Challenges of Human Settlements in Asia

1. Overview of the State of Implementation of Agenda 21, RIO+5 and JPOI in the Human Settlements in Asia and the Pacific M. Aslam Khan Chief, Environment Section

2. Background • Shelter Crisis and Slums in Human Settlements • Status of Implementation of Human Settlements Improvements as a part of Millennium Development Goal • Challenges and Prospects • Matters Calling for the Attention of the Meeting

3. Background Commission on Sustainable Development at 11th Session (2003) – multiyear programme of work • 2004 CSD 12th to review - human settlements, water and sanitation • 1986 – Habitat Conference • 1992 – UNCED – Agenda 21 • 1996 – Habitat Conference [Adequate shelter for all, sustainable human settlements, enablement and participation, financing shelter and human settlements and integrating gender perspectives in human settlements – related legislation, policies, programmes and projects.] • 1997 – reviewed most goals set in Agenda 21 not met

4. Two Aspects of Shelter Crises • Housing backlog • Development of slums

5. Types of Slums • Inner-city slums – rental tenements • Squatter settlements • Illegal subdivisions

6. Characteristics of Slums • Lack of security of tenure; • Temporary structures - unsuitable housing mixed with other houses; • Lack of basic infrastructure and services, water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, energy and health facilities.

7. Policy Approaches to Slums Range from ignoring or actively harassing slum dwellers, to interventions aimed at protecting the rights of slum dwellers and helping them to improve their incomes and living environments. • Eviction; • Resettlement or relocation;

8. Policy Approaches to Slums • Legalizing tenure • Slum upgrading • Security of tenure • Provision of utilities and services • Loan for home improvement • Community management and maintenance

9. Policy Approaches to Slums • Enabling policies • Deregulation • Changes in credit mechanisms • Lowering housing and subdivision standards • Public private partnerships to provide shelter and services • Development of community organizations • Integrated approach • Klang Valley Environmental Plan in Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh City Environmental Planning in Viet Nam, Metro Manila Capital Investment Folio.

10. Policy Approaches to Slums • NGO involvement has helped in: • Reaching poor populations unserved by other agencies; • Mobilizing local resources and build local organizations; • Providing relatively low-cost services to unserved populations; • Creating innovative solutions to complex problems; • Organizing networks of diverse organizations around shared visions; and • Act as intermediaries between governments and the community, serving to link communities to the wider political processes

11. Status of Implementation of Human Settlements Improvements as a part of Millennium Development Goal MDG Goal 7 Target II • What is a slum? • Improvement of quality of life? It could be implied as: • Improving the quality of the building (such as fire, rain- and wind-proofing); • Increasing size of accommodation; • Providing access to water and sanitation and energy; • Enabling access to primary health care and basic education; • Assuring security of tenure; • Enabling slum dwellers to participate in decision-making.

12. Challenges and Prospects • 500 million slum dwellers – half the urban population • Growth rates unprecedented • Urban population doubled 1980 – 2000 • Double again 2000 – 2020 • Megacities (more than 10 million) 1980 - 9 2000 - 12 2015 - 18 • New York took 150 years to grow to 8 million while Jakarta took only 15 years (given rise to all kind of challenges, physical, financial, social, etc.) • Traditional management style cannot meet these challenges.

13. Challenges • Increasing income level in Asia and the Pacific have not reduced the slum populations; in fact, in some instances, the size of slum population has increased and also more people have been without basic services access to water and sanitation, etc.

14. Challenges • Policy shifts of governments to include increased public expenditure in infrastructure; • Good governance and creation of awareness; • Behavioural changes and replication of the successful case examples on slum upgrading; • Strategies to alleviate poverty

15. World Bank Survey on Poor’s Perception • Poverty is multidimensional (income, material well-being through access to shelter, water and sanitation, physical well-being such as good health, feeling of security, freedom from crime and terrorism, human dignity, freedom of choice and participation and available of micro credit); • Governments have largely been ineffective in reaching the poor;

16. World Bank Survey on Poor’s Perception • The role of NGOs in the lives of the poor is limited; • Households are crumbling under the stress of poverty.

17. Matters Calling for the Attention of the Meeting Respective countries/cities may provide: • Information on respective country’s policies, programmes and projects • Country efforts towards improvements of slums and squatter and provision of basic services; • Major constraints faced in the development and implementation of initiatives; • Improvement of slums and their environmental conditions.