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World Bank Wants Jakarta to be More 'Humane' in Dealing with Slum Areas

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Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has questioned the World Bank's advice that the city government use more "humane approaches" in relocating people from restricted riverbank sites.

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Explore the dynamics of our changing planet over the past three and a half decades.

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In the MY VIEW section, we highlight some of the most pertinent and interesting letters and opinions sent to us by our readers. Have something to say? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com with "MY VIEW" in the subject line.

After Chennai's recent catastrophic floods, the one question that looms large is - 'could proper urban planning have prevented such a disaster?' My answer to that question is certainly 'yes'.

The way our cities are planned has got a lot to do with inviting or avoiding such disasters. Chennai floods underline the importance of adhering to the fundamental urban planning principles, when we design our cities. Being an architect and an urban planner, I can't over-emphasise this point enough.

But before discussing about the kind of planning that should have been done in a city like Chennai, we must understand what the architecture of any ideal city should be like.

Photo Credit: ReflectedSerendipity/Flickr

Let us first look at the birth and growth pattern of a city, which is almost like a living human body. It is born, lives for a certain period of time, and then dies. Like a group of cells come together to form a human body, a group of people come together to form a city. Thus, any city must grow to its limit, attain maturity, cease to grow and eventually perish. It can function to the peak of its efficiency only for a limited period of time, after which it should be allowed to die its natural death. Adding newer parts to an old city is almost like transplanting new organs in the body of an old living organism. It distorts the fundamental body mechanism.

This leads us to the question - 'what can we do to prevent the distortion of our cities like Chennai, and to prevent disasters like the recent floods?' Here are three basic points that must be kept in mind:

1. A city must be designed for a specific number of people.

Photo Credit: Jared Smith/Flickr

As and when the limit is attained, newer cities should be designed and built. And this should be a continuous process. This is quite similar to the situation of a living being, who on achieving maturity, allows the next generation to come into existence through the method of reproduction.

2. We need to limit the migration from villages to cities.

Photo Credit: snotch/Flickr

Chennai is a classic example of this problem. However, the solution cannot be achieved by promulgating any law. Instead, we need to enhance the quality of life in our villages. This will require a change in the existing mindsets and policies.

3. A city should be walkable.

Photo Credit: Andrea/Flickr

On further analysis, one comes across another important element of city planning - Every city should be walkable, horizontally and vertically. This leads to the reduction in the amount of energy spent while commuting. Ideally, one should be able to walk from the outermost ring, to the centre of a city within twenty minutes.

Traditionally, cities were planned and built based on the principles mentioned above. Cities like Rome, Paris, Florence, Jaipur and Jaisalmer are all good examples of how well the city planners of the past understood these fundamentals and applied them prudently in the creation of their cities. But on comparing those with present-day cities like New York, Tokyo, Mumbai or Chennai - there is clearly a striking contrast.

But then, what is wrong with Indian cities like Chennai, which is a mix of the old and contemporary? Fundamentally, it is the unlimited growth that destroys the order in such cities beyond repair. In a human body, unlimited growth is considered cancerous. A city is no exception to this rule.

Chennai must accommodate the natural contours, slopes and drains, in its plan. One of the best ways of planning a water front city is to ensure that all the main streets are running perpendicular to the coast line. This will allow easy passage of excess rain water into the sea. A good example of such planning is the city of Minneapolis that sits on the banks of the Mississippi river.

Looking at the enormity of the problem in Chennai, the solutions have to be implemented at a large scale too! We need to take some hard steps here, such as:

1. Gravity drains should be created, taking into account the natural slopes of the terrain and quantum of water to be handled.
2. Existing natural drains and rivers should be de-silted and widened.
3. Low-lying areas should be spared of construction (have some mercy!). In some cases, dikes have to be built around them to protect such areas from flooding.

But in the end, we must remember that prevention is better than cure. We must plan, form and take care of our cities like we do our homes.

Netherlands, a country that has more than sixty percent of its land below sea level, has been taking some pioneering steps in the direction of water management and hydrology. The country has taught itself how to live with water, rather than fight it. In the recent years, it has been consistently voted as one of the top ten happiest countries in the world to live in. If they can top in happiness quotient, in spite of their problems with water management, so can we. What is needed is the will to face the challenges and solve the problems objectively and scientifically.
- Anil Bhaskaran
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

About the author: Anil Bhaskaran is an Urban Planner and Architect, and the MD of IDEA Centre Architects, Bangalore.

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MY VIEW: The Chennai Flood Happened Due to a Complete Lack of Urban Planning

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In the MY VIEW section, we highlight some of the most pertinent and interesting letters and opinions sent to us by our readers. Have something to say? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com with "MY VIEW" in the subject line. After Chennai's recent catastrophic floods, the one question that looms large is - 'could proper urban planning have prevented such a disaster?'

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Madras Musings - We care for Madras that is Chennai

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Chennai and its suburbs once had over 250 small and big water bodies that were used for irrigation and drinking water. Today, the number of water bodies has been reduced to 46. These 46 water bodies are also slowly being encroached on.

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Urban development has significantly changed the landscape of societies. At present, majority of the world's population resides in cities. The case of Tokyo is of interest because it is one of the biggest megacities in the world. Tokyo's urban development sheds light on the successes and challenges urban areas face through the years. The evolution of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area is seen as an example of how urban centers could proceed to address people's needs. Nonetheless, Tokyo's development is also seen as a non-optimal path because of the issues related to urbanization. These issues emphasize the challenges urban planners and administrators face as cities become more densely populated. While cities like Tokyo have experience and expertise needed to ensure a well-planned approach to urban development, the nature, complexity, and scale of the development creates new problems that administrators or urban managers have not yet encountered in the past. Thus, it is of critical importance to maintain flexibility in addressing emerging challenges, while remaining effective in fulfilling the current needs of the urban population.
This article discusses how Tokyo began and how the city grew and expanded. The successes and challenges of Tokyo's urban environment development are also examined.
Where Tokyo Began

The city of Tokyo began as a settlement near the mouth of the Sumida River, along the body of water now known as Tokyo Bay. One good reason why this was the original location of Tokyo is that the plains near the Sumida River were rich in soil for farming. The Japanese had rice fields in the area to provide for their food needs. It is notable that early settlements in areas where cities are now located were typically of importance in accessing food and the transport of goods. Thus, the original reason for the location of Tokyo was food production. Food production served as a factor that attracted people to the area. Eventually, businesses and the local economy grew, leading to the development of the city and, over time, the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

The beginnings of Tokyo are similar to those of other major cities around the world. Many megacities started as small settlements. These settlements grew because of economic benefits, such as efficient access to food. In a broader point of view, the urban populations grew because of efficient access to goods and services. Local governments provided some of these services, and imposed requirements and plans for the growth and expansion of the resulting urban population.

How Tokyo Expanded

The city of Tokyo gradually expanded toward the Tokyo Bay area and to other adjacent areas near the Sumida River. There are groups of grid roadways, but non-grid roadways interconnect these grid roadways. The expansion of the city was not in an orderly fashion. It was partly haphazard. The grid started in the 1900s. At that time, there were separate groups of grids in the area of what is now known as Tokyo.

A possible reason for the combination of the grid-like roadways and the haphazard roadways is that there were small settlements scattered across the area in the past. Each of these settlements had their own grid-like roadways. These original settlements led to the creation of the separate groups of grids. The non-grid roadways were then used to connect these original settlements to each other. As the city expanded, these non-grid interconnecting roadways remained and influenced the development of new roadways around them.

Rapid Growth of the City

It was in the period of 1880s to the 1900s that the city of Tokyo experienced the most growth in terms of population increase and the city's geographic expansion. At that time, the city merged with the surroundings areas to form the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. This merging of the areas is one of the major events that influenced the growth of the city. Another major event that influenced the city's growth was the Second World War. War-related damage and population shifts affected the development of Tokyo and nearby cities.

Challenges Facing Tokyo's Development

A challenge facing Tokyo today is the very high population of the city and its metropolitan area. Tokyo remains the most populous city in the world. This is a challenge because of limited land that can be used in the area. The result of this high population is overcrowding. Tokyo's roadways, pedestrian lanes, and other public spaces experience daily overcrowding as people flock to the area during peak hours.

Tokyo's high population density also affects safety of the area. Disasters in the region can readily endanger the lives of millions living in the city. A single earthquake, tsunami or storm can easily impact many millions of people in the megacity.

This high population also significantly impacts the economy of Japan, especially in terms of land prices. Real estate in Tokyo is one of the most expensive in the world. High prices of real property are due to limited land combined with high demand due to high population density. Thus, the high population of Tokyo is a major challenge for the city government.

Tokyo's Successes

A major success of the city of Tokyo is that it has become one of the top city economies in the world. The city is one of the major financial centers in the world. In spite of limited natural resources and very high population, Tokyo's urban economy was able to develop, especially through international business.

References

Bagan, H., & Yamagata, Y. (2012). Landsat analysis of urban growth: How Tokyo became the world's largest megacity during the last 40years. Remote Sensing of Environment, 127, 210-222.

Bloom, D., & Khanna, T. (2007). The Urban Revolution. International Monetary Fund.

First East Asia Eco2 Program (2011). Study of Japanese Experiences on Sustainable Urban Development including Pollution Control and Management, Resource/Energy Efficiency and GHG Reduction. The World Bank.

Fujita, K. (2015). The landscape of Tokyo power. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 19(1), 82-92.

Fuse, T., & Shimizu, E. (2015). Visualizing the landscape of old-time Tokyo (EDO CITY). International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Qiu, Z. X. L. Z. (2013). A Study on the Evolution and Development Mechanism of Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Contemporary Economy of Japan, 2, 8.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2015). Tokyo's New Urban Development Plan Incorporating Changing Socioeconomic Conditions. United Nations.

Yamagata, Y., Seya, H., & Nakamichi, K. (2013). Creation of future urban environmental scenarios using a geographically explicit land-use model: A case study of Tokyo. Annals of GIS, 19(3), 153-168.

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Tokyo Urban Development, Successes & Challenges - Panmore Institute

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Urban development has significantly changed the landscape of societies. At present, majority of the world's population resides in cities. The case of Tokyo is of interest because it is one of the biggest megacities in the world. Tokyo's urban development sheds light on the successes and challenges urban areas face through the years.

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With three out of five people across the globe projected to be city dwellers by 2030, transport, liveability and other urban issues are increasingly vital. Tom Brook visits a laboratory and community centre in New York City that encourages urbanites to take on these problems themselves.

On a small, once rat-infested parcel of land on the Lower East Side of New York City's Manhattan borough sits an ambitious new urban experiment.

It's called the BMW Guggenheim Lab - a small, modern-looking temporary structure that is both a think-tank and community centre, designed to identify and solve urban problems.

It comes at a time of pressing need: the world's urban population is projected to reach five billion by 2030, with three out of five people across the globe living in cities, the UN estimates.

"The aim is to be a forum for discussion of ideas about the challenges of urban living, to understand how cities work and to give us a sense of ownership to changes things and improve things if we need to," says Maria Nicanor of New York's Guggenheim Museum, who has helped develop the lab.

Bedbugs and bicycles

The lab offers the public urban-themed lectures, new technology demonstrations, film screenings as well as games designed to give insight into policy decision making in cities.

Organisers hope visitors in New York and beyond and will leave believing that cities belong to them and that they can shape their destiny.

Terry Rogers, a local resident visiting the lab, explains her concerns about life in New York City.

"There's a bedbug epidemic, and that makes everybody nervous," she says. "The bicycles are the most dangerous thing for me, they do not follow the traffic laws. I have almost been hit by a bicycle many, many times."

Another visitor, Evan Vogel, is frustrated by New York's creaky public transport infrastructure.

While the lab offers no specific remedies for bedbugs or bicycles, it did present a way to think about transportation through a game called Urbanology.

Transport vs sustainability

In one part of the exhibit, a series of questions on urban policy flash on a large video screen, intended to goad the audience to take on the role of urban planners.

Visitors are asked, for instance, if they would provide special transport services to large companies seeking to relocate.

Answering "yes" might improve transport but could decrease liveability and sustainability.

The game provokes spirited discussion between the game leader and the players.

In mid-October, after 10 weeks in New York, the lab will move on to Berlin and then Mumbai, where organisers hope it can help identify problems in those host cities.

In Mumbai, David Van Der Leer of the Guggenheim Museum hopes to explore the lack of mobility between neighbourhoods.

"People in Mumbai cannot pay for the transportation system however cheap public transportation is, so they stick in their own neighbourhoods and other neighbourhoods are not accessible for them," he says.

'Foreign entity'

If the New York experience is anything to go by then one of the challenges facing the lab is that the indigenous population may view its arrival with suspicion.

Carl, a homeless man who did not want to give his last name, says the lab is not "in sync" with its surrounding neighbourhood.

"It's a foreign entity with new ideas being forced upon the neighbourhood," he says.

A small group of protesters staged a demonstration at the lab because they see it as a symbol of the ongoing gentrification that's been taking place in the neighbourhood, which they claim has driven out lower-income residents.

Mr Van Der Leer says the lab has provided a forum for addressing concerns over controversial issues.

"The people who came to protest, some of these people, later on came to programmes about gentrification, and realised that it could actually contribute something substantial to these conversations," he says.

When so much of city life is controlled by government and big business can the lab really do anything substantial to deal with the explosive growth in the world's urban population?

"I think the first thing in this case is raising awareness and I think that's much more important than immediately trying to get ideas executed," Mr Van Der Leer says.

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New York 'urban lab' seeks to solve city-style problems - BBC News

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With three out of five people across the globe projected to be city dwellers by 2030, transport, liveability and other urban issues are increasingly vital. Tom Brook visits a laboratory and community centre in New York City that encourages urbanites to take on these problems themselves.

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Some of the major problems of urbanisation in India are 1. Urban Sprawl 2. Overcrowding 3. Housing 4. Unemployment 5. Slums and Squatter Settlements 6. Transport 7. Water 8. Sewerage Problems 9. Trash Disposal 10. Urban Crimes 11. Problem of Urban Pollution!
Although India is one of the less urbanized countries of the world with only 27.78 per cent of her population living in urban agglomerations/towns, this country is facing a serious crisis of urban growth at the present time. Whereas urbanisation has been an instrument of economic, social and political progress, it has led to serious socio-economic problems.

The sheer magnitude of the urban population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas, and a desperate lack of infrastructure are the main causes of such a situation. The rapid growth of urban population both natural and through migration, has put heavy pressure on public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water, electricity, health, education and so on.

Poverty, unemployment and under employment among the rural immigrants, beggary, thefts, dacoities, burglaries and other social evils are on rampage. Urban sprawl is rapidly encroaching the precious agricultural land. The urban population of India had already crossed the 285 million mark by 2001. By 2030, more than 50 per cent of India's population is expected to live in urban areas. Following problems need to be highlighted.

Urban sprawl or real expansion of the cities, both in population and geographical area, of rapidly growing cities is the root cause of urban problems. In most cities the economic base is incapable of dealing with the problems created by their excessive size. Massive immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities has taken place almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities.

The first large flow of migration from rural to urban areas was during the "depression" of late 1930s when people migrated in search of jobs. Later, during the decade 1941-51, another a million persons moved to urban places in response to wartime industrialisation and partition of the country in 1947.

During 1991-2001, well over 20 million people migrated to cities. The greatest pressure of the immigrating population has been felt in the central districts of the city (the old city) where the immigrants flock to their relatives and friends before they search for housing. Population densities beyond the "old city" decline sharply.

Brush (1968) has referred to this situation in the central parts of the cities as "urban impulsion" which results from concentration of people in the centre of the city close to their work and shopping. Incidentally many of the fastest growing urban centres are large cities.

This is due to the fact that such large cities act as magnets and attract large number of immigrants by dint of their employment opportunities and modern way of life. Such hyperurbanisation leads to projected cities sizes of which defy imagination. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, etc. are examples of urban sprawl due to large scale migration of people from the surrounding areas.

In several big cities wealthy people are constantly moving from the crowded centres of the cities to the more pleasant suburbs where they can build larger houses and enjoy the space and privacy of a garden around the house. In some cities, the outskirts are also added to by squatters who build makeshift shacks of unused land although they have no legal right to the land. The difficulty of restricting town growth in either case is immense and most towns and cities are surrounded by wide rings of suburbs.

Historically suburbs have grown first along the major roads leading into the town. This type of growth is known as ribbon settlement. Such sites are first to be developed because of their location near the road gives them greater accessibility. But soon the demand for suburban homes causes the land between ribbon settlements to be built and made accessible by constructing new roads.

This type of development is known as 'infil'. Simultaneously small towns and villages within the commuting distance of major cities are also developed for residential purposes. In this way towns are continuously growing and in some areas the suburbs of a number of neighbouring towns may be so close together as to form an almost continuous urban belt which is called conurbation. Urban sprawl is taking place at the cost of valuable agricultural land.

Overcrowding is a situation in which too many people live in too little space. Overcrowding is a logical consequence of over-population in urban areas. It is naturally expected that cities having a large size of population squeezed in a small space must suffer from overcrowding. This is well exhibited by almost all the big cities of India.

For example, Mumbai has one-sixth of an acre open space per thousand populations though four acre is suggested standard by the Master Plan of Greater Mumbai. Metropolitan cities of India are overcrowded both in 'absolute' and 'relative' terms. Absolute in the sense that these cities have a real high density of population; relative in the sense that even if the densities are not very high the problem of providing services and other facilities to the city dwellers makes it so.

Delhi has a population density of 9,340 persons per sq km (Census 2001) which is the highest in India. This is the overall population density for the Union territory of Delhi. Population density in central part of Delhi could be much higher. This leads to tremendous pressure on infrastructural facilities like housing, electricity, water, transport, employment, etc. Efforts to decongest Delhi by developing ring towns have not met with the required success.

Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas. This problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large influx of unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in when they enter cities/towns from the surrounding areas.

An Indian Sample Survey in 1959 indicated that 44 per cent of urban households (as compared to 34 per cent of rural families) occupied one room or less. In larger cities the proportion of families occupying one room or less was as high as 67 per cent. (Roy Turner, 1962).

Moreover, the current rate of housing construction is very slow which makes the problem further complicated. Indian cities require annually about 2.5 million new devellings but less than 15 per cent of the requirement is being constructed.

The Census of India 2001 concluded the first ever and the largest survey of household amenities and assets which points a never-before profile of problem relating to housing in India. The outcome is both instructive and amusing. Taking India as whole, there are 179 million residential houses, i.e., about six people to each house.

Thirty-nine per cent of all married couples in India (about 86 million) do not have an independent room to themselves. As many as 35 per cent (18.9 million) urban families live in one-room houses.

For about a third of urban Indian families, a house does not include a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet-and in many cases there is no power and water supply. Only 79 per cent (42.6 million) urban household live in permanent (pucca) houses. 67 per cent (36 million) of the urban houses are owned by the households while 29 per cent (15 million) are rented.

Several factors are responsible for the above mentioned sad state of affairs with respect to housing problems faced by the urban people. The major factors are shortage of building materials and financial resources, inadequate expansion of public utilities into sub-urban areas, poverty and unemployment of urban immigrants, strong caste and family ties and lack of adequate transportation to sub-urban areas where most of the vacant land for new construction is located.

The problem of unemployment is no less serious than the problem of housing mentioned above. Urban unemployment in India is estimated at 15 to 25 per cent of the labour force. This percentage is even higher among the educated people.

It is estimated that about half of all educated urban unemployed are concentrated in four metropolitan cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai). Furthermore, although urban incomes are higher than the rural incomes, they are appallingly low in view of high cost of living in urban areas.

One of the major causes of urban unemployment is the large scale migration of people from rural to urban areas. Rural-urban migration has been continuing for a pretty long time but it has not always been as great a problem as it is today. The general poverty among the rural people pushes them out to urban areas to migrate in search of livelihood and in the hope of a better living.

But the growth of economic opportunities fails to keep pace with the quantum of immigration. The limited capacity of urban areas could not create enough employment opportunities and absorb the rapid growth of the urban labour force. Efforts made by the central and the state governments to create employment opportunities in rural areas and to check the large scale rural-urban migration have not met with much success.

The natural sequel of unchecked, unplanned and haphazard growth of urban areas is the growth and spread of slums and squatter settlements which present a striking feature in the ecological structure of Indian cities, especially of metropolitan centres.

The rapid urbanisation in conjunction with industrialisation has resulted in the growth of slums. The proliferation of slums occurs due to many factors, such as, the shortage of developed land for housing, the high prices of land beyond the reach of urban poor, a large influx of rural migrants to the cities in search of jobs etc.

In spite of several efforts by the Central and State Governments to contain the number of slum dwellers, their growth has been increasing sharply exerting tremendous pressure on the existing civic amenities and social infrastructure.

In India Slums have been defined under section 3 of Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act 1956. As areas where buildings:

(i) Area in any respect unfit for human habitation.

(ii) Area by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation, light, sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors, which are detrimental to safety, health and morals.
The following criteria characterises an area as Slum:
(i) All areas notified "Slum" by state govt. under any Act.

(ii) All areas recognised as slum by state govt. which have not been formally notified as slum under any Act.

(iii) A compact area of at least 300 populations or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.

Socially, slums tend to be isolated from the rest of the urban society and exhibit pathological social symptoms (drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism and other deviant behaviour). The lack of integration of slum inhabitants into urban life reflects both, the lack of ability and cultural barriers.

Thus the slums are not just huts and dilapidated buildings but are occupied by people with complexities of social-networks, sharp socio-economic stratification, dualistic group and segregated spatial structures.

In India, slums are one or two-room hutments mostly occupying government and public lands. The houses in slums are built in mud or brick walls, low roofs mostly covered with corrugated sheets, tins, bamboo mats, polythenes, gunny bags and thatches, devoid of windows and ventilators and public utility services.

Slums have invariably extreme unhygienic conditions. They have impoverished lavatories made by digging shallow pit in between three or four huts and with sackcloth as a curtain, hanging in front. When the pit overflows excreta gets spread over the surrounding area and is rarely cleaned.

The children cultivate the habit of defecating anywhere in the slum area. Slums have practically no drains and are marked by cesspools and puddles. Piped water is not available to slum dwellers and they mainly depend upon shallow hand-pumps for water supply.

Such handpumps are generally dug in the middle of a stale dirty pool. People wash their clothes and utensils under the handpumps. The entire muck around the handpump percolates into the ground and contaminates the ground water. This contaminated ground water is taken out through the handpump which adversely affects the health of the slum dwellers.

Consequently people suffer from water-borne diseases like blood dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid, jaundice, etc. These diseases stalk the people all the year round. Children with bloated bellies or famished skeletons, many suffering from polio, are a common sight. Most of the slums are located near drains (Nullahs) which contain filthy stagnant water.

Billions of flies and mosquitoes swarming over these drains cause infectious diseases. These drains are used as open lavatories by the inhabitants and are always choked. Such drains (Nullahs) pose serious threat to health of the people.

Slums are known by different names in different cities. They are called bustees in Kolkata, jhuggi- jhoparies in Delhi, Jhoparpattis or Chawl in Mumbai and Cheri in Chennai.

Squatter Settlements:

No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between slums and squatter settlements in practice except that slums are relatively more stable and are located in older, inner parts of cities compared to squatter settlements which are relatively temporary and are often scattered in all parts of the city, especially outer zones where urban areas merge with their rural hinterland.

Normally, squatter settlements contain makeshift dwellings constructed without official permission (i.e., on unauthorised land). Such settlements are constructed by using any available material such as cardboards, tin, straw mats or sacks. Squatter settlements are constructed in an uncontrolled manner and badly lack essential public services such as water, light, sewage.

Such an environment leads to several health problems. Determining size of squatter settlement is a difficult job. Some may occur singly or in small groups of 10-20 dwellings while others occur in huge agglomerations of thousands of houses. They can occur through organised rapid (almost overnight) invasions of an area by large number of people or by gradual accretion, family by family.

Squatter settlements have following three characteristics in common.

Physical Characteristics:

Due to inherent 'non-legal' status, a squatter settlement has services and infrastructure below the adequate minimum levels. As such water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads, drainage, schools, health centres, and market places are either absent or arranged informally.

Social Characteristics:

Most of the squatter households belong to lower income group. They are predominantly migrants, but many are also second or third generation squatters.

Legal Characteristics:

Such settlements lack land ownership.

From the above discussion it is clear that squatter refers to legal position of the settlement and slum refers to the condition of a settlement.

A distinction has to be drawn between squatter settlements and shanty towns. Illegality of tenure is the hallmark of the squatter settlement but shanti huts or mean dwellings are defined by their fabric. Shanty towns result mainly from massive rural-urban migration and from the inability of city authorities to provide sufficient housing facilities and employment for the vast influx of people from rural to urban areas.

Indian cities abound with slums which have been termed as 'eyesores', a 'rash' on city landscape, 'a blot on civilization' etc. But actually they are much more health hazards for its unfortunate poverty stricken inhabitants and also for the city as a whole. The most shocking aspect is that slums are growing at an accelerated rate.

Census of India, for the first time in 2001, came out with detailed data on slum population in India. According to data released by Census of India 2001, 607 towns and cities in 26 states/union territories have reported slum population (Table 14.8).

No slum population has been reported in the remaining nine states/union territories at the time of Census 2001. Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of 76 towns reporting slum population. This is followed by Uttar Pradesh (65), Tamil Nadu (63), Maharashtra (62), West Bengal (51), Madhya Pradesh (42) and Karnataka (35). Figure 14.6 gives the distribution of towns with slum population.

The largest slum population of 10.6 million has been reported from Maharashtra; followed by Andhra Pradesh (5.1 million), Uttar Pradesh (4.1 million), West Bengal (3.8 million), Tamil Nadu (2.5 million), Madhya Pradesh (2.4 million) and Delhi (2.0 million).

Looking at the percentage of slum population to total population of towns reporting slum population, Meghalaya with 41.33 per cent tops the list (Table 14.8 and Figure 14.6). Other states with high percentage of slum population are Haryana (33.06%), Andhra Pradesh (32.69%), Maharashtra (31.65%), Chhattisgarh (29.27%) and West Bengal (26.82%). Uttar Pradesh and Orissa are very close to the all India average of 22.58 per cent.

A list of 26 million plus cities reporting slum population in 2001 (Municipal Corporation) is given in table 14.9. As expected, the largest concentration of slum population is found in four major cities of Greater Mumbai, Delhi Municipal Corporation (Urban), Kolkata and Chennai. So far as percentage of slum population to total population of the cities (municipal) is concerned, Grater

Mumbai with 48.88 per cent of its population consisting of slum dwellers is the worst suffer.

Dharavi slum in Central Mumbai is the largest slum of Asia. Here some of the side allays and lanes are so narrow that not even a bicycle can pass. The whole neighbourhood consists of tenement buildings, two or three storey high with rusty iron stairways to the upper part, where a single room is rented by a whole family, sometimes twelve or more people. In this place of shadow-less, treeless sunlight, uncontrolled garbage, stagnant pools of foul water, the only non-human creatures are the shining black crows and long gray rats.

Dharavi was an arm of the sea that was filled by waste, largely produced by the people who have come to live there. The other cities with over 40 per cent slum population to the total population (Municipal Corporation) are Faridabad and Meerut. Kolkata, Nagpur and Thane have about one-third of their population as slum population.

The most surprising feature of Table 14.9 is that Patna has reported only 0.25 per cent as slum population. There slums to be some omission in enumerating the slum population of this otherwise dirty city. According to the report of the Census of India 2001, the slum population of Patna Municipal Corporation is partial and is being subjected to scrutiny.

With traffic bottleneck and traffic congestion, almost all cities and towns of India are suffering from acute form of transport problem. Transport problems increase and become more complex as the town grows in size. With its growth, the town performs varied and complex functions and more people travel to work or shop.

As the town becomes larger, even people living within the built-up area have to travel by car or bus to cross the town and outsiders naturally bring their cars or travel by public transport. Wherever, trade is important, commercial vehicles such as vans and trucks will make problem of traffic more complicated.

Since most of the commercial activities of the towns are concentrated in the Central Business District (C.B.D.), the centres are areas of greatest congestion. However, other parts of the town are not free from traffic congestion.

Such areas include the roads leading to factories, offices, schools, etc., which will be thronged with people in morning and evening; minor shopping centres which grow up in the suburbs; sporting arenas, entertainment districts which will be busy at night, roads leading to residential and dormitory towns which will be busy when commuters flock to the cities in the morning to work and return home in the evenings.

Such congestion becomes greater when the centre is built up in tall skyscraper blocks whose offices sometimes employ thousands of workers, because at the end of the office hours everyone leaves the building within a short space of time to make their way home.

This puts tremendous pressure on public transport and causes journeys to take much longer period than they normally would. In most cities the rush hour or peak traffic hour lasts for about two hours and during that period buses and trains are crammed to capacity, roads are overcrowded with vehicles and the movement of traffic becomes very slow.

In other towns, the narrowness of the streets, which were built long before the motorised transport and lack of parking facilities are the main cause of congestion. Cars may be parked along the edges of the roads restricting movement to a narrow lane and the multiplicity of narrow streets, sharp comers and waits to turn into lanes of traffic may slow down the movement and thus create even greater congestion.

The traffic scenario in almost all the Indian cities presents a pathetic picture with Mumbai still having the best city transport system and Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune being reasonably well served by local transport system. In all other cities, if one does not own a personal vehicle, great hardship is experienced in moving about in the city.

Apart from that, the level of incomes and affordability of Indian masses is very low and the citizens are not able to pay an economic fare for use of public transport system. Therefore, all city bus services sustain such heavy losses that they cannot really expand or even maintain a fleet adequately to meet the city needs.

Moreover, mixture of vehicles causes uncontrollable chaos on the roads. Free movement of stray cattle and domestic animals on the roads adds to traffic problem and often cause accidents. Heavy traffic and congestion leads to slow movement of traffic, fuel wastage environmental pollution and loss of precious time.

A study of traffic problem in Delhi will acquaint us to traffic scenario in the rest of urban India. Already there are 44 lakh vehicles on Delhi roads (in 2004) which will almost double by 2021 when the next Master Plan will be implemented. The road length, however, has not increased proportionately.

The road length per vehicle was 3 km in 1971 which reduced to 2 km in 1981, 1.3 km in 1991, 0.68 km in 1998 and 0.23 km in 2004. Figure 14.7 depicts different aspects of transport infrastructure in Delhi. Urban planners say that by 2021, going in a car will take longer time than walking.

The guidelines for Delhi Master Plan 2021, allowing mixed land use, multi-storeyed structures and regularisation of 24 industrial estates will add to the city's already congested roads. Disturbing trends have also been indicated in the Status Report for Delhi, 2021 prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Planning Department of Delhi Government also States that despite roads occupying 21 per cent of the total area of the city, the increase of traffic on arterial roads is resulting in lower speeds, congestion, intersection delays and higher pollution level during peak hours.

Some relief is expected with the completion of metro rail. But experts fear that by the time the metro rail becomes fully operational, the demand for transport facilities will outpace the capacity of both road and rail transport.

Similar conditions prevail in most of the Indian cities. In Kolkata, metro rail and Vivekanand Setu were constructed to ease traffic flow. But traffic congestion in several old localities and near Haora bridge is almost a daily routine. In Ahmedabad, the speed of vehicles comes down to 5 km/hr on Gandhi Marg and several other roads due to congestion and overcrowding.

What is one of the most essential elements of nature to sustain life and right from the beginning of urban civilisation, sites for settlements have always been chosen keeping in view the availability of water to the inhabitants of the settlement. However, supply of water started falling short of demand as the cities grew in size and number.

Today we have reached a stage where practically no city in India/ gets sufficient water to meet the needs of city dwellers. In many cities people get water from the municipal sources for less than half an hour every alternate day. In dry summer season, taps remain dry for days together and people are denied water supply at a time when they need it the most.

The individual towns require water in larger quantities. Many small towns have no main water supply at all and depend on such sources as individual tubewells, household open wells or even rivers. Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme (AUWSP) was launched to provide water to towns with population of less than 20,000.

Keeping in view the increased demands for water by the urban population, Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) fixed 125-200 litres of water per head per day for cities with a population of more than 50,000, 100-125 litres for population between 10,000 and 50,000 and 70-100 litres for towns with a population below 10,000.

The Zakaria Committee recommended the water requirement per head per day 204 litres for cities with population between 5 lakh and 2 million and 272 litres for cities with population more than 2 million. This amount of water is supposed to be used for drinking, kitchen, bathing, cloth washing, floor and vehicle washing and gardening.

Sadly majority of the cities and towns do not get the recommended quantity of water. Gap in demand and supply of water in four metro cities, viz., Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai varies from 10 to 20 per cent. The condition is still worse in small cities and towns. To meet the growing demand for water, many cities are trying to tap external sources of water supply.

Mumbai draws water from neighbouring areas and from sources located as far as 125 km in the Western Ghats. Chennai uses water express trains to meets its growing demand for water. Bangalore is located on the plateau and draws water from Cauvery river at a distance of 100 km. Water for Bangalore has to be lifted about 700 metres with help of lifting pumps.

Hyderabad depends on Nagarjuna Sagar located 137 km away. Delhi meets large part of its water requirements from Tajiwala in Haryana. Water is also drawn from Ramganga as far as 180 km. Under the proposed scheme it will meet its growing requirements of water from Tehri, Renuka, and Kishau barrages.

Urban areas in India are almost invariably plagued with insufficient and inefficient sewage facilities. Not a single city in India is fully sewered. Resource crunch faced by the municipalities and unauthorised growth of the cities are two major causes of this pathetic state of affairs.

According to latest estimates, only 35-40 per cent of the urban population has the privilege of sewage system. Most of the cities have old sewerage lines which are not looked after properly. Often sewerage lines break down or they are overflowing.

Most cities do not have proper arrangements for treating the sewerage waste and it is drained into a nearly river (as in Delhi) or in sea (as in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), thereby polluting the water bodies.

In most Indian cities, water pipes run in close proximity to sewer lines. Any leakage leads to contamination of water which results in the spread of several water borne diseases.

As Indian cities grow in number and size the problem of trash disposal is assuming alarming proportions. Huge quantities of garbage produced by our cities pose a serious health problem. Most cites do not have proper arrangements for garbage disposal and the existing landfills are full to the brim. These landfills are hotbeds of disease and innumerable poisons leaking into their surroundings.

Wastes putrefy in the open inviting disease carrying flies and rats and a filthy, poisonous liquid, called leachate, which leaks out from below and contaminates ground water. People who live near the rotting garbage and raw sewage fall easy victims to several diseases like dysentery, malaria, plague, jaundice, diarrhoea, typhoid, etc.

Modem cities present a meeting point of people from different walks of life having no affinity with one another. Like other problems, the problem of crimes increases with the increase in urbanisation. In fact the increasing trend in urban crimes tends to disturb peace and tranquility of the cities and make them unsafe to live in particularly for the women.

Growing materialism, consumerism, competition in everyday life, selfishness, lavishness, appalling socio-economic disparities and rising unemployment and feeling of loneliness in the crowd are some of the primary causes responsible for alarming trends in urban crime.

Not only the poor, deprived and slum dwellers take to crime; youngsters from well-to-do families also resort to crime in order to make fast buck and for meeting requirements of a lavish life. Occasional failures in life also drag youngsters to crime.

The problem of urban crime is becoming more complicated in the present day world because criminals often get protection from politicians, bureaucrats and elite class of the urban society. Some of the criminals reach high political positions by using their money and muscle power.

According to study made by Dutt and Venugopal (1983), violent urban crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping, dacoity, robbery, etc. are more pronounced in the northern-central parts of the country. Even the economic crimes (like theft, cheating, breach of trust, etc.) are concentrated in the north- central region. Poverty related crimes are widespread with main concentration in the cities of Patna, Darbhanga, Gaya and Munger. This may be due to widespread poverty prevailing in this region.

However, the latest surveys show that Mumbai and Delhi figure in 35 cities that have high crime rate. As much as 31.8 per cent of citizens in Mumbai and 30.5 per cent in Delhi have been victims of crime. Sexual assault was higher in Mumbai (3.5 per cent) as compared to Delhi (1.7 per cent). Both cities score poorly in corruption, with 22.9% in Mumbai being exposed to bribery as compared to 21% in Delhi.

With rapid pace of urbanisation, industries and transport systems grow rather out of proportion. These developments are primarily responsible for pollution of environment, particularly the urban environment.

We cannot think of strong India, economically, socially and culturally, when our cities remain squalor, quality of urban life declines and the urban environment is damaged beyond repair. As a matter of fact, cities comprise the backbone of economic expansion and urbanization is being seen in a positive light as an engine of economic growth and agent of socio-political transformation.

The share of urban areas in the total national economic income had been estimated at 60 per cent and the per capita income was about three times higher than rural per capita income. But this is not sufficient partly, due to high cost of living and partly, because of growing economic disparity in urban areas. Rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer. Several steps have been initiated to meet the challenges posed by urban crisis but with little or no success.

National Commission on Urbanization (NCU) has, in its policy proposal of 1988, stressed the need for (a) the evolution of a spatial pattern of economic development and hierarchies of human settlements, (b) an optimum distribution of population between rural and urban settlements, and among towns and cities of various sizes, (c) distribution of economic activities in small and medium-sized growth centres, (d) dispersal of economic activities through the establishment of counter-magnets in the region, and (e) provision of minimum levels of services in urban and rural areas.

The other major development programmes include (i) Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) programme, (ii) the Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUS) programme, (iii) the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT), (iv) various housing and infrastructure financing schemes of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), (v) the Mega Cities Project, and (vi) the Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (IUPEP).

Almost all the major programmes of urban development suffer from the chronic disease of resource crunch. Right from the beginning of the planning period, urban development has been low on the development agenda with only 3-4 per cent of the total plan outlay being allocated to the urban sector. The National Commission on Urbanization recommended in 1988 that at least 8 per cent of the Plan outlay should be dedicated to urban sector.

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11 Major Problems of Urbanisation in India

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ADVERTISEMENTS: Some of the major problems of urbanisation in India are 1. Urban Sprawl 2. Overcrowding 3. Housing 4. Unemployment 5. Slums and Squatter Settlements 6. Transport 7. Water 8. Sewerage Problems 9. Trash Disposal 10. Urban Crimes 11. Problem of Urban Pollution! Although India is one of the less urbanized countries of the world ...

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November 3, 2011 - At the Mayors' Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and a number of mayors welcomed the formation of a Mayors' Task Force on Climate Change, Disaster Risk and the Urban Poor. At a meeting of the Task Force in April 2010, participating mayors and the World Bank agreed to undertake case studies in four cities - Dar es Salaam, Jakarta, Mexico City and São Paulo. The main aim of these case studies is to take stock and learn from what is happening with regard to urban poverty, climate change and disaster risk management in these cities.

"Jakarta: Urban Challenges in a Changing Climate" - is the report from the case study of Jakarta. The key findings from this report are summarized below:

Strong and sustained growth in Jakarta's population and economy have resulted in a vast increase in the urbanized area, and associated land use change. Between 1980 and 2002, almost one-quarter of the land area of Jakarta was converted from non-urban uses (e.g. agriculture, wetlands) to urban uses for industry, commerce and housing. Undeveloped space in greater Jakarta fell by 60 percent between 1992 and 2005.

Jakarta's rapid growth and urbanization have given rise to large-scale infrastructure problems that are acknowledged and analyzed by the Jakarta government, and experienced regularly by the public. These include urban sprawl, massive traffic congestion, informal settlements, widespread flooding, lack of clean water and solid waste management services, and land subsidence.

Jakarta is now highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The greatest climate and disaster-related risk facing Jakarta is flooding, which imposes very high human and economic costs on the city. Forty percent of the city's area, mostly in the north, already lies below sea level, and is thus vulnerable to tidal flooding, storm surges, and future rises in sea-levels. Both total rainfall and the intensity of rainfall events have increased, while rising global temperatures and the urban heat island effect have increased average temperatures.

Jakarta's poor are productive and integral members of the city's economy, and are the most vulnerable to flood-related risks. They are also highly resourceful and adaptive, with many actions taking place at the individual or community level. Jakarta has a vast informal economy that provides the unskilled labor on which the city's formal economy depends. Official statistics indicate that 3.48 percent of Jakarta's residents - over 312,180 people - fall below the poverty line. Living on the coast and along waterways, they are physically vulnerable to injury and property loss, and economically vulnerable as their livelihoods and employment are mostly based in these same areas.

The urban poor have important roles to play in addressing Jakarta's vulnerability to climate change and disasters. With relatively low incomes, the Jakarta's poor are not large consumers of energy, and contribute little to the city's greenhouse gas emissions. However, urbanization pressures have led the poor to settle informally in dense, but tenuously constructed housing. Any sustainable solution to flooding in Jakarta will need to address these issues with the active cooperation of local communities.

The government of Jakarta has started taking action on climate change, but much remains to be done to mainstream climate change across all sectors for the long term. Major infrastructure investments to reduce vulnerability include large flood canals and sea walls along the coast. There is a great deal more to be done in terms of planning for the future and preparing for climate-related disasters within communities and improving and updating government policies.

A few basic principles can guide the way forward for addressing climate change, disaster risk and urban poverty in Jakarta. First, climate change adaptation should be not so much an additional challenge to be layered onto existing policies and planning priorities, but rather an opportunity for the Jakarta government and key partners to gather their focus and priorities for the future. Policies and investments should be based on improved information, including quantitative data and an understanding of community-level actions and adaptive capacities. Finally, enhanced collaboration - with the administrations of neighboring provinces, as well as with the local communities as active participants and partners - is crucial to the success of long-term action.

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JAKARTA: Urban Challenges in a Changing Climate

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November 3, 2011 - At the Mayors' Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and a number of mayors welcomed the formation of a Mayors' Task Force on Climate Change, Disaster Risk and the Urban Poor.

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NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems.

The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.

To make sense of big data, we need new techniques to manage and analyze it, advanced methods to uncover patterns, make predictions, and ways of turning findings into practical recommendations governments, companies, and even citizens, can put into action. This is the aim of urban informatics.

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Urban Informatics: Explore the Issues - NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems. The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.

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Urban problems, Solutions and Innovations

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Tokyo is the biggest mega city in the world and it has many problems and it belong to the monsoon climate zone and is located on a active earthquake and a volcanic belt. Tokyo has lost many of its...

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Urban problems, solutions and innovations

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Urban problems As the Capital Tokyo Metropolitan Area expands, the demand for water, both domestic and industrial has increased considerably, but at the moment and for the foreseeable future, the...

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http://future-cities.com.au/blog/day-10-data-driven-solutions-to-urban-problemshttp://future-cities.com.au/blog/day-10-data-driven-solutions-to-urban-problems

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DAY 10: NEW YORK - DATA DRIVEN SOLUTIONS TO URBAN PROBLEMS

Our last day in New York City focused on data driven solutions to urban problems. We focused on the role of the private sector in forming solutions and partnering with government to deliver them; and the role of philanthropy in building the capacity of elected leaders so they are best able to utilise the data driven solutions availble for their pressing urban problems. The Exchange is presented by the Future Cities Collaborative, an initiative of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Our last day in New York City focused on data driven solutions to urban problems. We started at Sidewalk Labs, part of the Alphabet/Google family, where Chief Policy Officer Rit Aggarwala, and Research Associate Marie Buckingham, launched the delegation of the US - Australia City Exchange on Innovation Ecosystems into the digital phase of the urban revolution which will underpin the 21st Century economy and provide the amenity for citizens living in innovation precincts and beyond.
Rit Aggrawala and Marie Buckingham of Sidewalk Labs address the delegation
The focus of Sidewalk Labs is the application of data and technology to make cities work, identifying opportunities to provide solutions, and forming companies to support that work. The initial projects of Sidewalk Labs include , a platform to promote the smart optimisation of transit, and , a commercial solution to bridge the digital divide and repurpose out-dated infrastructure to connect citizens with super-fast public Wi-Fi.

In a deal with City of New York, Intersection (a company spawned by Sidewalk Labs), in partnership with a consortium of experts in technology, media, user experience and connectivity, will replace the underutilised pay-phone system with new structures called Links. Each Link will provide superfast, free public Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging and a tablet for Internet browsing, access to city services, maps and directions. Funded by advertising space sold to neighbouring businesses over the 12 year franchise deal, over 7,500 coin operated pay phones in New York City will be turned into Links, and will transmit free public Wi-Fi to citizens and visitors and a physical interface to access city services and the digital world.

"We have bridged the digital divide for citizens," says Rit, as the guiding principle behind LinkNYC is not the device, but an innovative and community-first approach to providing essential services to the whole city. For many, a $100 a month broadband contract is a luxury. LinkNYC removes this barrier and provides access to services and information for all citizens regardless of access to a smartphone, broadband contract, or connection to a protected Wi-Fi network.

Experimenting with a Link on 3rd Ave.

Future uses of the ultra fast gigabit Wi-Fi network, which will be seamless across the city when fully deployed, are almost endless with citizen interaction, sensor use, and equality of access to all, acting platform to provide real insights into city life.

Sandra Baer from Personal Cities joined the delegation over lunch to discuss smart cities approaches.

From Sidewalks Labs, we travelled uptown to be hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Among many aims, Bloomberg Philanthropies fosters innovation in local government and helps elected leaders solve problems and improve city life. The Government Innovation team's mission is to give cities the support they need to innovatively and successfully overcome pressing urban issues. They promote public sector innovation capacity and spread proven and promising solutions among cities worldwide. They are also strong supporters and encouragers the use of Open Data as an enabler for innovation and civic leadership.

Katie Appel Duda from Bloomberg Philanthropies

At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we heard from Katie Appel Duda, from the Government Innovation Team, and Simone Brody, Executive Director of What Works Cities initiative. The Government Innovation Teams are dedicated teams that help mayors generate better approaches to problems and track their progress and impact. The teams rely on data, design thinking, and strong performance management to achieve their goals, and are currently in the expansion phase of taking their proven approaches and methodologies to scale across the United States and Israel.

In addition to the Government Innovation Teams, Bloomberg Philanthropies has launched a dedicated program to build capacity within civic leaders and promote innovation solutions to urban problems. The What Works Cities initiative, launched in April 2015, is a national initiative to help 100 mid-sized American cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making, and engage residents. There are currently 27 cities in the program, who receive expert advice and guidance from Bloomberg Philanthropies and their partners, and who form an active national network of civic leaders who share learnings, advice, and assist in developing best practices for effective city government.

Our delegates listen to Simone Brody discuss What Works Cities

Our final stop in New York and for the Exchange was with our sponsor, AECOM. This was an opportunity for all our delegates to debrief, share insights, and hear the perspective of AECOM in building cities that foster innovation, economic development, and enhance the civic fabric demanded of 21st century life. Special thanks must go to our New York hosts from AECOM: Tom Scerbo, Vice President, New York Business Unit Leader - Buildings and Places; Gonzalo Cruz, Principal and Design Director, Landscape and Urban Design Studio Leader; and Geoffrey Lynch, Vice President and Director of Architecture, New York Metro; and many others from AECOM New York for hosting us and contributing to the dialogue around cities, innovation, and what lessons there are for Australia from our new friends in New York. Thanks also to James Rosenwax, Market Sector Director for Cities from AECOM's Sydney office for driving the conversation and pulling together the links between New York's experiences and Australia's visions for building innovative, dynamic and competitive 21st cities.
Wrapping up with perspectives from our sponsor, AECOM
Thank you to all of our New York partners for generously hosting our delegation, especially Marie Buckingham and Katie Appel Duda. A special thanks to AECOM and their New York office for sponsoring the United States - Australia City Exchange on Innovation Ecosystems. (Hero Image Credit: https://www.link.nyc/)
Sponsored by: AECOM

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DAY 10: NEW YORK - DATA DRIVEN SOLUTIONS TO URBAN PROBLEMS - News - Future Cities Collaborative

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Our last day in New York City focused on data driven solutions to urban problems. We focused on the role of the private sector in forming solutions and partnering with government to deliver them; and the role of philanthropy in building the capacity of elected leaders so they are best able to utilise the data driven solutions availble for their pressing urban problems. The Exchange is presented by the Future Cities Collaborative, an initiative of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

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by Habibul Haque Khondker, Member of Executive Committee

In 2008 more than 50 percent of the world population of nearly seven billion became urban. This marked an important milestone in history. In 1800 only 3 percent, in 1900 14 percent and in 1950 30 percent of the world population lived in urban centers. Asia is home to the growing urbanization with a concentration of megacities or cities over 10 million people. By 2000 of the top ten megacities 5 (Tokyo, Bombay, Shanghai, Kolkata, and Delhi ranked number 1,5,6,7, and 8 respectively) were in Asia. In fact, seven of the 10 such cities were in the developing world.
As one of the top 11 megacities, Dhaka is probably the fastest growing in the world. Between 1990 and 2005, the population of Dhaka swelled from 6 million to 12 million. It is projected that by 2025 eight of the ten megacities will be in Asia with Dhaka ranked fourth following closely on the heels of Tokyo, Bombay and Delhi.

Historically, urbanization was the result of industrialization. In the developing world urbanization without employment-generating-industrialization or even informal work is often the norm, resulting in a concentration of the poor. Of Dhaka's estimated population of 15 million, 28% are poor and live in the slums. It is "slumization" rather than urbanization. Slums in Dhaka signal the growth of the informal sector of the economy. Majority of the slum-dwellers are actively engaged in the urban economy; some are rickshaw drivers, others - mostly women - work as part-time domestics for the middle class households. The recent growth of apparel industries located in Dhaka has also attracted a huge number of rural women who have found employment, thereby further adding to the city population. The zoning laws of the city are rarely enforced. The urban landscape is a mish mash of smart residential areas woven with commercial districts. Urban problems are most visible on the street with snarled up traffic that makes Dhaka one of most anarchic cities in the world.

Bangladesh has made reasonable progress in reducing poverty. The problems of Dhaka lie in the governance of the city. Dhaka is managed in part by the various ministries of the central government as well as the mayor's office, resulting in complicated problems of coordination. Since the national government is run by the Awami League and the city mayor is from the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, it becomes a political problem. The two parties do not see eye to eye on most national issues with sharp ideological differences between them.
Dhaka has survived for the past 400 years over which time it has seen rise and decline, opulence and poverty. The city was made a provincial capital in the late seventeenth century by the Mogul rulers. During the British rule the city declined as Kolkata rose, but since 1971it has been the capital of Bangladesh, growing again albeit in an unplanned manner. Under a capable and democratic city government, Dhaka may regain its past glory transforming itself from a megacity of despair into a thriving megapolis.

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by Habibul Haque Khondker, Member of Executive Committee In 2008 more than 50 percent of the world population of nearly seven billion became urban. This marked an important milestone in history. In 1800 only 3 percent, in 1900 14 percent [...]

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JAKARTA - Even on an ordinary day, a commute down one of Jakarta's major thoroughfares can feel like traveling a road to nowhere. In Indonesia's bustling capital, traffic routinely sits at a standstill for hours - government statistics recently revealed that the average traveling speed is 5.2 miles per hour, the equivalent of a light jog. The gridlock has even spawned thriving cottage industries of vendors hawking food, drinks, and newspapers to disgruntled commuters.

The gridlock was orders of magnitude worse on an extraordinary day - on Nov. 9, when U.S. President Barack Obama paid a visit to Jakarta, his boyhood home from ages 6 to 10. Indonesia's homecoming king even reminisced about the rickshaws that used to line the streets when he lived there. "Now as president I can't even see any traffic because they block all of the streets," he lamented.

But it's hard to imagine any of Jakarta's current residents ever waxing nostalgic about the city's traffic problem. The bulging metropolis that welcomed Obama has become one of the world's most congested and dysfunctional urban areas - and a key test of whether humanity can overcome the challenges that will define the 21st century.

If Jakarta is a bellwether for the coming age of the megacity, humanity may be in trouble. The city's infrastructure is cracking under the strain of its burgeoning population, resulting in a series of increasingly dangerous and costly problems. Jakarta is the poster child for unsustainable urban development, but the same problems bedevil cities such as Mumbai and Shanghai.

Jakarta officials have been caught unprepared by the rapid pace of the city's expansion. The latest census data indicates that Indonesia's capital is home to over 9.5 million inhabitants - exceeding the official 2025 population prediction of 9.3 million made by the government's Central Statistics Agency in 2005 - and has a population density of 14,476 people per square kilometer, one of the world's highest. And that's just the city's core - metropolitan Jakarta contains a total of 24 million people.

Simply put, Jakartans are buying new vehicles faster than the city can construct new roads. A study conducted this year by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's task force charged with reforming the city's infrastructure found that 474 new cars and 2,946 motorbikes join the Jakarta traffic jams each day, bringing the total to about 14.4 million cars and motorbikes.

The city, located on the northwest coast of Java, the central island on the Indonesian archipelago, is also increasingly threatened by Mother Nature. According to a report released this year by the Environment Ministry, 92 percent of the city's land area is highly prone to flooding, while the remainder is mildly prone. The report also notes that more than half of the capital is highly susceptible to landslides and severe erosion, while only a paltry 2.74 percent of Jakarta's land is free of erosion.

These risks are not merely hypothetical. In late October, severe flooding in the coastal city paralyzed major arteries and stranded millions of commuters in traffic jams that lasted until 11 p.m. Statistics released by the water resource maintenance unit of the Public Works Office suggest flooding in Jakarta has cost the government $1 billion annually, in addition to the city's allocated budget of $1.5 billion to normalize river flows and $302.4 million for connecting drains in the last year alone.

Jakarta's population has spread unchecked into flood-prone areas, which has only exacerbated the problem. Overdevelopment of high-rise complexes - areas of high population density that demand a correspondingly large amount of groundwater - have further contributed to erosion. As a result, Jakarta is literally in a rut: The city has sunk 12 centimeters a year since 2007, making the Indonesian capital ever more susceptible to rising sea levels.

These hazards have convinced government officials to consider radical solutions. Velix Wanggai, an advisor to the president,has reignited a debate about whether Indonesia should shift the capital to another one of the country's major cities to alleviate the pressures on Jakarta. Jonggol, located 50 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, was first touted as a potential administrative capital by then President Suharto, but the island of Java, on which both Jakarta and Jonggol are located, is problematic because of its high population density and its susceptibility to natural disasters.A more radical solution would be to move the capital to Palangkaraya, the capital city of Central Kalimantan province, which has a core population of 165,856 and a population density of 12.5 people per square kilometer. It is situated in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, which might encourage a less Java-centric approach to development.

The government has also touted vague plans to develop other areas of the country through fiscal decentralization programs in order to encourage residents not to relocate to the already overburdened urban centers. The plans would devolve responsibility for taxation and spending, which is now largely conducted by the federal government, to regional administration.

In 2008, President Yudhoyono emphasized the importance of fiscal decentralization in "generating faster national economic growth and...ameliorat[ing] the people's comprehensive and sustainable well-being." In April, he echoed this sentiment in his keynote speech to the sixth assembly for the World Movement of Democracy, where he stated the need for an "ambitious decentralization program."

Such plans raise hopes that Jakarta can get out of its current jam. But history is not on its side: The Indonesian government's promises of reform tend to be nothing more than hollow rhetoric. For example, plans to implement a carbon tax, eliminate energy subsidies by 2014, and raise electricity prices have recently been shelved by the federal government. The same officials who are responsible for Indonesia's traffic and flooding woes can hardly be expected to mastermind a relocation of the country's center of power.

And let there be no doubt, Jakarta's ecological woes are largely man-made. Part of the problem is bureaucratic buck-passing: Jakarta's governor attributedthe recent flooding to unprecedented levels of rain - a statement undercut by the head of the Public Works Office, who pointed out that only 20 percent of Jakarta's drains were in working order, while the other 80 percent were severely clogged due to a poorly coordinated waste management system that led households and street vendors to dispose their trash in the city's waterways. Thefederal government is also working at cross purposes: It devotes just 8 percent of its total spending on public works, a figure dwarfed by the 13 percent devoted to fuel subsidies, which only encourage more people to drive. Today, Jakarta is the world's largest metropolis without a rail system.

As a burgeoning economic force and G-20 member, Indonesia is eager to boost its international profile, and a meet and greet with Obama is certainly a step in the right direction. But the capital's shambolic state is not only a blight on Indonesia's remarkable political and economic progress since the Suharto era, but a telling indication of the obstacles that will impede its continued rise.

As Jakarta's officials attempt to wow Obama with their ambitious plans for reform, the U.S. president should take their lofty designs with a grain of salt; it is the government's proclivity for kowtowing to vested interests, after all, that has resulted in the capital's current dismal state. By seizing upon his unique standing in the country, Obama should try to convince the Indonesian government to work with the United States to adopt policies that support sustainable growth. Such a partnership would not only earn the gratitude of Jakarta's beleaguered commuters - it would chart a path forward for Asia's other megacities that are struggling to manage the unintended consequences of their rapid growth.

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JAKARTA - Even on an ordinary day, a commute down one of Jakarta's major thoroughfares can feel like traveling a road to nowhere. In Indonesia's bustling capital, traffic routinely sits at a standstill for hours - government statistics recently revealed that the average traveling speed is 5.2 miles per hour, the equivalent of a light jog.

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NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems.

The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.

To make sense of big data, we need new techniques to manage and analyze it, advanced methods to uncover patterns, make predictions, and ways of turning findings into practical recommendations governments, companies, and even citizens, can put into action. This is the aim of urban informatics.

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Urban Informatics: Explore the Issues - NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems. The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.

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URBAN PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATIONS

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With an ever growing population of 24.15 million people in Shanghai, road congestion is high. With the majority of the population on the roads at any given time this makes for longer trips.

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Some of the major problems of urbanisation in India are 1. Urban Sprawl 2. Overcrowding 3. Housing 4. Unemployment 5. Slums and Squatter Settlements 6. Transport 7. Water 8. Sewerage Problems 9. Trash Disposal 10. Urban Crimes 11. Problem of Urban Pollution!
Although India is one of the less urbanized countries of the world with only 27.78 per cent of her population living in urban agglomerations/towns, this country is facing a serious crisis of urban growth at the present time. Whereas urbanisation has been an instrument of economic, social and political progress, it has led to serious socio-economic problems.

The sheer magnitude of the urban population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas, and a desperate lack of infrastructure are the main causes of such a situation. The rapid growth of urban population both natural and through migration, has put heavy pressure on public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water, electricity, health, education and so on.

Poverty, unemployment and under employment among the rural immigrants, beggary, thefts, dacoities, burglaries and other social evils are on rampage. Urban sprawl is rapidly encroaching the precious agricultural land. The urban population of India had already crossed the 285 million mark by 2001. By 2030, more than 50 per cent of India's population is expected to live in urban areas. Following problems need to be highlighted.

Urban sprawl or real expansion of the cities, both in population and geographical area, of rapidly growing cities is the root cause of urban problems. In most cities the economic base is incapable of dealing with the problems created by their excessive size. Massive immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities has taken place almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities.

The first large flow of migration from rural to urban areas was during the "depression" of late 1930s when people migrated in search of jobs. Later, during the decade 1941-51, another a million persons moved to urban places in response to wartime industrialisation and partition of the country in 1947.

During 1991-2001, well over 20 million people migrated to cities. The greatest pressure of the immigrating population has been felt in the central districts of the city (the old city) where the immigrants flock to their relatives and friends before they search for housing. Population densities beyond the "old city" decline sharply.

Brush (1968) has referred to this situation in the central parts of the cities as "urban impulsion" which results from concentration of people in the centre of the city close to their work and shopping. Incidentally many of the fastest growing urban centres are large cities.

This is due to the fact that such large cities act as magnets and attract large number of immigrants by dint of their employment opportunities and modern way of life. Such hyperurbanisation leads to projected cities sizes of which defy imagination. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, etc. are examples of urban sprawl due to large scale migration of people from the surrounding areas.

In several big cities wealthy people are constantly moving from the crowded centres of the cities to the more pleasant suburbs where they can build larger houses and enjoy the space and privacy of a garden around the house. In some cities, the outskirts are also added to by squatters who build makeshift shacks of unused land although they have no legal right to the land. The difficulty of restricting town growth in either case is immense and most towns and cities are surrounded by wide rings of suburbs.

Historically suburbs have grown first along the major roads leading into the town. This type of growth is known as ribbon settlement. Such sites are first to be developed because of their location near the road gives them greater accessibility. But soon the demand for suburban homes causes the land between ribbon settlements to be built and made accessible by constructing new roads.

This type of development is known as 'infil'. Simultaneously small towns and villages within the commuting distance of major cities are also developed for residential purposes. In this way towns are continuously growing and in some areas the suburbs of a number of neighbouring towns may be so close together as to form an almost continuous urban belt which is called conurbation. Urban sprawl is taking place at the cost of valuable agricultural land.

Overcrowding is a situation in which too many people live in too little space. Overcrowding is a logical consequence of over-population in urban areas. It is naturally expected that cities having a large size of population squeezed in a small space must suffer from overcrowding. This is well exhibited by almost all the big cities of India.

For example, Mumbai has one-sixth of an acre open space per thousand populations though four acre is suggested standard by the Master Plan of Greater Mumbai. Metropolitan cities of India are overcrowded both in 'absolute' and 'relative' terms. Absolute in the sense that these cities have a real high density of population; relative in the sense that even if the densities are not very high the problem of providing services and other facilities to the city dwellers makes it so.

Delhi has a population density of 9,340 persons per sq km (Census 2001) which is the highest in India. This is the overall population density for the Union territory of Delhi. Population density in central part of Delhi could be much higher. This leads to tremendous pressure on infrastructural facilities like housing, electricity, water, transport, employment, etc. Efforts to decongest Delhi by developing ring towns have not met with the required success.

Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas. This problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large influx of unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in when they enter cities/towns from the surrounding areas.

An Indian Sample Survey in 1959 indicated that 44 per cent of urban households (as compared to 34 per cent of rural families) occupied one room or less. In larger cities the proportion of families occupying one room or less was as high as 67 per cent. (Roy Turner, 1962).

Moreover, the current rate of housing construction is very slow which makes the problem further complicated. Indian cities require annually about 2.5 million new devellings but less than 15 per cent of the requirement is being constructed.

The Census of India 2001 concluded the first ever and the largest survey of household amenities and assets which points a never-before profile of problem relating to housing in India. The outcome is both instructive and amusing. Taking India as whole, there are 179 million residential houses, i.e., about six people to each house.

Thirty-nine per cent of all married couples in India (about 86 million) do not have an independent room to themselves. As many as 35 per cent (18.9 million) urban families live in one-room houses.

For about a third of urban Indian families, a house does not include a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet-and in many cases there is no power and water supply. Only 79 per cent (42.6 million) urban household live in permanent (pucca) houses. 67 per cent (36 million) of the urban houses are owned by the households while 29 per cent (15 million) are rented.

Several factors are responsible for the above mentioned sad state of affairs with respect to housing problems faced by the urban people. The major factors are shortage of building materials and financial resources, inadequate expansion of public utilities into sub-urban areas, poverty and unemployment of urban immigrants, strong caste and family ties and lack of adequate transportation to sub-urban areas where most of the vacant land for new construction is located.

The problem of unemployment is no less serious than the problem of housing mentioned above. Urban unemployment in India is estimated at 15 to 25 per cent of the labour force. This percentage is even higher among the educated people.

It is estimated that about half of all educated urban unemployed are concentrated in four metropolitan cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai). Furthermore, although urban incomes are higher than the rural incomes, they are appallingly low in view of high cost of living in urban areas.

One of the major causes of urban unemployment is the large scale migration of people from rural to urban areas. Rural-urban migration has been continuing for a pretty long time but it has not always been as great a problem as it is today. The general poverty among the rural people pushes them out to urban areas to migrate in search of livelihood and in the hope of a better living.

But the growth of economic opportunities fails to keep pace with the quantum of immigration. The limited capacity of urban areas could not create enough employment opportunities and absorb the rapid growth of the urban labour force. Efforts made by the central and the state governments to create employment opportunities in rural areas and to check the large scale rural-urban migration have not met with much success.

The natural sequel of unchecked, unplanned and haphazard growth of urban areas is the growth and spread of slums and squatter settlements which present a striking feature in the ecological structure of Indian cities, especially of metropolitan centres.

The rapid urbanisation in conjunction with industrialisation has resulted in the growth of slums. The proliferation of slums occurs due to many factors, such as, the shortage of developed land for housing, the high prices of land beyond the reach of urban poor, a large influx of rural migrants to the cities in search of jobs etc.

In spite of several efforts by the Central and State Governments to contain the number of slum dwellers, their growth has been increasing sharply exerting tremendous pressure on the existing civic amenities and social infrastructure.

In India Slums have been defined under section 3 of Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act 1956. As areas where buildings:

(i) Area in any respect unfit for human habitation.

(ii) Area by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation, light, sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors, which are detrimental to safety, health and morals.
The following criteria characterises an area as Slum:
(i) All areas notified "Slum" by state govt. under any Act.

(ii) All areas recognised as slum by state govt. which have not been formally notified as slum under any Act.

(iii) A compact area of at least 300 populations or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.

Socially, slums tend to be isolated from the rest of the urban society and exhibit pathological social symptoms (drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism and other deviant behaviour). The lack of integration of slum inhabitants into urban life reflects both, the lack of ability and cultural barriers.

Thus the slums are not just huts and dilapidated buildings but are occupied by people with complexities of social-networks, sharp socio-economic stratification, dualistic group and segregated spatial structures.

In India, slums are one or two-room hutments mostly occupying government and public lands. The houses in slums are built in mud or brick walls, low roofs mostly covered with corrugated sheets, tins, bamboo mats, polythenes, gunny bags and thatches, devoid of windows and ventilators and public utility services.

Slums have invariably extreme unhygienic conditions. They have impoverished lavatories made by digging shallow pit in between three or four huts and with sackcloth as a curtain, hanging in front. When the pit overflows excreta gets spread over the surrounding area and is rarely cleaned.

The children cultivate the habit of defecating anywhere in the slum area. Slums have practically no drains and are marked by cesspools and puddles. Piped water is not available to slum dwellers and they mainly depend upon shallow hand-pumps for water supply.

Such handpumps are generally dug in the middle of a stale dirty pool. People wash their clothes and utensils under the handpumps. The entire muck around the handpump percolates into the ground and contaminates the ground water. This contaminated ground water is taken out through the handpump which adversely affects the health of the slum dwellers.

Consequently people suffer from water-borne diseases like blood dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid, jaundice, etc. These diseases stalk the people all the year round. Children with bloated bellies or famished skeletons, many suffering from polio, are a common sight. Most of the slums are located near drains (Nullahs) which contain filthy stagnant water.

Billions of flies and mosquitoes swarming over these drains cause infectious diseases. These drains are used as open lavatories by the inhabitants and are always choked. Such drains (Nullahs) pose serious threat to health of the people.

Slums are known by different names in different cities. They are called bustees in Kolkata, jhuggi- jhoparies in Delhi, Jhoparpattis or Chawl in Mumbai and Cheri in Chennai.

Squatter Settlements:

No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between slums and squatter settlements in practice except that slums are relatively more stable and are located in older, inner parts of cities compared to squatter settlements which are relatively temporary and are often scattered in all parts of the city, especially outer zones where urban areas merge with their rural hinterland.

Normally, squatter settlements contain makeshift dwellings constructed without official permission (i.e., on unauthorised land). Such settlements are constructed by using any available material such as cardboards, tin, straw mats or sacks. Squatter settlements are constructed in an uncontrolled manner and badly lack essential public services such as water, light, sewage.

Such an environment leads to several health problems. Determining size of squatter settlement is a difficult job. Some may occur singly or in small groups of 10-20 dwellings while others occur in huge agglomerations of thousands of houses. They can occur through organised rapid (almost overnight) invasions of an area by large number of people or by gradual accretion, family by family.

Squatter settlements have following three characteristics in common.

Physical Characteristics:

Due to inherent 'non-legal' status, a squatter settlement has services and infrastructure below the adequate minimum levels. As such water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads, drainage, schools, health centres, and market places are either absent or arranged informally.

Social Characteristics:

Most of the squatter households belong to lower income group. They are predominantly migrants, but many are also second or third generation squatters.

Legal Characteristics:

Such settlements lack land ownership.

From the above discussion it is clear that squatter refers to legal position of the settlement and slum refers to the condition of a settlement.

A distinction has to be drawn between squatter settlements and shanty towns. Illegality of tenure is the hallmark of the squatter settlement but shanti huts or mean dwellings are defined by their fabric. Shanty towns result mainly from massive rural-urban migration and from the inability of city authorities to provide sufficient housing facilities and employment for the vast influx of people from rural to urban areas.

Indian cities abound with slums which have been termed as 'eyesores', a 'rash' on city landscape, 'a blot on civilization' etc. But actually they are much more health hazards for its unfortunate poverty stricken inhabitants and also for the city as a whole. The most shocking aspect is that slums are growing at an accelerated rate.

Census of India, for the first time in 2001, came out with detailed data on slum population in India. According to data released by Census of India 2001, 607 towns and cities in 26 states/union territories have reported slum population (Table 14.8).

No slum population has been reported in the remaining nine states/union territories at the time of Census 2001. Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of 76 towns reporting slum population. This is followed by Uttar Pradesh (65), Tamil Nadu (63), Maharashtra (62), West Bengal (51), Madhya Pradesh (42) and Karnataka (35). Figure 14.6 gives the distribution of towns with slum population.

The largest slum population of 10.6 million has been reported from Maharashtra; followed by Andhra Pradesh (5.1 million), Uttar Pradesh (4.1 million), West Bengal (3.8 million), Tamil Nadu (2.5 million), Madhya Pradesh (2.4 million) and Delhi (2.0 million).

Looking at the percentage of slum population to total population of towns reporting slum population, Meghalaya with 41.33 per cent tops the list (Table 14.8 and Figure 14.6). Other states with high percentage of slum population are Haryana (33.06%), Andhra Pradesh (32.69%), Maharashtra (31.65%), Chhattisgarh (29.27%) and West Bengal (26.82%). Uttar Pradesh and Orissa are very close to the all India average of 22.58 per cent.

A list of 26 million plus cities reporting slum population in 2001 (Municipal Corporation) is given in table 14.9. As expected, the largest concentration of slum population is found in four major cities of Greater Mumbai, Delhi Municipal Corporation (Urban), Kolkata and Chennai. So far as percentage of slum population to total population of the cities (municipal) is concerned, Grater

Mumbai with 48.88 per cent of its population consisting of slum dwellers is the worst suffer.

Dharavi slum in Central Mumbai is the largest slum of Asia. Here some of the side allays and lanes are so narrow that not even a bicycle can pass. The whole neighbourhood consists of tenement buildings, two or three storey high with rusty iron stairways to the upper part, where a single room is rented by a whole family, sometimes twelve or more people. In this place of shadow-less, treeless sunlight, uncontrolled garbage, stagnant pools of foul water, the only non-human creatures are the shining black crows and long gray rats.

Dharavi was an arm of the sea that was filled by waste, largely produced by the people who have come to live there. The other cities with over 40 per cent slum population to the total population (Municipal Corporation) are Faridabad and Meerut. Kolkata, Nagpur and Thane have about one-third of their population as slum population.

The most surprising feature of Table 14.9 is that Patna has reported only 0.25 per cent as slum population. There slums to be some omission in enumerating the slum population of this otherwise dirty city. According to the report of the Census of India 2001, the slum population of Patna Municipal Corporation is partial and is being subjected to scrutiny.

With traffic bottleneck and traffic congestion, almost all cities and towns of India are suffering from acute form of transport problem. Transport problems increase and become more complex as the town grows in size. With its growth, the town performs varied and complex functions and more people travel to work or shop.

As the town becomes larger, even people living within the built-up area have to travel by car or bus to cross the town and outsiders naturally bring their cars or travel by public transport. Wherever, trade is important, commercial vehicles such as vans and trucks will make problem of traffic more complicated.

Since most of the commercial activities of the towns are concentrated in the Central Business District (C.B.D.), the centres are areas of greatest congestion. However, other parts of the town are not free from traffic congestion.

Such areas include the roads leading to factories, offices, schools, etc., which will be thronged with people in morning and evening; minor shopping centres which grow up in the suburbs; sporting arenas, entertainment districts which will be busy at night, roads leading to residential and dormitory towns which will be busy when commuters flock to the cities in the morning to work and return home in the evenings.

Such congestion becomes greater when the centre is built up in tall skyscraper blocks whose offices sometimes employ thousands of workers, because at the end of the office hours everyone leaves the building within a short space of time to make their way home.

This puts tremendous pressure on public transport and causes journeys to take much longer period than they normally would. In most cities the rush hour or peak traffic hour lasts for about two hours and during that period buses and trains are crammed to capacity, roads are overcrowded with vehicles and the movement of traffic becomes very slow.

In other towns, the narrowness of the streets, which were built long before the motorised transport and lack of parking facilities are the main cause of congestion. Cars may be parked along the edges of the roads restricting movement to a narrow lane and the multiplicity of narrow streets, sharp comers and waits to turn into lanes of traffic may slow down the movement and thus create even greater congestion.

The traffic scenario in almost all the Indian cities presents a pathetic picture with Mumbai still having the best city transport system and Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune being reasonably well served by local transport system. In all other cities, if one does not own a personal vehicle, great hardship is experienced in moving about in the city.

Apart from that, the level of incomes and affordability of Indian masses is very low and the citizens are not able to pay an economic fare for use of public transport system. Therefore, all city bus services sustain such heavy losses that they cannot really expand or even maintain a fleet adequately to meet the city needs.

Moreover, mixture of vehicles causes uncontrollable chaos on the roads. Free movement of stray cattle and domestic animals on the roads adds to traffic problem and often cause accidents. Heavy traffic and congestion leads to slow movement of traffic, fuel wastage environmental pollution and loss of precious time.

A study of traffic problem in Delhi will acquaint us to traffic scenario in the rest of urban India. Already there are 44 lakh vehicles on Delhi roads (in 2004) which will almost double by 2021 when the next Master Plan will be implemented. The road length, however, has not increased proportionately.

The road length per vehicle was 3 km in 1971 which reduced to 2 km in 1981, 1.3 km in 1991, 0.68 km in 1998 and 0.23 km in 2004. Figure 14.7 depicts different aspects of transport infrastructure in Delhi. Urban planners say that by 2021, going in a car will take longer time than walking.

The guidelines for Delhi Master Plan 2021, allowing mixed land use, multi-storeyed structures and regularisation of 24 industrial estates will add to the city's already congested roads. Disturbing trends have also been indicated in the Status Report for Delhi, 2021 prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Planning Department of Delhi Government also States that despite roads occupying 21 per cent of the total area of the city, the increase of traffic on arterial roads is resulting in lower speeds, congestion, intersection delays and higher pollution level during peak hours.

Some relief is expected with the completion of metro rail. But experts fear that by the time the metro rail becomes fully operational, the demand for transport facilities will outpace the capacity of both road and rail transport.

Similar conditions prevail in most of the Indian cities. In Kolkata, metro rail and Vivekanand Setu were constructed to ease traffic flow. But traffic congestion in several old localities and near Haora bridge is almost a daily routine. In Ahmedabad, the speed of vehicles comes down to 5 km/hr on Gandhi Marg and several other roads due to congestion and overcrowding.

What is one of the most essential elements of nature to sustain life and right from the beginning of urban civilisation, sites for settlements have always been chosen keeping in view the availability of water to the inhabitants of the settlement. However, supply of water started falling short of demand as the cities grew in size and number.

Today we have reached a stage where practically no city in India/ gets sufficient water to meet the needs of city dwellers. In many cities people get water from the municipal sources for less than half an hour every alternate day. In dry summer season, taps remain dry for days together and people are denied water supply at a time when they need it the most.

The individual towns require water in larger quantities. Many small towns have no main water supply at all and depend on such sources as individual tubewells, household open wells or even rivers. Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme (AUWSP) was launched to provide water to towns with population of less than 20,000.

Keeping in view the increased demands for water by the urban population, Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) fixed 125-200 litres of water per head per day for cities with a population of more than 50,000, 100-125 litres for population between 10,000 and 50,000 and 70-100 litres for towns with a population below 10,000.

The Zakaria Committee recommended the water requirement per head per day 204 litres for cities with population between 5 lakh and 2 million and 272 litres for cities with population more than 2 million. This amount of water is supposed to be used for drinking, kitchen, bathing, cloth washing, floor and vehicle washing and gardening.

Sadly majority of the cities and towns do not get the recommended quantity of water. Gap in demand and supply of water in four metro cities, viz., Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai varies from 10 to 20 per cent. The condition is still worse in small cities and towns. To meet the growing demand for water, many cities are trying to tap external sources of water supply.

Mumbai draws water from neighbouring areas and from sources located as far as 125 km in the Western Ghats. Chennai uses water express trains to meets its growing demand for water. Bangalore is located on the plateau and draws water from Cauvery river at a distance of 100 km. Water for Bangalore has to be lifted about 700 metres with help of lifting pumps.

Hyderabad depends on Nagarjuna Sagar located 137 km away. Delhi meets large part of its water requirements from Tajiwala in Haryana. Water is also drawn from Ramganga as far as 180 km. Under the proposed scheme it will meet its growing requirements of water from Tehri, Renuka, and Kishau barrages.

Urban areas in India are almost invariably plagued with insufficient and inefficient sewage facilities. Not a single city in India is fully sewered. Resource crunch faced by the municipalities and unauthorised growth of the cities are two major causes of this pathetic state of affairs.

According to latest estimates, only 35-40 per cent of the urban population has the privilege of sewage system. Most of the cities have old sewerage lines which are not looked after properly. Often sewerage lines break down or they are overflowing.

Most cities do not have proper arrangements for treating the sewerage waste and it is drained into a nearly river (as in Delhi) or in sea (as in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), thereby polluting the water bodies.

In most Indian cities, water pipes run in close proximity to sewer lines. Any leakage leads to contamination of water which results in the spread of several water borne diseases.

As Indian cities grow in number and size the problem of trash disposal is assuming alarming proportions. Huge quantities of garbage produced by our cities pose a serious health problem. Most cites do not have proper arrangements for garbage disposal and the existing landfills are full to the brim. These landfills are hotbeds of disease and innumerable poisons leaking into their surroundings.

Wastes putrefy in the open inviting disease carrying flies and rats and a filthy, poisonous liquid, called leachate, which leaks out from below and contaminates ground water. People who live near the rotting garbage and raw sewage fall easy victims to several diseases like dysentery, malaria, plague, jaundice, diarrhoea, typhoid, etc.

Modem cities present a meeting point of people from different walks of life having no affinity with one another. Like other problems, the problem of crimes increases with the increase in urbanisation. In fact the increasing trend in urban crimes tends to disturb peace and tranquility of the cities and make them unsafe to live in particularly for the women.

Growing materialism, consumerism, competition in everyday life, selfishness, lavishness, appalling socio-economic disparities and rising unemployment and feeling of loneliness in the crowd are some of the primary causes responsible for alarming trends in urban crime.

Not only the poor, deprived and slum dwellers take to crime; youngsters from well-to-do families also resort to crime in order to make fast buck and for meeting requirements of a lavish life. Occasional failures in life also drag youngsters to crime.

The problem of urban crime is becoming more complicated in the present day world because criminals often get protection from politicians, bureaucrats and elite class of the urban society. Some of the criminals reach high political positions by using their money and muscle power.

According to study made by Dutt and Venugopal (1983), violent urban crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping, dacoity, robbery, etc. are more pronounced in the northern-central parts of the country. Even the economic crimes (like theft, cheating, breach of trust, etc.) are concentrated in the north- central region. Poverty related crimes are widespread with main concentration in the cities of Patna, Darbhanga, Gaya and Munger. This may be due to widespread poverty prevailing in this region.

However, the latest surveys show that Mumbai and Delhi figure in 35 cities that have high crime rate. As much as 31.8 per cent of citizens in Mumbai and 30.5 per cent in Delhi have been victims of crime. Sexual assault was higher in Mumbai (3.5 per cent) as compared to Delhi (1.7 per cent). Both cities score poorly in corruption, with 22.9% in Mumbai being exposed to bribery as compared to 21% in Delhi.

With rapid pace of urbanisation, industries and transport systems grow rather out of proportion. These developments are primarily responsible for pollution of environment, particularly the urban environment.

We cannot think of strong India, economically, socially and culturally, when our cities remain squalor, quality of urban life declines and the urban environment is damaged beyond repair. As a matter of fact, cities comprise the backbone of economic expansion and urbanization is being seen in a positive light as an engine of economic growth and agent of socio-political transformation.

The share of urban areas in the total national economic income had been estimated at 60 per cent and the per capita income was about three times higher than rural per capita income. But this is not sufficient partly, due to high cost of living and partly, because of growing economic disparity in urban areas. Rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer. Several steps have been initiated to meet the challenges posed by urban crisis but with little or no success.

National Commission on Urbanization (NCU) has, in its policy proposal of 1988, stressed the need for (a) the evolution of a spatial pattern of economic development and hierarchies of human settlements, (b) an optimum distribution of population between rural and urban settlements, and among towns and cities of various sizes, (c) distribution of economic activities in small and medium-sized growth centres, (d) dispersal of economic activities through the establishment of counter-magnets in the region, and (e) provision of minimum levels of services in urban and rural areas.

The other major development programmes include (i) Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) programme, (ii) the Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUS) programme, (iii) the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT), (iv) various housing and infrastructure financing schemes of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), (v) the Mega Cities Project, and (vi) the Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (IUPEP).

Almost all the major programmes of urban development suffer from the chronic disease of resource crunch. Right from the beginning of the planning period, urban development has been low on the development agenda with only 3-4 per cent of the total plan outlay being allocated to the urban sector. The National Commission on Urbanization recommended in 1988 that at least 8 per cent of the Plan outlay should be dedicated to urban sector.

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11 Major Problems of Urbanisation in India

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ADVERTISEMENTS: Some of the major problems of urbanisation in India are 1. Urban Sprawl 2. Overcrowding 3. Housing 4. Unemployment 5. Slums and Squatter Settlements 6. Transport 7. Water 8. Sewerage Problems 9. Trash Disposal 10. Urban Crimes 11. Problem of Urban Pollution! Although India is one of the less urbanized countries of the world ...

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Urban problems of London. - A-Level Geography - Marked by Teachers.com

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See our A-Level Essay Example on Urban problems of London., Population & Settlement now at Marked By Teachers.

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Late in 2016, Human Cities Coalition commissioned a rapid scan of our two pilot cities in order to help frame and contextualise the specific urban challenges we work to address. To follow-up on this, and to begin making connections to foster the work of a lasting coalition, Directors Ronald Lenz and Fleur Henderson paid the pilot cities of Jakarta and Manila a visit. In this instalment we focus on Jakarta to offer further insight into the political context, living conditions, and urban challenges city residents face.
Indonesia - Jakarta's urban profile
Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia and with a population of well-over 11 million, it's the world's second largest city. The official metropolitan area is known as Jabodetabek - a name formed by combining the initial syllables of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Besaki areas. What many people do not realize is that wider Jakarta, or Jabodetabek, is sinking. While Jakarta owes its existence and growth to its waterfront location and geography - for centuries the natural harbour along North Jakarta has been an important port for Hindu, Muslim and then Dutch colonizers as well as local fishing communities - it is now threatened by the very water defines it.

The rapid pace of urbanization in Jakarta has given rise to multiple problems such as floods, traffic congestion, poverty and inequality. Yet Jakarta faces some unique water infrastructure challenges due to the 13 rivers that feed into it. Large swaths of the city sit below sea level, with some places sinking 25cm per year (on average 5-10cm). This means flooding and the ensuing pollution are a constant - if not life-threatening - challenge for the many low income inhabitants that currently call places like North Jakarta home. Floods are a perennial issue that occur yearly. Large floods, like the ones in 2007, caused billions of USD dollars in losses and claimed the lives of over 50 people. The 2007 floods served as a definitive wake-up call to both the local government and international community that action to save the city from water could no longer wait. Today urgent action is still needed.

Floods occur in Jakarta for various and overlapping reasons, such as: rivers brimming with garbage, waste-choked waterways, high levels of river sedimentation, and overflowing seawater. To tackle this, the government has issued various policies like the normalization of its 13 rivers and the construction of the Giant Sea Wall in an effort to prevent future flooding. The current Governor of Jakarta - Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (commonly referred to as Ahok) - organized groups to clean-up the entire water infrastructure and therefore reduce river flooding. Yet his tenure is not assured given the upcoming gubernatorial elections on February 15, 2017.
Directors' site visit - First impressions
Co-Director Fleur Henderson remarked that wider Jakarta shares many of the challenges other megacities in Africa and Asia face, namely the overabundance of traffic, congestion, pollution, inequality, and slums. What sets Jakarta apart, however, is that it is a Delta City and is continually struggling against the water. While visiting slums and interviewing locals in North Jakarta, water emerged as a clear theme. For example, the Directors Fleur Henderson noted that locals spent a significant portion of their earnings - up to 30% of their salaries - to access semi-safe water.

Why? Throngs of people are not connected to official water suppliers, which leads to a rash of other economic, political and social consequences. For instance, a major contributor to flooding is pollution and the mishandling of waste management. This, in turn, clogs waterways and contributes to flooding. Additionally, the status quo lends itself to the growth of black market suppliers and the unauthorized drilling of groundwater wells. Not only does the later cause the land to collapse around such wells, it also means there's no accurate way to measure water usage in Jakarta. Many people, predominately women, much fetch and carry water to their dwelling each day all against a backdrop where the price of accessing clean, safe water is continuously rising.

Human Cities Coalition was proud to join the Dutch trade mission on its November visit to Indonesia. With Prime Minister Rutte, hundreds of Dutch companies, VNO-NCW chairman Hans de Boer, and three ministers in tow, the group sought to uncover joint economic and social solutions to the myriad of issues, especially urban water challenges, Jakarta faces. When speaking to the NRC newspaper about Human Cities Coalition participation in the trade mission, Fleur Henderson commented: "It is useful to be able to speak many important players, from local officials to developers, at once." Acting in a coordinated way with a mix of government officials, businesses, and civil society organizations proved to a useful mix of multi-level, cross-sector stakeholders. "If we had to organize this on our own, it would have taken months to arrange for all these meetings." Overall, this served as a crucial step in gauging the situation on the ground while beginning to forge relationships with key local players.

In addition to visiting the slums areas of the city with the Dutch Trade Mission, Directors Fleur and Ronald also held meetings with World Bank officials, AkzoNobel in Jakarta, and with the Ministry of National Development and Planning (Bappenas).They also met with urban designers and researchers like the students at Pulse Lab Jakarta about uses for their innovative research and data collection projects. Pulse Lab Jakarta was established five years ago as a partnership between the UN and Development and Bappenas. As the first innovation lab of its kind in Asia, Pulse Lab Jakarta brings together experts from United Nations agencies, the Indonesian government, NGOs and the private sector to research and, most importantly, facilitate the adoption of new approaches for applying digital data sources and real-time analysis techniques to social development.
Jakarta's main urban challenges - rapid scan findings

Rapid urban growth: The Megacity of Jakarta increased from 11.91 million inhabitants in 1980, 17.14 million in 1990, and 20.63 million in 2000 to 28.01 million in 2010. In 2010, wider Jakarta accounted for 11.79 percent of Indonesia's total population, but with this population residing in less than 0.3 percent of the country's total area.

Flooding: Recurring floods, particularly during the rainy season, indicate problems in Jakarta's water management. During the wet season floods are commonplace, while in the dry season water scarcity becomes a major issue. Effective water management makes sure that excess water during the rainy season does not lead to disasters, while in the dry season, water especially potable water, remains adequately available.

Jakarta last suffered from massive flooding in 2007, which inundated over 23,000 hectares of Jakarta's land area. Some 422,300 people were displaced and 1,500 houses destroyed. Total losses caused by the devastating floods reached USD 695 million (World Bank, 2010). Moreover, in the post-flood period, the people of Jakarta were afflicted by many health problems such as diarrhoea, flue and skin diseases. The flood also had a serious impact on the property market.

Traffic & Congestion: Jakarta is regularly rated as having some of the world's worst traffic and congestion. The city is estimated to lose US$3 billion a year because of traffic congestion, which is linked to the high growth rate of private vehicle ownership, inadequate road development, and sprawl. Alternative modes of public transport such as the busway is currently being developed to ease traffic. Yet people who live in the outskirts of Jakarta can save as much as 30% of their transportation costs using motorcycles to work rather than public transport.

Poverty and Inequality: Based on statistical data released in 2014, at least 412.79 thousand people in Jakarta live in poverty, with the poverty line in Indonesia sitting at USD 25 per month per person (Asian Development Bank 2015). North Jakarta has the largest number of poor people, followed by East Jakarta. Edi Suadi from Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) highlights 5 key dynamics of Jakarta's poverty situation: (1) land tenure and the right to adequate housing (2) right to employment, (3) access to healthcare (4) access to education and (5) disaster resilience.

Not only do the poor have no permanent place to stay, which ultimately forces them to settle along riverbanks, but they are also denied access to vital healthcare, education, and other public services. Educational and health services are accessible only to residents with DKI Jakarta identity cards, but for settlers with little to no documentation it is extremely difficult to gain access to existing government social programmes. Government and development projects to address these issues include the construction of low-cost apartments for poor households, issue education cards for free education until high school, distribute health cards, and open more job centres.
Preliminary Jakarta Findings
First and foremost, it clear to us that further scoping and community assessments are needed before we proceed in Jakarta. Accessing funding for inclusive infrastructure projects is not necessarily the issue, instead the challenge remains the complexity of public institutions and their necessary mobilization to push to large-scale projects forward in an inclusive manner. The scoping exercise and site visit also laid bare that large water projects in Jakarta currently lack a human component in that they do not bring the working poor in as part of a lasting, inclusive and sustainable solution. There is both an opportunity and a real need to include the voices of local residents when investing and shaping infrastructure projects in Jakarta.

Many people living in slum-like conditions exhibited little faith in their current government and continued scepticism about the Dutch involvement. This lack of trust must be bridged given that residents fear eviction and displacement without proper and sufficient dialogue given that past river normalisation projects were accompanied by forced evictions. This is an unfortunate legacy that NCICD and future large-scale projects inherit and must strive to overcome. Together Human Cities Coalition will continue its research into how to address the challenges residents in Jakarta face in an inclusive manner - ensuring opportunities for the poor and the private sector alike.
>> Jump to the Manila - Urban Challenges Overview article

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Late in 2016, Human Cities Coalition commissioned a rapid scan of our two pilot cities in order to help frame and contextualise the specific urban challenges we work to address. To follow-up on this, and to begin making connections to foster the work of a lasting coalition, Directors Ronald Lenz and Fleur Henderson paid the pilot cities of Jakarta and Manila a visit.

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http://beijingmegacity01.weebly.com/beijing-urban-problems-and-solutions.htmlhttp://beijingmegacity01.weebly.com/beijing-urban-problems-and-solutions.html

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With almost 20 million people, including its metropolitan area, Mexico City is facing a variety of problems in different sectors. One of these problems is the traffic congestion, which causes air pollution, noise pollution and poor quality of life, not only to people that uses automobile as a way of transportation, but also to people that uses public transportation.

In this sense, one of the most critical areas in Mexico City is Santa Fe area. This region has changed considerably during the last 20 years; from a landfill to one of the most economic important zones in the City.Santa Fe is located at the west of Mexico City by the federal road to Toluca City. So, although Santa Fe is a modern complex, that hosts some of the main companies of Mexico, has a serious problem; a lack of access roads. This fact complicates the communication with other strategic areas of the City, making transportation, private and public, very inefficient . That is the reason why the 220,000, that have to move, every day, from the different areas of Mexico City to Santa Fe, spend hours in their journeys.

In this context, the Mexico City's Government decided to implement a programme of infrastructure development that allows the reduction of traffic and its environmental problems. This programme, the 'Autopista Urbana', is commonly known as 'La Supervía' (the Super Highway). The main aim of the Super Highway project is not only to improve the communication of Mexico City with Toluca City (Santa Fe), but also with Queretaro City and Cuernavaca City.

This Highway project will need a total investment of 30, 000 million MXP, and its total length is estimated in 29.56 Km. However, the part of the project focused in improving the communication only between Toluca and Mexico City will need an investment of 4,800 MXP, and its length will be 5.24 km.

The conflict with the FACS: Social justice and environmental protection

Since the Mexico City's Government announced this project, in 2008, the public opinion has been polarised . Talking about the opposition, there are opinions against the construction of the Super Highway from different perspectives: social, environmental and urban planning. One of the strongest opposition groups is the one formed by the neighbors of the Malinche region, known as 'Frente Amplio Contra la Supervía' (FACS).

The conflict started because the Mexico City's Government has expropriated and presumably, has paid for 54 properties in the Malinche Area, where the Super Highway is going to affect. However, the people affected by this situation have refused to leave their houses. Since the last July 26, when the Government introduced construction machinery in this area, the FACS has kept barricades in order to impede their houses' demolition. Nevertheless to the importance of the conflict, there has not been any advance in the negotiations process; both the Government and the FACS keep their postures.

Other important factor that increases the conflict is that the road will pass by 5 canyons and 2 high value environmental areas. This fact can cause an ecological impact on the aquifers recharge of the City.

The Academy: Efficient urban planning and social and environmental protection

Due to the big repercussions that the Highway project can have on Mexico City, the academic sector has shown a big interest on the topic. Different institutions, has organised forums in order to spread diverse opinions, with a knowledge base, through society. Last May, in one of these forums entitled 'Super Highway, Challenges and Perspective', academics from National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Autonomous Metopolitan University (UAM) Mario Molina Center, Mexican Institute of Transportation, among others, gave their opinions related to this topic.

Pedro Moctezuma, professor at the UAM, stated that 'building more roads in this city entails to continue buying cars, generating more pollution and permeating it in the lifestyle of the city'. He also mentioned that 'this road will affect significantly the recharge of aquifers in the west of the city; it will prevent infiltration of rainwater into the subsoil'

Luis Zambrano, researcher at the UNAM, mentioned 'that the government's decision is sad because "it approved the Environmental Impact Statement more questioned in the Country's history." He said that 50 million pesos of compensation (the compensation that the constructor company is going to pay per year) are insufficient, because every year, for example, different parks in the country receive 40 million pesos budget'.

Rodolfo Lacy, from Mario Molina Center, mentioned: 'we have to know the costs and benefits for everyone, not just for those with car. We must know how the obstruction of public transport, the cutting down of trees and the expropriated land will be compensated"

More forums

The other face of the coin: Efficient transportation

Until now, I have shown some comments against the Super Highway; however, there is a part of the society that is supporting the construction of it. In fact, the last November 8, two representatives of this group gave, to Marcelo Ebrard, the Minister of Mexico City, a letter signed by 3,500 persons, that live in the City, and that are asking for the continuity of the Highway construction.

They argued: ' we're interested because we spend hours a day stuck in the west of the City. We want to reach our workplaces. We brought 3,500 signatures of support from people who want to be transported and who want to use the south-west route".

"Those who live here want to participate and say enough! With information, we say that the Super Highway project is not only viable, but urgent for the future of the south west of the city".

'Oscar Moreno, a resident of Santa Fe, said to Marcelo Ebrard that must not be a minority who stops the Super Highway. "We do not want that a minority takes us away the opportunity of efficient transportation, without wasting hours in our cars"'.

The NGO's: Social justice

In this conflict , some NGO's have supported the FACS movement . The center of social and cultural studies 'Antonio de Montesinos' and the centers of human rights 'Fray Francisco de Vitoria' and 'Miguel Agustín Pro' asked to the local Government the cancellation of this project: 'The west superhighway should definitely be canceled because, far from being a sustainable project that responds to a comprehensive policy on transport and mobility, "seems to respond to interest groups"'

Some other organisations, such as 'INCIDE Social', 'Centro Nacional de Comunicacion Social', 'Litiga Ole' y 'Observatorio Social', have expressed that 'Mexico City's Government has acted in an "authoritarian and inflexible way" and this has generated a "regression in the construction of a human rights culture" in Mexico City'. In the same context, the Human Right Commission of Mexico City mentioned that has elements to issue a recommendation against the Government of Mexico City due to the Super Highway conflict.

The Mexico City's Government: Economic development, pollution reduction, efficient transportation

The Government states that the Super Highway is necessary in order to connect the west area with the south area of the City. Marcelo Ebrard ensures that the people's opinions have been taken into account; however, there is not any possibility to stop the project. He says:

'We are taking into account reasonable and sensible comments. We have made changes; in fact, there is a tunnel that will be built, almost 7 kilometers, is the longest in Mexico City. This tunnel will reduce any possible effect on green areas and urban areas. But I am not going to stop a work in progress'.

'The city government is cautious, extreme cautious. It is not true that we have evicted or beaten people. We have had "n" number of meetings, but they don't want the road, and in this point we'll never be agree.'

The Private Sector: Profitability

There have not been significant interactions between the company, which will be in charge of the Super Highway construction, and the society. This company, ' Controladora Vía Rápida Poetas', has published the environmental impact studies; however, as I mentioned before, some people have qualified them as deficient in several aspects.

There are different views about this topic, but only knowing the diverse opinions about it we'll be in possibility to understand the problem and create our own conclusion.

Ramírez, Teresa, 2010. En apoyo a la Súper Vía Poniente, entregan 3500 firmas a Marcelo Ebrad. La Jornada en línea, [internet} 11 August.

[Accessed 8 November 2010].

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With almost 20 million people, including its metropolitan area, Mexico City is facing a variety of problems in different sectors. One of these problems is the traffic congestion, which causes air pollution, noise pollution and poor quality of life, not only to people that uses automobile as a way of transportation, but also to people that uses public transportation.

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NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems.

The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.

To make sense of big data, we need new techniques to manage and analyze it, advanced methods to uncover patterns, make predictions, and ways of turning findings into practical recommendations governments, companies, and even citizens, can put into action. This is the aim of urban informatics.

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Urban Informatics: Explore the Issues - NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress

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Explore the Issues Urban informatics can turn data into solutions for New York City's toughest problems. The digital revolution brought with it radically new ways of collecting, storing, and processing data. By creating knowledge from data about how New York functions, the city can combat fundamental challenges that have loomed large for decades here in New York and in cities throughout the world.