global lectures Lectures on sustainable urbanization by the people & partners of UN-Habitat

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1 global urbanseason 2 lectures Lectures on sustainable urbanization by the people & partners of UN-Habitat

2 This document contains a sample of our available urban lectures as of February 5th All our videos and related materials from the Global Urban Lecture Series are available free of charge from the following link: To receive notification on newly released lectures, do either of the following: Subscribe to the UN-Habitat YouTube channel Like the UN-Habitat Facebook page Follow UN-Habitat on Twitter UN-Habitat 2014/2015, UNI (University Network Initiative)

3 what The Global Urban Lecture Series gathers expertise & experience from renowned international scholars and professionals who excel in their fields, and shares this knowledge with a wide audience of urban actors. The lecturers are associated with UN- Habitat, universities, think-tanks, governments, NGOs, and private sector institutions. All Global Urban Lectures are available online, free of charge. Each lecture package is comprised of a 15-minute video about a subject related to cities and urbanisation, a short biography of the speaker, a synopsis of the session as well as references to additional reading materials through which the viewer can expand his/her knowledge on the subject of the lecture. The Series aims to demonstrate a sound evidence-based analysis of a given problem and issues at stake, identify propositions to address them and provide examples that demonstrate how such propositions actually work, are being tested or have been implemented.

4 whom The Global Urban Lectures target a wide and global audience comprised of universities, urban practitioners, researchers and policy makers, as well as the general public interested in cities and sustainable urbanization.

5 how The lectures in the series can be used either separately as stand-alone sessions, or as a group of thematic sessions to meet the needs of different users and purposes. Examples of how to use the series: For self-learning and as a refresher course. In addition to existing curricula and regular courses offered by universities and training institutions (eg. using the videos as guest lecturers or teasers in the syllabus of regular courses) As resource material for new curricula and course development. To screen in public events as an introduction to debates on subjects relevant to cities and urban development

6 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UN-HABITAT Dr. Joan Clos Since October 2010, Dr. Joan Clos is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) at the level of Undersecretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly. Dr. Clos is a medical doctor with a distinguished career in public service and diplomacy. He was twice elected Mayor of Barcelona serving two terms during the years He was Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade of Spain between 2006 and Prior to joining the United Nations, he served as Spanish ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan. At the international level, Dr. Clos has previously served as President of Metropolis - international network of cities; President of the World Association of Cities and Local Authorities, (WACLAC) ; Chairman of the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities, (UNACLA), and member of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, (CEMR). Dr. Clos has received a number of awards, including a gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1999 for transforming Barcelona, and in 2002 he won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for encouraging global cooperation between local authorities and the United Nations. Additional reading materials UN-Habitat webpage UN-Habitat YouTube - Access to all Global Urban Lectures

7 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UN-HABITAT Principles of Planned Urbanization A three-legged approach to sustainable urban development In this opening session for the second season of the Global Urban Lecture Series, Dr. Joan Clos introduces three fundamental principles behind planned urbanization: Rules and Regulations, Urban Design, and a Financial Plan. Together they form a three legged approach towards sustainable urbanization.. Starting point for the lecture is the distinction between spontaneous and planned urbanization. A planned urbanization emphasises the benefits of cities, such as the capacity to generate wealth, employment, as well as coexistence benefits and the diversity of cultural exchanges. A spontaneous urbanization on the other side usually doesnt provide enough public space, enough basic services or attention to the principles of good urbanization that would enable its citizens to enjoy the benefits of living in a city. As most of the urbanization in the developing world currently is spontaneous, Dr Clos goes through three essential principles to bare in mind as the world urbanizes, in order to achieve planned urbanization and avoid the pitfalls of a spontaneous development. See the video of this lecture here The first principle involves Rules and Regulations. Rules and regulations have the power to shape the form and character of the city. Within this principle, three specific areas are of essence: the regulation of public space, the building rights, and the building codes regulating the quality and standards of buildings. Dr. Clos place specific emphasis on the public space, as the quality of this space is what is ultimately going to determine the quality of the rest of the city. The second principle is Urban Design. Within this principle Dr. Clos discusses the areas of spatial layout, design of the open space, and the importance of a well planned street pattern. The third principle deals with the Financial Plan, in which the budget, the local authority taxation system and central government funds are discussed. Within this principle, Dr. Clos also brings up the concepts of value sharing and land readjustment, as it is important to think in innovative manners when planning modern cities, Dr. Clos mentions that concepts such as these should be incorporated in the financial plan from the start. In closing, Dr. Clos stresses the need to balance these three principles, as their interconnectivity is of the utmost essence in a achieving successfully planned sustainable cities.

8 HOUSING & SLUM UPGRADING UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Peter Ward Peter M. Ward holds the C.B. Smith Sr. Centennial Chair in US-Mexico Relations, and is professor in the Department of Sociology (College of Liberal Arts), and in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs where he also serves as the Associate Dean for Research. He has worked as housing policy adviser for the Mexican government and held senior academic positions at the University of London and the University of Cambridge prior to moving to Texas in He was formerly director of the Mexican Center at the University of Texas LLILAS, and served as Executive Editor of the Latin American Research Review between He is the coordinator of the multi-city Latin American Housing Research Network ( Additional reading materials University of Texas webpage

9 PETER WARD UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Densification in consolidated informal settlements On how self-help neighborhoods have informally increased their densities and are likely to be an emerging target for public policy regeneration and densification. See the video of this lecture here Peter Ward in thus lecture brings up the issues of 1) How to address the often forgotten needs for in-situ rehabilitation of the physical structure and design after 30 years or more of intensive use? 2) In a context where Wills are rarely used, and/or forced heirship is the norm, how to manage the transfer and provision of clean title to second generation beneficiaries, as the parents pass away? 3) How to increase renting and non-owner housing opportunities in these settlements? And 4), How to engage the community and neighborhood in rehab and renovation without displacement that often accompanies external urban regeneration projects. In short: how does one make room in the existing housing stock? The lecture will present data drawn from a multi-country/ city collaborative study to examine self-built housing in old established low-income neighborhoods. The location of many of these consolidated settlements makes them increasingly desirable locations sand a likely target for back-to-the-city densification and urban regeneration governmental policies. This threatens to generate pressures for displacement and to enhance gentrification. The challenge will be to ensure mixed-use and mixed income residential development associated with densification and infilling. Propositions for addressing the issue: 1. Consolidated self-help settlements that formed 30 years ago are rarely on the radar screens of policy makers, there is an urgent need to think about housing rehab within the context of the housing stock in the innerburbs. 2. The sociology and household arrangements of these neighborhoods are poorly understood, including: the low mobility and turnover of ownership; the dynamics of physical dwelling expansion and consolidation; the succession by second generations as they inherit and continue to use the properties of their parents. 3. The housing market in these innerburbs is dysfunctional because few owners wish or are able to sell-out due to ongoing use value, housing needs and expectations of their adult children, and a lack of formal financing to facilitate sales and buy-outs by other lower income families. 4. Past title and tenure regularization programs will be thrown into disarray and titles will become clouded if programs of low cost title transfer are not developed to facilitate sales and inheritance. 5. We need to think about low-cost building applications and user behaviors that that embody green and sustainable living practices.

10 URBAN ECONOMY WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Marja Hoek Smit Marja C Hoek-Smit is the Director of the International Housing Finance Program of the Wharton School Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center, and an Adjunct Professor in the Wharton Real Estate Department of the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on housing markets, urban and housing policy and subsidy systems, and the deepening of housing finance systems, particularly in developing and emerging market economies. She is also the founder and Executive Director of the Housing Finance Information Network HOFINET a global web portal that consolidates international housing finance information and statistical data for public use. She has worked in more than 40 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Latin America. She currently works on housing/ finance policies in Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, The Philippines and Myanmar. Additional reading materials About Marja Hoek-Smit Housing Finance Information Network website

11 MARJA HOEK SMIT WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Mass housing requires mass housing finance See the video of this lecture here In this lecture Marja Hoek Smit argues that housing finance is critical to solve the housing problem, increasing, as it does, the number of households that can afford to acquire a house in the formal market, which in turn will make large scale development of middle and lower middle income housing possible. Access to housing finance is described as equally important for investors in rental housing of all types. The lecture discusses the positive characteristics of mortgage lending compared to alternative housing finance options, as well as the reasons for mortgage systems to remain small in many urbanizing emerging market countries. It calls for changes in policy to address these constraints. The Mass Housing Finance approach draws on housing finance system-, macro-economic- and urbanization data collected by the Housing Finance Information Network (HOFINET: for more than 130 countries and on country case studies of successful approaches to expand access to housing finance. Rapid urbanization is unavoidable in countries of Africa and South and East Asia, yet formal housing construction is a fraction of new urban household formation, resulting in the relentless growth of informal housing. Alleviating this pressure in the housing market by increasing access to mortgage and rental housing finance Hoek means will stimulate formal sector housing development by the private sector and will free up government funds to deal with the housing problems of the lowest income groups. While the size of mortgage markets is positively related to GDP per capita and financial sector development, policies make a major difference. The lecture also highlights the link between policies to open up new urban land with titles and the need to develop housing finance systems. Propositions for addressing the issue: Enforceable pledge/lien on real property systems Legal infrastructure that supports housing finance and alternative pledge structures Regulatory infrastructure related to conduct-ofbusiness and safety-and-soundness, including risk mitigation systems, payment systems Effective methods to establish property value Competitive financial markets Efficient non-distorting taxation and subsidy systems that support housing finance expansion

12 URBAN PLANNING & DESIGN THE NEW SCHOOL Robert Buckley Robert Buckley is the Studley Fellow at the New School in New York City. Prior to that he was a lead economist and advisor at the World Bank and Managing Director at the Rockefeller Foundation. He contributed to the Growth Commission work on developing a new development perspective in Urbanization and Economic Growth, a book he co-edited with Michael Spence and Patricia Annez. He has written widely on urbanization and housing policy in both the academic and popular press. During the past few years has focused on urbanization in sub-saharan Africa. Additional reading materials Commission On Growth And Development Created By The World Bank

13 ROBERT BUCKLEY THE NEW SCHOOL Urbanization & demographics: the coordination problem On emphasizing the overlooked role of coordination of urban policies rather than the coordination sought by new industrial policies See the video of this lecture here The lecture is based on the realization that little attention is being paid to the inexorable increase in urban populations, particularly in very low income countries. Almost all of the world s next 2 billion people will live in these already slum-invested cities, with likely adverse effects on economic development as well as increased social exclusion. Instead of focusing on the issues involved with coordinating a coherent policy response to this demographic trend, the development agenda has focused on how coordination problems in supporting industry can be overcome. Michael Cohen argues that these industrial coordination problems are no doubt important, but so too is the avoidance of increasingly dysfunctional cities. Analysis of the evidence indicates that urban development in many places is not following the traditional perspective that the bright lights of cities are drawing migrants. In many places, it is troubled countrysides that is inducing what some have called a pathological urbanization pattern. It is also the case that cities are now being planned after their occupants have arrived rather than in anticipation of growth as did the grids in New York and Barcelona. The result is chaotic cities without sufficient public space to realize agglomeration economies with dense, fetid slums. Finally, in many low income countries enormous cities are emerging populated by families with income levels lower than those that characterized early industrial cities. In those places it is difficult to afford the kinds of large scale investments that produced the modern cities of the mid 19th and early 20th century with their transport, water, sanitation, and electricity. Business as usual in these cities could have catastrophic outcomes. There are many practical steps that could be taken to improve this situation, but constraining them is the lack of realization of how important this demographic trend is likely to be, and how little capacity exists to deal with it. Propositions for addressing the issue: First, slums are a form of social exclusion. But, they may be much than that. They may be undermining the foundations for development; Second, if the first is true we need to rethink the approach to urban development. Cities in the developing world have become homes of desperation for millions of people; and Third, the accepted development agenda the binding constraints to growth has not recognized cities role.

14 URBAN ECONOMY THE NEW SCHOOL Michael Cohen Michael Cohen (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Director of the International Affairs Program. Before coming to the New School in 2001, he was a Visiting Fellow of the International Center for Advanced Studies at New York University. From 1972 to 1999, he had a distinguished career at the World Bank. He was responsible for much of the urban policy development of the Bank over that period and, from , he served as the Senior Advisor to the Bank s Vice-President for Environmentally Sustainable Development. He has worked in over fifty countries and was heavily involved in the Bank s work on infrastructure, environment, and sustainable development. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Panel on Urban Dynamics. He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, The Johns Hopkins University, and the School of Architecture, Design, and Urban Planning of the University of Buenos Aires.

15 MICHAEL COHEN THE NEW SCHOOL Urban economy in the new millenium On the importance of cities driving national economic development. See the video of this lecture here Michael Cohen in this lecture illustrates data about economic growth that demonstrate how cities act as engines of national economic development.. In 2008, for the first time in human history, half the world s population lived in urban areas. Due to agglomeration economies, approximately 80 percent from global GDP is coming out of urban-based economic activities; 600 urban centers generate about 60 percent of global GDP. Yet, without the right focus, agglomeration economies can have deleterious negative externalities, such as harmful environmental effects, urban poverty, and intra-urban inequalities. In addition, the lecture addresses the issue of climate change, which represents a major threat to cities. The city is the space of opportunity for growth. Cities can also serve as a remedy in periods of economic crisis and help sustain employment. Since 2009, G-20 discussions have reduced their attention to urban employment even though most of the demand which governments wish to stimulate exists within cities. The stimulus package after the Global Crisis in 2008 did not focus enough on urban issues. This resulted in reduced investments into the urban arena, which in turn increased urban poverty and unemployment, worsened the distribution of income, and lead to growing squatter settlements. This lecture suggests that the productive side of the city needs more attention in urban planning. Propositions for addressing the issue: 1. Statistical trends indicate the large share of urban contributions to national economic development. This confirms the assumption that cities are opportunities for growth and sustainable development. 2. Cities can serve as remedies in times of global crisis. 3. A neglect of this trend leads to reduced investments in urban areas. This in turn increases negative externalities from agglomeration economies, which can have adverse effects on the entire country. 4. Almost 50 percent of all cities are already dealing with the effects of climate change. Especially urban flooding causes a serious and growing development challenge. 5. Urban governments, in coalition with various actors, need to produce a broader, comparative, empirical framework that can examine more deeply what is happening to capital and labor in relation to urban growth. 6. Land and land policies are central to this process.

16 BASIC SERVICES URBAN DRAINAGE SYSTEMS EXPERT Chris Jefferies Chris Jefferies is a world leader in the design and planning ofsustainabl eurbandrainagesystems(suds). With collaborators, he has co-authored much of the SUDS guidance used in the United Kingdom including the seminal design manual from CIRIA, The SUDS Design Manual. He has undertaken research in association with construction companies, materials suppliers and with governmental/ regulator organisations. He has worked very closely with local authorities and Water Companies in Scotland and various European countries on the implementation of the technical standards which apply to SUDS. He was a partner in the EU FP6 research programme SWITCH and delivered the SWITCH Transition Manual. Chris has now retired and is working on a part time basis. He retains his academic interests through one European project - the E2STORMED - which is concerned with the energy issues associated with SUDS in six countries around the Mediterranean. Additional reading materials The Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) Manual The New York Green Infrastructure Plan

17 CHRIS JEFFERIES URBAN DRAINAGE SYSTEMS EXPERT Urban drainage and green infrastructure Introducing modern approaches to sustainable drainage and showing how they can be fully integrated into the green infrastructure of a city See the video of this lecture here This lecture addresses the need to reduce the impact of city development of flooding on residents and in other places, and the worsening of the water quality in streams, rivers and lakes caused by the expansion of cities. Jefferies believes the most appropriate current solutions involve Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) but SUDS can only be implemented with good policies, supportive stakeholder groups and partnership working so that these new ideas, which cut across existing methods and practices, can be accepted. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems require several changes in thinking and practice in city planning and there are many barriers to progress including the perceived costs added to development, the increased maintenance activities required, the attractiveness of big infrastructure projects to politicians whereas drainage projects are very often just normal work. The inertia of planning systems also tends to discourage the good new ideas involved. However, the perceived additional costs need to be set against the costs of losing habitats and the fish, food and other ecosystem services which follow, and the damage to properties and danger to people caused by flooding which frequently results from development. The barriers to more sustainable drainage are high but a whole portfolio of potential Green infrastructure solutions are available to be applied in any city in the world. There are no particular problems for high cost, high value developments since the additional costs of drainage are small and green space is normally an integral element. However, for most urban developments where money is tight, drainage solutions on a development site are likely to be hard concrete with no financial allocation for maintenance. Consequently, to achieve more widespread use of sustainable drainage principles, greater integration into Green Infrastructure is necessary, and multiple benefits need to be clear. Otherwise the whole life costs will not be properly recognised. Major developments and redevelopments give the opportunity for the reallocation of open space to improve its use through multiple functions. Sustainable drainage has the potential to provide habitat improvements which provide places for breeding, give connectivity between SUDS and with natural areas, and, link directly to zones of natural habitats thus providing more sustainable solutions and greener solutions to drainage problems.

18 BASIC SERVICES AKIBA MASHINANI TRUST Jane Weru Jane Weru is a lawyer and holds a Master s Degree in NGO Management from the London School of Economics. Her early work focused on public interest litigation on behalf of poor communities threatened with forceful evictions and violent demolitions. She helped found Pamoja Trust, a nonprofit organization that mobilized and supported grassroots movements of the urban poor by providing technical, legal and financial support. She is currently the Executive Director of Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT), a nonprofit organization working on developing innovative community led solutions to housing and land tenure problems for the urban poor in Kenya. Jane has served as Team Leader for the Kenya Railway Relocation Action Plan for the Ministry of Transport supported by the World Bank. She is a Board Member of the Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), an Ashoka Fellow and is also serving as a member of the National Task Force for the preparation of the Community Land Bill and the Evictions and Resettlement Bill. Additional reading materials UC Berkeley, Dept. of City & Regional Planning University of Nairobi, Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning And Pamoja Trust (2009) Collaborative Slum Planning and Upgrading Mathare Valley, Nairobi, Kenya. Corburn, J. (2013) Healthy City Planning: From Neighbourhood to National Health Equity. Routledge. Weru J., (2013) Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor: A Critical Tool for Sustainable Social and Community Resilience. Huffington Post.

19 JANE WERU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AKIBA MASHINANI TRUST Too Pressed To Wait Jane Weru in this lecture highlights the plight of women and girls living in informal settlements in Nairobi, with special regard to the poor sanitation conditions prevalent in informal settlements in the city. The lecture is based on the realization that the water and sanitation hygiene systems in informal settlements in Nairobi are greatly lacking or inadequate, and that this state of affairs is causing a strain on both the physical and psychological health of people who live and work in these settlements, in particular women and girls. This situation is compounded by other challenges facing informal settlements such as land tenure insecurity, poverty and gender-based violence. See the video of this lecture here Analysis of the evidence presented yields a practical approach to urban planning in the face of rapid urbanization. The Too Pressed To Wait lecture uses information obtained from two major informal settlements in Nairobi, Mukuru Kwa Njenga and Mukuru Kwa Reuben, and is based on the fact that basic human rights to life, to health and to dignity are all obstructed by inadequate water and sanitation systems. Propositions for addressing the issue 1. The Land Tenure Proposition: the water and sanitation needs of dwellers in informal settlements cannot be met without first addressing the land tenure insecurity issues. 2. The Right to Dignity Proposition: people face a loss of dignity when sanitation facilities are not available in the near vicinity. As the saying goes, water is life, sanitation is dignity. 3. The Gender Violence Proposition: Any effort to improve sanitation in Nairobi s slums must include efforts to reduce the culture of violence as well as the structural factors that enable violence against women to continue. 4. The Affordable Housing Proposition: Akiba Mashinani Trust believes in the building of affordable housing units equipped with water and sanitation systems for slum dwellers as a way of tackling the persistent inadequacy of water and sanitation systems in informal settlements.

20 LAND TENURE UN-HABITAT Clarissa Augustinus Clarissa Augustinus is Unit Leader of Land and the Global Land Tool Network, Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch, UN-Habitat. She is the leader of the Global Land Tool Network, which has 64 international partners including the World Bank, Slum/ Shack Dwellers International, the Association of African Planning Schools, the International Federation of Surveyors. She has been the global focal point for urban land in the United Nations system for 11 years. This has exposed her to the global challenges. GLTN works to find solutions. While holding a PhD in Social Anthropology, she was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering, Surveying and Construction, on land management, at the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. She is widely published. Additional reading materials GLTN website UN-Habitat/GLTN 2012 Handling land: Innovative tools for land governance and secure tenure GLTN 2012 Designing a Land Record System for the Poor Antonio, D. Makau, J. and S. Mabala 2013 Addressing the Information Requirements of the Urban Poor A Government-Community Partnership in Piloting the Social Tenure Domain Model in Uganda, Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2013 Cain, A. Beat, W. and M. Festo 2013 Participatory inclusive land readjustment in Huambo, Angola

21 CLARISSA AUGUSTINUS UN-HABITAT Addressing global land challenges Introducing the land challenges facing the planet, and some of the solutions for creating sustainable cities See the video of this lecture here This lecture is based on the realization that the current global approach to land systems cannot meet the needs of the majority of people in developing countries in regard to security of tenure and it cannot supply the data/information necessary for sustainable cities. Innovative solutions are needed which work at scale, such as pro poor land information management systems, the continuum of land rights and participatory inclusive land readjustment. An analysis of the land systems of over 25 developing countries in all regions has shown that current systems are not coping. Serviced land cannot be delivered at scale. Planning is either not implemented, or not implemented as planned, at scale. To deliver at scale, a gap of 18 missing tools was identified. Global Land Tool Network partners have been developing these land tools to find solutions. The analytical framework for these tools is premised on the continuum of land rights and that the tools are pro poor and gender responsive; and that they will include the majority of people in a country and be capable of supplying the necessary information for city wide management. Within that analytical framework each tool is developed with a reference group of partners including the profession involved, civil society, research and training institutions, also to build its robustness, legitimacy and use. Tool development is undertaken within the framework of big science. 1. The Affordable Land Systems Proposition. The conventional land administration system being used globally cannot serve the needs of the majority or fast growing cities and small towns. Instead we must develop affordable land systems that can cater for the majority of people in our generation. 2. The New Forms of Tenure Security Proposition. Freehold ownership cannot be scaled to cover the majority of people in the developing world for another years. Instead we must create legal frameworks built around the continuum of land rights. 3. The Conventional Land Administration Tools Proposition. Conventional tools are not fit for purpose to supply tenure security for the majority and capture the land information needed for city wide slum upgrading, city extension and densification. Instead we must develop new land tools to ensure ample serviced land supply such as participatory inclusive land readjustment, new forms of city wide slum upgrading, Social Tenure Domain Model, value sharing between the public and private sector, pro poor land records. 4. The Planning, Land and Servicing Delivery Systems Proposition. Current systems being used by cities, such as planning, land, services, cost recovery, often do not cover the whole city in developing countries leading to the proliferation of informal settlements. New fit for purpose systems have to be developed and implemented. These systems in the land sector need new tools which require new methods of action research to design robust approaches.

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