World's Sprawling Cities Unmanageable, UN Habitat Warns

NEW YORK, New York, June 4, 2001 (ENS) - Sprawling in every direction, the world's metropolitan areas are dangerously unmanageable, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) warned today during the launch of its first ever report on "The State of the World's Cities."

The existing institutions governing the administration of cities are not adequate to control today's sprawling urban centers, the UN agency says.

New York City skyline (Photo courtesy New York Convention and Visitors Bureau)

"Not unlike Charles Dickens' time 150 years ago, the city is increasingly divided," Tibaijuka said. "The problems are the result of poverty and exclusion, in the context of globalization."

Along with economic opportunities, globalization has created cut-throat competition among cities to attract business. "Such competition has not necessarily benefited all city residents," she said.

With more than 29 million people, Tokyo, Japan is the world's largest city, far outstripping the second most populous metropolitan area, New York City with its 20 plus million people.

Although only one African city is in the top 1o most populous - Lagos, Nigeria with more than 13 million people - Africa poses a special challenge, because people there are moving away from wars in the countryside, Tibaijuka said.

Habitat defines a sustainable city as one that has a lasting supply of the natural resources on which its development depends and a lasting security from environmental hazards which may threaten development achievements.

The problem of sprawl is linked with energy supplies. "Current dependence in most urban centres on non-renewable energy sources can lead to climate change, air pollution and consequent environmental and human health problems, and may represent a serious threat to sustainable development," according to the Habitat Agenda which serves as a standard against which to measure urban patterns.

Commuters on the Tokyo subway (Photo courtesy Mondo Tokyo)

Human settlements and energy policies should be actively coordinated, the Habitat Agenda says.

The new Habitat report was released two days before the UN General Assembly is due to convene a special session to appraise recent global progress in the development of human settlements.

Jay Moor, the coordinator of the report, told reporters that one of the messages from the analysis is that institutions have not been developed well enough to manage cities.

"Indeed, the process of governing cities is just now being learned, and in very few places is it being done successfully," he said. "Many people have said that national governments are losing their authority in a globalizing world. In some ways, they are losing control over liberalized financial elements of globalization, but they still play a very strong role in development and regulation."

A more analytical in-depth version of Habitat's "Global Report on Human Settlements," was also issued today in New York.