Urban Governance And Sustainable Urbanism In The Developing World

This thesis aims to study the sustainable urbanism in the developing world in the mirror of urban governance, through the study of four selected countries:China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. As mentioned in the introductory chapter of the thesis, developing world will go through town building and domestication of nature at immense scale, to accommodate more than 90 per cent of the new urbanites in the next fifteen years. So the challenge ahead is to design and contain the metabolism of these towns which needs a combination of strategic policy making, supported by a system that combines personal opinion with scientific knowledge. Through the review of scientific literature, it is learned in the second chapter that unsustainability has become an inherent feature of our collective being in the cities. To make it economically viable, socially peaceful and environmentally friendly, city needs to be reinvented, by incorporating creativity and innovation with the approaches, we use in its planning. It needs to be redesigned with nature and with natural processes-envisioned and planned like a sustainable ecosystem. These objectives can never be met without a fully functional urban government, which needs to be rescaled in such a way as to redistribute the power among different sectors. And establishing effective urban governance structures at the regional level will address all the challenges of sustainable urbanisation in a better way.It is learned in the third chapter that governance involves the whole range of relationships between civil society and the state, and provdes the institutional framework within which the civic public realm is managed. In a fully functioning governance setup, the boundaries between stakeholders, local authorities and citizens become permeable, to create active participation of communities concerned, negotiation among actors, transparent decision-making mechanisms, and innovation in strategies of urban management policies. It should have the strategic capability to steer the communities away from socially undesirable outcomes (such as urban sprawl) towards socially desirable outcomes (such as sustainable urban form). Strategic spatial planning is elaborated as a planning framework which creates a capacity to discern the multiple dynamics of place, to allow a more effective way of integrating different agendas. It sets the basis for the articulation of the initiatives of all relevant stakeholders, to seek synergies for the development of the city, by creating a more open, multi-level type of governance. It opposes a blind operation of the market forces and emphasizes to construct desired answers to the structural problems of our society. Knowledge-based strategic planning works with an economic development strategy, with special focus to increase the skills and knowledge of residents as a means for human and social development.Work in this thesis is supported by quantitative as well as qualitative analysis of the urbanisation dimensions of selected four countries, which is explained in detail in chapter four. It is clearly evident from the results and discussion chapters, five and six respectively, that China marvellously engaged itself with urbanisation and made most out of it. Perceived as a necessary element to economic and industrial growth, here urbanisation starts with inclusion rather than exclusion, by bringing the rural population with less economic opportunities into a city well planned with great opportunities. After reforms, here the relationship of the state with local growth has changed from'command control'to 'governance guidance'. Local governments can adjust their management rules or regulations to facilitate new economic growth when necessary, and behave like an enterprise or firm. Multi-stakeholder arrangements through decentralisation opened broad spaces for market powers to enter the urban growth process. State is vigorously involved in knowledge-based urban development through managed openness. Sustainability echoes in urban atmosphere through the initiatives being taken by the state, with the development of an extensive range of environmental cooperative activities, with special focus to produce clean energy. With more advanced and future-looking methodology, many eco-cities and towns are materializing in different parts of China. And due to particular institutional settings and urban policies with the co-existence of the planned economy and the market economy, China did not over-urbanise like many other developing countries.Results clearly demonstrate that cities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh defy all the planning controls and forecasts. Unregulated settlements produce an amorphous and amoeba-like spatial form, with no set boundaries or geographic extent. The system of urban governance provides fewer opportunities for community participation in decision making and has gone through very little devolution of power. Institutional structures are hollow and totally lack the capacities to create or implement urban plans. After independence, these nations became dependant on foreign aid and technical assistance, due to lack of political will and other factors, and failed to develop effective institutions. Foreign technical experts usually responded with technically inappropriate and unsuitable solutions for local conditions. Their priorities have been inconsistent with development, resulting in misallocation of resources. Physical infrastructure of cities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is fast becoming incapable of meeting the demands for urban services. Urban planning desperately needs the professionals to reinvent the city by fostering positive urban synergies. In a setup of good governance; participation of community, academia, service providers, and civil society would certainly make a marked difference in creating a responsible urbanism.