This discussion is now closed. Thank you for your participation.
This discussion is now closed. Thank you for your participation.
Question 1. What economic sectors have the greatest potential for promoting urban economic development that includes creating decent jobs in cities? What urban economic development strategies would be required?
Welcome to the urban dialogue on Urban Economy. The online discussions for this dialogue took place from July 6-31, 2015. Although the discussions are now closed, you can still share your comments, perspectives, and feedback on the discussion summary for a one-week commentary period ending on August 24, 2015.
In each thematic discussion, individuals and organizations had the chance to discuss major ideas and outcomes of the Habitat III Issue Papers, elaborated by the United Nations Task Team on HIII. These dialogues provide a platform for all voices to be heard. Your valued contribution and participation in these dialogues will enrich the ongoing Habitat III participatory process on emerging thinking related to sustainable urban development. In addition, final contributions to the discussion summaries will help identify key knowledge and policy options, while evaluating how these options might be deployed in the context of the New Urban Agenda.
Click here to review the summary outcome and comment
Let me please pose a new QUESTION:
In a given city, labour conditions are determined by the mode of production prevailing in the economy. How does the mode of production (and ensuing labour conditions) influence the city? Conversely, how does the city influence a mode of production and labour conditions? Is there a causal relation, one way or the other? Or no relation at all? Or do they evolve on an integrated way?
It is globally observed that urbanisation is a part of dispersal of economic activities and has followed the trends from Europe to US to JAPAN to NICS to ASEAN ,China and South Asia and global south.This has contributed to groth in the share of urban population from 3% to 50%+ during last three centuries.
This process alsoinvolves competitive edge,migration of rural surplus labourand demographic dividend(share of economically active population.
therefore,urbanisation brings economic development.However we have to see that employment elasticity of production is maintained in the larger interest of urban poor.It is for this reason that LED is a tool to achieve a balanced economic growth in urban areas.therefore, LED is a logical conclusion of urbanisation process .
This is also reflected in Global urban policies aiming at financial inclusion and skill development so that economic development process is joined by households across the income groups.
Thank you KK Pandey. You indicate an interesting idea, that elasticity of productive must be maintained in favor of the poor, so in terms of LED how this can be done? the local government should actively promote sectors? Could you describe policy instruments that can be useful in particular from the Indian experience?
Sorry I posted a reply which could not go-and remained unnoticed by me.
Dear KK,
This is very useful. It is interesting to note that perhaps in India there are several local economic development initiatives that can claim clear results and outcomes, but when those are taken to a regional or national dimension, results are difficult to scale up. What is that happening? maybe a local-regional-national governance issue?
Marco
Dear Marco,
Yes , It is true that these efforts need wider replication aross cities and scaling up within the same city.One important reason is CONFINING THE LED TO POOR only.We should link it with the over all city production system-on their own poor can not compete in a short run.They need facilitation and a complmentary role by formal production system.
The urban governance system has to gear up its efforts accordingly.Local government can play a role to bridge the gap and bring together Poor(informal sector)and private sector /civil society to stimulate local economy.
LED should be one of the stated objective of local governments.At the local government should be decentralised further from town hall to gras root (booth) level.
It is in this way only we can use employment elasticity of production to the best of LED objectives.
Thank you, KK Pandey. You highlighted the key role of local governments. Some local governments in India have made good efforts with results, as you noted. How could one engage the remaining local governments?
Yes,scaling up and replicability is main issue.We have to build on positive aspects and driving forces:
How do KK Pandey’s in-depth reflections based on the Indian experience compare with experiences in other countries?
I guess this is something that needs to be looked at from a case-by-case perspective. It is difficult to generalize which particular sectors have the highest potential for economic growth and job creation without undertaking thorough studies to assess such potentials first. What may work for one city may not necessarily work for the other. While some sectors may be more labour intensive than the others, if the ultimate goal is to achieve sustainable and meaningful growth, one needs to look at growth from a holistic point of view.
I believe that the general strategy should be to promote innovation and competitiveness in all sectors of the economy (be it housing, public infrastructure, urban agriculture, tourism/hospitality, or manufacturing) so as to allow cities to constantly reinvent themselves in order to keep up with the pace of innovation/progress globally. This means that a multi-stakeholder approach, whereby the public and the private sectors would work together to not only provide basic services to the city inhabitants, but also turn cities into vehicles for economic growth and investment, should be adopted. An integral part of this strategy would be to ensure that jobs that are created in the various sectors are decent jobs of course.
Implementing this kind of a comprehensive strategy may be difficult, but I believe this is the right strategy to pursue.
Saboor, I agree with your comments. I’ve worked with 45 cities in 12 countries and there is not one generic approach to LED. Given local political, economic, social, labour, legal, resources, and other forces identified in the discussion paper, a local strategy for development must taken.
You rightly identified that process is longer, more complex, and slightly more expensive. I think that general approaches/frameworks to planning and development can created as general guidelines, with an emphasis on understanding the local context to develop something sustainable.
In terms of funding, again I think that’s related to the urban dynamic. More importantly though, it’s also related to the industial and private sector dynamic. I’ve seen both effective and ineffective PPPs. What I’ve learned is that common ground and a clear understanding of expectations from both partners need to be outlined before the PPP is implemeted.
Dear Kadie,
Can you share good experiences from Ukraine. What is the approach, more socially oriented, financial or sectoral policies?
Marco
Dear Saboor, many thanks. Your proposal is interesting and is what cities should do. I would like to hear more about how those iniciatives can be funded and how would you encorage public and private sector to work together.
M.G.Devasahayam, SUSTAIN (Formerly Madras)
I had posted this two days ago. It does’nt seem to have gone in. So I am posting it again.
In my view Urban Economy should constitute the core of The New Urban Agenda being pursued by UN-HABITAT. Almost all issues identified for HABITAT III – Inclusive cities (a.o. Pro Poor, Gender, Youth, Ageing); Migration and refugees in urban areas; Urban Rules and Legislation; Urban Governance; Urban and Spatial Planning and Design; Urban Land; Urban-rural linkages; Local Economic Development; Jobs and Livelihoods; Urban Resilience; Urban Ecosystems and Resource Management; Urban Infrastructure and Basic Services, including energy; Transport and Mobility; Housing; Smart Cities; informal settlements – should be oriented towards enriching the economy and making it inclusive and equitable. This would also facilitate the LED objective. Informal sector should at the centre-stage.
Disentangling the unorganized sector may not be the solution to make the informal sector capable of generating decent jobs to the vast majority of the semi-skilled and unskilled workforce. Mainstreaming informal sector into the urban economy should be looked at in a holistic perspective, in terms of their characteristics, their linkages and inter-relationship with organized sector as well as linkages with institutions and processes such as urban credit, marketing, trade and risk management.
Platitudes like “Cities are engines of growth’ conceal the true nature of urbanization in developing countries, particularly India which is setting a rapid pace. This intervention draws on the ‘development’ process of Chennai Metropolis (fourth largest in India) which I had the opportunity to study as part of the expert team that formulated the Revised City Development Plan-2009. Chennai’s ‘development/growth’ pattern and priorities can be gauged from a study report by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) released around that time: “Chennai’s economic boom covered the auto and auto-ancillary industries and is now spreading with the growth of IT/ITeS, banking, retail, healthcare and construction industries. Chennai’s economy was expected to increase to around $150 billion by 2025. Infrastructure, especially airports, ports, flyovers and real estate, would play a key role, which would bring in a revenue of around $60 billion, followed by IT/ITES $23.16 billion, engineering $15.39 billion, and auto $12.78 billion. This would lead the growth.”
Around the same time Tamil Nadu State Commissionerate of Employment & Training released data for organised sector employment in Chennai city and adjacent districts that form part of ‘Greater Chennai’. In 2000- 01 it was 6,08,762. In 2001-02 when IT joined other activities like manufacturing etc., the figure rose to 6,55,474, an increase of 7.5%. Since then other activities seemed to have been edged out and by 2004-05 the figures declined to 5,91,499, a drop of nearly 10%, which was indeed disturbing. The message is that the ‘IT revolution’ and MNC investments were indeed edging out diversified employments, caters to high-skilled workforce and were pushing less-skilled and semi-skilled workers into the unorganised/informal sector of the economy. This trend has been continuing in subsequent years.
Yet Chennai Master Plan-2008 gave the ‘Most Favoured Status’ to IT/ITES/BPO industries while paying lip-service to SMEs and making cursory reference to the informal sector. Government went overboard trying to convert Chennai into an IT citadel. IT buildings were allowed within the city in all land use zones except primary residential with 1.5 times more Floor Space Index than other commercial/office buildings. In the event there are IT corridors, parks, townships and what is baffling, IT Special Economic Zones right in the city! It was virtually a ‘monoculture’ pursuit of one economic activity catering to high-skilled personnel, allocating to it hugely disproportionate resources like prime land and infrastructure facilities.
Today, lots of space built for IT/ITES is lying unoccupied and hundreds of acres of land earmarked for IT development is lying unbuilt. Hardly any information is available on the jobs created during the ‘IT-boom’. In fact grapevine is that IT jobs in Chennai for which massive land and infrastructure support was given by governments is declining. At the same time there is no way Chennai Metropolitan Area can provide for the projected demand for new jobs – mostly unskilled and semiskilled – 1.67million in 2016, 2.45 million in 2021 and 3.4 million in 2026!
On the other hand informal sector has been expanding. Urban workers were being increasingly pushed into the informal sector, even as the space for informal economic activities was gradually shrinking. And within the informal sector, the profile of the work in urban areas has moved from wage-employment to self-employment, which carries its own uncertainties. So the urban poor was increasingly a street vendor, a rickshaw puller, a rag picker, a cleaner, a washerman, a load carrier or a domestic servant. While these workers contributed to the growth of cities, there was a growing trend to push them to the urban periphery, as they were increasingly seen as threat to the ‘Global/Mega/Smart city’ dreams! In the event, though the share of poor in urban population had fallen, because of the increasing pace of urbanisation and the changing face of urban employment, the absolute number of urban poor had risen. Eighty per cent of their meagre income goes towards paying for food and energy, leaving very little for meeting the cost of living in an increasingly monetised society.
Yet there has been no in-depth study, analysis and evaluation of the city’s economy and the extent of poverty. This is conceded in the Master Plan document itself. Chennai has a Master Plan for land management, regulation, resource allocation, infrastructure investments and urban basic services that has been drafted without an understanding of the city’s economy and its most vulnerable population. For Chennai there is no authentic survey or report on the ‘face of urban poverty’. The Second Master Plan, notified in 2008 says only this: “Below Poverty Line population during 1999-2000 in Chennai City, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur (Greater Chennai) were 9.58%, 13.2 % a n d 19.18% respectively.” But the comparative figures for homelessness, the worst form of urban poverty and deprivation, tells a different tale. In 2001, the total urban homeless population was 7,78,599 and Tamil Nadu had a high 7.3% compared to Delhi at 3.1% and Bihar 1.6%. Extreme poverty topped the list of reasons why people came to the streets with the highest being 73.75% in Chennai. The situation may be worse now! While so, Chennai’s Master Plan makes only a cursory reference to the city’s economic base as having shifted from trade and commerce to administration, then to manufacturing and now to services like Information Technology, IT Enabling Service and Business Process Outsourcing.
As to Mumbai, India’s largest and deemingly richest Metropolis with the highest per capita income in the country (Rs 65,361), over 1.2 million ‘Mumbaikars’ earn less than Rs 591 per month. More than half of Mumbai’s population lives in sub-human conditions in shanties, but the land the slums are situated on comprises just six per cent of the city’s total land area.
This in fact is the crux of the problem. Informal sector of the economy that provides livelihood to 70 to 80% of the urban population mostly poor and low income has access/entitlement to only a pittance of its land space and infrastructure whereas the government and formal sector that provides for the middle, upper-middle and high income classes has the lion’s share. With real estate business, where the main motive is to cater to the moneyed class, morphing in to ‘urban development’ this inequity is bound to further accelerate making cities and towns untenable, unsustainable and unlivable.
It is the informal sector that can make or break the urban economy. As of now it is doing the job of breaking. The New Urban Agenda should aim at reversing this trend and transform the informal sector as a tool to make the cities and towns and not breaking them.
Dear Colleagues ,
To facilitate access , I am attaching the two main files mentioned in my previous suggestion :
1- What development do we want?
2- Lecture Values, Systemic Planning, and Management and Public Ministry,
I hope that the documents, which are public domain, can contribute in some way.
Rodrigo Schoeller de Moraes,
Public Prosecutor,
Manager Strategic Projects of the Public Prosecutors Office/Public Ministry.
E-mail: rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br
Phones:
+ 55 51 9628-4254
+ 55 51 3295-1050
Luciana Itikawa – post doctoral researcher at Institute of Brazilian Studies at University of Sao Paulo. WIEGO member
Dear Sally Roever and Edmundo Werna,
Brazil, as probably urban social movements in Spain, has witnessed some interesting linkages among informal workers and other social movements as waste pickers, homeless and social housing ones.
It means that if informal workers need better decent work environments or social dialogue (bargaining), they channel their issues linked and joined with other social movements in order to strenghten theis voices.
It happened in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2012-2013, as this paper attached explains, but it continues until now.
It means that decent work also includes Right to the City, specially Right to Public Spaces, and they share their vulnerability with other social movements issues.
Maybe we are witnessing organizations among informal workers not at the classical trade union ways, but also towards URBAN social movements linkages.
This response is submitted by the NCD Alliance, a global network of 2,000 civil society organisations in 170 countries working towards a world free of preventable suffering and death from non-communicable diseases (NCDs):
The NCD Alliance is grateful for the opportunity to participate in these urban dialogues. An approach which is central to economic and social development is to ensure that workplaces are safe, in terms of preventing not only injuries but also exposure to harmful risks including carcinogenic substances. Furthermore, the opportunity not only to prevent harm but to promote health in the workplace must be capitalised on by implementing effective workplace wellness programmes.
Detailed comments on Issue Paper 13 on jobs and livelihoods are attached.
Dear Colleagues,
Here the Huairou Commission’s consolidated responses on Urban Economy.
Thanks Sally, Rodrigo and Nicole rounding up the dialogue on a high note.
Sally well reminded us about the important grassroots movements that did reach the international level. They are indeed examplary. Thanks also for making detailed suggestions on policies, which I am sure will be of value for decision-making.
Rodrigo, you noted how your work is associated to the National Confederation of Municipalities. I would be interested to learn more on how you see the connection to the urban economy.
Thanks Nicole for sharing the comments of the Huairou Commision Network on the urban economy papers. I will read the comments with great interest as soon as possible.
Dear Ed Werna,
I believe that the content of the slides 35/36 and 40/41 of the presentation attached (World Conference about Development of Cities ) to contribute to answer the question – the impacts of Systemic Planning and Management Action in the economy. I note that the language used is older, because the presentation was prepared for the lecture which took place in 2008.
Today we seek to create a harmonious and sustainable development index (HDSI – see slides 54 and 55 of the presentation: Lecture Values, Systemic Planning, and Management and Public Ministry ) that , if possible, will take into account the Sustainable Development Goals and guidelines HABITAT III .
Best regards,
Rodrigo Schoeller de Moraes,
Public Prosecutor,
Manager Strategic Projects of the Public Prosecutors Office/Public Ministry.
E-mail: rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br
Phones:
+ 55 51 9628-4254
+ 55 51 3295-1050
Dear Ed Werna , Another important issue is that the Systemic Planning and Management Action promotes cooperation . Thus fostering effective public policies, reducing costs and decreasing corruption. It also reduces the entry of processes in the judiciary. hugs Rodrigo Schoeller de Moraes
Dear , the Systemic Planning and Management Action is a synthesis of various criteria. For example, those in the Habitat Agenda (and the Bank that the Government implements in Brazil – COTS) and the DJSI . Thus , municipalities that implement the Action can access resources and attract investments. We’ll have better information in the coming months .
Hugs, Schoeller Rodrigo de Moraes
rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
Dear , the Systemic Planning and Management Action is a synthesis of various criteria. For example, those in the Habitat Agenda (and the Bank that the Government implements in Brazil – COTS) and the DJSI . Thus , municipalities that implement the Action can access resources and attract investments. We’ll have better information in the coming months .
Hugs, Schoeller Rodrigo de Moraes
rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
Dear all, please find attached responses to issue papers 12,13,14 – with a particular focus on gender – from members of the Huairou Commission Network.
Esteemed Colleagues:
I am a public prosecutor and manager of strategic projects of the Public Ministry/Public Prosecutor’s Office in the state of Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil.
In Brazil, the Public Ministry/Public Prosecutor’s Office has very broad constitutional powers, prioritizing, and often fostering, cooperation networks, in order to serve, not only the consequences of society’s problems, but also the causes.
In the search for effectiveness, sustainability, equity and peace, internal and external, and taking into account the causes of the growing disregard for nature and dignity (own and others) are systemic, ie, arising from interdependent relationships between various components of Environment, believed to be important for the development of the methodology/action of Systemic Planning and Management (PGS).
This is because this methodology/action allows, from the focus priority chosen and emphasizing the family context, vision and resource integration, multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary. Focus priority can be established, for example, in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in the thematic topics for the New Urban Agenda (social cohesion and equity, urban frameworks, spatial development, urban economy and urban ecology and environment), and, more specifically, in a flooding, in the construction of a hydroelectric plant, in the health of vulnerable populations, (native Brazilians, homeless people, people affected by ecological catastrophes), in the improvement in the quality of life of the population of certain slum and etc. Thus, one can establish what to do, and who, where and when / why and how to map and integrate all these components. Therefore, it is important to be perceived a common mission, to be implemented with the assistance of the physiological, psychological (safety, belonging and self-esteem) and self-fulfillment, generating commensurate impacts on the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social – health, education, citizenship and security – and the environment) and through cooperation networks. Thus, public effects are produced by adding value to sustainable activities.
This common mission, envisioned as public purpose, requires and favors the formation of cooperation networks for systemic action, allowing the integration of the three sectors (public, private and civil society) and the whole community. This context favors democracy, participatory and representative, providing Harmonic and Sustainable Development (DHS), the consciousness of unity and survival of all living beings.
Increasingly, it requires the cooperation of every part. However, sometimes, when making planning and management of public policy, we do not see the importance of integration, too, with the Justice System. In case of ineffectiveness of public policy (often due to a linear actuation – not realizing the interconnections), the Justice System undoubtedly will intervene, directly affecting the course of development that we want (something that can be evidenced by example, the “judicialization of health”).
The Systemic Planning and Management action has achieved many positive results. Therefore, we are building, with the National Confederation of Municipalities, the document: Systemic Planning and Management action focusing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and HABITAT III. HOW implement the ODS in the local community and in the context of the HABITAT III.
We believe that this document can contribute to implementation of ODS and for the preparation of New Urban Agenda. The document will be available at the following address: rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br, in early September (including an English version).
Further information can be obtained in the following materials – at the same address and:
1- What development do we want? – (an English version can be found on the link)
quedesenvolvimentoqueremos.webnode.com/news/que-desenvolvimento-queremos-/
2- A Map On The Way (an English version can be found on the link)
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br/2012/01/um-mapa-no-caminho-map-on-way-english.html
3- Lecture Values, Systemic Planning, and Management and Public Ministry
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br/2010/10/pgs-lecture-values-systemic-planning.html
4- Lecture at the World Conference about Development of Cities
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br/2010/10/pgs-lecture-at-world-conference-about_26.html
5- La Gestion and PGS
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br/2010/10/pgs-la-gestion-e-pgs_26.html
6- Primer on PGS action focusing on Health, 2015 version.
pgsistemicos.blogspot.com.br/2013/01/otimizacao-da-rede-de-fornecimento-de.html
I hope that the documents, which are public domain, can contribute in some way.
Rodrigo Schoeller de Moraes,
Public Prosecutor,
Manager Strategic Projects of the Public Prosecutors Office/Public Ministry.
E-mail: rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br
Phones:
+ 55 51 9628-4254
+ 55 51 3295-1050
I do not understand how you can speak about urban economy without systematic reflection on the dramatic experiences with all the bursting real estate bubbles and the resulting financial crashes. The current path and frame for urban economy, municipal finance, territorial manegement etc. nearly everywhere is determined by growing inequality and the accumulation of economic wealth in the hands of very few, by austerity and privatisations measurements, by deregulations and taxation rules which still heat sup financialisation and speculation with urban resources and local infrastructure, with land and housing.
As long as we cannot stop this trend and come back to public investment and social rules for the economy we cannot achieve equitable cities and sustainable urban development. This implies that the dominant approach towards “Private-Public-Partnneship” addressed in the issue papers mus setriously be questioned.
These are some of the concerns German NGOs raised in a fast first statement on Habitat III which was published today at:
https://www.forumue.de/statement-of-the-german-forum-on-environment-development-on-habitat-iii-2/
Thanks for your posting, Knut, and also for the info on the statement of German NGOs. The idea of this dialogue is exactly to provide a platform for people from different walks of life to express their views, and your points are very much welcome. The real estate sector is pivotal for the urban economy, as cities are literally constituted by the built environment (although of course not only) and one should discuss the consequences of given policies and interventions. Your points are along the lines of previous postings from Burdon de Pernier but indeed did not generate much discussion. I invite other participants to react to your points and the statement you sent.
I appreciate Knut’s concern for increasingly concentrated capital accumulation and its implications for land/real estate and inequality in cities. I think it is worthwhile to note the role of global social movements, such as the Right to the City platform, in resisting these trends. This also relates to a point Edmundo made yesterday about the lack of organizing among informal workers. It is true that many are not organized, but I would say the exceptions are very worth noting. We would not have ILO conventions on domestic work (C189) and home-based work (C177) without the global organizing behind them, and leaders from the domestic workers movement have noted the importance of the global campaign for the convention in local organizing — in other words to have something concrete around which to organize locally. The local movements fed back into the global campaign, and then getting the conventions in place has, in turn, fed back into national and local organizing, including around advocating for better legal protections, which in turn pushes back against increasing concentration of wealth. There are parallel developments in advocating for rights of residents in informal settlements through SDI.
This can also be related to the point from yesterday about the different layers of informality and how they intersect. For example, we are learning through our research about the nexus of household vulnerabilities, enterprises risks, and sector-specific legal vulnerabilities. There are different operative elements of informality in each of these: at household level, e.g., no members of the household with health insurance or pension or formal employment with contract or government transfers, and no formal land tenure arrangement; at enterprise level, e.g., no ability to earn when sick or when a dependent is sick; and at legal level, e.g. little or no legal protection of livelihood rights among those who work in public space or who are informally sub-contracted. So separating out these elements can help us point to different policy interventions with different stakeholders involved (including different levels of government), and also points of convergence, e.g. in cases where upgrading informal settlements can also have livelihood implications (as Sonia Dias from Brazil pointed out yesterday in the social inclusion thread).
Thanks again to Edmundo and Marcus for guiding such a rich discussion.
Dialogue on Urban Economy has successfully brought expert focus on this area not so well publicised among urban stakeholders.Countries across the board are taking top down initiatives.Yet the local angle is relatively weak.It is particularly important in the context of income disparities and regional variations .
This sharing of ideas will certainly provide a strong message to political economy to give attention on LED and Habitat III to include LED in a greater detail UN Habitat therefore deserves our special appreciation.
Gulf Labor Coalition https://gulflabor.org/
Gulf Labor Coalition is presenting three events at the Biennial including 1) a program of informational panels that will focus on our ongoing research into the nexus of art+labor+capital as it is congealing in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
High Culture/Hard Labor: The Work of Gulf Labor and its Allies–Walid Raad, Nick McGeehan, Shaina Anand, Sharan Burrow, Renaud Detalle
Operating on the principle that the freedoms of artists are connected to the rights of workers constructing and maintaining exhibition spaces, the Gulf Labor Coalition focuses on raising the labor standards of migrant workers building the new wave of museums in Abu Dhabi. Coalition members present an overview of our campaign’s research and work. They will be joined on this panel by representatives of organizations with a history of involvement in Labor and Human Rights issues in the Middle East: Human Rights Watch, the International Trade Union Confederation, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Migrant Voices, Global Futures–Ashok Sukumaran, Paula Chakarvartty, Nitasha Dhillon, Parimal Sudhakar
The Persian Gulf countries have been at the cross-roads of cultural exchange and trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe for hundreds of years. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are cities made up of migrant communities from around the world, including millions of migrant workers from South Asia. Panelists will ask how to make the lives, desires and experiences of workers from India and other sending countries more visible within our discussions of workers’ rights in the building of museums and cultural institutions in the UAE and beyond. The panel will consider the history of migration and cultural exchange between India and the Gulf and the political and economic conditions that shape the difficult conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf today. Attention will be drawn to social movements within sending countries like India—and look at different mobilizing efforts by workers’ organizations, migrant rights groups, trade unions and other activist groups. Panelists will also discuss the larger world of coalition building as it relates to activism and organizing across borders following in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter.
A New Wave of Arts Activism?–Greg Sholette, Mariam Ghani, Amin Husain, Noah Fischer, Guy Mannes-Abbott, Doris Bittar
No longer content to merely represent social transformation, artists are increasingly intervening directly in the sphere of day-to-day life, seeking to spark radical change. From the Occupy Movement to Tahrir Square, from Syria to Maidan to Black Lives Matter, as well as here in Venice with AB-Strike, an immediate and vibrant cultural agency appears to have awakened in such a way that it is often inseparable from street protests, strikes, political rallies, or other forms of mass resistance. Despite important similarities to past moments of resolute cultural opposition in the 1920s/1930s and the 1960s/1970s, the current activist art is self-organized and often unapologetically carnivalesque in spirit.
The Gulf Labor Pageant and Book Party is a collaborative project involving members of Workers Art Coalition, the Aaron Burr Society, Occupy Museums, G.U.L.F., and Social Practice Queens (CUNY).
Hi, Burdon,
You have reiterated the links between art / culture and labour / capital, with the interesting example of engagement of artists to improve labour conditions in specific cities. On a somehow related note, I have been informed about some initiatives in New York (Local 3, IBEW, electricians) and Sao Paulo (https://www.mestresdaobra.org.br) to bring art and culture to construction workers, and by doing so improve their wellbeing and productivity, with potential multiplier effects on the economy. But I am not aware of specific / concrete impacts on the urban economy. Do you have information to share?
For the job creation in urban areas, we could promote the culture of entrepreneurship in the socities. By utilizing the skills and talent, the citizens can startup small business and governments could come up with providing the helping hands and small loans to them on easy terms.
The government could offer the technical training courses to the people so that they could learn and have their own businesses or could get job easily. The government could provide the space on reasonable terms to the needy ones so that they could start business and create jobs. Providing raw material on feasible rates could help in developing the urban economy as well.
When there are more registered businesses operating, there will be more chances that urban economies could get flourish with the taxation income. The lives of the citizens could get improved as well when they will get jobs and earn on their own.
Dear Fasiha,
These are good suggestions. Could you please provide some practical examples from Pakistan?
There are actually many small businesses like restaurants, clothing outlets, home based works, beauticians, marketers who are starting ventures and creating employment opportunities.
Here are some example:
https://tribune.com.pk/story/454551/awami-prices-for-karachis-hottest-sea…
https://www.dawn.com/news/1155470
https://tribune.com.pk/story/804710/markhor-shoes-a-digital-footprint/
30
The discussion today included the informal sector, LED and urban innovations.
Sally started with a high bar on conceptualizing the informal sector, providing concrete suggestions on what national and local governments can do, and on the need to disaggregate the private sector (e.g. from formal corporations to informal companies in low-income settlements). I responded by calling for further disaggregation on the formal-informal spectrum and the large-small enterprise spectrum, and also further exploring the benefits of policy dialogues at the local level.
De Pernier asked why so much emphasis on formalizing the informal sector, and suggested that the solution could be the opposite, to informalize the formal. This has been indeed a subject of very much debate. While the market economy approach claims that the private sector should have freedom to act, the role of the government should not be forgotten either. And this entails the regulation of economic activities, of course allowing them room for manoeuvre.
UN-Habitat (Marco) resumed the discussion on LED, highlighting that there is no template with one size fitting all, but we have some common components including finance, sectoral policies and competitiveness. ‘Spaceologist’ asked some questions about the boundaries of LED as opposed to regional development, which were subsequently clarified by Marco.
KK Pandey provided concrete illustrations of innovations in Indian cities. Marco responded by asking why the innovative experiences at the local level in India have not succeeded at the regional / national level, with a premise that it could be a governance issue. This is indeed an important question. We have many success stories, but wonder why, if so successful, they are not replicated / scaledd up…
Finally, Marco connected to a posting of 28 July by Kadie, who noted that LED changes according to circumstances, and PPPs need a clear understanding of both partners. Marco requested good experiences from Ukraine and what is the approach there.
Indeed, an exciting debate which generated questions with some answers and also new questions that could be picked up tomorrow!
I have a question for UN-Habitat: you talk about LED, but how do you define the boundaries of LED? Is it the municipality? Is it a district? Does it have a legal, administrative or territorial limitation? How does it stop being LED and when does it become regional economic development?
LED can be applied to cities, municipalities and districts. What changes is the approach and emphasis. In general LED is a combination of competitiveness, urban expansion, planning, finance. In certain settings LED is more sectoral policies, in others is more land management for logistics, in some cases it can be social policies. For LED’s scope and influence, there must be a clear financial capacity to fund activities. Also regional economic development is always a sum of local economic development.
LED: No templates but general guidelines needed
Dear all,
Thanks for very insighful contributions, I think we are in broad agreements. There is no template for LED with one size fitting all, but we have some common components on LED:
1. Sustainable Finance for the local government is needed.
2. Sectoral Policy and Support is necessary provided by the local, but also by the central government.
3. Competitive sectors must be in place, in the urban areas and as urban-rural linkages.
This must be present in all instances. And of course, this requires certain level of technical expertise within the local governments, as well as a private sector clearly commited to generate competitiveness rather than just rents.
Size is also important as agglomeration will not generate positive externalities in very small settings. This is frequantly repeated, and we know and agree, but sometimes it is difficult to say it aloud when politics come to the table.
Would you comment if we can have a general framework for LED: finance, sectoral support and competitiveness?
Why so much emphasis on formalizing the informal sector? Should not one just informalize the formal and make it a level playing field for everyone?
Many thanks, Sally, for your inputs in this crucial subject, including concrete suggestions on what local and national governments should do. These are important points, which other participants of the dialogue could build upon. On the private sector: I agree that is useful to disentangle the formal corporate sector from other components of the private sector, e.g. enterprises in informal settlements. One issue to be discussed is how to address the heterogeneity of the private sector. In fact, the economy is much more complex than the now classical formal-informal divide and this needs to be taken into account at the local level and according to the local context and circumstances. There are enterprises of different sizes, from mega corporations to micro and one person-enterprises, therefore one question is where / how to make the separation when one designs policies for example to support small enterprises. There are also different layers of formality (including, inter alia, some formal enterprises which have part of its labourforce working under informal conditions). On policy dialogues: with few exceptions, the multitude of informal, semi-formal, or grassroots or similar or related actors are not organized or represented at the provincial, national and international levels. But they often are at the local level, and this shows how important local dialogue and action is. And when they are not organized or represented even at the local level, local dialogue and action is still necessary, as it is very difficult to start at the national or provincial level. I would like to encourage participants to comment on these issues.
28
Thanks all the contributors for the in-depth discussion we had today. Devasahayam started with a strong statement recapping the seminal issue of the informal sector. More than 50% of the economy of many cities in the South is informal, and many times this figure is as high as 80% or 90%. Ignoring the informal sector generates grave consequences. The set of policies suggested by Devasahayam is comprehensive, and I believe that there is general agreement in regard to them. Therefore, one question is: if we all agree, why aren’t the policies largely implemented? Also, illustrations of good practices could be shared with the participants. One final word of caution: bear in mind the conceptual differences among informal sector, informal economy, informal employment, informal construction and informal land. They are many times used interchangeably but not synonyms. The issue paper on the informal sector explains the difference.
UNIDO made an all-embracing contribution: economic advantages of urban areas; linkages between industrial production and employment generation; policies to target disadvantaged groups; training; modern urban planning approaches which marry economic, social and ecological imperatives. The solid analysis has many interfaces with the posting of Prof. Smita Srinivas (in week two) (although with some differences as well), and could be read together. It is rewarding to see that UNIDO advocates for an integrated approach as part of its mandate of inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID). It would be important to learn about details of ISID, and how ISID exhibits considerable potential to
meet the economic, social and environmental needs of urban populations in the future. Could UNIDO address this, and also share some concrete illustrations?
Pandey completed the discussion today by bringing a regional dimension. While UNIDO focus is intra-urban, Pandey’s is inter-urban, highlighting the importance of different sizes of settlements, dispersal of economic activities, industrial corridors and connectivity. A challenge is how to provide the right balance between regulation and market freedom to reach such a regional equilibrium.
Kadie refered to a posting from Saboor (10 July), although Saboor concentrated on sectors and jobs, while Kandie focused on LED and PPP: LED changes according to circumstances, and PPPs need a clear understanding of both partners.
Dear Ed,
Thanks for this deeply engaging discussion. I think your recommendation to disentangle informal sector, informal employment, and informal land (among others) is an important one when we consider why supportive policies (such as those suggested by Devasahayam) have not been implemented and what cities could do to generate inclusive growth via decent jobs.
Informal sector: this refers to “enterprises owned by individuals or households that are not constituted as separate legal entities independently of their owners, and for which no complete accounts are available that would permit a financial separation of the production activities of the enterprise from the other activities of its owner(s).” Why are these enterprises generally not accessing supportive policies? Our work with membership-based organizations of workers who operate informal enterprises typically perceive not only cumbersome rules, but often a hostile legal-regulatory environment for enterprises that cannot afford the costs of legally constituting their enterprises without an effective guarantee of livelihood rights in return. What can cities do? From the point of view of these enterprise operators, local governments could do more to provide effective protection of livelihoods through licenses, ID cards etc; to build trust with informal enterprise operators through policy dialogues on specific issues (such as public transport that would support informal livelihoods), for example; and also to design regulations to be less punitive and more supportive until enterprises and the households that depend on them are more secure.
Informal employment: This refers to jobs in which “employees’ employment relationship is not subject to standard labour legislation, taxation, social protection or entitlement to certain employment benefits.” Here is where national governments come in: there are examples, e.g. in India, where national government has intervened to create basic protections for certain occupations that are characterized by high levels of informality, e.g. in street vending (as Pandey mentioned), bidi rolling, home-based work, etc. Brazil offers another example in the case of informal recycling/waste picking.
Informal land: to the extent that this may refer to land that does not have clear property ownership, such land is often viewed by the urban poor as a livelihood resource. Local governments may consider this point in conjunction with their LED strategies. Along these lines, where “the private sector” is considered a key partner, it may be useful to disentangle “the formal corporate sector” from other components of the private sector, e.g. enterprises in informal settlements.
UNIDO comments on industrialisation are highly relevant.Urbanisations brings expansion of non farm sector.However,it should also ensure a balanced development across the regions in a country.Role of small and medium towns should be given due importance and spatial dispersal of economic activities should be planned accordingly.
India is attempting development of industrial corridor and focus on connectivity to link expansion of business and industry.It includes specific corridore across the freight lines,roads,costal areas,and administratively important towns.However,equal emphasis is needed on local skills existing traditionally in our urban centres.Modernisation of production and fiscal incentives may attract more investment and production and divert flow of rural surplus labour to such areas.
Industrial development is closely entwined with urbanization, as the majority of industrial production occurs in urban,
suburban or peri-urban areas. Municipalities can profit from agglomeration economies concentrated in special economic zones, research hubs and business parks, which pool the collective resources and knowledge of business, academic
and governmental actors for high value production in the science and technology sectors. Not only can such value addition provide creation of wealth and increased revenues for municipal authorities, but also greater job creation
targeted at vulnerable urban demographics such as young people and women, who often suffer disproportionate levels of under-employment, unemployment or low-paid employment. The promotion of entrepreneurial curricula and training in
urban areas is invaluable in this regard.
Likewise, urban planning procedures and approaches must prioritize sustainability at all stages. Eco-cities are areas where urban planning and environmental tools are applied to pursue synergies in resources utilization, waste management, environmental preservation, industrial development and a healthy living environment. The construction of eco-cities,
as part of a strategy of inclusive and sustainable industrial development, can facilitate cross-dimensional outcomes and opportunities in urban areas ranging from cleaner energy and waste management solutions to greater employment
opportunities and skills development. The eco-city concept thus marries the imperatives of economic growth, shared prosperity and greater productivity whilst minimizing environmental degradation.
Furthermore, modern urban planning approaches such as that of eco-cities/smart cities allow for sustainable improvements to essential social capital, such as public transport, housing and utilities, thus creating the conditions for inward investment and lessened inequality, while safeguarding the environment through reduced carbon-emissions, wastage of
energy and raw materials, and the deployment of cleaner production methods.
UNIDO advocates an integrated approach as part of its renewed mandate of inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), adopted by its Member States through the Lima Declaration in 2013. ISID exhibits considerable potential to
meet the economic, social and environmental needs of urban populations in future, to ensure that the spoils of industrial development are shared equitably and in an environmentally-friendly fashion.
M.G.Devasahayam, Managing Trustee, Citizens Allisnce for Sustainable Living, Chennai, ( Madras).
The main Challenge for urban economic development and employment generation is whether the informal sector could be mainstreamed and made an integral part of the development process. Most of the working population in cities and towns are in the informal economy and this sector has highest potential to create self-employment and paid jobs for semi-skilled and unskilled personnel who constitute the majority. This sector of the economy should be mainstreamed and should form important part of urban policy and governance framework. These policies should include: allocation of space (working and living) and resources in consonance with its requirement and contribution; in-situ or nearby rehabilitation of slum dwellers; access to drinking water, roads, street-lights, health facilities, nearby schools, and other basic amenities; Child care facilities for women workers; accessible and affordable public transport; reliable and affordable electricity; Financial services at affordable interest rates; identity to avail facilities; medical insurance and social security.
Formal economy mostly provides opportunities to skilled and highly skilled workforce. This sector has policies, institutional support and access to financial services provided by central and state governments. These are not available to semiskilled and unskilled working population. Hence the huge economic dichotomy and divide in cities and towns and the resultant poverty, slums and squalor. It is the responsibility of urban local bodies and city governments to fill the gap.
24-26
The recent discussion was broad, including a range of topics. Pandey made connections between LED and the global economy and noted the need to provide more “low skills” not leaving it to the informal economy. I.e. low skills should be purposefully and strategically provided. I anticipate that Pandley means technical skills, which should be used instead of “low” skills. The provision of technical skills is certain important, and there are interesting cases that can be found for example in the ILO website. The participants of the discussion may want to contribute with other examples.
Training has also been approached by Amira Young. Her interventions provided specific examples of economic sectors and cases which she regards as good practices. What are the drivers that enabled such practices to unfold?
Ishihata asked important questions about the demise of the nation state, control of the economy by multinationals and the consequences to cities. It would be interesting to provide some – even if tentative – answers to this question.
Centro de Investigación de Política Pública y Territorio posted information about meetings which took place in Ecuador and dicussed a new urban agenda including the urban economy. The framework of discussion was broad, encompassing many topics already included in our discussion, plus the social economy, rural-urban relations and civil society participation in the economy. Could the author of the posting elaborate on the next steps of these meetings?
Local Economic Connection is an important issue to ensure sustainability.Export oriented prodution and local consumption based production should be generated in a balanced manner so that collapse of one segment has minimum implication on local economy.We have seen ASEAN crisis,imbalance in china (western and southern part) and India (East-west divid e) affecting the sustainability of urban areas in a regional context.
LED therefore is more important in a vertical (within city) and horizontal (across the cities) manner.In this context skill development and financial inclusion go a long way to improve local connection.Public policies unfortunately have focussed more on high level skills and techonologies and low skills have been left on informal sector.Correction on this issue is certainly inevitable.
El 1 y 2 de julio, en Quito, y el 22 de julio en Guayaquil, se reunió la sociedad civil con cerca de 250 personas en total, para producir los documentos que se adjuntan a continuación, y que constituyen una base para la construcción de la Nueva Agenda Urbana.
CITE
Amigos,
Me gustó mucho el material adjunto.
Creo que los documentos que adjunto para contribuir de alguna manera.
Atentamente
Rodrigo Schoeller de Moraes,
Public Prosecutor/ Fiscal de La Lei
Manager Strategic Projects of the Public Prosecutors Office/Public Ministry.
E-mail: rsmoraes@mp.rs.gov.br
rodrigoschoeller.blogspot.com.br
Phones:
+ 55 51 9628-4254
+ 55 51 3295-1050
The nation state is a geographical entity. I wonder what will be the consequences to cities if the nation state is exploded and the world is dominated by multinationals which operate through networks which are not territorial.
there is no doubt that providing training (technical and financial) for the business owners and employees or candidates, is the core of the economic strategy necessary for encouraging such sectors. Clear Legislative frame
there is no doubt that providing training (technical and financial) for the business owners and employees or candidates, is the core of the economic strategy necessary for encouraging such sectors. Clear Legislative frame is also needed
Information technology and telecommunication sectors are the optimal economic sectors that can generate thousands of decent jobs not depending on geographical.
Also services sector proved in cases like Milton keynes UK, Cergy pontoise france and Tres cantos spain to be able to work as an important part of the economic bas for the city and provide employment opportunities for the whole region.
NEW QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
What is the quality of the jobs being created in urban areas? With a given limited budget to create jobs, how to reconcile quantity and quality of employmet?
The role of the working class in economic growth was clearly highlighted by K. Marx. However, the urban development literature does not pay enough attention to this. Labour is usually regarded as “one of” the issues, but not “the” issue, as it should be. One could say that this approach is dated. One evidence of the contrary is that this year’s Biennalle of Venice – one of the greatest cities in the world – is on the Capital. Hopefully it will inspire art and art will inspire cities and their economies.
Renewable energy source could be best economic sectors for promoting urban economic development like biohydrogen as alternative for petrolium and solar energy for electricity generation…
In order to promote urban economic development in cities, I believe we should put more focus on migrants. Recently, migration cross the border becomes more salient phenomenon. Most of migrants come to the urban areas to search for economic opportunities or job, they can create another economic opportunities in urban area. Thus, we should take into consideration that how we are going to integrate migrants with the urban society in promoting conomic sectors.
In the current phase of globalisation national boundries so the provincial boundries are no longer a barrier to promote economic development .Cities bring growth in the economy.However the role ofprovince, nation asociated international cooperation is crucial and one important determinant of local economic actions and growth.This is rather more important in the post urban majority(50%+) socity wherein the incidence of competitive edge start declining due(dispersal of economic activities) to increses in the cost of living/productivity
Province/nation and inter country cooperation in this regard has waya and means to sustain economic development and local level to retain productivity.We can recall that countries having competitive edge like China are now looking for investment destination to sustain their own productivity which is mainly caused by Norther and eastern china.
Where are we heading?
This is an exciting debate. The urban economy is where ‘the rubber hits the road’. However, the dialogue seems to take for granted that a solution can be found in the “free” market economy. It will not! Unemployment and underemployment are structural in such approach. If the approach is not changed, there will always be extraction of surplus. How can an urban worker “compete” and be “free” to choose if she or he is poor, does not have a good education, access to health, etc? A radical change is needed. Urban areas constitute a real opportunity for such changes. It is very difficult that they happen at the national or international level. But they can start locally.
Where are we heading?
This is an exciting debate. The urban economy is where ‘the rubber hits the road’. However, the dialogue seems to take for granted that a solution can be found in the “free” market economy. It will not! Unemployment and underemployment are structural in such approach. If the approach is not changed, there will always be extraction of surplus. How can an urban worker “compete” and be “free” to choose if she or he is poor, does not have a good education, access to health, etc? A radical change is needed. Urban areas constitute a real opportunity for such changes. It is very difficult that they happen at the national or international level. But they can start locally.
The discussion today centered on the role of the nation state as opposed to cities & local governments. There was an argument about the need for further decentralization (in a globalited world), and another one about multi-level (nation, province and municipal) interdependence and interconnection.
The linkages with the urban economy could be more fleshed out. Pandey mentioned the welfare state. Is there agreement that this is the best solution? And how can the urban economy contribute to a welfare state or/and vice-versa?
Markus noted that nation states are less and less capable of solving problems, in an increasingly globalized world. What about local economic development? How to make the economies of cities more sustainable if each city is increasingly dependent on a broader if not global economy? How can cities be economically resilient and globalized at the same time?
Above are some questions that could be discussed in the next few days.
Everybody keeps talking about the creative class as a job and growth generator and right so. These jobs are genuinely ‘urban’ and are key to solving the challenges we are facing globally. But as a recent report of the Martin Prosperty Institute titled
The Global Creativity Index 2015points out – this is not a global answer. If we want to fight global inequality, we need to either help the weaker economies to become more creative, or we have to come up with an alternative model. In both cases, urban economic development strategies need to become more local and more globally networked equally. Authority needs to be shifted form national governments to local ones and the local governments need to establish more and more and deeper and deeper ties on a local level with other cities.
Any urban agenda that does not question the nation state as the relevant system of coordinates is doomed to fail in quickly internationalizing economies.
Thanks, Markus. The argument that local governments should reach out is interesting. One good publication in this regard, for information to the readers, is Jane Jackob’s “Cities and the Wealth of Nations”. Cities and local governments should indeed reach out. But how to balance this with the roles of central governments? You mentioned that the nation state should be questioned. But the world is formed by nation states. So, what do you think should be done?
The nation state is an 18. and 19. century concept. In that sense Jane Jacobs is in line with that tradition. Today we see more and more organisations transcending the nation state. They replace Nation with some other form of shared interest. We also see that nation states are less and less capable of solving problems and creating norms in a world that communicates and trades with little to no boundaries. Think of climate change, the internet but also global terrorism or other forms of criminal activities.
One could consider cities as organisations with other forms of interest. Their interest is improving their residents life, developing their economy and establishing resilience against any natural, economic or social threat. They can collaborate in a very differentway than nation states. That does not render the nation state completely redundant – it will remain responsible for external issues like security – but it means deliberately shifting power to cities and their local governments.
Could a nation state to a city not become what the EU is to its member states? A body that sets standards and norms necessary and only has authority in the fields where this cannot be solved otherwise?
Role of nation remains crucial to address jurisdictional(outside city limits)and distributional( across a city region) aspects of governance and business promotion.Productivity in the non farm sector has several factors needing support from higher levels of governmentsuch as access to finance,raw material,techonology,marketing (local,regional,national and international).
At the same time state also benefit from the production function of a city.The ERR on investments in the urban infrastucture and housing are fairly high.This has made a case of intergovernmental transfers.
Therefore,nation/Province and city are interdependent and interconnected.both are part of overall development in a welfare state.
Thanks, Markus. The argument that local governments should reach out is interesting. One good publication in this regard, for information to the readers, is Jane Jackob’s “Cities and the Wealth of Nations”. Cities and local governments should indeed reach out. But how to balance this with the roles of central governments? You mentioned that the nation state should be questioned. But the world is formed by nation states. So, what do you think should be done?
I would like to go beyond the prime question as there have been useful comments that have been provided. My take would be on an urban investment strategy and asset accumulation by the poor that will be appropriate for urban economic development. We all know that physical security, security of tenure and security of income provided the foundation for sustainable urban economic development. The ownership of and access productive and social assets gives leverage to lower and middles classes and allows them to benefit disproportionately from public investments. Since financial markets are weak and volatile in most developing countries, the major assets are land and fixed property (housing). The poor can be assisted to acquire these assets with the resulting benefits.
Land. Majority of poor urban families are landless, most of the times squatting, or paying land rent. They are insecure since they can be ejected at anytime, even though they have lived in the plot for many years. Slum and squatter upgrading schemes should generally include the transfer of land titles in the policy and project schemes. With the security of tenure, the new plot owner generally invests in an improved house, and will be willling to pay for local infrastructure services, thus improving his family’s health, safety and living environment let alone holding an appreciating asset. With this asset as collateral, he/she an obtain bank finance for a mortgage or for seed capital to jumpstart a business.
Housing. With the title to the land, low income owners often mobilize savings from relatives, or obtain a mortgage from a bank to improve their dwellings, often adding room for rent, therefore improving their own incomes and adding to the city housing stock.
Business assets. The measures noted above can provide collateral for a low income entrepreneur to borrow money for machinery, and buildings.
I would like to go beyond the prime question as there have been useful comments that have been provided. My take would be on an urban investment strategy and asset accumulation by the poor that will be appropriate for urban economic development. We all know that physical security, security of tenure and security of income provided the foundation for sustainable urban economic development. The ownership of and access productive and social assets gives leverage to lower and middles classes and allows them to benefit disproportionately from public investments. Since financial markets are weak and volatile in most developing countries, the major assets are land and fixed property (housing). The poor can be assisted to acquire these assets with the resulting benefits.
Land. Majority of poor urban families are landless, most of the times squatting, or paying land rent. They are insecure since they can be ejected at anytime, even though they have lived in the plot for many years. Slum and squatter upgrading schemes should generally include the transfer of land titles in the policy and project schemes. With the security of tenure, the new plot owner generally invests in an improved house, and will be willling to pay for local infrastructure services, thus improving his family’s health, safety and living environment let alone holding an appreciating asset. With this asset as collateral, he/she an obtain bank finance for a mortgage or for seed capital to jumpstart a business.
Housing. With the title to the land, low income owners often mobilize savings from relatives, or obtain a mortgage from a bank to improve their dwellings, often adding room for rent, therefore improving their own incomes and adding to the city housing stock.
Business assets. The measures noted above can provide collateral for a low income entrepreneur to borrow money for machinery, and buildings.
Productivity in the formal sector in India has a direct effect on informal sector jobs.Accordingly local governments take initiative to support informal sector to improve their access to shelter(tenure),services,medical ,health and education facilities.At the same time skill development and access to financial system(banking)is also promoted.All previous efforts in this regard are subsumed in National Urban livelihood Mission.
In addition ,several cities are also promoting tourismand related infrastructure(Ahmedabad)to create jobs.Further,National Policy on Street Vendors has opened avenues to support street vendors in a systemetic manner through their registration and access to credit and insurance and availability of space to do business.
In my view all the national economic sectors has/have an equal potentials to promote urban economic development and create decent jobs in cities. In developing a city it takes city perspectives and collaborative effort of all the cooperative advantage sectors in the economic couple with the will power of the government authority.
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC STRATEGY
The consideration of the three points below will give you one of the best strategies
Statistics has shown that a sector in an economy cannot employ more than 40% of the population even in mono-countries. The emphasis is for a comprehensive and encompassing strategy that will involve all parties, stakeholders and national percularities in the promotion urban economic development.
I agree with Shaba Tunde and I would add that we should give more attention to provide critical understanding different aspects that affect the urban economy; Should see the overall/comprehensive and integrated picture focus on the analysis different economic sectors and diagnosis of the urban and the development economic, secure active specific development economic policies integrated with the city region and maybe go beyond in order to reach the national level making balance between different economic regions.
Health care and related fields represent an excellent opportunity for job development, training, and recruitment. It is a robust career path with entry level positions that could venture into multiple paths based on competentcy and initiative. Partnerships with hospitals, health care centers, and schools that offer job opportunities and training in allied health are excellent opportunities for job growth and advancement.
Secondly, careers in energy continue to be lucrative: from residential retrofits, to making solar panels, to making batteries, to building wind turbines, to installing water conservation systems-they all represent both entry level and skilled jobs that pay decent wages. Training in many cases is less than a year.
Thirda and last, urban agriculture offers many opportunities to develop new skills and open up job opportuninites. Building greenhouses, tilling the land, building and installing irrigation systems, harvesting produce, distribution and marketing of crops, and establishing local retail outlets for healthy food are among the many opportunities for jobs and small business start-ups.
Dear Elizabeth, thanks. The three areas that you mention are key in cities in high income countries. Any ideas on how this can be applied in cities of middle and low income countries? and how jobs in these areas can be sustinable and contribuyte to LED.
Dear all,
I would like to encourage a broader view on this and the discussion can run in paralel tracks.
Very simple question: How urbanisation can promote Local Economic Development?
There are already more than 20 registered participants, so you can answer or comment in terms of jobs but can also discuss in terms of urban planning or productivity in general. Please comments welcome.
Please also consider the entire food sector, including (in)formal production in urban and peri-urban areas, trade and food transport, retail and wholesale, processing, street food that employs a large % of the population. Indeed, decent employment for all these “food workers” is key!
Definitely, food is – or could be – a key sector of the urban economy.
While the literature on UPA (urban and peri-urban agriculture) is booming, it has not yet paid great attention to the labour aspects. The expansion of UPA will generate jobs. But what kinds of jobs? To whom? Are they decent? How to make them decent? How to make the most of UPA for the benefit of the urban poor in terms of income-generation (and not only self-consumption?). These are some questions that deserve to be discussed. Written guidelines on this are available.
Of course cities and towns are also hubs for food distribution. One interesting experience on city-to-city cooperation to support market vendors was carried out between Durban (SA) and Maputo (Mozambique).
There is also the other side of the coin. I.e. food access to urban workers… Malnutrition of workers has been widely discussed. How to make food more accessible, both physically and economically? A local systems approach to production and consumption may help to address the question.
Thank you Marco. This is a very good point but the issue remains in that many urban jobs created in growth conditions particularly in construction and sectors related to the built environment can not be categorised as decent jobs according to ILO definition. This has been rather exacerbated in conditions of rapid neoliberal growth.
Thanks Amin and Ed for interesting comments.I agree with Amin that decent jobs is a priority, and by definition as Ed says all jobs should be decent.But jobs can only be created based on potential competiviveness, if this is not done based on potential for growth then new jobs created are artificial and unsustainable.
Yes, I would agree that sectors of the built envoronment would be a good place to start. They tend to be labour intensive and require large numbers of relatively low or unskilled workers that would particularly suite the conditions of many low income and informal people.
However, in the Global South many of these jobs, which traditinally fall within the wider construction sector, have tended to be rather “un-decent” including rampant examples of very low survival wages, hazadous conditions, child labour and lack of security of employment. The question then is more about how to turn these jobs in to decent jobs rather than employment generation and promotion of economic development in a a more general sense!
Some sectors have more potential than others to create employment (quantitatively), nevertheless, all jobs (existing ones and new ones) should be decent. Therefore, all sectors should include decent jobs.
The sectors of the built environment (housing, infrastructure, water, sanitation, etc.) are good priorities to start with. They are usually under the management of local authorities, and have a high potential to use local enterprises and local labour, generating employment and with multiplier effects on the economy in terms of taxes (from the enterprises) and incomes spent locally. The built environment is also necessary for other sectors to thrive (as such sectors need roads, electricity, etc.).
In regard to which other sectors are also important for the local economy: it depends very much on the characteristics, conditions and circunstances of a given locality. It is indeed important to carry out analyses to identify the comparative advantages of each municipality, and promote them. Methods to carry out such studies already exist, but they are not always used.
MY TAKE TODAY IS THE IMPACT OF CRISES IN THE URBAN ECONOMY. WE ALL KNOW THAT CITIES ARE THE ONES THAT ARE BEING HIT HARD IN TERMS OF JOB LOSSES AND WAGE REDUCTIONS IN URBAN INDUSTRIES (CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURING, SERVICE SECTORS FINANCIAL.
Lecture Values, Systemic Planning and Management and Public Ministry – Rodrigo Schoeller.ppt
Article Rodrigo Schoeller- What development do we want-3.doc
BRAZIL_ITIKAWA_Advocacy st vendors_2013.pdf
Urban Economy Responses.xlsx