The Environment in the City 119
They choose these places because their arbitrary dwellings are more likely
to be tolerated by the authorities, due to the low price of land in derelict
areas. Offsetting this tolerance is a widespread lack of basic infrastructures
and great degradation of the urban environment. In some shantytowns of
less developed countries, one in four children dies before reaching the age
of five and one in two adults suffers from serious intestinal or respiratory
ailments. This uncontrolled urban expansion often gobbles up productive
agricultural land, with additional negative effects on the ability to provide
food for increasing populations.
Any positive prospects for urban development in these big cities are undermined by a lack of financial means as well as the lack of effectiveness of the
various measures taken by the authorities. What is more, economic and social
conditions are causing cities to expand further and often the policies aimed
at discouraging urbanism are cancelled out by other, stronger policies, which
make the city more and more attractive to poor people. Thus sustainable
development for such cities is a remote objective, as noted by Jorge Hardoy
(International Institute for Environment and Development), in 1985:
Given the distribution of incomes, given the foreseeable availability of
resources—national, local, and worldwide—given present technology,
and given the present weakness of local government and the lack of
interest of national governments in settlement problems, I don’t see any
solution for the Third World city. Third World cities are and they will
increasingly become centres of competition for a plot to be invaded
where you can build a shelter, for a room to rent, for a bed in a hospital, for a seat in a school or in a bus, essentially for the fewer stable
adequately paid jobs, even for the space in a square or on a sidewalk
where you can display and sell your merchandise, on which so many
households depend. The people themselves organize and help construct
most new housing units in Third World cities and they do so without
the assistance from architects, planners, and engineers, nor from local
or national governments. Furthermore, in many cases, national and
local governments are frequently harassing these groups. The people
themselves are becoming increasingly the true builders and designers of
Third World cities and quite often the managers of their own districts.
6.4 citiES in induStrial countriES
Urban areas in industrial countries are the most important centres for
the global consumption of natural resources. They absorb renewable and
non-renewable resources and energy from neighbouring or remote areas and
have a major impact on the Earth’s ecosystems. They are also important loci
of industrial production causing a significant part of global pollution. In
They choose these places because their arbitrary dwellings are more likely
to be tolerated by the authorities, due to the low price of land in derelict
areas. Offsetting this tolerance is a widespread lack of basic infrastructures
and great degradation of the urban environment. In some shantytowns of
less developed countries, one in four children dies before reaching the age
of five and one in two adults suffers from serious intestinal or respiratory
ailments. This uncontrolled urban expansion often gobbles up productive
agricultural land, with additional negative effects on the ability to provide
food for increasing populations.
Any positive prospects for urban development in these big cities are undermined by a lack of financial means as well as the lack of effectiveness of the
various measures taken by the authorities. What is more, economic and social
conditions are causing cities to expand further and often the policies aimed
at discouraging urbanism are cancelled out by other, stronger policies, which
make the city more and more attractive to poor people. Thus sustainable
development for such cities is a remote objective, as noted by Jorge Hardoy
(International Institute for Environment and Development), in 1985:
Given the distribution of incomes, given the foreseeable availability of
resources—national, local, and worldwide—given present technology,
and given the present weakness of local government and the lack of
interest of national governments in settlement problems, I don’t see any
solution for the Third World city. Third World cities are and they will
increasingly become centres of competition for a plot to be invaded
where you can build a shelter, for a room to rent, for a bed in a hospital, for a seat in a school or in a bus, essentially for the fewer stable
adequately paid jobs, even for the space in a square or on a sidewalk
where you can display and sell your merchandise, on which so many
households depend. The people themselves organize and help construct
most new housing units in Third World cities and they do so without
the assistance from architects, planners, and engineers, nor from local
or national governments. Furthermore, in many cases, national and
local governments are frequently harassing these groups. The people
themselves are becoming increasingly the true builders and designers of
Third World cities and quite often the managers of their own districts.
6.4 citiES in induStrial countriES
Urban areas in industrial countries are the most important centres for
the global consumption of natural resources. They absorb renewable and
non-renewable resources and energy from neighbouring or remote areas and
have a major impact on the Earth’s ecosystems. They are also important loci
of industrial production causing a significant part of global pollution. In