175
October 2016. The NUA is the guiding document for the UN system’s urban engagements over the next 20 years. The signatory countries are required to frame respective National Urban Policies as a framework to drive urban sustainability targets.
Thus, the National Urban Policy can serve as the qualitative toolbox to guide and
monitor accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. It provides
a template to national government agencies to benchmark progress at different cities
and prioritize its funding mechanisms accordingly. Furthermore, it is also a roadmap for urban local bodies (ULBs) and allied agencies of urban governance, to
incorporate the SDG 11 targets through their local planning and governance
frameworks.
The contemporary global urbanization is being driven by newly industrializing
countries of Asia and Africa. The developing countries often lack adequate state
capacities to comprehensively address urban issues, and civic infrastructure gaps
are being perpetuated. Supply of new infrastructure is being quickly outpaced by
population pressure caused by natural growth as well as migration. Between 2000
and 2014, the proportion of urban population living in slums declined by 20% (from
28.4 to 22.8%) across the globe, whereas the rate of new home construction lagged
far behind the rate of urban population growth, and the number of people living in
slums actually increased from 807 to 883 million over this period (UN Habitat 2016).
Here, in this paper we focus on India to understand how SDG 11 is being implemented at the national and ULB level. India had been one of the fastest-growing
major economies of the world over the past couple of decades. With 370 million
people living in the cities, it is also the world’s second largest urban system.
According to World Urbanization Prospects (2018) published by the UN, India’s
urban population is projected to further increase by 145 million between 2018 and
2030. By 2050, the urban population would increase by another 416 million – which
would 50 million more than the combined population of the United States and
Canada (UN 2018). The Government of India has aligned much of its developmental support mechanism with the SDG and also formulated a framework for integration of the same through local governance entities.
The rest of the chapter is organized as follows. The second section discusses the
concept of SDG as a systems approach by focusing between SDG 11 and other
SDGs. The third section analyses how the universal goals of SDG 11 are being
operationalized through national and local governance agencies. The fourth section
concludes the chapter by pointing out areas for further research.
12.2 Literature Review: A Systems Approach
Towards Urban Management
SDG 11 is a spatially organized developmental framework, which seeks to address
several interrelated issues by focusing on urban sustainability. Like other SDG goals
and targets, it is based on the systems approach with an emphasis on cross-linkages
12 SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
October 2016. The NUA is the guiding document for the UN system’s urban engagements over the next 20 years. The signatory countries are required to frame respective National Urban Policies as a framework to drive urban sustainability targets.
Thus, the National Urban Policy can serve as the qualitative toolbox to guide and
monitor accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. It provides
a template to national government agencies to benchmark progress at different cities
and prioritize its funding mechanisms accordingly. Furthermore, it is also a roadmap for urban local bodies (ULBs) and allied agencies of urban governance, to
incorporate the SDG 11 targets through their local planning and governance
frameworks.
The contemporary global urbanization is being driven by newly industrializing
countries of Asia and Africa. The developing countries often lack adequate state
capacities to comprehensively address urban issues, and civic infrastructure gaps
are being perpetuated. Supply of new infrastructure is being quickly outpaced by
population pressure caused by natural growth as well as migration. Between 2000
and 2014, the proportion of urban population living in slums declined by 20% (from
28.4 to 22.8%) across the globe, whereas the rate of new home construction lagged
far behind the rate of urban population growth, and the number of people living in
slums actually increased from 807 to 883 million over this period (UN Habitat 2016).
Here, in this paper we focus on India to understand how SDG 11 is being implemented at the national and ULB level. India had been one of the fastest-growing
major economies of the world over the past couple of decades. With 370 million
people living in the cities, it is also the world’s second largest urban system.
According to World Urbanization Prospects (2018) published by the UN, India’s
urban population is projected to further increase by 145 million between 2018 and
2030. By 2050, the urban population would increase by another 416 million – which
would 50 million more than the combined population of the United States and
Canada (UN 2018). The Government of India has aligned much of its developmental support mechanism with the SDG and also formulated a framework for integration of the same through local governance entities.
The rest of the chapter is organized as follows. The second section discusses the
concept of SDG as a systems approach by focusing between SDG 11 and other
SDGs. The third section analyses how the universal goals of SDG 11 are being
operationalized through national and local governance agencies. The fourth section
concludes the chapter by pointing out areas for further research.
12.2 Literature Review: A Systems Approach
Towards Urban Management
SDG 11 is a spatially organized developmental framework, which seeks to address
several interrelated issues by focusing on urban sustainability. Like other SDG goals
and targets, it is based on the systems approach with an emphasis on cross-linkages
12 SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities