Sound Practices
Bridging the Urban Divide
About one third of the world’s urban population are living in informal settlements – often without access to sanitation, deprived of health care and education, and exposed to high crime levels. Most of the rapidly growing cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America are facing an urban divide that can only be bridged by integrated approaches. Germany is supporting projects aimed at mitigating inequality in urban areas. It offers worldwide experience in upgrading settlements, providing advisory services for integrated urban development planning, supporting capacity development of urban stakeholders and seconding personnel for municipal administrations. Also, several research projects have been initiated in cities investigating how to bridge the urban divide and how to translate the findings into policy and practice.
Sound Practices
Governance and Participation
Cities and conurbations bear considerable political, socio-economic and cultural diversity. Steering this diversity and ensuring integration and quality of life is a huge challenge for municipalities – a challenge that the concept of good urban governance seeks to address by involving political and administrative decision-makers, the private sector and civil society in dialogue and cooperation. Germany has extensive experience in capacity development for good urban development at city level while promoting the elaboration of decentralisation and urban development policies at national level. It provides technical expertise on urban management and participatory processes, finances urban development and supports capacity development of municipal administration and citizen organisations.
Sound Practices
Inclusive Sustainable Urbanisation
Above all in developing countries, rapid urbanisation is frequently leading to unsustainable results and social segregation, forcing citizens into informal settlements. Here, they are vulnerable to the effects of climate change as well as to man-made disasters. Unchecked exploitation of natural resources is causing widespread environmental degradation. As social inclusiveness is linked to environmental sustainability, it is a prerequisite for sustainable urbanisation. Germany is supporting numerous sustainable urbanisation projects and research initiatives around the world, many of them in the context of climate change. Fields addressed include modern sewerage, water management, solid-waste management, energy efficiency, urban transport and affordable services and shelter for the poor.
Sound Practices