Part of Kibera slum in Nairobi. Rapid growth of cities boosts
development of public infrastructure which benefits poor urban
residents. Photo/Jeff Angote
By IRIN
In Summary
- Implementation of development plans within existing cities is having major exclusionary effects on vulnerable low-income groups through evictions and relocations.
- Instead of heightening social inequality, the establishment of alternative cities may offer some pro-poor benefits, argues Albert Nyange, an urban planning lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
Plans to reshape and modernise African cities,
in part driven by investment, architecture and construction companies
seeking new markets, could deepen existing social inequalities,
according to recent research.
But these development plans could also benefit the
poor if governments are responsive to the needs of their citizens,
argue analysts.
The implementation of these development plans
within existing cities is having major exclusionary effects on
vulnerable low-income groups through evictions and relocations, states
the journal article African urban fantasies: dreams or nightmares?
This is because some of the informal settlements — where most of
Africa’s urban poor live — are on lands attractive to property
developers.
“In the competition for well-located urban land,
the poor will inevitably lose out and be pushed to the edge of the
cities, far away from jobs and public facilities. Governments will focus
public investment on infrastructure for the new projects, and this will
drain resources away from providing services to low-income areas,”
Vanessa Watson, the author of article, told IRIN.
“With the majority of urban populations living in
deep poverty and with minimal urban services, the most likely outcome of
these fantasy plans is a steady worsening of the marginalisation and
inequalities that already beset these cities,” added Watson, who works
with the African Centre for Cities (ACC) programme at the University of
Cape Town.
Indeed, the Humanitarian Policy Group in a recent
report cited “development policies and projects and land grabbing as
some of the drivers of urban displacement”.
Countries such as Angola, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania have partnered with
the private sector to develop master plans for their cities.
In Kenya, there are plans to build Konza and Tatu
cities, which will house some 100,000 residents and include business
parks and shopping malls.
The government is priming the proposed Konza City
to be Africa’s Silicon Valley, part of its wider efforts to make Nairobi
a regional information technology hub.
Advocates of Tanzania’s proposed Kigamboni City,
near the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, say it will be an
ultra-modern urban centre whose facilities will compete with those in
Dubai, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
Instead of heightening social inequality, the
establishment of alternative cities may offer some pro-poor benefits,
argues Albert Nyange, an urban planning lecturer at the University of
Nairobi.
He noted that in Kenya, such developments have spurred government action in transport infrastructure development.
“Cities that are planned for the majority of the population directly contribute to improved quality of life of the poor
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