Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Land Use, Environmental Health and Pollution Management - A Review
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Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries – Land Use,
Environmental Health and Pollution Management – A Review
By:
Soeren Jeppesen, Joergen Eskemose Andersen and Peter Vangsbo Madsen (ReNED – Research
Network on Environment and Development, www.ReNED.dk)
ABSTRACT
An increasing number of people in developing countries live in urban areas. In most countries 50%
of the population live in cities, and an increasing number of people live below the poverty line.
Moreover, many of these poor people experience hazardous living environments. It is often
assumed that urban populations are healthier, more literate and more prosperous than rural
populations. However, recent research has broken new ground showing that the urban poor suffer
from an urban penalty: Slum dwellers in urban areas are as badly off if not worse than their rural
relatives according to UN-HABITAT (2006). Environmental risk factors play a role in more than
80% of the diseases regularly reported by the World Health Organization.
This review reveals that there is a consensus in international literature regarding the underlying
dynamics that determine the quality of the living environment in the urban areas. It is
characterized by poor quality housing and poor service provision, if any. Settlements are often on
land ill suited for habitation and mostly illegally occupied or subdivided. Many national and
international supported initiatives have been tried out over the last 40 years with limited impact.
The Urban Environmental Management (UEM) issues have been investigated extensively from
certain disciplinary perspectives (ranging from medical, technical & natural, to social and human
sciences), whereas studies drawing upon other disciplines, e.g. occupational health and safety,
urban planning and other integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are rare. This is surprising,
given that the complexity of most environmental issues and that it is widely acknowledged that
they can only meaningfully be dealt with in a multidisciplinary way.
The review suggests that there are three areas (City Planning and Management; Innovative
Ecological Sanitation and Biological Waste Management; and Air Pollution and Environmental
Health) where existing research and research capacity can be enhanced along interdisciplinary
lines in order to complement the substantial practical works of governments, donor agencies and
NGOs.
The paper pays particular attention to the need for supporting and involving the poor urban
populace and local organisations in programme and project formulation, preparation,
implementation and maintenance. It is argued that by taking point of departure in the poor urban
populace’s capacities to manage their environments, acknowledging them as equal partners with
appropriate responsibilities government and donor interventions are likely to be more successful
in the future.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 1Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
FRAMING URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (UEM)
Aim and content of review paper
This review provides input to the ReNED conference on Urban Environmental Management
(UEM) in august 2006 in Copenhagen. The paper addresses three major themes (i) Land Use
Planning & Human Settlements, ii) Service Provision & Environmental Health, and iii) Pollution
Management. In addition to this and in accordance with the aim of ReNED the linkages to practice
are emphasised. Hence, the latter part of the paper takes up the issues of potential new research
areas on UEM and implications of the review findings for development assistance strategies.
Along with the drafting of the review paper the authors have also been asked to assess and
provide an overview of the resource base on UEM in Denmark, internationally and in Danish
programme countries in the developing world. The overview can be found at the ReNED web
page (www.ReNED.dk) and the observations are an integrated part of the discussion in this paper.
The term UEM can be viewed as either an umbrella or a practical term which in most cases denotes
‘environmental activities and management in a particular geographical setting’. According to
Danida’s Strategy for Denmark’s environmental assistance to developing countries 2004-2008 the Urban
and Industrial Environment is one of three main foci areas:
“Urban and industrial environment will be important areas of intervention…as the growing number of
poor people in the cities are particularly exposed to environmental and health hazards such as poor housing,
air pollution, bad working environment and limited access to services (Danida 2004, p. 30).
Many issues ranging from land use and land use planning, economic interests, social and cultural
values, health, educational facilities and social service provision, technical service provision
(water, sanitation, electricity, waste management) are subsumed under UEM. Accordingly, the
international literature is vast, several definitions or perceptions exist and while the main
emphasis in most cases, academically and practically, has been mono-disciplinary and mono-
functional, the UEM issues are interrelated and multidisciplinary by nature. We have sought to
solve this in the following way.
Firstly, the review is less coherent than a traditional review of a more confined field. While we
seek to outline the connections between the three themes, to highlight which sub themes that are
dealt with and which themes that are excluded, not all discussions fit together in a coherent
manner.
Secondly, some issues are common and we deal with these in the first part of the paper and make
reference to them in the rest. These issues and themes includes: A historical account of major
activities in UEM, the changes in governance of UEM and the perceptions of UEM.
Thirdly, in order to focus the paper – and the discussions at the conference – certain themes as
mentioned above have been selected, while others are not included.1 Major issues like power
(political, economic, social), energy (planning, production, distribution and consumption),
transport and general health issues (vaccination campaigns, quality of health programmes and
1 The urban environment is well known to pose hazards on a global scale, including global warming (see
among others McMichael 2004, p. 1123, Christensen 2004, Fenger 2001, p. 327 and Oke 1978). These are
issues dealt with in earlier ReNED activities and will hence not be addressed here.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 2Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
health service) and rural-urban linkages (migration, permanence in cities, rural relations) are not
included. References to these bodies of literature are, however, made at the relevant places in the
review.
The paper starts with a framing of UEM (motivations, historical account, definitions of UEM and
the role governments and governance). Then the review of the three themes (Land Use Planning &
Human Settlements; Service Provision & Environmental Health; and Pollution Management) is
presented. Finally, the linking of research and practice takes place by outlining the observations on
potential new research areas and possible implications for development assistance.
Motivation – Why UEM is important
The last 25 years of development has lead to major increases in the percentage of the population
living in urban areas, from 40% in 1980 to 50% in 2000 and an estimated 66% in 2030 (UN 2003).
The number of ‘mega-cities’2 is growing, but also medium sized and smaller urban agglomerations
are experiencing explosive growth and the pressure on the urban areas has increased dramatically.
In spite of allocation of vast funds over the last 30 years, commitments at the Earth Summits in Rio
and Johannesburg, emphasis on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other
efforts, progress has not met the expectations. Major challenges remain as witnessed by one of the
reviews of the status of the MDGs (Millennium Project 2005). The effects have been harshly felt by
the increasing number of poor in the urban areas. The development has led to an increase in the
absolute and relative number of urban poor and an increase in inequality (Hasan 2005, p. 5), the
provision of services (water, sanitation, waste management, health, education) has not been
sufficient and issues of housing and land are left unsolved.
The current state of affairs and magnitude of challenges for UEM is of concern to both researchers
and practitioners in the North and in the South as witnessed by the attention displayed by the
international development assistance community and the many reports, articles and books
produced. The present concern denotes a change in focus from predominantly rural areas to urban
areas and urban/industrial development. This has been accompanied by recognition of the rural-
urban linkages and an increased focus on issues like peri-urban livelihood. Accordingly, it was felt
pertinent to discuss key issues within UEM in the context of sustainable development and poverty
reduction. In order to provide input to such undertaking, a stock-taking exercise – this review - of
the research contributions and knowledge was conceived as an important means in the Danish
setting of the Research Network on Environment and Development (www.ReNED.dk).3 4
2 Cities of more than 10 millions people.
3 The authors would like to thank the ReNED Board for providing funds for this undertaking and the
ReNED secretariat for supportive input.
4 A number of individuals and institutions have provided different pieces of information and input, which
the work has benefited from. In particular, the authors would like to thank Susse Georg, Department of
Organization and Industrial Sociology, Copenhagen Business School, Kate Gough, Department of
Geography, University of Copenhagen, Eskild Holm Nielsen, Department of Development and Planning,
Aalborg University and Joergen Andreasen, Department of Human Settlements, Royal Danish Academy of
Fine Arts for valuable comments to the review paper and Ulrik Joergensen, Department of Manufacturing
Engineering and Management, The Technical University of Denmark for constructive input to the overview
of the resource base. We hope that we have made justice to the comments and the final responsibility is of
course ours.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 3Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
Historical account
The 1972 UN environmental conference in Stockholm described a concern for global
environmental problems, and outlined the need for a global environmental program.5 The Rio
Conference in 1992 highlighted more specific environmental issues or challenges6 regarding bio-
diversity, the role of local government (local agenda 21) and the role of the private sector and
industry. A certain emphasis was the recognition of the link between economic development,
environment and poverty. The Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 emphasised the importance
of the urban environment to the poor and marginalised groups in developing countries. In
particular, issues concerning infrastructure and service provision (water, sanitation and housing or
slum upgrading) and improved air quality were highlighted as areas of priority (UN 2002). One
change in emphasis has been to focus directly on the conditions of the poor and to pursue
initiatives that should improve these e.g. provision of water, waste management, improved
housing, while initiatives with an indirect effort, e.g. targeting industries in reduction of pollution
and enhancement of cleaner production, have received less attention and funds over recent years.7
(Good) Governance
The issue of government, governance and UEM has been closely linked to the discourse(s) of
development and the role(s) of the state, the market & the private sector and the civil society. As
such it has undergone considerable changes over time and continues to change. While it is not the
intention to dig deeper into these debates and the structural framework of UEM, it is important to
contextualise UEM in this regard. Historically, the state was seen as the key promoter of
development and the main responsible party and a dominant perspective in international
development assistance was a belief that the developing countries should establish government
institutions, draft legislation and carry out enforcement similar to the North. However, with
growing dissatisfaction due to limited improvements in many countries, changing international
political and economic regimes, new perspectives were aired with the ambition of ‘resolving state
failures’ or encounter ‘bad governance’ (see e.g. World Bank 1989). The ‘solutions’ were ‘good
governance’, allowing markets to flourish and ultimately the private sector in tandem with state
institutions was now seen as the key promoters of development. Lately, public-private
partnerships have been further advocated as a means of sharing the responsibility and/or seeking
additional funds and/or involving new – private and civil society– actors in the development
efforts.8
However, transferring concepts of state institutions from the North to quite different situations in
the South obviously have been problematic. Conditions like lack of legitimacy, lack of tax/revenue
base, lack of experience and human resources combined with infighting political and economic
interests have meant that the state in many cases has had limited interest and ability to handle the
urban environment, including physical planning, provision of services and environmental
regulation (Oosterveer et al 2006, Hasan et al 2005, Bartone et al 1993). With an explosive
expansion of the urban population the pressure on the urban areas has increased. The burden of
this development is unevenly distributed, which has had severe implications for the most
vulnerable - the poor and the increasingly marginalised groups not least women and children. In
5 One such attempt was the launching of a partnership between the United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) focused on Environmental health.
6 Note the change in terminology from ‘problems’ to ‘challenges’.
7 An exception is the air quality.
8 See Kjaer 2005 and 2004 for overview of this development.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 4Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
addition, some highlight that this situation also has led to loss of economic growth, as cities are
considered the engines of development (UN 2003 and Bartone et al 1993, p. 2 - and many reports
by international agencies).
Two opposing views on how to manage or govern the urban environment in favour of the poor
(sometimes termed ‘in a pro-poor way’) can be detected. Along with these views, debates
concerning the issues of privatisation and public-private partnerships have emerged. At the one
end of the continuum research, policy and advocacy institutions, in particular IIED, argue that a
key responsible institution is the local government in tandem with the local population (Hasan et
al 2005, Anzorena et al 1998, Mitlin et al 1996 and Bartone et al 1993).9 Local Governments should
take responsibility for housing, provision of services and regulation of industry and so on. And the
failures to live up to these responsibilities constitute the main reason why so many poor people
continue to experience lack of clean water, sanitation, waste management, access to health facilities
and other social infrastructure and at the same time are exposed to (heavy) pollution from
industry.10
At the other end, international agencies and bilateral donors and some developing country
governments argue that governments should only facilitate while the market and the private
initiative (sometimes also called entrepreneurship) should be allowed to operate without
interference.11 The origins of this view are stemming from three main sources (the Washington
Consensus, Private Sector Development and New Public Management). Firstly, the Washington
Consensus promoted by the World Bank and IMF and a range of donor agencies, which advocated
a rolling-back of the state to allow the market forces to spur development (Stiglietz 1998). The main
emphasis of the Washington Consensus was on macro-economic issues like liberalisation and
market access. A more recent focus is on meso-level issues and in particular what has been termed
private sector development where ‘the enabling environment’, securing ‘property rights’ and
‘appropriate legal framework’ have been key words (Gibbon and Schulpen 2002). Finally, a third
related area has been ‘New Public Management’ and an understanding of the state as ‘an efficient
apparatus’ ensuring ‘smooth delivery of services’ with existing resources (Birdsall et al 2005).
As a part of the governance debate issues concerning participation, participatory governance and
participatory approaches have been investigated. From a normative perspective, a core argument
is that more inclusive forms of (local) government constitute approaches to ensure broader
participation in urban environment initiatives which in turn will lead to better results in
implementation (Menegat 2002 and Bartone et al 1993). While some authors find ‘success stories’ of
such approaches with relation to communities and industries (e.g. World Bank 2004 and 2000),
others are more sceptical about the benefits. It is argued that such technical and managerial
approaches often just are rhetorical and the ones that actually seek to be inclusive don’t reach the
poor groups (Hasan et al 2005, p. 6). Hence, the reality is that poverty oriented initiatives end up
being ‘anti-poor’ and may even deteriorate the conditions of the poor.
A number of authors argue that the little we know about urban poverty and inequality, not least
the scale of these phenomenon’s (Satterthwaite 2003, p. 38), supports the importance of involving
9 IIED emphasises the role of civil society in pressuring for this.
10 Numerous contributions from IIED have argued this over the years, of which some are found in the list of
references.
11 E.g. that water provision should be privatised, and introduced user charges at market level on water,
electricity, waste management and health services.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 5Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
the poor in collaboration with local government, not due to a buzz word like participatory
governance, but due to the fact that it a) motivates the poor; b) utilises the knowledge of the poor
to make improvements, and c) releases additional resources in the neighbourhood (Hasan et al
2005, p. 8).12
The outcome is heavily debated, however, it’s clear that the role of the government in developing
countries is changing and so has the state functions. Some argue that an outcome is a more
‘efficient state’ using less resources to provide the same services in Latin America (Bolivia and
Mexico) (e.g. Pottenger 2006) and that user charges have decreased, hence improving the situation
of the poor. Some argue that the outcome has led to a worsening of the situation of the poor,
including an increase in both poverty and inequality (e.g. Arzorena et al 1998).13 These
contradicting viewpoints in the international literature cut through the three themes and represent
different perceptions of UEM.
Defining UEM
UEM is a practical term and not an academic or theoretically defined term. At the very general
level the literature shows consensus on the main issues that UEM entails. The Working Group on
Experiences of and Analytical Approaches to Institutional Capacity Development with in the Field
of Urban Environmental management (in short the Working group) proposes four key issues in
UEM: Physical Planning, Rural Urban linkages; links between environment and health; and Urban
Greening (Working Group 2004, pp. 4-5).14
In earlier work in Denmark, UEM was defined with reference to:
‘Urban environmental problems are threats to people’s present or future well-being, resulting from
human-induced damage to the physical environment, originating in or borne into urban areas’ (PEM
Consult 2003, p. 3, based on IIED 2000. Also cited in: Working Group 2004, p. 3).
Though some attempts from academia have been proposed, like:
“Urban environment encompasses the interaction of population, health, economic growth, urban
structures and the built environment with the natural environment or ecological system in which a city is
located.” (Suresh, B. S. 2003).
The following definition is extracted from a World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline for the
developing strategies for local Agenda 21 related to health, environment and development,
clarifying the terms urban environment in relation to urban poverty;
12 The ability to handle the physical planning, land use, slum and informal settlements is discussed in the
‘Land Use, Planning & Human Settlements section below’, while the aspect of handling and providing
services (infrastructural and social) will be assessed in the ‘Environmental health and Service Provision’
section.
13 Related issues like capacity development and lack of capacity are shortly addressed in the section on
Pollution Management, but no deeper discussion is carried out, either of issues like lack of will, expression
of competing political and economic interests, and power (Mol 1995).
14
This review relates to this perception by focusing on three out of four areas, leaving aside the Rural-Urban
linkages.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 6Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
“In relation to human health, then, the “environment” includes not only the physical and biological
elements of nature, but also human-based systems – cultural, artifactual, economic, political, technological,
spiritual and relational – that make up the setting in which people live.” (Schaefer 1993: 1, in Stephens
2002)
As such UEM is a descriptive term which in most cases denotes a number of activities and issues
in a particular geographical setting like physical planning, land use, political decision making,
economic interests, social service provision (health, educational facilities), technical service
provision (water, sanitation, electricity, waste management) and social/cultural values and
community organization. As the literature encompasses a broad set of investigations with the
common denominator of a particular geographical setting, the urban, it is not possible to give a
concise academic definition of UEM. In contrast to this, the literature reviewed stresses that
managing the urban environment is a multifaceted task, which in an academic sense ideally
should take an interdisciplinary approach and in practice should be integrated and inclusive.
A modest number of contributions phrase the discussion with direct reference to the term UEM
(e.g. Tu & Shi 2006, Menegat 2002, Nguyen & Nurul 2002 and Toteng 2001). The vast majority of
contributions in the international literature deals with the many issues from different and specific
perspectives and disciplines ranging from development studies, anthropology, town planning,
public administration, medicine, public health, education, engineering studies, business
management and social and community studies. The literature is vast (see below in the
Methodology section) and several other UEM definitions or perceptions exist. Despite the often
highlighted point that UEM is an interdisciplinary field and that UEM issues are interrelated, the
main emphasis in most cases, academically and practically, has been mono-disciplinary and mono-
functional.
Review methodology
The Review methodology has comprised three elements:
a) web based searches on a selection of key words with reference to UEM, poverty and
sustainability and to the three themes15, b) assessing the identified titles, selecting the most relevant
and reading through these (which can be found in the list of references at the end of the paper),
and c) input from individuals and the ReNED Board.16
Based on the vast number of references (close to 600 generated from the web searches plus other
contributions and government/donor/NGO/Private sector publications) a key task has been to
distil a limited number of focus areas. A first step has been the focus at the conference on three
main themes and a second step has a decision to highlight a limited number of cross-cutting areas.
Further our initial assessment revealed a large number of technically, medically and normative
contributions, showing – by and large – substantial knowledge in these areas. However, much less
seems to be known in terms of a) social and human science aspects, b) dynamics and processes in
the local context and c) interdisciplinary approaches.
15 The authors would like to thank Jacob Hansen, Librarian & Information Specialist, Department of
Development and Planning, Aalborg University for the work and contribution. An elaboration is found in
appendix 1.
16 In addition to this, an ’overview’ of the Resource base in Denmark, internationally and in Danida partner
countries has been carried out. The authors would like to thank Mariene Ferguson, master student at CBS,
for her assistance with the overview and the many individuals and institutions which have provided input.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 7Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
In the following sections of the review, four elements themes are covered: historical development
and areas of focus; fields of research and investigation, including geographically differences
between Africa, Asia and LA; Urban programmes, including major donor initiatives; and
summarising remarks.
LAND USE PLANNING AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Urban planning and settlement planning has in most developing countries failed to provide
adequate shelter options for the urban poor. Planning of the urban expansion lacks far behind the
actual urban development and most urban expansion is unplanned and unauthorised. Often, huge
slum cities develop, not least on the African continent. Growth appears as 1) formation of new
informal settlements17 and 2) densification of existing informal settlements at the urban periphery
and/or in pockets in the urban morphology on vacant land (UN-HABITAT 2006, Commission for
Africa 2005). Furthermore there is an intense densification process taking place in many formally
built environments (Andersen et al 2006, p. 20 and Tipple 2000).
In Africa commonly 60% of the urban population lives in informal settlements with little or no
basic infrastructure provision (UN-HABITAT 2006, IIED 2006, p. 12). This development
accelerates. It is estimated that up to 80% of the urban growth takes place in informal settlements
in many developing countries (Molen 2006, p. 2). These informal settlements are filled with an
increasingly young population, unemployed and dissatisfied, and Africa’s cities are becoming a
powder keg of potential instability and discontent (Commission for Africa 2005).
Consequently, the poor construct their settlements by themselves with limited if any support from
governments18. This development has a number of shortcomings: The settlements are often located
on inappropriate sites prone to floods, land slides, close to polluted rivers/streams, nearby
polluting industries, close to highways/railway lines and far from bulk infrastructure services
(Hardoy et al 2001, p. 75). The tenure situation is insecure leaving the residents with little
motivation for investing in their homes (UN-HABITAT 2004). A campaign by the UN-HABITAT
for Secure Tenure states that insecure tenure hinders good governance, promotes social exclusion,
undermines long term planning, distorts prices of land and services, reinforces poverty and
adversely affects women and children (UN-HABITAT 2005). In response to the failure of most
states to improve tenure systems and permit non-conventional approaches the informal delivery
systems prevails and are the main channels of housing land supply (Rakodi 2006, p. 37, Andreasen
1989, p. 23). A study on Land Delivery Systems in six Anglophone African countries revealed that
new and poor households face severe difficulties in accessing housing land and in practice most
poor households are tenants (Rakodi et al. 2006, p. 38, Andreasen 1996 p. 360).
Once established, the informal settlements become difficult to upgrade. The densities are high and
provision of water, sanitation and waste management is complicated. De-densification is
politically sensitive and the areas suggested for resettling the population are often located in areas
considered as non attractive by the residents affected by the exercise (Mitlin and Satterthwaite
17 Within the literature, Informal Settlements have a number of names the most common ones in the English
language being: Illegal Settlements, Uncontrolled Settlements, Irregular Settlements, Unplanned
Settlements/Areas, Slums, Squatter Settlements (Camp, Compound), Spontaneous Settlements and Shanty
towns. The following terms are variably used to describe the “houses”: Shelter, Shacks, Shanty, Temporary
or Substandard Structures. Most of these shacks are overcrowded as a further detrimental characteristic.
18 In quite a few cases governments are harassing informal settlement.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 8Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
2004, p. 263, 27, 44, UN-HABITAT 2003 and Schlyter and Schlyter 1981, p. 47). Demolition of entire
settlements was common under colonialism, but became politically unacceptable after
independence. However many governments still have a hostile approach to informal settlements.
Evictions are, contrary to general belief, still common (Plessis 2005, p. 125). Some resettlement
programmes have succeeded due to strong levels of community organization as a case in Mumbai
illustrates where 60.000 people were moved without coercion to make way for improvements in
Mumbai’s railway system (Patel 2002, 159).
The location is important for the urban poor as they rely on employment opportunities within both
the formal and informal sectors in the city. This means that place and accessibility are determining
factors when poor urban are seeking a place to live. Furthermore there is a general distrust in the
government’s desire and capacity to deliver the services predicted for the new settlements. The
increased demand for planned, serviced, legal and affordable land on scale is a challenge to
governments (UN-HABITAT 2004, Jenkins 2001, p. 644). To date, no government has succeeded in
providing sufficient serviced land for the urban poor (UN-HABITAT 2006, Devas N. et al. 1993 p.
207), hence doing little to encounter the widespread proliferation of informal settlements.
Generally there are considerable differences between Asia, Latin- and Central America and Africa,
and it becomes increasingly meaningless to compare the continents (Commission for Africa 2005,
Abrams 1966, p. 256). Furthermore countries on the same continent differ considerably and even
within countries the circumstances vary (Rakodi et al. 2006, p. 8). However, as cases in Thailand by
CODI/ACHR19 and in India by SPARC20 show, it is possible to engage on scale with community
driven programmes21, at least in Asia (Boonyabancha 2005, p. 24, Burra 2003, p. 11, Patel, 2002, p.
166).
Impact of Urban Programmes
40 years of Site and Service programmes and Upgrading activities in informal settlements (World
Bank, Regional Development Banks, Bilateral Donors and others) and 30 years of UN-HABITAT
activities have had limited success in improving the living environments and reducing urban
poverty. Some evaluations report on success stories, but assessed by volume the provision of
shelter and an improved environment for the deprived majority remains insignificant (UN-
HABITAT 2006).
Various studies outline the causes for the limited impact on the urban reality for the urban poor as
follows (UN-HABITAT 2006, IIED 2006, Blore 1999, p. 463, Linden 1992, p. 351, Marcuse 1992, p.
21):
• Public Sector interventions in the Human Settlement Sector are fragmented, sector
oriented and investments are small
• Public Participation and Local Involvement is poor
19
CODI: Community Organisation Development Institute. ACHR: Asian Coalition for Housing Rights.
20
SPARC: The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres.
21The CODI project has received considerable funds from Danida and it appears as if one local organisation
(CODI) has succeeded to bring their activities in support of local urban communities to scale nationwide for
some years now (Danida 2004, p. 9) . CODI is specifically mentioned in the Danish strategy for
environmental assistance 2004-2008: “The project has proved that it is possible to combine the
implementation of considerable improvements to the environment with a general strengthening of poor
peoples’ access to real influence on their living environment”.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 9Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
• Private Sector involvement is limited
• Availability of affordable land is rare
• Local Governments are weak with limited technical and financial capacity
• Most aid is channelled through national governments
When Shelter Programmes eventually are implemented the local population often fails to benefit
due to a number of factors relating to the formalisation process (e.g. titling) which increases land
prices and making it less accessible to the poor (Rakodi 2006, p. 40). Furthermore, infrastructure
services (water, sanitation, roads and electricity) and social infrastructure (schools, clinics and
community facilities) are often only partly implemented and operation and maintenance fails due
to financial constraints by local governments and poor local ownership (World Bank 2004, p. 105).
In general public spending on services fails to reach the urban poor. Typically the poorest fifth of
the populace receives much less than a fifth of education or health expenditures, while the richest
fifth receives far more (World Bank 2004, p. 38). With the poor performance of governments and
international organizations in mind it has been argued that it is high time for changes in approach
and attitude towards the informal settlements from seeing them as targets to which development
and environmental management must be delivered, to recognizing them as active agents with
knowledge (IIED 2006, p. 66).
The limited support to residents in the informal settlements by governments and thus by
international agencies is often associated with a stigma as settlements being abodes for criminals
and “strangers” (Andersen et al 2006, p. 10). In reality the informal settlements are heterogeneous
and although violence, crime and insecurity are issues experienced, it is not the informality and
unplanned characteristics per se that foster the intolerable situations (Moser 2004, p. 5, 12). Urban
violence is however a concern that requires attention not least in Southern Africa and Latin
America (Moser 2004, p. 11).
Research
Research of relevance to UEM in the field of land use planning and human settlements falls into the
following categories (see table 1 below).
Table 1: UEM-Research in the field of Land Use Planning and Human Settlements
Field of research: Main themes addressed:
Anthropological studies Takes primarily point of departure in the individual households.
This kind of research is valid in terms of providing an understanding
of the livelihood and survival strategies adopted by poor
households. A major finding is that households adapt and cope, but
at the expense of the women and children which has severe
development implications (Hansen 2001, p. 193).
Development Planning Has a tradition for societal approaches and attempts to understand
studies/Development the social dynamics that determines the (under)development in poor
studies countries. This research has delivered knowledge on political, social
and organisational issues, linked to mobilisation, health, education,
community participation and governance. The relevant findings in
terms of UEM are linked to participatory methodologies,
multidisciplinary approaches and the roles of women, children and
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 10Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
youth in development.
Engineering studies Focuses on technical service provision, like Water and Sanitation,
Waste Management, Domestic Energy, Locally Produced Building
Materials and Road Construction. Many years of innovative studies
of intermediate technologies have however had limited impact and
have never come to scale. The reasons for this poor penetration are
manifold basically linked to poverty. However limited research has
specifically addressed the paradox of the failing wider application of
these seemingly obvious, cheap and environmental friendly
solutions.
Housing research Deals with the issue of shelter in its broader context. Housing
research in the South was initiated in the sixties and seventies by
scholars like Charles Abrams and John Turner. Charles Abrams’
early research in fourteen countries concluded that no universal
truth exist (Abrams 1966). John Turner followed up and the housing
crisis as he experienced it in Latin America gave rise to the issues of
who decides and who does what for whom (Turner 1976).22
Health studies Investigates disease cause identification and control and health
systems. Extensive research has been carried out over many years
and been at the forefront considering water and vector borne
diseases and malaria as the major killers in urban areas followed
increasingly by HIV/AIDS (see section on Environmental Health).
Gender studies Points to the fact that poor women (and children) are double affected
by the living environment as the women are responsible for most
domestic affairs, e.g. domestic energy, water provision and
sanitation. Gender issues became central to aid programmes in the
1970’ies and is today fundamental to any programme aimed at
combating poverty.
Socio-economic studies Focuses on employment generation, the role of the informal sector
and the home as a place of work. Although there is abundant
evidence that the informal sector plays on important economic role
in any city in the South, harassment of informal enterprises and
street hawkers is still the order of the day in many cities (IIED 2006,
p. 5, Plessis 2005, p. 124).23 Other researchers have documented the
important role of home based enterprise activities (Gough 2003).
22 John Turner became the icon for a generation of planners and architects that was inspired by his
philosophy of poor people housing themselves. Today the housing issue is mainly voiced by the UN-
HABITAT secretariat and by international institutions e.g. IIED and NGOs.
23
The International Labour Office and UN-HABITAT (ILO 1996) has generated knowledge on the issue of
employment generation in the informal settlements and revealed why e.g. the small scale building industry is
performing so poorly.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 11Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
Private sector Focuses on the role of the private sector and private initiatives. The
involvement / experiences with private sector involvement are mixed and a more
Community diverse approach are now acknowledged as the way forward (World
Participation24 Bank 2004, p. 54). The partnership models promoted and introduced
in a number of countries between the state, civil groups and the
private sector (tri-sector partnerships) have proved to work in some
cases (Otiso 2003, p. 225). What is at stake is the importance of
governments meeting their responsibilities in delivering the services
to the needy, whether this takes the form of tri-partnerships or any
adaptation of the relationship between the community organisations,
the government and the private sector. There is a need for
decentralization of the responsibility of service provision in order to
strengthen the accountability of the institutions providing the
services. Decentralisation per se does not however necessarily lead to
improved services. Transferring the provision function to local
governments has often overwhelmed them as their resources and
capacity is limited (World Bank 2004, p. 147, 185).
Source: The authors
Donor programmes
Quite a number of international organisations, multi- and bilateral agencies have been engaged in
the field of Land Use Planning and Human Settlements of which the most prominent are briefly
mentioned along with the outcome of their activities as assessed by evaluations and research.
The UN-HABITAT secretariat and independent institutions like the International Institute for
Environment and Development (IIED) have been spearheading these activities not least as a result
of the recommendations from the Rio Conference in 1992. In 1990 the UN-HABITAT launched the
Sustainable Cities Concept and environmental NGOs and likeminded institutions grew strong and
became acknowledged policy oriented partners within mostly the Green agenda25. Institutions
working within the Brown agenda26 i.e. urban areas are few, IIED being the most prominent one.
In 1986 the UN-HABITAT launched the Urban Management Programme and the World Bank
launched the Municipal Development Programme (1991) latter the UN-HABITAT followed with
24 The concept of Community Participation came into the development discourse in the seventies and
consequently the UN‐HABITAT secretariat established the Community Development Programme
(supported by DANIDA from 1984 until 2000 when the programme was closed). The programme succeeded
in placing the importance of popular involvement on the agenda and most development programmes and
projects has ever since paid considerable attention to public participation and the role of civil society (IIED
2006, Blackburn and Holland 1998, Andersen 1994, p. 9). Furthermore the concept of partnerships,
participatory governance and enablement was emphasized during the UN‐HABITAT World Summit in
Istanbul in 1996 and at the recent World Urban Forum (WUF III) in Vancouver in June 2006. However until
date the expectations raised in the numerous conferences does not appear to penetrate to the urban poor.
25 The Green agenda focuses on resource degradation and loss of natural life‐support systems.
26 The Brown agenda focuses on reducing threats to human health by improving the living environment in
urban and industrial areas.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 12Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
the Global Campaign on Urban Governance (1999) and the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure
(2005). These are all programmes aiming at improving planning and management of urban
agglomerations with a pro-poor agenda. And the programmes all share the same ideology based
on a need for decentralization and enhanced local ownership. The programmes deliberately targets
local government, capacity building and promotes local democracy. The programmes appears to
have succeeded, relatively at least, by putting forward the need to acknowledge the harsh urban
reality which millions of poor are facing and concede that the planning and management must be
confronted purposely in its totally and not as a series of disparate sectors of interventions. As the
recent report by UN-HABITAT (2006) and the Commission for Africa (2005) reveal, the problems
associated to urbanization and poverty are arising to alarming levels and action is urgent. The
establishment of “The Slum Upgrading Facility” (SUF) within UN-HABITAT in 2003 was a
promising attempt which however to date only can demonstrate a few isolated success stories27
(UN-HABITAT 2006).
UN-Sustainable Cities Programme
UN-Habitat and UNEP launched the Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) in August 1991, which
entails case towns mostly in Third World countries. The SCP includes “a wide range of cross-
sectoral interventions, typically involving improvements in solid waste management and
environmental health, water resource management, urban transport and air pollution, and
activities specifically targeted at benefiting the urban poor”28. Central to the approach is the
Environmental Planning and Management (EPM29) that prescribes certain logical steps that in a
participatory way are intended to involve ‘stakeholders’ in a project managed process.30 “SCP aims
to assist cities in achieving environmentally sustainable growth and development. Through
programme activities UN-HABITAT/UNEP support local authorities to implement well balanced
environmental management strategies, including meaningful public participation in development
decision-making and planning” After 2002, there has been more focus “towards developing
capacity for national replication. “31
An SCP commissioned evaluation of the SCP programmes in six African countries suggests that
there are serious problems in “the implementation of any locally-based capacity-building project -
and especially for a bottom-up participatory approach such as the SCP.” 32 Kombe (2001) reports
27 At the World Urban Forum III held in Vancouver June 2006 the following observation clearly states the
problem of poor performance: “Beautiful speeches, awful reality” ‐ The Millennium Development Goals are
not having an impact on the ground in many countries. The commitments made by governments at the
Millennium Summit in 2000 and the adoption of national poverty reduction strategies in several countries
have not necessarily resulted in improved living conditions among the urban poor. For instance, the
increasing incidence of forced evictions goes against the Millennium Development Goals aimed at reducing
poverty. Participants felt that there was still a wide discrepancy between what governments said and what
they did, and this discrepancy needed to be addressed if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met in
cities (UN‐HABITAT, Vancouver, 23. June 2006).
28 www.unchs.org/press2000/netherlands.asp
29 Started in 1987 and summarised in 1997‐99 in UNCHS (Habitat) / UNEP: EPM Source Books.
30 Again we see the normative approach of what ‘should be done’ in contrast to a realistic, practical approach
‘what do communities and poor do’.
31 www.unchs.org/press2000/netherlands.asp
32 UNCHS(Habitat) and DANIDA (1999).
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 13Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
on the early SCP case of Dar es Salaam of problems regarding “overemphasis on short-term
physical outputs, reluctance to share power … entrenched attitudes and habits of the political and
administrative elites … [including] mystification of urban planning and management …”. Nnkya
and Andreasen (2005) report from Tanzania (SCP Mwanza) that awareness of environmental
issues was not created and that common people were in fact never involved in problem
identification and decision making. There are also successes reported, e.g. the achievements in
improving solid waste management in Dar es Salaam.33
A main problem is that a programme operating for over 15 years has so relatively few lessons
(positive or negative) to offer. SCP, however, issues many statements, praising their performance,
e.g. “The success of participatory environmental planning has resulted in ordinary citizens in
helping to design a long term vision for their city; this has led to broad based city development
strategies.”34 There is undoubtedly considerable to learn from SCP, and it seems to be pertinent to
engage researchers in systematically retrieving lessons from the Programme.
Apart from the UN-HABITAT and UNEP the following international donor agencies are actively
involved in the field of (sustainable) urban development favouring the urban poor:
• World Bank (Municipal Development, infrastructure projects, Land Administration)
• EU (Infrastructure Projects)
• Nordic Development Fund (Local Government and Land Administration)
• Bilateral urban programmes by a number of European donors (GTZ, DFID, SIDA, NORAD,
FINIDA, DANIDA and more) and USAID.
Summary
Despite the many years of operation and a considerable amount of money spent the failure of these
agencies to provide the basis for an significant impact favouring the urban poor is widely accepted
and so are the reasons:
• The magnitude of the problem and the continuous growth of slums. The MDG aiming at
improving the lives of 100 millions slum dwellers by 2020 is a drop in the ocean as there are
an estimated of 2 billion people residing in informal settlements by 2030.
• Land ownership is contentious and complex and the identification of affordable land for
the poor is increasingly becoming critical. Delivery of affordable land and security of
tenure is fundamental to the elucidation of informal settlement.
• Local Governments are weak and with no investment capacity as all revenue goes to cover
recurrent costs which mostly is oriented towards the maintenance of the formal city.
In spite of the limited impact of the many attempts in the field of shelter, the increased focus on
decentralisation and local democracy enhanced by, among others, the Municipal Development
Programme (World Bank) and the Global Campaign on Urban Governance (UN-HABITAT) may
give rise to expectations of more accountable local governments. There is a growing consensus that
the quality of urban governance is the single most important factor for the eradication of poverty
(see also the discussion on p. 7-8 above).
33 Kaseva and Mbuligwe (2005).
34 Press release Dec. 2002 see: www.unchs.org/press2000/netherlands.asp
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 14Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
Efficient local governments do however not necessarily per se conduct better environments for the
poor. What is also needed is an organised civil society that can voice the needs of the deprived
communities and engage with local governments and pressurise for more attention to the
problems facing the poor. A strong civil society is emerging in Africa whereas it is relatively well
organised in Asia and Latin-America. It is however noticeable that Civil Society whether organised
in Federations, NGO’s or CBO’s is still not able to make use of the potential in collaborating with
Local Governments. With a few promising exceptions none of these federations and organizations
has succeeded bringing their activities to scale yet (IIED 2006, p. 36, Boonyabancha 2005, p. 21,
Patel 2002, p. 159).
The role of housing and planning in poverty reduction is evident and widely accepted;
“… when managed effectively, shelter policy can be an important source of financial stability and economic
resiliency, as well as a major component of the social development agenda. Perhaps equally importantly,
when shelter policy is not managed effectively, the housing sector can contribute to financial instability and
increased inequality”. (World Bank 2006, p. 73).
Although the knowledge produced on shelter and urban environment over recent years has
improved and increased considerably it is still normal to identify urban statistics that are highly
dubious (Satterthwaite 2003, p. 38). There is a dire need for more trustworthy data on urban
poverty produced by researchers with an understanding of the issues faced daily by the urban
poor. In order for such data to be reliable it is necessary to built upon knowledge gathered and
experienced by the poor themselves. Government institutions may be useful in collecting such
data, but the true picture is in the slums where the urban poor routinely face serious difficulties.
SERVICE PROVISION AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Since the beginning of the nineties researchers and policymakers have focused on the link between
urban poverty and environmental health and on which parameters that affect life and
environmental quality in developing countries (Bruce et al 2000, Wratten 1995, Cairncross et al
1990). The health situation in the low income areas is closely related to the availability and quality
of service provision (WHO 2006, Oelfos and Scoot 2002 and UN 2002) and providing basic
environmental services (water, sanitation, waste management, energy and infrastructure) is an
essential part of addressing urban poverty.35 In addition to the so-called technical services also
social services like health, educational and social welfare facilities are of importance.36 Some
developing countries have achieved substantial improvements in urban service provision and
environmental health during the last 30 years, especial in infectious disease control (Larsen 2003)
where water and sanitation improvements have been the main key to lowering the health burden
(Bradley 1992). However, the poor has in most cases not experienced these improvements, on the
contrary as mentioned in the previous section on Land Use Planning.
Issues regarding water and sanitation and relationship between poverty and health have been
extensively investigated, while other issues have received less attention (WHO 2006). While
35 Furthermore, considerations of protection the environment and doing so in ‘an economical reasonable
way’ are in some cases attached as conditions to reach sustainable development.
36 Among the social services, the emphasis in the review is on health while educational and social welfare
services are not dealt with.
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 15Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries - Environmental Health, Planning and Pollution Management
– A review
aspects concerning waste management have received some attention, e.g. the importance of
domestic energy in particular for cooking and heating has only more recently been targeted,
indicating that it affects millions of urban poor and results in premature death of many. In
addition, also industrial pollution is becoming a more significant health issue in urban areas of a
number of developing countries (UNEP 1996 and Carolyn 1995) and thus pollution control
management and reduction is important, though dealt with in the next section.37
It is well established that the urban environmental situation and its impact on human health varies
enormously between areas in the same cities (Alshuwaikhat 2005, Feresu et al 2004, UNEP 1996)
and that the poor areas suffer from the poorest – or in many cases almost non-existing – services
(WHO 2006 and Hasan et al 2005).38 Environmental risk factors often act in partnership, and their
effects are exacerbated by adverse social and economic conditions (UNEP 2005).39
WHO have estimated globally that 24% of the disease burden calculated by healthy life years are
lost and an estimated 23% of all deaths (premature mortality) was attributable to environmental
factors. Further it have been estimated that among children between 0–14 years of age, the
proportion of deaths attributed to the environment was as high as 36%. Due to differences in
environmental exposures and access to health care across the regions are there significant regional
differences in the environmental health problems. For example, although 25% of all deaths in
developing regions were attributable to environmental causes, only 17% of deaths were attributed
to such causes in developed regions (WHO 2006).
It is well documented that physical and cultural environments are interrelated, although in many
cases of highly different importance. To low-income groups the access to employment and income
and provision of basic services (water, electricity and primary health care and education) is much
more important than e.g. protection of biodiversity, cultural values and protection of specific sites
and animals. To other groups, cultural environmental values, like access to scenery, environmental
protection of vulnerable sites and endangered species and animals, are all viewed as of importance
and playing a role in managing environmental health (Stephens 2002).40
Service Provision
The lack of service provision is not only a household and a community issue, but also an issue to
address for municipalities and governments in the growing urban spheres. As discussed earlier in
the (Good) Governance section, significant debate has unfolded regarding the role of public versus
private authorities in providing these services, but here the emphasis will be of the impact of in
particular technical service provision – or lack of same.
37 Including issues like air pollution management, ambient air quality, industrial implementation of cleaner
technology.
38 In a wider perspective, the environmental degradation is in many cases not only related specific to low‐
income clusters, but have potential to submerge the life and environmental quality for the specific urban
region and even beyond (Zhiqiang et al. 2000, Diab 1996).
39 There is new understanding about the special susceptibility of children to environmental risks and the
view that action needs to be taken to allow them to grow up and develop in good health, and to contribute to
economic and social development (following the main recommendations of the Bangkok conference held in
2002).
40 Individualsʹ sense of well‐being as well as productivity is directly affected by their state of health and their
expectations of a healthy life for their families (UN 1995).
23 August 2006, Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 16You can also read
