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Search by Keywords: Advanced Search The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available About this Report Urban Environment: Challenges to Sustainability is a Special Report that convenes diverse perspectives on urban environments in developing countries. Participating in this Special Report are our online communities focused on: Aid Effectiveness Business Environment Capacity Development for MDGs Culture & Development Environment and Development E-Government E-Learning Gender and Development HIV/Aids Indigenous Issues Microfinance Non Governmental Organizations Poverty Space Applications for Development Urban Development  Water Resource Management Youth for Development   Become a Development Gateway member, and you will be notified of our upcoming reports. Sign-up! See previous Special Reports here. Special Report The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available FROM OUR MEMBERS What are the biggest challenges to cities? Rapid urbanization in developing countries has created a complex mixture of environmental and social challenges. The Development Gateway asked its members to tell us what they thought were the biggest challenges for these cities today and why. To see the overall results of our survey, click here (add link to graphs) The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available Mohammad Ahsan - Bangladesh Overall participation is needed throughout a country to help the urban environment. A farming village might not have good enough roads to transport its products to the big cities (where food is needed). A country needs green, agricultural areas to (help clean the air). Economic development requires good governance at all levels so that water and sanitation can be socially sustainable. Urbanization can uplift its people for human and social development if a country can work at all levels. Sarah Kinyangi – Netherlands The biggest challenge in the rapid urbanization of developing countries is the expansion of slums which brings with it a number of problems. The lack of personal or private space, and the lack of sanitation in slums leads to health problems amplified by the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Most people go to urban areas to look for jobs and, when this is not realized, they turn to crime to survive which increases crime in slums. Another challenge is that infrastructures cannot handle the demand for public services because facilities are overstretched. This is likely to continue in the future unless urban planners revise designs to cater to increasing needs and demands. Shambhu Nath Jha - Nepal Developing countries are facing many direct and hidden hindrances to urbanization. These include stable political situations; economic strength; corruption issues and public awareness; international relations for cultural sharing; and skilled urban planning. Most important is the willingness of people to provide help and support to improve in these conditions. Rashad Salim - United Kingdom The destruction of traditional sustainable technologies and environmental design is a factor in the growth of impoverished car-urbanism. Anyone who has spent quality time in ancient and highly developed mountain cultures such as Yemen realizes that the whole mountain is extensively plumbed and that, if you gathered the very solidly built hamlets, forts and towns that are interconnected, you would have a city. Unlike in the flat-minded urban congregations built around the use of cars, in this urban design, automobiles are the "oppressed." Airplanes with their combustion engines destroyed the mountain as sanctuaries of free people. If we look at what has happened to Afghanistan, there is concerted destruction of (metropolitan) infrastructure that took countless generations to build, pushing more people to go to car-centered urbanization. Simba Mandota - Zimbabwe Rural-urban migration is playing a significant role in changing a country’s indigenous communities. The cultural practice of remittances and keeping contact with rural homes has remained a traditional practice. When the new urbanites go back to their original rural homes during events like Christmas and other family-related events, they bring with them new looks in terms of fashion (clothing), ICT, food, language (slang), sports, etc. With improved financial conditions, they can afford to buy beer for their colleagues and can convince ladies more. This has a direct impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition, gender relations have been affected as men and women adopt new roles as they are influenced by different cultural groupings in urban settings. Bandeth Ros -Cambodia Urbanization can unexpectedly affect the local community if there is no multi-disciplinary understanding about its overall impact. Indigenous communities will suffer a great deal from urbanization and become its victims. The traditional lifestyles of indigenous people, including their social norms, customs and values inherited from their ancestors, will fall down due to cultural influence from outside. Indigenous people, who have never made their living by exploiting resources, will change their attitude towards to focus on individual benefits and the market. These are indicators of development failure. It is very important that the government take this into account. It should remember that protecting the lifestyles of indigenous communities mean maintaining the country identification as a whole. Blanca Eshtela Ramírez González - Mexico Urbanization changes the sense of community. Communities lose their traditions, el tequio, etc, because they adopt "new ways of modern life. Charles Mkula - Malawi Some of the challenges for rapid urbanization include the provision of secure tenure for the urban poor, slums and squatters; unemployment; environmental degradation; provision of adequate social services and amenities as well as urban land use, land laws, and management information systems among many others. The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available Email this page Sign-up Support Our Work Global View: World Urban Forum 3 Charles Kelly, World Urban Forum Read Country View: China Brian Ashcroft, Atkins Environmental Services Ping He, International Fund for China’s Environment Read Local View: La Cumbrecita, Argentina Daniel A. López, La Cumbrecita, Argentina Read Working Together: Knowledge Sharing for Urban Sustainability Tim Campbell, Urban Age Institute Naser Faruqui, International Development Research Centre Guido Cervone, Center for Earth Observing and Space Jeff McNeely, World Conservation Unions Read Partners Global Events WB Development Marketplace: Innovations in Water, Sanitation, and Energy Services for Poor People: Washington, DC, May 8-9, 2006 Global City: Lyon, France, May 17-19, 2006 World Environment Day 2006: Deserts and Desertification: June 5, 2006 World Urban Forum: Vancouver, Canada, June 19-23, 2006 World Urban Festival: Vancouver, Canada, June 21-25

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