https://files.constantcontact.com/016f24c7001/221a4ea2-533d-48b0-a549-096f8eb53764.png?a=1134654936763
Weekly Urban News Update
September 11, 2020
In This Update
Informal Workers in Delhi Continue to Struggle Amidst Pandemic
In Nairobi, Women Matatu Drivers Suffer From COVID-19 Fallout
Gender-Blind Public Spaces in Urban India
Violent Deaths in Brazil's Favelas Fall Dramatically After Ban on Police Raids
Beirut Officials Well-Aware of Ammonium Nitrate Storage Before Port Explosion
Chinese City Predicts 27% Decline in Birthrate in 2020
In the News And Around the Web
This Week in Photos
Informal Workers in Delhi Continue to Struggle Amidst Pandemic
Delhi must do more to help its informal workers suffering from the fallout of COVID-19, writes Bronwen Muller of WIEGO. Informal workers comprise 80% of Delhi’s workforce and 73% have lost employment since the country locked down in March. Muller explains that although the government has provided food, housing relief, and cash transfers, informal workers have struggled to access social services, due to a lack of sufficient identification and bureaucratic hurdles. Muller urges governments to recognize informal workers and to incorporate them under labor laws that guarantee a decent wage and working conditions.

Read more here.
In Nairobi, Women Matatu Drivers in Nairobi Suffer From COVID-19 Fallout
A Flone Initiative report reveals the negative impact of COVID-19 on women matatu drivers in Nairobi. The report found that the daily earnings of women drivers of the matatus, or informal buses, dropped 83% while 52% of the women surveyed lost their jobs when the matatu owners closed their businesses due to COVID-19 restrictions. Public transport workers are considered high-risk for contracting COVID-19, but most of the women surveyed ignored the risk and continued to drive as they rely on daily income to meet basic needs such as food and housing. Some women also reported increased sexual harassment as male colleagues offered to exchange driving jobs for sexual favors. 

Read more here.
Supporting Gender-Blind Public Spaces in Urban India
A scarcity of public spaces with basic amenities in Indian cities disproportionately affects women's mobility and safety, writes Priya Varadarajan at URBANET. Varadarajan says that gender-blind urban design can result in poorly-maintained roads and footpaths, inadequate lighting, lack of safe public toilets, and overcrowded public transport which make women more vulnerable to violence and harassment. This contrasts with gender-inclusive places which she defines as: “[those] that [do] not let me worry about how I, as a woman, can occupy it.” She urges cities to improve infrastructure, upgrading lighting, install more public toilets, and increase the frequency with which bus and trains run while limiting the ridership to mitigate overcrowding.

Read more here.
Violent Deaths in Brazil's Favelas Fall Dramatically After Ban on Police Raids
Violent deaths in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro have dramatically declined since June when the Supreme Court of Brazil temporarily banned police raids in the city’s slums. Shootouts between police and gangs are common during the raids and in 2019, Rio’s police killed a record 1,814 people. The Court emergency action sought to ease life for the urban poor during the pandemic. One activist explained that the ban “allowed us to attend to the ‘invisible ones,’ those who live in parts of the community that we were unable to reach because police operations were too frequent there." Since then, police shootouts near hospitals and health clinics have fallen 82%, while violent deaths fell 40%. 

Read more here.
Beirut Officials Well-Aware of Ammonium Nitrate Storage Before Port Explosion
A New York Times interactive reveals the extent of corruption and dysfunction in Beirut that led to the storage of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate in the city's port and its subsequent explosion last month that left approximately 200 dead, 6500 injured, and 300,000 homeless. The Times found that even though 100,000 people lived within one mile of the deadly warehouse, top government, customs, and military officials were well-aware of its haphazard conditions. For the ongoing anti-government protest in Beirut, the explosion was emblematic of systemic problems in the city and country at large: government dysfunction, corruption, shoddy infrastructure, and financial ruin.

Read more here.
Chinese City Predicts Dramatic Birthrate Drop in 2020
Ningbo, China predicts its birthrate will drop 27% this year based on data gathered in the first half of 2020. The city, home to 8.5 million residents, is one of the few Chinese cities to publish birth figures regularly. This year’s statistics are fueling concern over a nationwide birthrate drop: even though the Chinese government lifted its one-child policy in 2016, last year’s birthrate marked the lowest in sixty years. The Ningbo Health Commission did not offer reasons for the birthrate decline, but observers cite an aging population and declining fertility rate. The city hopes to encourage its residents to have more children by improving public services and infrastructure to provide more daycare options. 

Read more here.
In the News and Around the Web

  • Worldwide Food Insecurity Could Double: The United Nations World Food Program estimates that hunger threatens more than 250 million people.

  • Fire Breaks Out in Greek Refugee Camp: A fire in the Lesbos refugee camp on Wednesday left thousands homeless.

  • Floods Displace Tens of Thousands in Khartoum: Floods in the Sudanese capital have displaced tens of thousands of residents.

  • Fire Sets Beirut Port Ablaze: A fire broke out in Beirut's port weeks after an explosion at the same site killed 200 people.
This Week in Photos

  • Orange Skies in San Francisco: Wildfires in California turned Bay Area skies orange.
Regional wildfires turned the Golden Gate Bride in San Francisco orange on Wednesday.
 (Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE)
Do you care about these issues? Consider joining IHC Global today.

Thank you for reading! We have a request for you since you care about these issues: consider becoming an IHC Global member or donating a financial gift.

IHC Global is fighting systemic inequality through equitable urban development centered around decent housing, healthcare, and social justice for all. We ask that you help us as we advance policies that make life more equitable and inclusive for all city dwellers.

Together, we can bring about the systemic change necessary to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable for all.