Africa HABITAT III: Harness Urbanisation for Sustainable Growth
National Government of African states have been urged to harness the potential of urbanisation to accelerate structural transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth. Participants at the Habitat III Africa Regional Meeting held in Abuja, recently, b
Participants at the just concluded conference in their recommendation said national government’s quest for sustainable urbanisation should include promotion of land titling and registration, as well as resource generation through land base revenue and land value capture; promoting inclusive economic growth that translates to full employment and decent jobs as well as improved living standards for all. These and other outcomes are in the final document known as the ‘Abuja Declaration for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III).’
The conference had the theme, ‘Africa’s Priorities for the New Urban Agenda’
The Abuja Declaration, participants said is “guided by the African Agenda 2063, as a strategic framework for ensuring inclusive socio-economic transformation and, in this regard, recall the importance it attaches to urbanisation as a driver of structural transformation.”
It is also a strategy of enhancing connectivity between rural and urban areas to harness the full potential of the urban-rural linkages; strengthening linkages between urbanisation and structural change policies, including accelerated industrialisation and agricultural modernisation strategies for high productivity and value addition; strengthening and creating systems of well-connected cities and human settlements at the national and regional levels as nodes of growth based on their competitive advantages; and integrating urbanisation into national development planning as a cross-cutting factor driving national growth and transformation, as well as prioritising planning and investment for sustainable urban mobility systems that link people, places and economic opportunities.
People-centered human settlements… The document also urged government in Africa to enhance people-centered urban and human settlements through: Ensuring access to affordable basic services including clean water, sanitation, energy, health, education and sustainable transport and employment by all citizens in order to realise their full potential, especially youth, women and people in vulnerable groups; strengthening institutions and spatial planning systems to foster urban safety and security, as well as healthy environment and promotes inclusion through participatory approaches and consultative frameworks; ensuring access to sustainable, affordable and adequate housing and land, and promoting slum upgrading to ensure security of tenure and access to socio-economic facilities, taking into account the diversity of contexts, the potential of informal economies and the rights of the inhabitants; developing and implementing clean air policies to reduce health risks through regulatory and voluntary initiatives, working with multiple stakeholders; and developing a national system of connected cities and human settlements to enhance ruralurban linkages and to advance growth and transformation based on their competitive advantages. They were also urged to adopt integrated National Urbanization Policies in the context of national development planning to facilitate multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration and avoid sectoral silos, focusing on pre-emptive, spatial and programmatic urban planning to harness the full potential of urbaniza- tion and avoid irreversible and unsustainable pathways; accommodating cultural differences, promoting localized systems of sustainable urban development and increased attention for the preservation of cultural heritage.
Institutions and systems… National governments were also advised to strengthen institutions and systems for promoting transformative change in human settlements including through: enhancing capacities for rural and urban planning, governance and management, underpinned by sound data collection and use; promoting effective decentralised urban management by empowering cities and local governments, technically and financially, to deliver adequate shelter and sustainable human settlements; facilitating the participation of urban dwellers in urban governance and management; and strengthening and harmonising urban legislation and regulation to promote and facilitate planned urbanisation.
Participants also recommended that national government should “Enhance the contribution of urban and human settlements development to continental integration by: Taking advantage of urban corridors at the regional level for related infrastructural and other initiatives, cross regional interaction and movement of people; orienting regional and interregional infrastructure, facilities and initiatives to promote cross boundary interaction and leverage urban and human settlements assets; enhancing the urban dimension of existing sub-regional initiatives and investments; positioning urbanization and human settlements as a driver of competitiveness through specialization and connected urban systems at the regional level, namely infrastructure, economy and institutions; and developing sustainable cities with improved urban systems for improved functionality, efficiency including energy and resource efficiency and effective delivery of urban basic services and infrastructure.”
Environmental sustainability… They also recommended enhance environmental sustainability, resilience and effective responses to climate change in cities and human settlements by: strengthening capacities of local governments for strategic response to climate change adaptation and mitigation across the rural-urban continuum; developing infrastructure that is resilient and which will reduce the impact of disasters especially in slums and informal settlements and building institutional capacities and mechanisms, and disaster risk management and mitigation including early warning systems and urban observatories; promoting Green building and infrastructure technologies as well as the application of designs which mitigate climate change and adapt to its impact, including the urban heat island effect; fostering the utilisation of sustainable renewable energy and natural resources as well as investment in Low Carbon production systems in urban centres; promoting resource efficiency in cities, to facilitate urban development in a manner that preserves rapidly diminishing natural resources, and allow cities to better manage water waste food land and energy; and developing systems for sustainable solid and liquid waste management, including promoting the principle of reducing, reusing and recycling of resources.