A City for All: Valuing Difference and Working with Diversity

THIS BOOK WAS prompted by the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held in Istanbul in 1996. The editor was involved in preparatory work for the conference, in which some of her masters' students from the London School of Economics showed great interest. Of particular interest to them were issues of difference and social diversity relating to urban development, as well as the more general concerns of social development specialists. As a way of becoming involved in the preparations for Habitat II, some course participants produced written work on both the theory behind, and case studies on, good practice in different areas of urban development. This written work forms the basis of this book, with the exception of Part I (the introduction) which was written by the editor herself.

After the introduction, there are five additional parts covering a wide range of issues: living and working in the city; secure homes and neighbourhoods; urban design and decision making to create an inclusive city; health and well-being; and organizing the city for social well-being. The chapters which make up Parts II, III and IV have a strong focus on different groups in the urban arena, and look at women, children, the old and the disabled in particular. Part V considers general issues of health and well-being, with chapters on water supply and sanitation, and access to health care in urban areas. The final part of the book concentrates on the management of the city, the attempt to “…mobilize diverse resources to work in a cooperative manner in the fields of planning, programming, budgeting development, and operation and maintenance of a settlement.” The section contains a variety of case study information on community participation. For example, the first chapter compares two types of participatory approach, in Peru and Indonesia, and illustrates the difficulties that may arise in establishing institutional diversity. Further examples are from a Delhi slum and from women in solidarity in Mexico. This case study illustrates how, historically, Mexican women have faced poverty with a strong will and, through organizing groups at the neighbourhood and community level, have in many cases secured their families' basic needs.