ForEWorD

5. CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT - bmZ SIDE EvEnT In CoopEraTIon WITH THE CITIES allIanCE

35

In many countries, local governments are playing an increasing role in the debate on state structure and state building. This leads to – sometimes difficult – nego-tiation processes among local, regional and national authorities about financial allocations and delegated tasks and responsibilities.

National governments formulate the legal, political and institutional frame-work to which local government authorities are bound. local governments’ options to fill out and concretise that framework vary according to the existing level of decentralisation and subsidiarity.

However, the question then arises: how broad and open to local self-gover-nance must the design of a legal, political and institutional framework be to allow local governments to respond adequately – and in conformity with local capacities and conditions – to today’s urban development challenges?

On March 24, 2010, the Cities Alliance (CA) together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) hosted a side event on City Development: The Role of National Government. In addition to the CA and BMZ, representatives of the Ministry of local Administration, Syria and the Urban and Regional Development Institute, Indonesia were invited to join the panel. The side event provided the opportunity to discuss ways in which national and local governments in various countries address the need for freedom of action. More than 100 people participated in the event and contributed to the lively discussion.

Ms. Carolin Bender moderated the side event. Ms. Bender is Policy Advisor on Urban Development at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH. She is currently seconded to the Division Water, Energy, Urban Development in the BMZ. The following pages depict the side event: • THEMATIC INTRoDUCTIoN By mS. CarolIn bEnDEr, Policy Advisor on Urban

Development, GTZ • WELCoME AND oPENING STATEMENT By mr. FranZ-b. marré, Head of the Division

Water, Energy, Urban Development, BMZ • WELCoME AND oPENING STATEMENT By mr. WIllIam CobbETT, Programme

Manager, Cities Alliance • oPENING STATEMENT By mr. SaDEK abo WaTFa, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Local

Administration, Syria • oPENING STATEMENT By mr. WaHyU mUlyana, Network Development Director,

Urban and Regional Development Institute, Indonesia • SUMMARy of the open debate among panellists and the audience • CoNCLUDING statements by the panellists.

CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

36

mS. CarolIn bEnDEr, Policy Advisory Services on Urban Development, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

5.1. MoDERAToR: GREETING AND THEMATIC

INTRoDUCTIoN

Distinguished delegates, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Cities Alliance, I have the honour of welcoming you to the side event City Development – The Role of National Government.

Urban tasks today are manifold and are derived not only from the local level, but also from the national and international levels.

Global challenges like climate change, poverty and hunger are addressed by internationally agreed concepts, strategies and programmes, foremost the Millennium Development Goals, the Paris Declaration/Accra Agenda for Action and the Agenda 21. However, these international concepts and programmes must be dealt with and implemented primarily at the local level.

Furthermore, in addition to the trickle-down impact of international and national programmes at the local level, major tasks are derived directly from local needs, goals, circumstances and challenges such as local migration, rapid urban growth, increasing urban poverty, inadequate housing, poor education, deficient health services, insufficient transport and relentless regional economic competition.

Thus, the local level bears a particular responsibility to find solutions to today’s problems. A strategic urban development plan helps cities use their potential to design and implement sustainable solutions. It is a tool that local governments can employ to delineate short-term action and long-term concepts, and to adapt both to a strategic overall development goal. At best, a strategic urban development plan is aligned with internationally agreed programmes and national policies.


37mS. CarolIn bEnDEr | moDEraTor: GrEETInG anD THEmaTIC InTroDUCTIon

yet in order to adequately respond to this challenge, cities need a certain degree of freedom to take decisions, control processes, allocate budgets and design implementation. National governments, however, specify the extent to which local governments are assigned responsibilities, tasks and resources and can act as self-governing authorities. Thus, the central government designs the corridor for freedom of action, which requires a set of policy guidelines from the national level, including rules for transparency and participation, as a basis.

Decisive are, on the one hand, the actual level of decentralisation and the capacity to design conducive policy guidelines at the national level and, on the other hand, the capacity at the local level to execute delegated tasks and responsibilities.

I am looking forward to discussing the scope, opportunities and challenges of national support for city development with our four distinguished panellists:

It is a great honour to welcome Mr. Wahyu Mulyana, the Director for Network Development at the Urban and Regional Development Institute in Jakarta, Indonesia. Especially through his work on local development planning and partici-patory community action planning, Mr. Mulyana has gained profound knowledge and insight regarding obstacles to and opportunities for participation and self governance.

It is a great pleasure to have Mr. Sadek Abo Watfa, the Deputy Minister of local Administration for Technical Affairs in Syria, on the panel. Mr. Abo Watfa previously worked as an engineer in the water and wastewater sector before he became the Director for Sanitary Engineering in the Ministry of Construction and Utilities in Syria.

I would like to warmly welcome Mr. William Cobbett, who is co-hosting this event. Mr. Cobbett served as National Coordinator of the Department of local and Regional Government and Housing in South Africa, and later was appointed Director General of the National Department of Housing. Mr. Cobbett joined Cities Alliance in 2001 and became Programme Manager of the Cities Alliance in 2006.

Finally, I would like to welcome Mr. Franz-B. Marré. Mr. Marré has been working at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development for more than 20 years. He held various positions in the ministry and was also seconded to the Inter-American Development Bank and the German Foreign Office in Pretoria, South Africa. Since January 2007, Mr. Marré has been Head of the Division Water, Energy, Urban Development.

And a very warm welcome to all of you. Thank you for joining us today.


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mr. FranZ-b. marré, Head of Division Water, Energy, Urban Development, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

5.2. BMZ: WELCoME AND oPENING STATEMENT

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, I would like to welcome you and the panel to this event.

It is a pleasure to see that our long-term partnership with the Cities Alliance is embedded in such a constant, constructive and fruitful dialogue on sustainable urban development strategies. The World Urban Forum and similar events not only contribute to our own work to improve the living conditions of poor urban dwell-ers; they also decisively strengthen the international urban dialogue that we need as we face the urban millennium.

Before we head into the discussion, I would like to highlight why we need stronger support of local governments, but also a distinct division of labour between national governments and civil society for effective city development strategies.

The current process of urbanisation and urban growth we are facing offers a unique window of opportunity for developing new economic and social develop-ment paths and spaces for democratisation. The course and the outcome of the urbanisation process will be decisive for seizing new economic opportunities and promoting the social mobility of future generations.

Of course, we are all aware of the challenges of this urban transition: the rising demand for urban services, the vulnerability of urban dwellers to the new risks of climate change and the increasing urban crime and violence, just to mention a few. However, we have also witnessed a number of countries that have strategically used this urban transition for overall national economic growth. Focusing on these remarkable examples gives us an idea how and to which extent central govern-ments are able to promote an explicit urban development strategy that benefits the national economy.

Quite a few central governments, for example, those of Thailand, the Philippines, India, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia and China, have been


39

concentrating more attention and resources on the development of particular growth regions and cities. In many cases, this city growth has led to impressive national economic growth. However, as studies underline, the benefits of this urban transition have not been shared by all members of society. At the moment, even in those countries that have benefited the most from urbanisation, for example, China, increasing rural-urban and intra-city disparities are being noted.

‘Bridging the Urban Divide’ must indeed be taken very seriously in designing and implementing effective city development strategies. Without developing an institutional framework for sustainable development and good governance shared and fostered by all levels of the state in cooperation with civil society and the private sector, this historic opportunity of urbanisation and urban growth cannot be seized.

It is of particular importance to seek partnerships at all levels of the state. We, as development partners, have a pivotal role in coordinating our efforts and evaluating these activities, and in engaging key players. Our ability to pool and analyse diverse information sources, identify and disseminate innovative tools and approaches, and detect and respond to emerging trends is critical to success.

To summarise, as urbanisation and the spatial and social disparities within new emerging cities are now consolidating, the window of opportunity offered by the urban transition that we are currently witnessing is about to close. We will miss it if we do not help develop the institutions, capacities and services at all state levels to manage these urban growth processes.

A city development strategy (CDS) as promoted by the Cities Alliance is an appropriate and feasible tool with which to promote equitable growth in cities and their surrounding regions and to improve the quality of life. However, after identifying the capacity needs of cities, we must foster partnerships that guide the scaling-up of CDS approaches. We need to think about strategies that encourage national governments to create enabling frameworks for pro-poor urban develop-ment and good governance in which city development strategies are embedded. The success of city development strategies clearly depends on supportive institutional environments at the local, regional and national levels.

mr. FranZ-b. marré | bmZ: WElComE anD opEnInG STaTEmEnT CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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mr. WIllIam CobbETT, Programme Manager, Cities Alliance

5.3. CITIES ALLIANCE: WELCoME AND oPENING STATEMENT

On behalf of the Cities Alliance, I would like to welcome you to this event, especially our two panellists from the Urban and Regional Development Institute, Indonesia and the Ministry of local Administration, Syria. The relation between national and local governments is indeed a decisive parameter for efficient urban development processes. And the high number of participants in this side event today shows that there is enormous interest in discussing this issue.

Globalisation, democratisation and urbanisation are the major trends our world is facing today. Mayors in cities worldwide have to deal with the conse-quences and challenges these trends entail and bring to their cities.

The cooperation between national and sub-national governments is an impor-tant determinant which influences the extent to which cities can respond properly to these challenges. Against this background, I want to stress two significant aspects in the relation between the national and sub-national levels: • IMBALANCED RECoGNITIoN oF CITIES By NATIoNAL GoVERNMENTS:

Since problems and challenges as well as options and opportunities, for example, for economic growth are more obvious in primary cities, national governments seem to pay greater attention to these cities. Often, secondary and tertiary cities are excluded from the urban debate. This easily leads to a discrepancy between national policies, on one side, and actual needs and capacities of small poor cities with weak infra-structure, on the other side – a discrepancy which may result in a disequilibria in the distribution of resources and in a misallocation of functions among the various governmental levels.


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• MARGINAL RECoGNITIoN oF THE PRINCIPLE oF SUBSIDIARITy: National governments take decisions and establish policies which affect the local level. However, they do this often without consulting local governments or without gathering information from the local level. Too often local governments are con-sidered inferior to national governments, who seem to ignore the fact that the local situation is best known by the local government and that solutions are best devel-oped by affected local governments themselves. This attitude needs to be rethought and this asymmetric approach needs to be revised. Good governance can be most successful when tasks and responsibilities are distributed to different governmental levels, with each level fulfilling its specific function. This principle of subsidiarity is decisive.

The dialogue on equal footing between various governmental levels is indeed a challenge; yet, it is necessary in order to take informed decisions and find feasible and sustainable solutions.

The federal government of the USA, for instance, has been showing little interest in climate change and urban adaption and mitigation strategies. yet, local governments re-launched the debate for municipalities and initiated respective programmes. Even though concrete strategies to address climate change might dif-fer from one city to the other, the impetus stimulated the debate on general urban approaches to climate change at the national level.

Policy makers at all levels need to accept that cities may respond differently to urban challenges even though the challenges may be the same, and that this diver-sity is fruitful for mutual learning – from city to city and from the local level to the national level.

However, the question remains: how would the appropriate relation between national and sub-national government be defined and how would the appropriate allocation of powers be determined?

Definitely, national governments should empower local governments and assign them the needed resources and responsibilities. This includes the national promotion of local governments’ accountability to their citizens in addition to accountability to the national government. Moreover, national support is needed to stimulate consistent urban policy making with long-term perspectives and programmes.

More freedom for action at the local level and a national dialogue on local self-governance is essential if we want our cities to improve their performance and provide adequate living and working conditions for all.

mr. WIllIam CobbETT | CITIES allIanCE: WElComE anD opEnInG STaTEmEnT CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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mr. SaDEK abo WaTFa, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Local Administration, Syria

5.4. SyRIA: THE WAy FoRWARD IN SyRIAN CITIES

Syrian cities are rapidly changing. The urban population in Syria exceeds 50 percent and 10 million inhabitants and will continue to increase. All urban areas face a number of challenges, such as spreading unauthorised informal settlements, increasing housing demand and a prevalent, strong centralistic government system, which provides a high level of security, but limits initiatives of local governments. However, besides challenges, Syrian cities also have essential strengths: mixture of uses, density of built-up areas, short distances, mixture of social classes and income groups and an urban fabric and physical identity.

Opportunities and risks are a part of urban change and it is difficult to tell whether trends are heading in a positive or in a negative direction.


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Syria pursues its development policy based on five-year plans. The recent Five-year Plan 2006-2010 includes, for the first time, a chapter on sustainable urban development. This is an accomplishment; however, we reached the targets of only about 50 percent of the indicators, and the impact of the efforts on sustainable urban development has not yet been measured properly.

With the support of the Programme for Sustainable Urban Development, which is sponsored by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and conducted by my Ministry of local Administration jointly with GTZ, the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) and the German Development Service (DED), we decided to launch a national urban development strategy. This strategy serves a variety of purposes such as prepar-ing the government, the cities, the private and public sectors, the citizens and the officials for the challenges in the urban sector, making Syria’s urban sector more competitive throughout the region and internationally and promoting a joint understanding of necessary reforms at the central and local level, for example, with respect to the financial situation of cities or urban infrastructure maintenance.

In a climate of change and reform as experienced in Syria, the principle of subsidiarity needs to be introduced in a stepwise process, and responsibilities have to be shared by many. Urban development is not the responsibility of the central government alone, but also of citizens, businesses and public authorities at the local level. Our commitment to cities and communities must grow to the same degree as our demand for their contributions to change.

What can the central government do to induce our cities to contribute to economic growth, environmental improvement and social justice? How can public authorities ensure the provision of adequate public services in line with the priori-ties of the citizens, economic priorities and the cities’ potentials? What is the role of the state, the governorates, the cities, the private economy and civil society?

The Ministry of local Administration, together with Syrian cities, worked on the answers to these questions in a process which lasted for one and a half years. A policy was developed in a stepwise process in different phases. The elaboration of the policy can be seen as an ideal process of horizontal and vertical integra-tion: horizontal because a number of line ministries and stakeholders at all levels were involved in the drafting process; and vertical because the ministry involved a wide range of Syrian cities. Together with representatives of 16 selected cities and the support of German development cooperation, we drafted the National Urban Development Strategy, which was later finalised with the active contribution of 109 Syrian mayors during an international conference.

This memorandum introduces the question of the ‘ownership of urban devel-opment policies’ and encourages a discussion amongst different government levels and amongst public and private sectors on strategies, key activities and investment priorities. A long road still lies ahead of us, and I hope that a large number of actors will contribute to this important project.

mr. SaDEK abo WaTFa | SyrIa: THE Way ForWarD In SyrIan CITIES CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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mr. WaHyU mUlyana, Network Development Director, Urban and Regional Development Institute, Indonesia

5.5. INDoNESIA: BETWEEN DECENTRALISATIoN AND LoCAL SELF-GoVERNANCE

In order to discuss local self-governance in Indonesia, we have to take a look at the decentralisation process, which celebrated its tenth birthday last year.

After President Soeharto fell from power in 1998, the new Indonesian govern-ment started a profound political and administrative decentralisation process in 1999, which was made effective on January 1, 2001. The so-called big bang decen-tralisation intended to bring about greater local autonomy by transferring service functions and balancing fiscal transfers to the municipalities.

Thus, the process commenced with law 22/1999 on Regional Government and law 25/1999 on Fiscal Balance between the Central Government and the Regions. Nearly all public tasks were transferred to local governments, together with about 16,000 institutions which were up to then administered by the central government. Furthermore, transferred funds were not earmarked, so that local gov-ernments could allocate them according to new tasks and responsibilities.

In fact, the two laws needed to be integrated and closely aligned, but they were designed separately by different ministries, the Ministry of Home Affairs (law 22/1999) and the Ministry of Finance (law 25/1999).

Although the decentralisation laws were revised in 2004, fiscal and administra-tive decentralisation still remains, to a large extent, disparate. This results in ongo-ing incoherence between the financial resources being transferred to the local level and the required service delivery.

Furthermore, the general legal framework still lacks coherence among decen-tralisation laws and other legislative statutes, for example, regulations for various public service sectors. The recent law on Central and local Fiscal Balance, for instance, does not match with regulations and laws on responsibilities at different governmental levels. This produces a massive discordance in the allocation and


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distribution of functions among the national, provincial and local levels and causes a lack in coordination among key government authorities.

Although today the central government of Indonesia is trying to be more responsive to difficulties at the local level, the debate about the concrete realisa-tion and implementation of local self-governance is ongoing. The discrepancy between actual capacities and needs at the local level, on one hand, and national policy formulation, on the other hand, still remains. Thus, national strategies and policies should actually be developed in a participatory way that involves key local players. The integration of local knowledge about constraints and needs would to some extent ensure the feasibility and the sustainable implementation of national policies.

Fortunately, besides requiring improvements, the decentralisation process also provides for expanded local autonomy. Several local governments have been able to use this and have successfully introduced innovative management instruments. However, many local governments face problems in implementing even basic gov-ernment services. This is due to limited financial, technical and managerial capaci-ties, but also to indistinct national regulations.

Urban development has become a crucial issue, which in a decentralised system of governance needs to be addressed by local governments. It is essential to have a national urban policy which is aligned with the decentralisation laws and which is then legally binding in order to secure its proper implementation. Furthermore, a more precise legal framework, institutionalised mechanisms, for example, to mea-sure performance or for monitoring and evaluation, are needed. This would oblige and at the same time encourage local governments to plan, implement and monitor an urban strategy self-responsibly and self-reliantly.

Improved service delivery, functioning urban management and sustainable urban development can only be achieved if the decentralised system provides a clear national legal framework that a) must be adhered to at all government levels and b) equips local governments with adequate resources and legal rights for self-governance. This balance between central guidelines and local interpretation and implementation is a difficult process that requires continuous negotiation among all governmental levels.

mr. WaHyU mUlyana | InDonESIa: bETWEEn DECEnTralISaTIon anD loCal SElF-GovErnanCECITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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5.6. AN oPEN DEBATE: HoW MUCH FREEDoM FoR LoCAL SELF-GoVERNANCE IS NEEDED? WHERE ARE THE LIMITS?

After thanking the speakers for their opening statements, the moderator, Ms. Carolin Bender, opened the debate to the audience and the panellists by juxta-posing two provocative positions: On the one hand there are those who demand freedom to act for local governments and who postulate that ‘the more freedom for action for local government, the better.’ On the other hand, it has been said that ‘urban development is too important to be left to mayors.’ The participants were invited to share their opinions and experience and to position themselves with respect to the two opposing approaches. Ms. Bender raised two further guiding questions for the discussion: Which legal framework is conducive for urban devel-opment and which national policy guidelines are needed? To which extent do local governments need freedom to act?

mr. SaDEK abo WaTFa pointed out that after decades of control by the central gov-ernment, Syrian cities today are encouraged to focus on their individual strengths.


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This requires freedom to decide locally according to local demands and abilities. yet, the central government must provide adequate legal and financial framework conditions. Thus, the ministry has launched a new local government law to reor-ganise the financing of local authorities and a new urban planning law to facilitate planning procedures. Moreover, until a Syrian cities network is set up, it is the ministry’s task to measure the progress in urban development.

mr. WaHyU mUlyana in general agreed with Mr. Sadek Abo Watfa; he accentuated again that a maximum of local self-governance allows local governments to plan and test innovative local urban development instruments and mechanisms. This, in turn, not only enriches the national dialogue on urban issues, but even more: integrating experiences from the local level into national policy making ensures feasibility and sustainability. local governments deliver valuable insights and knowledge about the local investment climate or about local economic strategies. Their best practices and lessons learned serve as catalysts for urban development processes in other cities. Also needed is the support of intermediary organisations at the national level to promote knowledge management for urban development.

an Urban ExpErT From SoUTH aFrICa stressed the importance of close coop-eration between national government and local powers. In South Africa, the national government must expend more effort and take more responsibility, both to support and to hold accountable the local level in such a way that the benefits of improved national urban policies indeed reach the community, for example, through enhanced municipal service delivery.

a rEprESEnTaTIvE From THE GovErnmEnT oF palESTInE underlined that freedom and authority for local governments will foster competition among cities. This is necessary to motivate local governments to strive for client-oriented service delivery, improved living conditions or a conducive local investment environment. However, the role of national governments is to help sub-national governments adequately fulfil their responsibilities to their citizens as well as to the national level. National governments thus should establish specific units to work explic-itly on municipal development and local governance issues in order to be able to respond to local challenges nationwide.

an Urban ExpErT From arGEnTIna emphasised that civil society must be involved in urban policy making, urban development planning and project implementa-tion, since neither the responsibility nor the ownership of governance processes lies solely with the government but also with civil society. Participatory planning according to local circumstances and actual needs requires that local governments are allowed to open the urban debate to their communities and to take decisions and allocate funds accordingly. Untied fiscal transfers are thus decisive for the posi-tive development of the community.

an opEn DEbaTE: HoW mUCH FrEEDom For loCal SElF-GovErnanCE IS nEEDED? WHErE arE THE lImITS? CITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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5.7. CoNCLUDING STATEMENTS oF PANELLISTS

The moderator thanked all participants for the lively discussion and the rich contri-butions from various countries. She invited the panellists to conclude the side event with their final statements.

mr. WaHyU mUlyana concluded that a consistent and long-term perspective in the support from national to sub-national governments is needed in order to indeed improve urban development and the performance of local governments. Consistency must embrace three areas: a) political consistency between national regulations and the actual environment at the local level; b) consistency among different sector policies, especially the alignment of financial transfers with the allocated functional assignments at subsidiary government levels and c) consistency in personnel matters in order to establish organisational expertise and encourage long-term planning. The authority of local governments over personnel is crucial. He pointed out that, in parallel, capacity development must be provided for both local and national governments as local self-governance and the management of decentralisation in general require specific management skills.

mr. SaDEK abo WaTFa underlined that it is not a question of competition between central and local governments, but rather a joint effort to clarify the roles and tasks of the different government levels and to initiate competition amongst the cities themselves with support from the central government to ensure that all have at least comparable starting conditions. The upcoming Syrian Urban Development Policy provides a work programme for all donors and all parties involved in urban development in Syria. It is action oriented and reflects the situation of Syrian cit-ies realistically without neglecting their strengths and opportunities to add to the welfare of the urban population and the whole nation. He sees a great opportunity to share the policy with Syrian cities and to raise more interest within the Prime Minister’s Office to take a lead role during the urban age of Syria.

mr. WIllIam CobbETT highlighted that devolving responsibilities to the local level is a challenge especially if local governments are not equipped with pertinent capaci-ties. He outlined two opposite approaches: a) a more inductive approach whereby local capacities evolve while local governments fulfil the allocated tasks and b) the more deductive approach, in which capacities are developed first before specific responsibilities are devolved to local authorities. Moreover, he emphasised that decentralisation is not only a governmental task but that devolving power implies


also assigning responsibility to civil society. Participatory budgeting is only one instrument with which to integrate civil society and to involve it in decision mak-ing. Furthermore, local self-governance should not be on the waiting list. National and local governments must approach it today and negotiate the adequate intra-governmental relations and subsidiarity. Finally, Mr. Cobbett underlined the importance of generating local revenue and hence of extending fiscal autonomy, to a certain extent, to local governments.

mr. FranZ-b. marré recapitulated three relevant conclusions: firstly, subsidiarity and local self-governance are pre-conditions for local governments to adequately respond to urban challenges today. local governments need the freedom to plan, budget and implement according to local circumstances. This ensures that national policies meet local needs and capacities. Secondly, urban development and urban planning nonetheless need national guidance through clear and proper national regulations that promote long-term planning, accountability and action orienta-tion. Thirdly, if excellent urban management is desired, capacities at the local as well as the national level must be developed adequately.

Finally, mr. FranZ-b. marré thanked the panellists and the audience for the vivid and prolific discussion. The diverse contributions from the panel and the audience showed that each situation indeed requires its individual solution but that never-theless general guiding principles are universally valid when it comes to successful urban management and the role national governments need to play. yet, to find the adequate distribution of tasks and responsibilities between national and local governments remains a challenge.

ConClUDInG STaTEmEnTS oF panEllISTSCITy DEvElopmEnT: THE rolE oF naTIonal GovErnmEnT

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6. CITIES, GovErnanCE anD ClImaTE CHanGE In aSIa – bmZ/GTZ SIDE EvEnT

51CITIES, GovErnanCE anD ClImaTE CHanGE In aSIa

Cities in Asia are increasingly experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change. At the same time, the rapid spread of industry and transportation is contributing to the growth of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Development challenges such as providing basic services and infrastructure for an expanding urban popula-tion are likely to be intensified in the face of changing climate. local governments need to be prepared to deal with additional environmental and social problems.

The urban poor, who have the greatest exposure to the hazards and are the least able to cope with the impacts, have little responsibility for the growth of green-house emissions. Comprehensive policies that foster urban resilience and better address the poor’s vulnerability and their development rights are crucial.

The side event Cities, Governance and Climate Change in Asia, hosted by GTZ at the World Urban Forum on March 24, 2010, was jointly organised by the Working Group on Urban Challenges of GTZ´s Sector Network Governance Asia and the Working Group on Cities and Climate Change of GTZ´s Sector Network Transport-Environment-Energy-Water Asia.

The primary objective of the event was to provide an overview of the approaches and initiatives in the area of cities and climate change, with special focus on the Asian region. A number of experts participated in the event:

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• DavID SaTTErTHWaITE – International Institute for Environment and Development • anna broWn – Rockefeller Foundation, Asia office • FlorIan STEInbErG – Asian Development Bank • ESTEFanIa DUEnaS – Cities Development Initiative for Asia • lUCIana maIa – GTZ Germany, Environment and Climate Change Division • alExanDEr JaCHnoW (moderator) – GTZ Bangladesh, Good Urban Governance

Program

A brief overview of the participating organisations is given below:

• The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), an independent international research and advocacy organisation, has long been working on issues related to sustainable development. With a focus on pov-erty reduction and the improvement of health and housing conditions, the Human Settlements Group seeks to promote urban development based on good governance and more ecologically sustainable approaches. Helping to shape the global debate on climate change, especially regarding adaptation issues, the Climate Change Group supports its partners in better designing and imple-menting programmes for urban climate change adaptation that are pro-poor and that complement local development. In his presentation, Mr. Satterthwaite highlighted several issues related to climate change and the urban poor. Various IIED studies support the idea that cities are crucial to climate change mitigation and adaptation, since a large part of the emissions results from the production of goods and services used by middle and upper income urban consumers. Those who contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions are therefore expected to demonstrate how more energy-efficient urban buildings/production systems and less carbon-intensive urban lifestyles are possible and at the same time contribute to high living standards. On the other hand, urgent action is needed, especially with a focus on the urban poor in cities of low and middle income nations, for adaptation to the various risks, without neglecting the possibilities for cost effective mitiga-tion measures that bring social and economic co-benefits.

For further information: http://www.iied.org/human-settlements/home

• The Rockefeller Foundation focuses its work on various interconnected areas, including urbanisation and climate & environment, concentrating both on solutions for fast-growing cities and on sustainable growth and resilience to

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climate change. Together with a number of partners, the Foundation is sup-porting the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), an initiative working towards resilience building for poor and vulnerable com-munities in Asia. This network of city partners in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand will implement interventions that improve the ability of cities to withstand, prepare for and recover from the impacts of climate change, covering urban planning/development, infrastructure, water, health and disaster manage-ment issues.

For further information: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/what-we-do/current-work/developing-climate-change-resilience/asian-cities-climate-change-resilience/

• As an international development finance institution, the primary mission of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to support poverty reduction and improve the quality of life of people in the region by providing grants and low-interest loans within different projects and programmes and also through technical assistance projects. In fact, the ADB is integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation into planning and investment and also focusing on strengthen-ing policies, governance and capacities, for example, in relation to promoting climate-resilient development, expanding the use of clean energy or encouraging sustainable transport and urban development.

For further information: http://www.adb.org/Climate-Change/default.asp

• A regional partnership programme supported by the ADB and the governments of Germany, Sweden and Spain, the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) is assisting medium-sized Asian cities in bridging the gap between their development plans and the implementation of their infrastructure investments. The focus lies on the following areas: good urban governance, urban poverty reduction, urban environmental improvement and climate change mitigation or adaptation. As one of several elements in its international and domestic exper-tise, the initiative supports the preparation of pre-feasibility studies for high priority infrastructure investment projects, also with a strong focus on city-level capacity development.

For further information: http://cdia.asia/

• The Working Group on Urban Challenges and the Working Group on Cities and Climate Change are taking steps to further develop GTZ´s portfolio in the Asian region, integrating climate change issues into good local governance & urban development and into infrastructure planning & environmental management. Currently GTZ is implementing various technical cooperation

CITIES, GovErnanCE anD ClImaTE CHanGE In aSIa

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projects (on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, among others), working with differ-ent ministries and cities in India, Indonesia, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal and other Southeast Asian countries. One of the main activities of the Working Group on Cities and Climate Change has been the development of a capacity development tool for local part-ners. The main goal of the training course is to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities in integrating climate change (mitigation and adaptation) into local urban policies. The target group is senior administration officials/consultants in the field of urban development and environmental management. The course has a modular structure and a duration of up to two days; it employs practice-oriented and interactive learning and is facilitated by two trainers. The Working Group on Urban Challenges is currently also focusing its work on capacity development related to climate change and poverty issues in the context of urban governance (also rural-urban linkages, urban green economy). Both working groups are collaborating with different Asian initiatives. At GTZ Head Office, the sector project Resource Efficiency and Urban and Industrial Environmental Management and the sector project Policy Advisory Services for Urban and Municipal Development, both in the Planning and Development Department, are backstopping the initiatives.

For further information: Working Group on Urban Challenges: Alexander Jachnow ([email protected], speaker) and Anne Doose ([email protected]) Working Group on Cities and Climate Change: Regina Dube (regina.dube@gtz,de, speaker) and luciana Maia ([email protected])

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Different networking and technical/financial cooperation approaches related to cities and climate change are being employed in Asia, and a continuous sharing of good practices and lessons learnt is essential. The side event offered a great oppor-tunity to establish contacts with other engaged practitioners and stakeholders in the area of urban development and climate change, as well as a good overview of some of the initiatives in the region.

The exchange among panellists and the audience enhanced understanding not only of the imminent challenges but also of the opportunities and changes required to achieve sustainable urban development in times of climate change.

One of the crucial tasks involves conveying the message that cities are the cul-prits and the victims of climate change; another is to promote a better understand-ing of what the expected changes mean exactly for cities through better downscaled impact modelling. It is also very important for governments, at all levels, to recog-nise that most of their existing responsibilities interface directly or indirectly with aspects of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Furthermore, significantly stronger policies and assistance are necessary at the national and sub-national government levels, not only for effective capacity devel-opment throughout, but also for greater inclusion of cities in national and interna-tional decision making related to climate change issues – not to mention the need for financial commitments and support.

All actors involved in local governance need to comprehend the prospects and constraints of mitigation and adaptation strategies in each concrete city case, and must be enabled and encouraged to focus more directly on the urban poor and to reinforce not only social but also environmental aspects of governance. Top-down (concentrating on decision-makers) and bottom-up (concentrating on communi-ties) approaches should complement each other.

CITIES, GovErnanCE anD ClImaTE CHanGE In aSIa

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7. vIolEnCE prEvEnTIon THroUGH Urban UpGraDInG - bmZ/KFW SIDE EvEnT

57vIolEnCE prEvEnTIon THroUGH Urban UpGraDInG

In recent decades cities all over the world have experienced a process of very rapid, chaotic and unequal growth. In many of today’s metropolitan regions income, opportunities and resources systematically and disproportionately accrue to elite segments of the population only. Spatial disparities in urban standards of living, uneven distribution of urban services, socio-economic and spatial segregation and urban income inequality are summarised in the notion of ‘the urban divide.’

When a large urban population group is afflicted with malnutrition, pov-erty, social exclusion and discrimination, ill health and poor housing conditions as well as restricted access to land and basic infrastructure, one often observes increasing levels of criminal violence, lack of safety and general fear to use public space. In some cases, crime is reaching epidemic proportions in rapidly urbanising environments.

In response to these emerging issues and social concerns, local governments, metropolitan regions and the international community are expanding the scope of their interventions. New projects in urban environmental management, inner-city rehabilitation or urban violence mitigation are emerging. The ultimate goal is to achieve socially inclusive and sustainable urban development.

On March 23, 2010, the KfW Entwicklungsbank hosted a side event featuring two of its most successful violence prevention programmes: the Slum Rehabilitation Programme implemented by FUNDASAl in El Salvador and the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading Programme in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa. The panel consisted of six representatives of the two programmes. A young inhabitant of a former slum, a city councillor and a slum rehabilitation expert from FUNDASAl shared their experiences with the Slum Rehabilitation Programme in El Salvador. The programme in Khayelitsha was represented by the head of a community development fund, the programme coordinator of the town-ship and the City of Cape Town manager for slum upgrading. Approximately 100 WUF5 participants attended the side event.

El SAlVADORKfW has been co-financing slum rehabilitation programmes in El Salvador since 1996. They are implemented by FUNDASAl (Fundación Salvadoreña de Desarrollo y Vivienda Mínima/Salvadorian Foundation for Development and Social Housing), an NGO which has received many international awards for its participatory, integrative and self-help oriented approach.

life in slum settlements is difficult. High crime and murder rates and the fear and insecurity that result from criminal youth gangs are the most obvious signs of social instability. A high percentage of single-mother households is found in these densely populated neighbourhoods, and illiteracy is widespread. FUNDASAl focuses on improving the self-help and cooperation potential of the local popula-tion. So far, five projects have been formulated in 38 barrios of the greater metro-politan area of San Salvador, reaching out to a total of 2,900 families.

For example, FUNDASAl helps residents to obtain title deeds for their houses. This is complemented by small credit schemes for residents, enabling them to use their land titles as a security for the acquisition of property, the financing of refurbishments or small business activities. People that otherwise would never have had access to loans can now start a business to support their families. Other mutual self-help activities assisted by FUNDASAl include joint work to refurbish a com-munity centre, for example. The work is carried out by the residents and results in a more attractive environment and a strengthened sense of identification with the neighbourhood.

SOUTH AFRICAAnother programme supported by the German Government through KfW, Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) in Khayelithsa, Cape Town, has a strong focus on integrated urban design and planning and its impact on the safety and living conditions of townships settlements.

Khayelitsha is a dormitory township of about 600,000 to 800,000 inhabitants located 30 kilometres from downtown Cape Town, notorious for high crime rates, poverty, extensive unemployment, and high HIV rates. Surveys of residents reveal that robbery, murder, rape and housebreaking are the top four crimes in the town-ship. In some areas of Khayelithsa, it is life threatening to walk along dark pathways and unlit streets at night, particularly for women.

The city of Cape Town is implementing the VPUU programme in cooperation with KfW. The aim is to increase safety by improving the socio-economic situation of about 200,000 to 300,000 residents in so-called safe node areas via an area-based approach. This means that dark, neglected and dangerous hotspots are filled with activity through crime sensitive urban design.

The safe nodes are vitally important. Before the intervention, Khayelitsha’s many unemployed, particularly women, had practically no chance to become self-employed as tradespersons – the risk of being assaulted and robbed was simply too great. Today, however, safe commercial premises are being made available in the safe nodes.

Among the innovative urban design elements of the programme are small com-munity centres called ‘active boxes.’ These are managed and run by resident groups. The aim is to positively occupy spaces perceived as dangerous. The active boxes are placed approximately every 500 metres along major pedestrian routes. Volunteer

59vIolEnCE prEvEnTIon THroUGH Urban UpGraDInG

civic patrols staff these buildings; the ground floor activity may be a youth centre, sport centre, informal traders’ bays or a crèche, depending on the local context. A caretaker flat ensures 24 hour occupancy. Each active box aims to make a specific area safer, while its replication establishes a network that spreads across a whole safe node area of about 50,000 to 80,000 residents.

The murder rate in the area has declined by one-third since the start of the programme and is now clearly below the national average. The city of Cape Town is currently assessing the possibility of expanding the approach and methodology to other areas of Cape Town. The approach has also been replicated in other South African urban agglomerations.

DISCUSSIONThe young student from El Salvador described how participating in the pro-gramme has strengthened his self esteem and given him the faith to overcome poverty. The programme remains an important aspect of his life and has inspired him to help other people change their lives as well. For the city councillor of Mejicanos, El Salvador, community organisations, especially youth and women’s groups, are a driver of change. In turn, municipalities must engage with communi-ties to attend to their special needs

For the City of Cape Town manager, incorporating violence prevention into city planning not only in one township or hot spot but at the city level guarantees that violence does not just ‘migrate’ to other places. The head of the community fund is convinced that decentralized and local financial management instruments, such as the community development fund, empower people, give hope and trigger people’s creativity to improve their own environment. Special attention was paid to the urban situational prevention plans in South Africa presented by the programme coordinator. Photographs of the sites before and after the intervention illustrated the impact for the residents.

Many questions were raised by the participants after the presentations, some confirming the effectiveness of an integrated, participatory approach.

Both programmes will continue until 2012. They are already viewed as best practices. For example, after 20 years, the experiences and approaches of FUNDASAl are now reflected in national policy in El Salvador. The current government has prioritised urban poverty, aware that the majority of the poor live in slums and squatter settlements. Currently, the approach of violence prevention through urban upgrading is also being implemented in Bogota, Colombia, and will be incorporated into a regional slum upgrading programme which KfW is prepar-ing for Central America.

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8. orGanISErS oF THE EvEnTS

61orGanISErS oF THE EvEnTS

The networking event Urban (In)Security was organised by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which develops the guidelines and the fundamental concepts on which German development coopera-tion is based. The BMZ has for many years supported efforts to reduce urban crime and violence in a number of programmes and projects. Through its close work with government and non-governmental organisations and the private sector in part-ner countries, the BMZ has extensive and valuable experience on this issue that is worth drawing upon. The side event City Development: The Role of National Government was organised by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with the Cities Alliance. The Cities Alliance was launched in 1999. It is a global coalition of cities and their development partners committed to improving the efficiency and impact of urban development cooperation and to scaling up successful approaches to poverty reduction.

The side event Cities, Governance and Climate Change in Asia was jointly organised by the Working Group on Urban Challenges of GTZ´s Sector Network Governance Asia and the Working Group on Cities and Climate Change of GTZ´s Sector Network Transport-Environment-Energy-Water Asia. The GTZ is a federally owned organisation. It works in 128 countries worldwide in the field of interna-tional cooperation for sustainable development, mandated to support the German Government in achieving its development objectives. Its core competency is capac-ity development.

The side event Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading was organised by the KfW Entwicklungsbank. KfW Entwicklungsbank is an integral part of KfW Bankengruppe, Germany’s leading development bank. KfW Entwicklungsbank works on behalf of the German Government, helping to achieve the goals set for German development cooperation and currently has 1,800 projects in over 100 countries. It invests in the social and economic infrastructure of partner countries to help protect the environment and natural resources, as well as to make financial institutions more effective.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH was formed on 1 January 2011. It brings together the long-standing expertise of DED, GTZ and InWEnt. For further information, go to www.giz.de. Since the text of this publication was prepared shortly before the formation of GIZ, the documented events and projects still refer to GTZ, DED and InWEnt.

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ImprESSIonS

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mS. bIJal bHaTT (Self-Employed Women’s Association, India) and mr. JoaCHIm prEy (GTZ) at the WUF 5 thematic concluding session „Bridging the Urban Divide: Inclusive Cities“.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 65760 Eschborn, GermanyT + 49 61 96 79 - 0F + 49 61 96 79 - 11 15E [email protected] www.giz.de

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