Concentrate on Urban Development

By: Bikal Dhungel 

Most of the changes in the pattern of human settlement was seen after the beginning of 20^th century. The World War I and II disrupted the process and again, a new order was formed. World Population grew massively since then, more than doubled. So, more place was required to accommodate new citizens. In the year 1955, only 30% of world population lived in urban areas and the majority 70% lived in rural areas. In the year 1975, 37% lived in urban areas and 63% in rural areas. In 2005, the share of rural area has decreased to 52%. However, in developing countries, still, over 75% people live in rural areas. But this is going to change. The UN predicts that in the year 2050, about 65% in developing countries and as much as 90% people in developed countries will be living in urban area. It does not necessarily mean that people from rural areas will come to urban areas. It means that urban population will increase rapidly that they will have created giant cities with big skyscrapers and will have lower space per person whereas the rural areas will also experience an increase, however in lower proportion. The world population is thought to stabilize between 9 to 14 billion.

So, what does this mean for policy makers ? It means, its time to do something. Rapid urbanization is already on its way. It is time for sustainable city planning, to think how they can accommodate so many people who should also enjoy at least the basic life standards. Otherwise there will be chaos. Governments should start planning now, how to deal with the problem of mass urbanization. The following points give a very basic introduction of what they can do:

• Health Sector: Healthcare is a very important thing. When the population of the city continue rising but the capacity of hospitals and clinics remains the same, health of citizens will suffer. Policy makers should think how they can expand the healthcare for future needs. Of course there will be more clinics available but health sector is more than a clinic. Hospital waste management system, a teaching place and other sub-sectors within it needs a long term thought. A mere increase in the number of bed will not guarantee quality health. The increased need of doctors, nurses, health workers etc should be dealt together with the education sector.
• Educational institutions: When people immigrate, their family and children follow. Children needs schools and the schools should have a capacity to integrate them. Universities, vocational training centers, all need to consider the demands of new citizen.
• Waste Management systems: Growing population will also generate waste. However the city collects its waste and where it dumps, it should be able to cope with more waste. New landfills need to be operated, more waste collectors are needed and a functioning recycling systems should be built. Otherwise people will simply throw the garbage on the street which will cause many forms of pollution. The most sustainable way to manage waste in a big city is the build a good recycling system. If wastes are not recycled, there will be a frequent need of land to dump wastes. Waste differentiation policies should come, like a separate collector for plastics, papers, electrical waste or bio waste. A failure will directly impact human health and will cause pressure in health sector.
• Water and Sanitation facilities: More people require more water pipe supplies. Once it is built, it will be costly and difficult to dig the ground again to build a new line. There might be new buildings or road and might not be possible to repair when needed. So, there should be a standard route that will ensure an effective reconstruction when more people live in that area than before.
• Telecommunication: Like water lines, telecommunication companies should be prepared for larger number of customers in the future. While constructing electric wires, they should think about the possible constructions in the future. So, working together with the government to plan this sustainable for the future will be cost-effective for them and will cause fewer disturbances due to construction and maintenance works.
• Residential areas: When population increase, it is obvious that they need place to stay. Plans should be there where to build new residencies, either to expand the city or build sky-scrapers. There can be a genuine policy of housing and industrial areas. Housing and Green Gardens could be placed in one area whereas industries can be located outside the city which will avoid direct industrial pollution.
• Free spaces: Free space is vital. A park, greenery or a sports place where people can walk, talk, play or involve in other types of interaction is necessary. The central park in New York is an example where, despite a busy schedule, you can relax in the park. Such parks should be in various places.
• Cycle ways: Also due to current climate change, cycle is gaining importance. Many western European cities have already built Cycle Highways. It lowers pollution, is good for health and will relax the city transport.
• Public transportation system: ' A rich country is not where even the poor drive cars, it is where even the rich use public transportation ' said somebody. An electric tram can replace 200 cars. Buses are equally good, financially and environmentally. Building a train network that can be expanded upon demand is very necessary. There should also be strict regulations on the use of private vehicles in city areas.

The world has globalized. Urbanization is in rise and when a government cant afford to develop rural areas, it will be cost-efficient to concentrate on urban areas and postpone the rural development. This is mainly true for countries with complex geography where it is highly expensive to build roads and infra-structures. When there is a trend on urban migration, even if you build hospitals, schools and universities in rural areas, it might be useless due to lack of people. When a nation is built with federal states, every state should have a major city or cities which could play a pull factor for people in the surrounding rural areas. This will avoid a concentration in one or two big cities. Around the world where it has been managed poorly, there is concentration in one city, for example Mexico City in Mexico or Jakarta in Indonesia. But with a good federal structure, like in the USA, there is no pressure in one area only. There are big cities of more or less equal size in many places, like New York and Philadelphia in the eastern United States, Chicago in North-East, Dallas or Houston in South-East-Central or Phoenix,Arizona and LA,San Jose, California in the west. There are other well planned cities in the mid or north. There is no pressure for one city or state. Similarly, Germany has a fantastic urban planning, with no pressure in one city only. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Rhein-Main-Ruhr area attract and connect well with surrounding areas. Big cities are pull factors for employment purposes but people can return home located just outside or in rural part in other time. Similarly, public transportation is also well connected between the cities and states. In German case, there is one big airport in Frankfurt am Main but other smaller sized but with higher capacity in Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin. If necessary, The Frankfurt Airport can be expanded. It was located outside the town and the surrounding area was not used for settlement purposes. This proved to be sustainable in the case of growing pressure of population growth. London however, grew so rapidly that it is now impossible to expand Heathrow Airport. Though well planned, due to population pressure, it was proved to be unsustainable. The UK is not a good example of urbanization in comparison to other countries because, if there is a big problem in London regarding environmental disaster or terrorist activity, other cities cannot support it. London is seven times bigger than the next big city Birmingham.

For a country like Nepal, it is strictly necessary to follow the points mentioned above. In addition to that, there should be measures to mitigate the risk by natural disasters as Nepal is prone to earthquake. Free spaces are very necessary, there should be a limitation on the size of houses, houses must be built with earthquake proof technologies which at least reduce the risk of loss of lives, and the road linkages to other cities should be well connected. It will be sustainable to plan a big city projects in other parts of Nepal. Kathmandu valley is already over-crowded, it should first manage the crowd, relocate residential houses and make spaces for agriculture and roads. A large part of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan will be destroyed and hundred thousands will die if the condition remain the same. A rapid reconstruction is required.

Let me stop here. The aim of this article was to say that, instead of trying to develop rural areas, it is cost efficient to concentrate on urban areas where a lower amount of investment will generate higher returns. This will help the economy to grow and once there is an increase in economic capacity, development can be expanded to rural areas. Now, in the initial phase of development, money should be spent there where the returns are higher.