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In This Update:
Africa's Slums Can Be Engines of Democracy
Smart City in Philippines Displaces Indigenous Tribe
Empowering Indian Women to Improve Housing and Slum Conditions
Kigali: Africa's Friendliest City
California Governor Declares Homelessness a State Emergency
Mexico City's Affordable Housing Crisis
IHC Global Participates in American Academy of Housing and Communities Luncheon
In the News and Around the Web
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Africa's Slums Can be Engines of Democracy
Urbanization in Africa could improve governance across the continent, write Amakau Anku and Tochi Eni-Kalu at Foreign Policy. This is because differences in urban conditions are leading migrants to demand political accountability and better governance in their cities. An Afrobarometer study of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria reveals that city dwellers are concerned with corruption and economic management, whereas their rural counterparts cite food and water shortages and inadequate infrastructure as core concerns. As more people migrate to cities, concern over corruption and good governance will grow, incentivizing politicians to prioritize the needs of urban and slumdwellers. Anku and Eni-Kalu point to improved tax compliance and greater transparency in Lagos as evidence that: "Africa's slums are not harbingers of anarchy - they're engines of democracy."
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Smart City in Philippines Displaces Indigenous Tribe
A smart city in Philippines is displacing the indigenous Aeta tribe, writes Bernice Beltran at The Diplomat. The Philippines Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has begun construction of New Clark City (NCC) in hopes of decongesting Manila, opening up employment opportunities, and enticing foreign investment. But to make the smart city possible, BCDA has evicted several hundred families. It is anticipated they may displace up to 65,000 people, including 18,000 members of the Aeta tribe. The Aeta are protesting their displacement, citing their long history of living there: "We are not squatters...Our land is more valuable to us because it was given to us by our ancestors and we want the next generation to inherit it." The government has promised financial compensation for affected communities, but has yet to identify where they will relocate communities.
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Empowering Indian Women to Improve Housing and Slum Conditions
Indian women must be empowered to improve housing and slum conditions, writes Bijal Brahmbhatt, Director of nonprofit Mahila Housing Trust in
The Diplomat
. Because women are responsible for supporting their families through income and providing care, they are most effected by slum conditions like lack of safe water and sanitation and secure tenure. This is why it is crucial to motivate and mobilize women to demand social services and infrastructure for themselves and family. According to Brhambatt, equipping women with skills, knowledge, and confidence to improve their living conditions has produced tangible results. For instance, Mahila House Trust advocacy training and the Karmika School of Construction infrastructural development training led to the construction of 17,000 new houses, safe water access for 48,000 individuals, and toilet facility access to 56,000.
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Kigali: Africa's Friendliest City
Kigali is the latest in the BBC's Comeback Cities series, which showcases cities that have "turned their fortunes around," after major conflict and disaster. Bert Archer writes that twenty-five years after the Rwandan genocide, Kigali has become Africa's friendliest and cleanest city. This is because Kigali is organized around the Rwandan principle "umuganda," roughly translated as "community service. Officials have encouraged umuganda, rooted in Rwandan heritage, since 1998 and translated it into law ten years ago. On the last Saturday of every month, umuganda duties require at least one person in every household between ages 18-65 to get outside and clean, fix, or do maintenance work. Umuganda also encourages socializing as people organize and keep in touch to clean, reinforcing the notion that: "Everyone in Rwanda is simply Rwandan."
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California Governor Declares Homelessness a State Emergency
On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared homelessness a state emergency. Newsom asserted: "The state of California is treating homelessness as a real emergency - because it is one." Currently 130,00 individuals are homeless in California, which surpasses the number of any other state. Newsom's plan to address homelessness is based on a proposed $750 million fund for the 2020-20201 budget to help house the homeless. Additionally, Newsom has directed the state's Department of General Services to supply 100 camp trailers as well as a number of tent structures as temporary housing. The Governor has also asked for $695 million in state, federal, and private funds for California's Medicaid program to improve its services for the homeless.
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Mexico City's Affordable Housing Challenge
Mexico City faces a number of urban challenges, many of which are tied to its housing situation. At Market Urbanism Report, Scott Beyer explains that dispersion, overcrowding, and substandard materials define the housing problem. Dispersion means Mexico City is low-rise, sprawling, and monocentric: there is little available housing in the city center, so people live far from where they work. As Mexico rapidly urbanizes, houses are increasingly overcrowded where whole families live in tiny one bedroom homes. Furthermore, 1/3 live in homes with laminate or metal roofing, 10% live in dirt floors, and less than half have access to running water and sewer systems. Beyer argues that incomes must increase, Mexico City should loosen regulations, organize more transparent government programs, and encourage alternative housing models.
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HC Global Participates in American Academy of Housing & Communities Roundtable
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IHC Global was pleased to participate in the American Academy of Housing and Communities' Roundatble on January 9th in preparation for the 10th World Urban Forum (WUF) in Abu Dhabi in February. Assistant Secretary for Policy and Development Research (PD &R) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who also heads the US Delegation to WUD spoke about a number of HUD's initiatives to foster urban development in the US, international research partnerships, and HUD's interest in engaging stakeholders with respect to WUF 10.
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Not pictured: Speakers Paul Weicher, former Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Tom Bozzuto, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Bozzuto Group
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Cynthia Campbell, Director of PD&R's Office of International and Philanthropic Innovation at HUD, talked about the offices'
international
engagements and introduced WUF to the
participants
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Habitat for Humanity International's Jane Katz spoke about ongoing HFHI international projects and IHC Global President and CEO Judith Hermanson stressed the importance of continuing to support UN-Habitat as the voice of urban for equitable and sustainable development across the world.
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In the News and Around the Web
- Toyota's Smart City: Toyoto and architecture firm Bjarke Ingels group propose to construct a smart city on the hills of Mount Fujii in Japan called Toyoto Woven City.
- Vancouver's Indigenous Urban Housing: Vancouver plans indigenous-led urban housing development.
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Bangkok's Salty Tap Water:
Safe water has become scarce in Bangkok as drought and rising sea levels increase salinity.
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Kigali, Rwanda has transformed over the past twenty-five years.
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As we enter a new year and a new decade, IHC Global recommits to work with cities and all actors in the urban space to meet SDG 11: to create inclusive, safe, resilient, & sustainable cities to lift people out of poverty and empower them to determine their own life outcomes.
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Please donate today. With your support, you will help the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11 to make cities inclusive, sustainable, resilient & safe for all!
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