Towards Environmental Strategies for Cities; Policy Considerations for Urban Environmental Management in Developing Countries

THIS IS THE eighteenth paper in a series put out by the Urban Management Programme and will be of interest to anyone concerned with environmental problems in cities. After an executive summary, the first chapter looks at the links between urbanization, development and the environment. This includes a detailed discussion of how cities’ environmental problems change as the size and wealth of a city increases - and also how city based activities can damage the ecology of their wider regions. This section also stresses the importance of what the World Bank termed “the brown agenda” which includes inadequate provision for water supply, sanitation, drainage and garbage services rather than the “green agenda” that concentrates on global warming and natural resource depletion. Chapter 2 analyzes the main environmental problems and their underlying causes including a section on “inadequate governance”. It also points to the policy reforms that can address such problems. Chapter 3 discusses the many opportunities to improve the urban environment and how best to do so - including involving NGOs and the informal sector and establishing publicprivate partnerships. It also emphasizes the priority that must be given to building local municipal capacity and choosing appropriate policy instruments. Chapter 4 outlines how to formulate an urban environmental management strategy. Throughout the text, examples of innovative programmes or approaches are given in Boxes and there is an annex with six case studies including Mexico City’s plan for tackling air pollution, catchment protection in Sao Paulo metropolitan region and the environmental management strategy for Metropolitan Manila.