ONU-Habitat lança Índice de Prosperidade das Cidades

Com o objetivo de avaliar o desenvolvimento das áreas urbanas do planeta, o Programa das Nações Unidas para Assentamentos Humanos (ONU-Habitat) lançou, em setembro, o Índice de Prosperidade das Cidades (CPI).

Comenta esta materia, Gilson Birman, conforme vemos em seu blog, www.gilsonbirman.blogspot.com.br



As cinco dimensões que avaliam o nível de progresso das cidades são produtividade, infraestrutura, qualidade de vida, igualdade e sustentabilidade. O objetivo do indicador é identificar oportunidades e áreas potenciais para prosperidade.

Para a ONU-Habitat, a cidade do Século 21 deve reduzir os riscos de desastres naturais que atingem a população de baixa renda, além de promover criação de empregos locais, incentivar a diversidade, adotar práticas sustentáveis e valorizar os espaços públicos. Segundo o órgão, é fundamental que as cidades sejam centradas nas pessoas.

Confira o documento da ONU-Habitat sobre o tema (em inglês), apresentado no 6º Fórum Urbano Mundial, em Nápoles (Itália) no início de setembro.

UN-HABITAT LAUNCHES THE CITY PROSPERITY INDEX


Development actors need to explore a more inclusive notion of prosperity and development, finds new UN-Habitat

report The State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013: The Prosperity of Cities.

According to the report, there is a need for a shift in attention around the world in favour of a MORE ROBUST NOTION OF DEVELOPMENT – one that looks beyond the narrow domain of economic growth that has dominated ill-balanced policy agendas over the last decades, and includes other vital dimensions such as quality of life, adequate infrastructures, equity and environmental sustainability.

“In this Report, UN-Habitat advocates for a new type of city – the city of the 21st century – that is a „good‟, peoplecentred city,” said Dr Joan Clos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

“The cities of the future should be ones that are capable of integrating the tangible and more intangible aspects of prosperity, in the process shedding off the inefficient, unsustainable forms and functionalities of the city of the previous century or so and becoming the engine rooms of growth and development.”

The CITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY:

 Reduces disaster risks and vulnerabilities for the poor and build resilience to adverse forces of nature.

 Creates harmony between the five dimensions of prosperity and enhances the prospects for a better future.

 Stimulates local job creation, promotes social diversity, maintains a sustainable environment and recognizes the importance of public spaces.

 Comes with a change of pace, profile and urban functions and provides the social, political and economic conditions of prosperity.

PROSPERITY: GLOBAL AND REGIONAL CRISES AND SOLUTIONS

THIS IS A TIME OF CRISES. The world is currently engulfed in waves of financial, economic, environmental, social and political crises. A lopsided focus on purely financial prosperity has led to growing inequalities between rich and poor, generated serious distortions in the form and functionality of cities, also causing serious damage to the environment – not to mention the unleashing of precarious financial systems that could not be sustained in the long run.

CITIES CAN ALSO BE A REMEDY TO THE REGIONAL AND GLOBAL CRISES. When supported by different tiers of government, and in the quest to generate holistic prosperity, the report argues that cities can become flexible and creative platforms to address these crises in a pragmatic and efficient manner.

2 RESPONSES TO GLOBAL CRISES MUST ALLOW FOR A VIGOROUS ROLE FOR CITIES:  They are in the best position to boost production in the real sector of the economy at local level, with attendant employment and income generation.  They can act as the fora where the linkages, trust, respect and inclusiveness that are part of any remedy to the crisis can be built.  Acting locally in different areas and spaces, city responses to the crisis can be structured and included in national agendas for more efficiency, with better chances of flexible responses and more beneficial effects.  They are in more privileged positions than national governments to negotiate and agree on responses with local stakeholders.  They can forge new partnerships and local social pacts which, in turn, can strengthen national governments.

Cities need to be put in better positions to respond to the challenges of our age, optimizing resources and harnessing the potential of the future.

POLICY  Proper alignment of central and local government expenditures at city level can facilitate transfers and their effective use by city authorities. o Cities can devise a number of safeguards against a variety of socioeconomic risks, prioritizing expenditures on social security nets, local/regional infrastructure, with a view to securing longer-term growth. o Cities can deploy safeguards against the risks international markets may bring to bear on local socioeconomic conditions, deploying redistributive policies in close collaboration with central governments to reduce income gaps.

LAUNCHING THE CITY PROSPERITY INDEX

In order to measure present and future progress of cities towards the prosperity path, UN-Habitat introduces a new tool - the CITY PROSPERITY INDEX- together with a conceptual matrix, the WHEEL OF PROSPERITY, both of which are meant to assist decision makers to design clear policy interventions.

The CITY PROSPERITY INDEX (CPI):

- Includes 5 dimensions of prosperity: productivity, infrastructure, quality of life, equity and environmental sustainability.

- Enables decision-makers to identify opportunities and potential areas along the path of prosperity.

The WHEEL OF PROSPERITY:

- Ensures the prevalence of public over any other kind of interest

- Controls the direction and pace of city growth towards prosperity

THE WHEEL OF PROSPERITY IN PRACTICE  Cities need to integrate the various interlinkages and interdependencies between the five dimensions of prosperity.  Well-targeted interventions in one of the dimensions of prosperity have multiplier effects in the other dimensions.  Shared, balanced development is a crucial feature of prosperity.