Habitat agenda promises urban quality of life

A novel urban renewal programme in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, has been used at the UN General Assembly’s “Istanbul plus 5” special session on human shelter to demonstrate the potential for partnership between communities and local government in improving urban services and amenities. “In view of the fact that soon half of the world’s population will live in cities or other types of urban settlements, problems of the urbanised world need our focused and urgent attention,” General Assembly President Harri Holkeri of Finland said at the special Habitat session last week. The need to address urban problems was particularly keen in sub-Saharan Africa, where the urban population would be approaching 440 million, or 46 percent of its projected total of 952 million, by 2020, the Assembly heard. Today, Africa’s urban areas account for 34 percent of the total population of 611 million and are credited with 60 percent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), yet they capture on average US $14 per capita per year, which creates disparity between the requirements of towns and cities, and the available resources, according to a UN press release. In Lagos (Nigeria) and Nairobi (Kenya) over 60 percent of households remain unconnected to water. Settlements in Dar es Salaam have been characterised by lack of basic community infrastructure services, including water supply, sewerage, access roads, drainage and solid-waste management, according to a paper presented by the government of Tanzania. Between 40 and 70 percent of the urban residents currently live in informal settlements, it said. Until the mid-1990s, the overall urban environment had deteriorated to the extent that less than 5 percent of the solid and liquid waste was collected. “Five years ago, the people of Dar es Salaam lived in a city of chaos, with a maze of restrictive by-laws that prohibited local authorities from entering into partnerships with the private sector,” according to a UN press release from the UN “Istanbul plus 5” special session. Since 1996, Tanzania has collaborated with the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in adopting the Environmental Planning and Management (EPM) approach, which emphasises government collaboration with slum dwellers, NGOs, the private sector and other participants. A process of identifying problems, negotiating strategies and implementing action plans has been pursued through working groups from the different participating institutions, according to the UN press release. New partnerships that have emerged have improved the delivery of services, and squatter settlements and slums have been upgraded, it added. Professor Tumsifu Jonas Nnkya of the University of Dar es Salaam spoke at the “Istanbul plus 5” session in the US about a successful effort between local communities, the private sector and the local city council in upgrading a flood-prone settlement that had previously lacked proper roads and waste collection services. Environmental hazards included low-lying areas susceptible to floods, beach erosion resulting from dynamite fishing, and overcrowding, he said. A unique feature of the city’s informal settlements was that they were not inhabited exclusively by the poor; rich businessmen and other elites also lived there, an aspect that was viewed as positive rather than negative, he added. Professor Nnkya outlined two cases to illustrate some of the achievements and lessons learned during implementation of the Habitat agenda. The first concerned the upgrading of the Hanna Nassif settlement through a government initiative that used an innovative institutional setup to complement community contractors and management. The second concerned the privatisation of solid-waste collection since 1994, following the successful completion of an “emergency cleanup” campaign. The project created an efficient public-private partnership and encouraged local garbage collection, recycling and composting, he said. The partnership between the local community, private sector stakeholders and the Dar es Salaam City Council in upgrading the Hanna Nassif settlement had provided previously absent services and decreased flooding, Professor Nnkya said. It had also resulted in a reduction in malaria cases from 4,000 to 2,000 in 2001. The collection and management of waste had increased, creating employment and generating income, while property values and rents had risen, he added. There had been a significant increase in municipal revenue, as well as the establishment of a micro-credit project, which had led to labour-intensive micro-enterprises that generated employment and income, according to Nnkya. Regarding solid-waste management, he said the city was now able to collect more than 50 percent, up from 5 percent before 1992. Community-based organisations were receiving city contracts to collect waste and clean up the environment through recycling and better management of landfill sites, Nnkya said. The city was cleaner and there was a better understanding of environmental hazards, he added. Nnkya said rising property values and rents were inevitable as settlements were upgraded, but that Hanna Nassif residents owned their homes, unlike settlements in other countries where absentee landlords owned the houses. Nnkya said the National Environmental Management Council had established a policy on upgrading settlements, and a review of the principal planning legislation was under way. The community had provided part of the resources required for improving services in Hanna Nassif and residents were paid for their labour. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the municipality had contributed technical assistance, while the Ford Foundation and other private sector stakeholders had provided funds for capital works. It had also been possible to scale up the programme, so that 22 settlements were now lined up for upgrading, Nnkya said. The Dar es Salaam programme had been replicated in all nine municipalities and in several small towns around the country, he added. Kenyan delegate Reuben Mutiso, who facilitated the Habitat session that featured the Tanzanian case studies, said they had clearly shown the effects of partnership, participatory approaches and gender equity in improving the urban environment. Importantly, the urban poor had been included in the initiative and there was evidence of urban-pollution reduction, leading to the prevention of diseases, he added. Mutiso said it was clear that many problems could be solved where there was political will. The readiness not to insist on unattainable standards was very important, he said. “Sometimes, alien standards were taken on when they were impossible to attain. In such a case, nothing could be achieved,” he added. The most important aspect of the Dar es Salaam projects was their ability to establish partnerships and facilitate the mobilisation of resources within communities, according to Nnkya. “There had been a change of attitude in the community and among professionals, who had learned to relate to the community; residents were no longer waiting for the government to act,” a UN statement quoted him as saying. “Bridges had been built among the stakeholders and the public sector’s credibility had been restored,” he added.