The Challenge of Infrastructure Provision for the Urban Poor

1
The Challenge of Infrastructure Provision for the
Urban Poor

• By Kalyan Ray
• Chief, Infrastructure
• UNCHS(Habitat)

2
Infrastructure for the PoorMeeting basic needs
in an urbanizing world

• At the begining of the last century only one in
  ten people lived in cities today, nearly half of
  the worlds population - well over 2,900 million
  people - live in urban areas
• 90 of population growth over the next two
  decades will take place in developing countries
  up to 90 of it will take place in urban areas
  and up to 90 of it in peri-urban settlements.
• Peri-urban settlements are typically
  characterized by uncertain or illegal tenure
  lack of recognition by governments minimal or
  no infrastructure and overcrowding of space and
  basic amenities

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Infrastructure for the PoorThe Bare Facts about
Water Sanitation

• It is unbelievable but true that a habitant of
  Kibera slum in Nairobi, earning less than a
  dollar a day, pays as much as five times the
  price paid by an average U.S. citizen for a litre
  of water.
• In Kibera, 75 or more people share one pit
  latrine. Abandoned when full, often these become
  part of the housing unit for lack of space.
• Municipal waste collection in Nairobi has dropped
  from 90 in 1978 to less than 33 by 1998

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Infrastructure for the PoorThe
underlying causes of infrastructure deficiencies

• Per capita investment in basic services has
  rapidly declined over the years
• Structural adjustment programmes have redirected
  investments in many developing countries to
  productive sectors, away from water and
  sanitation.
• On-going sector reforms focus on privatization
  with efficiency improvements in the formal city -
  peri-urban settlements get secondary priority
• The focus of donor agencies are more on policy
  rather than on poverty

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Infrastructure for the PoorBarriers
to decentralisation Community participation

• Lack of clarity in policy formulation at
  national and local levels, exacerbated by
  scarcity of resources Who decides where limited
  resources are spent?
• Who are the people in people-centred approach?
• The political economy of security of tenure
• Lack of institutional anchors for community
  participation in infrastructure and services
• Failure by local and national government to
  promote and upscale good community initiatives or
  even to provide an enabling environment

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Infrastructure for the PoorThe Way Forward A
new Paradigm for development

• Adopt an advocacy/rights-based approach to
  provision of basic services
• Decentralize and build capacity for local
  governance
• Develop/strengthen cross-sectoral partnerships
• Reinforce synergy between formal and informal
  sectors
• Strengthen linkages between basic services and
  livelihood
• Give a greater focus and provide access to
  novel/innovative methods of financing community
  initiatives
• Promote scaling-up of good practices