Janet O’Neill reports from the World Urban Forum in Rio

The fifth session of the World Urban Forum took place in Rio de Janeiro from March 22nd to 26th, having been was called to discuss ‘The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide’. With more than 50% of the world population of 6 billion now living in cities, the UN-HABITAT organised event posed the question of what rights city dwellers could expect and what could be done to achieve equity. 

The right to decent housing, infrastructure, legal status and social equity were debated by 13,700 delegates from around the globe including a sizable UK contingent. Pro-poor policies and initiatives are promoted by UN-HABITAT, the United Nation’s lead coordinator for housing, land and planning, to improve the lives of the 1 billion slum dwellers whose numbers are swelled daily by new arrivals from the countryside in a bid for a better life.

President Luiz da Silva, an ex-shoeshine boy himself, opened the event with a review of progress in upgrading the Brazilian ‘favelas’, the informal housing neighbourhoods, and the theme of the conference highlighted in the opening was ‘don’t plan for the poor but plan with the poor.’ Consultation, which has been a growing part of the British planning scene for 40 years or more, is seen as a fledgling in many parts of the world where corruption and political expediency often overwhelm the best intentions of city officials.

The role of planning was centre stage at many sessions, but only 6 years ago WUF2 in Barcelona hardly gave it a mention. The Rio conference was used to launch UNHABITAT’S ‘World Urban Campaign: Better City, Better Life’ to promote sustainable urbanisation, to elevate the drive by UNHABITAT to achieve better, more attractive, greener and more equitable cites to a new level. The launch was made by Mrs Anna Tibaijuka, Director-General of UNHABITAT who emphasised the important role of effective partnerships between public, private and civil society sectors to make progress on the campaign.

The event was attended by several Heads of State, Government Ministers, Mayors, and representatives of leading global foundations and business. Also present were grass roots women’s groups, youth and slum dwellers who were able to interact with government, parliamentarians and municipal leaders to promote the cause of the under-represented in cities. Representing the Royal Town Planning Institute were Janet O’Neill, Chair of the RTPI International Committee, and Will French from the Global Planners Network. They spoke at a Global Planners Network workshop on ‘Planning and the Right to the City’, covering what planning can do to contribute to improving the quality and sustainability of city living, both in the developed and developing world.

The problems of developing world cities are well documented; rapid urbanisation, physical disasters, climate change impacts and the concentration of poor in informal housing areas. As the largest such gathering worldwide, the opportunity to share problems and solutions was unprecedented. The next WUF in Bahrain in 2012 will allow progress on many fronts to be reviewed to see if headway is being achieved.

Janet O'Neill, Chair, RTPI International Committee, April 2010

Author:

Jamie Hodge

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

12-Apr-10

Sections:

News & Media , The RTPI

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