THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC)

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1 PASMUN VII 2016 THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC) Addressing the Negative Effects of Rapid Development of Megacities President - Alex Tai Pacific American School Model United Nations VII Annual Session Research Report Research Report Page 1 of 1

2 Forum: Issue: Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Addressing the negative effects of rapid development of megacities Student Officer: Alex Tai Position: President Introduction Addressing the negative effects of rapidly developing megacities is a relatively new issue but nonetheless requires immediate care. A great portion of the world issues we face today are generated by these negative effects. A majority of the megacities we have recorded today are located within developing nations. These nations don t have the adequate economic and political stability to govern these metropolitans. This is not to say that all megacities are doing poorly. Tokyo, currently the world s largest megacity, hosts around thirty-eight million people and is relatively free of noise and air pollution compared to other megacities over the world. New York City, equipped with massive public transportation and organized infrastructure, demonstrates the importance of well thought out planning. In this report, we will discuss the fundamental issues developing megacities generate such as the question of traffic congestion and environmental concerns as well as discussing innovative ways for nations to solve these root problems. Definition of Key Terms Urban Agglomeration The population of a built-up or densely populated area containing the city proper, suburbs and continuously settled commuter areas or adjoining territory inhabited at urban levels of residential density. (UNICEF SOWC) Sometimes, urban agglomerations include different administrations that are still functionally linked enough to make it hard to distinguish the population of the area. Examples include the Tokyo agglomeration, which includes Yokohama and Chiba due to the metro system in Tokyo. Megacities According to the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF), megacities are any urban agglomeration with a population that exceeds 10 million. In 2012, 21 urban agglomerations qualified as megacities and most of these cities are the capital city of the respective countries. Metropolitan A metropolitan is an area with a local government that comprises of the urban area as a whole and its commuter areas, typically formed around a large concentration of people. Research Report Page 1 of 11

3 Urban planning Urban planning is tested approaches, guidelines and tools that are aimed to support urban growth and improve sustainability, efficiency and equity within an urban area. It is a technocratic process that tries to improve the efficiency of the use of land in a sustainable manner so that public welfare may be maximized. Topics that fall under the review of urban planning include protecting the environment, diffusing traffic and improving the transportation system and housing arrangements. Urban planning and design are essential to megacity developments. In general, there are two major types of urban planning explained in detail below. Top-down urban planning The top-down approach to urban planning sets the government as the main planner and designer of the urban region. In most cases of top-down urban planning, environmental concerns get prioritized. A goal for top-down urban planners is to maximize land use for infrastructure, water conservation and military. A clear systematic approach to planning may be seen in metropolitans that implement top-down urban planning. A clear example of a city that implements top-down urban planning is New York. We can see this approach evidently by the parallel and organized road infrastructure in Manhattan. Bottom-up urban planning The bottom-up approach to urban planning sets the individuals and private companies as the main planner and designer of the urban region. In most cases of bottom-up urban planning, optimization of housing and traffic congestion get prioritized. A goal for bottom-up urban planners is to maximize the use of land efficiently and comfortably in order to serve as much of the population as possible. This approach allows profit driven firms and individuals to think about the development of the city and often times profit maximization policies increases the efficiency of the city by reducing costs. A more organic approach to planning may be seen in metropolitans that implement bottom-up urban planning. Background Information Growth of megacities In recent years megacities have grown at an alarming rate. Following the 1800s, scientific revolution, industrial revolution and medical advances matured the world and accelerated its process of urbanization. In 1950, New York City was the only megacity in the world. As of 2016, thirty-five megacities exist in the world and the number continues to increase as cities join the list. As one can see in the map below, Asia hosts most of the world s megacities and will continue this trend in the following decade. Research Report Page 2 of 11

4 Caption #1: Selected current and future megacities 2015 to 2030 Trends in Urbanization According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas, with 54 per cent of the world s population residing in urban areas in In 1950, 30 per cent of the world s population was urban, and by 2050, 66 per cent of the world s population is projected to be urban. Caption #2: Urban and rural population of the world, ; Key Issues Lack of structural planning Lack of infrastructural planning is one of the main root problems that generate all the following negative effects of rapidly developing megacities. In extremely dense cities like Mumbai, inefficient hospitals and sanitation lead to extreme cases of health hazards. Traffic congestions is also caused by a Research Report Page 3 of 11

5 lack of infrastructure. Large sums of potential profits are lost in the inefficiency cause by traffic gridlock. All of these issues suggest the need for a massive make over for their infrastructural developments. This doesn t only pertain to traffic though; natural disasters may also be prevented through a strong infrastructure. Cities like Jakarta suffer from annual floods that also pose health concerns to the residents. Infrastructure that provides speedy release of flood water can help deal with the aftermath of natural disasters as such. Congestion Housing congestion Huge strains on infrastructure happen when the city is not capable of providing adequate housing conditions and clean water access. With that being said, maximizing capacity is not always a good thing too. Cities like Hong Kong suffer from severe housing congestion. Houses after houses are stacked on top of each other in an unsafe manner and oddly shaped living compounds waste space and prevents these houses to tessellate without gaps. Traffic congestion Traffic congestion in megacities is one of the most well known issue. Extended commute times more often than not generate extreme cases of air pollution and the longer vehicles are in use on the road the more noise pollution it generates. Traffic gridlock is also a main cause for inefficient resource use. In a world of unlimited wants and scarce resources, we cannot afford to produce inefficiently. Oil is wasted when vehicles are stuck in traffic. Carbon emissions increase and the environment soon becomes too toxic to safely live in. Traffic accidents and lack of infrastructure also account for the extreme traffic congestion. Large sums of economic productivity are loss in the inefficient use of time as well. As previously stated, some of the main causes for traffic congestions is the lack of infrastructure and prevalent poverty in rapidly growing megacities. The poor cannot afford safe and comfortable transportation devices and would therefore opt for cheap, unsafe, and unregulated vehicles like lightweight motorcycles. Health concerns The population within megacities face potential health hazards every single day. Life expectancies have sometimes lowered to a point where the megacity s life expectancy lie below the national average. Badly built housing arrangements and inferior housing conditions generated by large concentrations of population generates poor hygiene. These unsanitary environments often lead to prevalent epidemics. In addition to these internal health risks, residents of these megacities also face external physical dangers every day. In developing countries where motorcycles are the norm due to the low costs, traffic poses day to day health hazards to pedestrians. Research Report Page 4 of 11

6 Major Parties Involved and Their Views Japan Japan is one of the leading countries in addressing the negative effects of rapidly developing megacities. The Tokyo Metropolis is currently the largest megacity in the world and has an alarmingly higher population than the second largest megacity in the world, Jakarta. Despite the large population within the city, Tokyo has relatively less noise and air pollution, housing and traffic congestion, and low crime rate. It is also equipped with an extremely efficient public transport system with over eight millions of passengers taking it daily and it also incorporates a lot of green spaces within the agglomeration. Public transport not only reduces traffic but also proves to be an environmentally sustainable way of travelling. The high functionality of the city allowed it to continuously support the rapidly growing economy of the country Indonesia Indonesia s capital city, Jakarta is currently the world s second largest megacity and the biggest metropolitan region in Southeast Asia. With a population over 30 million, it suffers numerous urban issues. Being the capital city of Indonesia since the Dutch colonial era, Jakarta is heavily relied on for it s tourism and income. Two of the major urban problems Jakarta suffers from are floods and traffic congestion. The government have implemented several plans in an attempt to solve these issues but the severity of traffic and flooding have not been ameliorated. Flooding Jakarta is located in a low-land area like the Netherlands and is surrounded by 13 rivers. Exploitation of groundwater is only one of the major causes for the annual flood, extracting massive amounts of ground water sinks the ground level even lower. The city lacks speedy release of floodwater and would need more infrastructure and research to address this problem of natural disasters. Severe traffic congestion Apart from natural disasters, Jakarta suffers from sever traffic congestion and is estimated to lose up to three billion US dollars per year due to the inefficiency. Vehicle ownership rate is not growing proportionately with the road infrastructure development rate and motorcycles ownership is extremely prevalent. Present infrastructures are not efficiently organized and this results in severe gridlock China Research Report Page 5 of 11

7 As of 2015, there are a total of six megacities. These megacities are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Chengdu. China currently implements the top-down approach to planning these megacities. Local governments are given the opportunity to plan their own municipalities but the national government reserves full control of the allocation of the resources to urbanization. Due to this top-down approach in urban planning, all of the plans generated are based on the national economic plan. However, in order to remain cohesive with the national plan, many valuable resources are inefficiently used. Hundreds of skyscrapers are built in areas where population count are low, resulting in many empty buildings. Criticisms of China s urban planning system include the absence of customized plans for bordering areas of a megacity administration. China s spatial and territory planning system is categorized into three sections, the urban plans, socioeconomic development plans and the national spatial plans. The socioeconomic development stands above all other planning system and serves as the ultimate template for other urban plans that are being implemented in China. India India houses three megacities in the world. These megacities are Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Other than the severe traffic congestions, extreme poverty, and inefficient solid waste managements, India s issues regarding megacities comes mostly from urban slums. India consists of a massive floating population and urban slums are worsening the living conditions for the people. Housing shortages are prevalent within these megacities and people often rely on scrap metals as the main material for poorly made housing that does not incorporate any type of waste management. According to the International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research s Challenges and Issues in Mega City Planning in India, written by Isha Kaushik, half of the 12 million residents of the city of Mumbai live in slums. Without solving the issue of prevalent urban slums, India is unable to register it s residents and efficiently allocate resources based on demand. Most of these low-income residents lead to other major issues common in megacities all over the world. Without proper housing equipped with waste systems, issues of solid waste management arise along with a lowered life expectancy due to the danger risks undertaken by the staff handling the wastes. UN-Habitat The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is an agency under the United Nations that is responsible for urban development and human settlements. It was founded in 1978 and have been working towards urban development for the world ever since. They promote environmentally sustainable cities and is active in collecting data, developing strategies for countries to adapt. The current plan that is undergoing implementation by the UN-Habitat is the Strategic Plan which aims to focus on seven major issues. These seven issues are urban legislation, land and governance, urban planning and design, urban economy, housing and slum upgrade, research and capacity development. Research Report Page 6 of 11

8 Timeline of Relevant Resolutions, Treaties and Events Date Description of event Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (Habitat I) June 11, 1976 The Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, also known as Habitat I, is the first international conference to recognize the challenges of urbanization and the increasing negative impacts of megacities. Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements (Habitat II) June 14, 1996 The Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, also known as Habitat II, is the second international conference held by the United Nations regarding urbanization. This conference set new goals in response to the lack of results from the programme UN-Habitat established in the previous conference. Adoption of the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium June 9, 2001 The Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium reaffirmed most of the goals set by the Habitat Agenda developed during Habitat II. The adoption of this declaration called for a reallocation of resources to UN- Habitat in a response to the worsening condition of numerous urbanized cities around the world. Relevant UN Treaties and Events Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (Habitat I), 11 June 1976 (A/CONF.70/15) General Assembly Resolution, 16 December 1976 (A/RES/31/109) Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements (Habitat II), 14 June 1996 (A/CONF.165/14) Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, 9 June 2001 (A/RES/S-25/2) Strengthening the mandate and status of the Commission on Human Settlements and the status, role and functions on the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), 26 February 2002 (A/RES/56/206) United Nations Millennium Summit, 6 September 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration, 18 September 2000 (A/RES/55/2) Draft strategic plan of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 31 January 2013 (HSP/GC/24/5/Add.2) Research Report Page 7 of 11

9 Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue Urban planning has been used in an attempt to address the negative effects of rapidly growing megacities and is working extremely well so far in the cases where these plans are well thought out. Superior urban planning has been demonstrated in cities like Singapore where population density are high. Lots of green spaces are allocated and housing capacity have been increased due to a well thought out plan. Like mentioned in the terms above, urban planning may come in two approaches: the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach. As each and every megacity have their own unique situation, it is hard to determine the best practice in urban planning. There are however, several things that need to be preset during the preparation of an urban plan and they are discussed in detail in the next section. Each approach has their pros and cons. While bottom-up approaches for urban planning may maximize output for housing and transportation, environmental concerns are often not taken into account. Top-down approaches to urban planning may not always work out so well too. China s current urban planning policy is a top-down approach plan. The government did not take into account of national policies and economic policies and did not work coherently with each other. This resulted in large infrastructures and housing buildings being built in areas that did not require more housing. This led to a waste of resources while the issues have yet to be addressed. Another aspect to consider with urban planning of megacities include the usage of greenfield and brownfield sites. Greenfield sites are land that has never been built on before. These sites are not contaminated with toxic materials caused by the industrial construction. Brownfield sites are lands that have been used for construction before and therefore would result in little loss of green space when built upon. Possible Solutions In order to curb the negative effects of rapidly growing megacities, good governance and planning needs to take place. Smart initiatives that would cut the time needed to board public transportations may help encourage passengers to use more public transports. Innovations such as easy IC cards, or credit cards that can serve as tickets for massive transport may reduce costs and increase efficiency. If public transport is available, raising the prices of vehicles can discourage large consumptions of personal transportation devices. With all of these planning being in high demand, a nation would need guidelines for recognizing all the different local urban situations and the need for balanced regional development and spatially harmonious territories. Establishing transparent legal frameworks can help facilitate territorial planning by inaugurating general rules designed to coordinate inter-municipal territorial and urban management and planning. It can also ensure that national policies and economic planning methods, are taken into account during the preparation of urban plans and, reciprocally have these plans be reflected in the process of all national planning. Research Report Page 8 of 11

10 As stated earlier many of these negative effects arise in developing countries that lack economic stability. Developing a financial plan aimed towards cost-efficiency and affordability is essential. Without a well-constructed financial plan, implementation of these plans may prove to be impossible. Bibliography "Another BRIC in the Wall." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 21 Apr Web. 17 Jan < "A/RES/31/109 - Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. United, 16 Dec Web. 17 Jan < "The Black Commentator - Planet of Slums - The Third World s Megacities - Issue 88." The Black Commentator - Planet of Slums - The Third World s Megacities - Issue 88. The Black Commentator, 29 Apr Web. 17 Jan < "Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." A/RES/S-25/2 - Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. United, 9 June Web. 17 Jan < "Definitions of Urban Development." Definitions - SOWC UNICEF (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 17 Jan < "International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning." UN-Habitat (2015): n. pag. Web. 17 Jan < _un_habitat.pdf>. Kotkin, Joel, Wendell Cox, Ali Modarres, and Aaron M. Renn. "The Problem of Megacities." Ed. Mandy Shams. (2014): n. pag. Chapman University. Center for Demographics and Policy, Web. 17 Jan < VERSION.pdf>. "MANAGING URBAN TRAFFIC CONGESTION." (2007): n. pag. EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT. Web. 17 Jan < O'Neill, Jim. "Building Better Global Economic BRICs." Global Economics Paper No: 66 66th ser. (2001): n. pag. Goldman Sachs. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., 30 Nov Web. 17 Jan < Pissourios, Ioannis A. TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING: TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE USE OF PLANNING STANDARDS. Rep. no. 1. EUROPEAN SPATIAL RESEARCH AND POLICY, Web. 17 Jan Research Report Page 9 of 11

11 < "Report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." Report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. United Nations, 14 June Web. 17 Jan < Rukmana, Deden. ": The Megacity of Jakarta: Problems, Challenges and Planning Efforts." Indonesia's Urban Studies. N.p., 29 Mar Web. 17 Jan < Taiyab, Nadaa. "Transportation in Mega-Cities: A Local Issue, a Global Question." (2008): n. pag. Boston University. The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Nov Web. 17 Jan < Paper-004-Megacities.pdf>. "Tokyo, the Megacity That Works." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 25 June Web. 17 Jan < "United Nations Millennium Declaration - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." United Nations Millennium Declaration - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. United, 8 Sept Web. 17 Jan < "The Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements - A/CONF.70/15 Chapter I - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." The Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements - A/CONF.70/15 Chapter I - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. United Nations, 11 June Web. 17 Jan < World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision: Highlights. N.p.: United Nations, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). United Nations, Web. 17 Jan < Research Report Page 10 of 11

12 Appendices Appendix I: Useful Websites I. II. III. IV Appendix II: Useful Documents I. II. III. today/publications/compendium_entries/energy-and-material-flows-of-megacities---chris- kennedy.pdf IV. V. VI. VII. Research Report Page 11 of 11