Inclusive Cities:
Towards Cities for All
The most important thing that makes people excluded in cities is the sense of isolation
in the midst of all this [wealth]. I think that’s the real crisis today in all cities:
citizenship is not universal. It’s like ‘we’ and ‘they’ and the poor are ‘they’. And
there’s confusion about whether ‘they’ are citizens.1
One of the most unpleasant faces of globalisation has been the expanding gulf between the
rich and the poor. The 1999 Human Development report notes that the income gap between
the world’s richest and the world’s poorest has increased from 60 to 1 in 1990 to 74 to 1 in
1997.2 The top fifth of people in the richest countries produce 86 percent of the world’s
GDP; the bottom fifth produced just 1 percent. Amidst such unprecedented wealth, the
contrast of deepening poverty and social exclusion is shocking.
Nowhere is this contrast more apparent than in cities. University of Chicago sociologist and
long-time observer of urban life, Saskia Sassen, describes this contradiction as one between
the “glamour zone” and the “war zone”:
“The urban glamour zone has fine restaurants, state of the art buildings, state of the art
residences. It has it all: beautiful streets, private security, world class culture… The urban
war zone, for me, is a part of the city that has been neglected in terms of basic public
services, such as garbage collection… It’s a zone where you have a sense of surplus
population, a sense of who needs these people. And also a sense that these people have been
robbed of something.”3
That “something” that has been taken from the urban poor is their citizenship – the sense of
belonging to and contributing to society. “I don’t feel like a citizen of São Paulo,” says Ester,
who lives in a slum on the periphery of Brazil’s largest city. “I feel like an animal, an animal
that nobody feels sorry for.”4 As Nigerian commentator, Akin Mabogunje notes, “For most
citizens, the local government and particularly their officials are seen as rapacious and
corrupt agents of the state... Yet good urban governance requires that all of these people
must be made to feel a strong sense of ownership about the city and be involved as citizens in
its decision-making processes.”5 One of the greatest challenges of the coming “urban
millennium,” therefore, will be to create a new urban citizenship. “To humanize the city is to
build citizenship, making the rights of its inhabitants effective and making possible the
exercise of their responsibilities.”6
Habitat’s Global Campaign on Urban Governance promotes a vision of the “Inclusive City,”
a place where everyone can participate in and benefit from the opportunities cities offer. At
1
Sheela Patel, Director, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC), quoted in the TV-E
video series, Life II, “City Life,” Programme 1, 2001.
2
United Nations Development Programme, “Human Development Report,” Oxford University Press, New
York, 1999, p.2 (fifth of the world’s population in the richest countries versus the fifth in the poorest countries).
3
Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago, quoted in the TV-E video series, Life II, “City
Life,” Programme 1, 2001.
4
Ester, quoted in the TV-E video series, Life II, “City Life,” Programme 1, 2001.
5
Akin L. Mabogunje, “Nigeria and the Good Urban Governance Campaign,” paper presented at the launch of
the Global Campaign on Urban Governance in Abuja, Nigeria, 10 April 2001, p. 12-13.
6
Enrique Ortiz Flores, Habitat International Coalition, in “Towards the City of Solidarity and Citizenship,”
UNESCO, 1996, p. 12.
the heart of the “Inclusive City” are three inter-related ideas that contribute to the realization
of full citizenship: respect for human rights, good urban governance and equitable growth.
By virtue of our common humanity, everyone is entitled to the full realization of their
fundamental human rights. The 2000 Human Development Report, building on the theories
of Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen, characterizes these rights into seven core freedoms:
freedom from discrimination – for equality; freedom from want – for a decent standard of
living; freedom for the realization of one’s human potential; freedom from fear – with no
threats to personal security; freedom from injustice; freedom of participation, expression and
association; and freedom for decent work – without exploitation.7 A city that is committed to
the full realization of these freedoms is on the path to becoming an Inclusive City.
Human rights, however, must be realized within a society. The quality of urban governance –
the way individuals and institutions, public and private, plan and manage the common affairs
of the city – therefore is crucial. New roles and relationships between national government,
city government, the private sector and civil society are required to address the challenges
posed by an urbanizing and globalizing world. This is one of the central messages of the
2001 State of the World’s Cities report: “a country’s global success rests on local shoulders.
For the good of all citizens, city and state must become political partners rather than
competitors.”8
Cities that are committed to realizing human rights and to practicing good urban governance
are more likely to ensure that economic growth is equitable. One of the central messages of
the 2001 Global Report on Human Settlements is that “inequality weakens the impact of
growth on fighting poverty. Indeed, research shows that decreasing inequality can have as
much impact on reducing poverty as increasing economic growth.”9 In short, more equal
cities will have a greater impact on poverty reduction than more unequal cities because the
distribution of wealth will more effectively reach the urban poor.
But equity and inclusiveness are not only good for poverty reduction, it is also good for
growth. As political scientist Richard Stren observes, “Social inclusiveness is an important
goal for municipal governance: it is just, it is democratic and it is productive. As the world
globalizes, diversity is going to be more, not less important. And the successful governance
of diversity will distinguish the most accomplished and creative cities from all the rest.”10
Wealthier countries, such as the United States, are increasingly recognizing the economic
benefits of diversity. “the relatively open immigration policies of the past decade have been a
boon to cities – adding to population, and bringing in small-business growth and cultural
vitality.”11 In developing countries, where cities account for 60 to 80 percent of national
wealth and where the poor often account for 50 percent of the urban population, diversifying
the economy to incorporate the productivity of the poor is an urgent priority.
There are at least six areas where local governments can have an impact on promoting social
inclusion, poverty reduction and economic growth.12 First, most local authorities control
7
UNDP, Human Development Report 2000, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000, pp. 31-41.
UNCHS, State of the World’s Cities 2001, Nairobi, 2001, p. 109.
9
UNCHS, Global Report on Human Settlements 2001, Earthscan Press, London, 2001, p. xxviii and pp. 15-23.
10
Richard Stren, “Thinking About Urban Inclusiveness,” paper prepared for the 18th Session of the Commission
on Human Settlements, entitled, “Bridging the Divided City: A Dialogue on Social Inclusion in Cities,” 14
February 2001. See http://www.unchs.org/govern/
11
CEOs for Cities, “Competitive Cities: A New Urban Agenda” Presentation to George W. Bush, 2001, p. 3.
12
Environment and Urbanization, Volume 11(4), April 2000, pp. 3-11.
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access to land and are responsible for land-use planning and regulation. The ease of access,
the cost and the location of land available to the poor has a significant impact on their
livelihoods. Second, access to infrastructure and basic services highlights the linkages
between the health costs incurred by the poor due to unsafe water supply and inadequate
health care. Third, the degree of success in local economic development determines the
resources available for capital investments in such things as improved access to land,
infrastructure and services. Fourth, local economic policies can be supportive of the poor, by
promoting labour intensive work methods and providing support for small-scale enterprises
and the informal sector. Fifth, local authorities can improve the poor’s access to justice and
the enforcement of laws which, if unenforced, most adversely affect the poor (for example,
corruption in public office, pollution control and personal safety in informal settlements).
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the ability of the urban poor to influence local
decision-making greatly determines the “pro-poorness” of local strategic planning, priority
setting and capital investments.
These areas reveal the linkage between urban governance, poverty reduction and social
inclusion: progress in poverty reduction depends on the quality of the participation of the
urban poor in the decisions affecting their lives and on the responsiveness of urban planning
and policy-making processes to the needs of the urban poor and other socially excluded
groups.
Through its new Inclusive Cities initiative, Habitat is drawing attention to cities around the
world that have achieved noteworthy successes on the path to becoming more inclusive. The
initiative is based on the belief that more inclusive urban governance is the key for cities to
not only make human rights more effective, but also to make growth more equitable. Some
success stories are highlighted below:
Dakar, Senegal: Basic Services for the Poor
More than 70 percent of the urban population in West Africa do not have access to such basic
services as safe drinking water, proper drainage and garbage collection. Poor women bear
the brunt of these shortcomings, having to spend significant portions of their day collecting
water and disposing of waste. As a result, women are more vulnerable to disease and illness.
Since 1990, a local non-governmental organisation, ENDA Tiers Monde, has worked with
local residents to provide 450 households in the Municipality of Rufisque with private
sanitation, of which nearly 200 are linked to waste and water treatment plants through a
narrow drainage system. In addition, 20 horse-drawn carriages collect refuse from
households and take it to the treatment plants to be sorted. Waste waters and organic refuse
are recycled using a process of lagooning with aquatic plants, which produces compost for
urban agriculture. The population co-finances approximately 70% of the equipment; in the
long run, the costs will be entirely covered by the beneficiaries. The costs recovered by the
programme are invested into a community revolving fund for other projects. One of the
major impacts of the initiative, however, has been the sense of civic engagement and
citizenship created through participation in local development processes.
Porto Alegre, Brazil: Popular Participation in the City Budget
For over a decade, the city of Porto Alegre has been involved in an innovative experiment in
the budgetary process. Its “Participative Budget” has institutionalized the participation of
civil society through a series of annual meetings that reach down to the very grassroots of the
city. Through these meetings, the citizens scrutinize the past year’s expenditures, agree upon
current priorities and allocate funds for new projects. Between 15 and 25 percent of Porto
Alegre’s annual budget is allocated according to this process. The real success of Porto
Alegre’s Participative Budget, however, can be found in the change in the city’s political
culture: people feel included in the decisions that affect their lives. Says Jussara BechsteinSilva, resident of Vila Planetario neighbourhood of Porto Alegre, “I always suffered a lot
with discrimination because I was poor. But taking part in the budget made me feel like a
human being. I discovered that I have the same rights as a rich person.”13
Revolutionizing Local Governance in Naga City, The Philippines
Building on the 1991 Local Government Code which mandated the need for greater
participation in local governance, Naga City passed its “Empowerment Ordinance” in late
1995. The Ordinance organized and institutionalized the Naga City People’s Council
(NCPC) and set the stage for what has been a revolutionary experiment in local governance.
In effect, what some call a “shadow government” has been formed, a civil society counterpart
to the City Council. Civil society has been empowered to work closely with the local
government to design, implement and evaluate the City’s development agenda. Three
priority areas were identified for action under the aegis of the Naga City Participatory
Planning Initiatives: the clean up of the Naga River, the management of solid waste and the
revitalization of the Naga City Hospital. Reaching down to the village level through civil
society-organised task forces and committees, citizen input is contributing enormously to the
effectiveness and sustainability of these initiatives.
Vienna, Austria: FAWOS – An NGO working to preventing evictions
Debts, low income and other financial problems are the most common causes of evictions in
Vienna. Families with children were more frequently in danger of eviction than childless
households. Under current legal provisions, the district courts notify FAWOS, a local nongovernmental organisation, of court-issued eviction dates. In response, FAWOS offers
counseling on legal issues, financial support and entitlement information, household
planning, short-term, intensive social work and financial support. Once they received
adequate information, most of the tenants were able to solve the problem by themselves,
without any need for further support. Financial support was required only in 8 percent of the
cases. As a result, the number of evictions carried out has been reduced by one-third. Since
1998 Fawos has extended it's activities from two Viennese districts to the whole city. In
2000, the Ministry of Justice set out to reform the tenancy laws. One suggestion was to
eliminate the hearing session whereby tenants were given a chance to present their views,
thus shortening the period of court eviction procedures. This would effectively have shut out
the tenants in eviction processes even when landlords were acting out of spite or malice.
FAWOS lobbied across the country garnering support from all social institutions to stop the
intended modifications. It’s efforts were successful.
Jussara Bechstein-Silva, quoted in “Governing Our Cities: Will People Power Work?” Panos Institute,
London, 2001, p. 36.
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