The Moral Challenge of Urbanization in Less Developed Countries Chloe Schwenke, Ph.D. Management Systems Internationa

1. The Moral Challenge of Urbanization in Less Developed CountriesChloe Schwenke, Ph.D.Management Systems International Urban Studies and Planning Program Brown Bag Series University of Maryland 19 February 2003

2. Who Governs? Why? • power and wealth concentrated at the center ~ national governments • weak accountability to urban residents • urban governments generally fail to: • lead • generate policies • perform strategic planning • facilitate local participation

3. Against Human Dignity • what ought planners to do in urban environments hostile to the concept of human dignity ~ cities in the South? • severe poverty • deprivation of opportunities • loss of hope • is respect for universal human dignity an important goal development that planners ought to attend to?

4. Moral Considerations Human Flourishing The Common Good Safety and Security Participation and Inclusion

5. Human Flourishing/Well-being • successful execution of a rational plan of life, by which the person determines the good for himself or herself • John Rawls • “That human persons are flourishing means that their lives are good, or worthwhile, in the broadest sense.” • Thomas Pogge

6. The Common Good ~ 1 • policies and actions that best serve to promote the essential components of human well-being or flourishing for all • the best net score of individual interests in the community (Utilitarian) • sacrifices some people’s interests to that of others

7. The Common Good ~ 2 • subject to moral disagreements • agreed upon only through a deliberative democratic process of reasoning together • a mutual obligation of respect must exist towards opponents • Gutmann and Thompson

8. The Common Good ~ 3 • trade-offs • “A moral justification must be provided to justify this sacrifice of perceived self-interest, and not simply the weight of majority interests.” • Richard Flathman

9. Safety and Security • conditions of stability, order, predictability, and freedom from bodily harm • environment ~ to live within a city without becoming ill • economic security • access to employment and/or other forms of welfare

10. Participation and Inclusion ~ 1 • who ought to decide: • what “good” development and “good” governance mean • why these concepts are important • what should be done when they clash with other values • where’s the balance? • popular participation in governance vs. representative democratic institutions of government

11. Participation and Inclusion ~ 2 • how should stakeholders conceive and make critical decisions regarding the achievement of a sustainable, livable city, pursue those ends, and find motivation to do so? • effective participation is one excellent means to morally-based decision making

12. Participation and Inclusion ~ 3 • is popular participation a realistic expectation within poor cities? • expensive, prolonged, subject to failure • who identifies the “stakeholders”? on what basis? who is excluded? why? • does stakeholder participation ever reflect demographic and power realities within the city?

13. Participation and Inclusion ~ 4 • “deliberative democracy” an ideal, not a practical objective • “careful structuring” of the participatory process: • agree on process – how best to resolve disagreements and accommodate dissent principles of fairness • a commonly agreed upon agenda • no manipulation towards predetermined outcomes • consider different views of means and ends within a holistic view of: • human well-being • human development • good governance

14. Moral Demands

15. The Challenge to Planners • what ought planners do to respect and respond to the moral demands that recognition of basic human dignity entails? • what about: • social justice? • human flourishing? • the common good? • participation and inclusion? • safety and security? • a caring society?

16. Moral Vocabulary? • the myth of value-neutrality • “us” and “them” • North and South • experts/managers and “beneficiaries” • “When we speak of ethics in planning, we refer to a capacity to argue about what to do, to a capacity to think about, evaluate, and judge alternative courses of action.” Krumholz and Forester

17. Moral Visibility • moral and ethical dimensions: • land ownership rights • environmental and ecological integrity • inequitable distribution ~ “trickle down” • rights of vulnerable indigenous minority populations • democracy, deliberation, and participation • mainstreaming gender concerns • reducing corruption • mitigating/preventing conflict

18. Development For What? • ideals of human and social well-being • the “decent society” ~ honor in equal measure = universal human dignity • Avishai Margalit • respecting human nature • Rousseau, Kant

19. Ideals ~ 1 • social justice • fair, even-handed treatment of all individuals and groups within a society • prerequisite for the achievement of human flourishing • Rasmussen • the “caring relationship” between self and others • Carol Gilligan

20. Ideals ~ 2 • distributive justice • how major social institutions should distribute burdens and benefits • John Rawls • civic virtue • human rights and freedoms

21. Reality Check • “Survival takes priority over dignity” • Margalit • political leadership in many cities and towns in the South is top-down or even autocratic – neither accountable to nor inclusive of the residents • very few cities in the North, and exceptionally few in the South, have engaged in a representative participatory process leading to the outcome of a comprehensive urban development strategy

22. Five Objections 1)moral issues are largely arbitrary and subjective in nature, changing in scope and intensity 2)seeking common ground on moral concerns risks upsetting the status quo 3)the quality of a moral dialogue on substantive issues depends upon uncommon tolerance, reflection, mutual respect, and a deliberative ethos ~ rare in participatory processes 4)moral values and systems are largely unreliable in policy making ~ universalism vs. relativism 5)moral values are extremely difficult to measure, monitor and evaluate

23. Response to #1 • moral issues are largely arbitrary and subjective in nature, changing in scope and intensity • morality is not arbitrary • ethics ~ the systematic and critical study of moral beliefs, values and concerns • in ethics, our values and beliefs are organized into various (and to some extent, competing) systems, each of which exhibits coherence and matches our considered judgments and deeply felt beliefs

24. Response to #2 • seeking common ground on moral concerns risks upsetting the status quo • yes ~ attending to moral concerns risks upsetting the status quo by challenging the existing economic and power relationships within any given society • the existence of widespread poverty, corruption, injustice, and the lack of universal respect for human dignity demand a challenge

25. Response to #3 • the quality of a moral dialogue on substantive issues depends upon uncommon tolerance, reflection, mutual respect, and a deliberative ethos • if this claim were accepted, it would be difficult to imagine a society’s moral progress over time • leadership of morally virtuous persons is not a necessary condition to progress • the application of an ethical framework to the participatory process may facilitate a moral dialogue of substance and quality

26. Response to #4 • moral values and systems are largely unreliable in policy making • certain values are universal and fundamental to human nature • local culture, tradition, and context ought significantly to influence and shape the implementation of development initiatives responsive to these universal values

27. Response to #5 • moral values are extremely difficult to measure, monitor and evaluate • empirical data can say a great deal about the changes in achieving morally desirable goals • birth weight of babies ~ a good proxy for measuring the shortcomings in the quality of life of people and the need for better nutrition and health care • qualitative factors in the experience of poverty, the enjoyment of basic freedoms and opportunities, and the prevalence of respect for human dignity are all subject to meaningful evaluation through a variety of techniques, from focus groups to surveys

28. Reaching Consensus • If cities and towns are to promote the welfare of their residents and of the nation’s citizens, they must be…livable – ensuring a decent quality of life and equitable opportunities for all residents, including the poorest. • World Bank’s Urban Strategy • “livable city” translates into very different priorities among and between different persons and groups • active stakeholder participation in formulating a consensus on both common development goals and the means to achieve them – that city’s sense of its “livable city” ideal – is essential

29. The Livable City • the ideal of the “livable city” is at least a set of morally relevant standards by which citizens and others may evaluate their city in terms that speak to their own quality-of-life aspirations and concerns. • as such, the articulated “livable city” ideal can qualitatively influence development strategies and provide the essential motivation for beneficial change