Development efforts must target cities and countryside to succeed - UN officials
Efforts to improve conditions in poor countries must target life in both urban and rural areas, which are interlinked and potentially mutually beneficial, United Nations officials said today marking World Habitat Day.
"While there are obvious differences between urban and rural development that require different interventions, ultimately sustainable development cannot and should not focus exclusively on one or the other," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to mark World Habitat Day, which is observed each year on the first Monday in October and this year has the theme "Cities: Engines of Rural Development."
Migrants living and working in cities send money to families in rural areas, while cities absorb excess rural populations, and offer markets for farm produce and other rural products, Mr. Annan noted.
"They provide services and amenities - such as universities and hospitals - that may not be available or feasible in rural areas," he said. "Cities are also the locus of most global investment, raising demand for goods, labour and other inputs from rural areas."
Virtually all population growth in the next 25 years set to take place in cities, most of it in developing countries. The fastest growth will not be in the most dense areas but rather in secondary cities and market towns, which are especially close to the countryside.
Mr. Annan said this trend can be harnessed to improve rural life and ease the problems associated with mega-cities if it is well-managed. Towards that end, he called for targeted investments aimed at ensuring that residents have access to adequate services.
In her message, Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), echoed the Secretary-General's emphasis on the economic, social and environmental interdependence between urban and rural areas.
She said smaller and medium-sized towns are under-supplied and under-developed, and called for improved transport and communications networks to address the problem. "Economic development in small towns can have a positive impact on the surrounding rural economies through a greater demand for rural produce from urban residents who normally have a higher purchasing power," she said.
As part of the ceremonies in Nairobi, Kenya, highlighting the phenomenal rate and significance of urbanization in the developing world, the country's President, Mwai Kibaki, will launch the site for building new houses as part of a slum upgrading project in Kibera, one of the largest and most crowded informal settlements in Africa.
UN-HABITAT will also honour selected individuals and organizations for their commitment to the cause of human settlements development, including President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, who was instrumental in lending political support to the drive by African mayors to devolve authority to local governments so that basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity and shelter could be ensured.