Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Cities and urbanisation

In 2014, 54% of the global population was living in urban areas and this is predicted to rise to 66% by 2050. The characteristics of cities differ greatly across countries and regions of the Commonwealth and some issues facing large and megacities will differ from those faced by secondary cities and towns and across the Commonwealth, the degree of urbanisation varies significantly. Whilst 38.1% of the population of the Commonwealth lived in urban settlements in 2014, Commonwealth Europe is 82% urban and Commonwealth South-East Asia 78% with Commonwealth Africa 41%, Commonwealth South Asia 33% and the Commonwealth Pacific Islands 18% urban. Achievement of SDG 11 will require cities to actively address the key dimensions of sustainable development – the economy, the society and the environment and to be inclusive, and proactive to ensure safety of all citizens. Subthemes includes urbanisation and migration, urban planning, informal settlements, formal and informal urban economy, disaster risk reduction and emergency planning, safety and security in cities, and smart cities and ICT.

Sub-topics:

Featured

BOOK REVIEW: The limits of boundaries. Why city-regions cannot be self-governing.

If it really matters how a metropolitan region is governed, should it not be obvious on the ground? To take just three NewWorld examples of metropolitan-scale city councils, Calgary, Houston and Brisbane should have a different ‘look and feel’ to that of their fragmented equivalents, not to mention greater efficiency and equity stemming from their ability to manage growth across all or most of the urban region.

 

Author: Jeremy Dawkins Publisher: university of Technology, Sydney Publication year: may 2009


The Emergence of Pacific Urban Villages: Urbanization Trends in the Pacific Islands

This publication expands and builds on an earlier report, The State of Pacific Towns and Cities: Urbanization in ADB’s Pacific Developing Member Countries, by examining in greater depth the need for a quantum shift in how development agencies, practitioners, and researchers perceive and address the needs of those urban residents who live in some form of urban village and often in hardship and poverty. 

Author: Paul Jones Publisher: Asian Development Bank Publication year: 2016


Future Urban Living

A policy commission investigating the most appropriate means for accommodating changing populations and their needs in the cities of the future

Author: University of Birmingham Publisher: University of Birmingham Publication year: 2014


Planning for Sustainability in NSW Local Government

Local councils in the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia are starting to give serious consideration to how they can include ‘sustainability’ in their planning for the future. There is no statutory requirement to create a sustainability plan – and therefore no standard definition of what constitutes such a plan for local government in NSW. The same is true of the term ‘sustainability’, for which there is no standard or legislative definition. However, the NSW state division of Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA - a professional organization for council managers) has recently released a ‘Sustainability Health Check’ as a resource to assist councils in assessing their current performance and devising appropriate strategies and action plans for sustainability. In addition, several individual councils have used the opportunity provided by the state government’s Urban Sustainability Program to make a first attempt at developing a sustainability plan.

Author: Jade Herriman,Emma Partridge, Mick Paddon Publisher: University of Technology, Sydney Publication year: 2008


The Limits of Boundaries: Why City-regions Cannot be Self-governing: Why City-regions Cannot Be Self-governing

With city-regions becoming increasingly important as sources of innovation and wealth in our society, does it follow that their institutions of government will become increasingly autonomous, allowing them to become self-governing? Andrew Sancton combines his own broad knowledge of global changes with an outline and comparison of the viewpoints of prominent social scientists to argue that city regions in western liberal democracies will not and cannot be self-governing. Self-government requires a territory delineated by official boundaries, but the multiple boundaries of city-regions, unlike the clear and undisputed boundaries of provinces and states, continue to move outward due to the constant growth and expansion of urban populations and services. "The Limits of Boundaries" clearly shows that difficulties in reaching agreements on boundaries fatally limit the capacity of city-regions to be self-governing.

Author: Andrew Sancton Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2008 Publication year: 2008


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