Ministers endorse groundbreaking study on Commonwealth cities

For the first time in history, there are as many people living in cities as in rural areas. Far from slowing up, this figure is set to continue rising dramatically.

In a recent report, UN-Habitat, which analyses and develops methods for controlling human settlement, has predicted that in the next forty years 70 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities. In the developing world it expects there will be a rise of people in urban areas from 2.3 billion in 2005 to 5.3 billion by 2050.

Across the Commonwealth this growth rate is just as dramatic. In its 53 member countries there are currently over 327 million people – one in six Commonwealth citizens – who live in insecure and health-threatening environments.

Consequently ComHabitat is one of a number of initiatives working to find sustainable solutions to this global trend of urbanisation. It is a partnership which brings together agencies representing governments, local governments, civil society and professional organisations in order to address environmental, economic and social human settlement concerns.

One of the groups within this partnership is the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Human Settlements. On 31 March 2009 this group met in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, to examine a ‘State of the Commonwealth Cities’ report, which was called for at the Commonwealth People’s Forum held in Kampala, Uganda, back in November 2007. The desire for this report came because of a lack of systematic analysis of what is happening in Commonwealth cities.

“Without the right data it is impossible to gauge where and what our work in this area should focus on,” said Dr Cyrus Rustomjee, Director of Economic Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat. “This report is a big step in the right direction towards gathering vital information from which our projects and many others can be directed accordingly.”

The report, which assesses opportunities and threats of urban growth in relation to poverty alleviation, was fully endorsed by ministers at this meeting. It paves the way for a long-term ongoing ‘pilot study’ where more detailed analysis will be conducted in 12 cities, which ministers also signed off on. These cities are Ahmadabad, Birmingham, Brisbane, Durban, Freetown, Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur, Dar es Salaam, Metro Vancouver, Port of Spain, Johannesburg and Port Moresby.

“This study will not only produce excellent data and information about these cities, but it will also create conditions to promote policy discussions and a fruitful exchange of ideas,” said Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, who was present at the meeting. “The preparation of this study will also create new partnerships and strengthen existing ones. UN-Habitat would be honoured to be part of this initiative.”

Secretariat Links:

• ComHabitat

Related Websites:

• UN-Habitat