Mrs Tibaijuka, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) undersecretary-general and executive director, has been widely recognised for her efforts to raise awareness about the global challenge of chaotic urbanisation. Here in Singapore as a guest speaker for the World Cities Summit, we speak to the 60-year-old from Tanzania about the challenges of eliminating slums, lifting poverty even while tackling the growing problem of climate change.
Q: What is your key message at the World Cities Summit and what do you hope to achieve?
A: We have a flagship report which looks at the state of the cities, which we hope to promote at this summit. Cities may look great on the surface if you look at their central business districts, but if you scratch beneath the surface, you will see the true conditions of the neighbourhoods and communities, especially those of low-income.
Our report shows that slums are still with us, there’s been significant improvement, with more than 200 million people globally being lifted out of slums. But the good news ends there. In absolute numbers, there is net increase of 55 million people living in slums due to the rapid pace of urbanisation. And in the business as usual scenario, this figure will continue to rise so we must double our efforts. This is our key message. The urban divide is real.
Q: So what do you think is needed to enable this result?
A: The political will to improve the lives of people by providing affordable housing is absolutely paramount. And I’m afraid we’re still in denial that the poor are going to disappear or they are going to move back to countryside, that is not happening. So the awareness by the political leaders is very important, and so is good governance.
If you are aware, then you see the urban poor as an asset, an energy that you can harness, mpowering them to solve their own problems. We do not advocate anything like free housing - that won’t work. But in Asia, where you have a significant proportion of slums in this region, you have to empower the urban poor in terms of policies and pro-active systems such as housing financing, public consultation and democratic governance of cities and towns. Believe me that the urban poor also want to contribute, they also want to take care of themselves, but we have to empower them.
Q: What makes cities such as Singapore able to tackle such urbanisation challenges more than others?
A: If there are slums, actually that’s shame on all of us because it’s shameful to be in that situation. There’s no human dignity in having no access to drinking water or toilets. It’s not just an indictment of the poor but a reflection of the will of its leaders. In Singapore, the people have solved the problem by sheer determination and by appropriate investments. The supply of affordable housing is key, and then you put in place mortgage finance systems which are suited for the low income people. We cannot expect the market to provide affordable housing. In the US and Europe, we thought that affordable housing could be provided by the market, but it didn’t happen and the rest you know. The recent financial crisis in 2008 was an affordable housing crisis.
Q: Do you think that economic growth and sustainability can go hand in hand? Some say growth itself is not sustainable.
A: I think we should not confuse economic growth with materialism and consumerism. Lifestyles are going to have to change because our resources are finite and our planet cannot sustain this level of consumption. So for example, we will see policies such as congestion charges for driving into the cities which say, if you drive, fine, but you have to pay a premium for that. People who want to consume more must pay a price which includes the environmental cost. We have to change our mentality on consumption, we need to recycle more, especially as resources become scarce. So we still need to develop, but we have to do that while protecting the environment, and containing pollution.
Q: Some people have criticised global efforts for a climate change treaty, saying the money should be better used for development, aid and lifting poverty. What’s your opinion? Will one come at the expense of the other?
A: We need a balance. It’s not an either or situation. The problems are intertwined, you cannot move on one and neglect the other. If you provide housing but don’t take care of climate, and sea level rises, than that household will also be in danger. Of course we need a climate change treaty. We are facing so many negative externalities and the problem is it’s not the pollutor who is necessarily paying now, that’s why you need a global agreement. The treaty is also about assisting those, such as the least developed countries, with mitigating the effects of climate change.
Those with technology should also be sharing knowledge and information. If the developing world, which has a right to develop itself, does not have the right to this technology, it will continue to be too expensive to use for them, and they will continue to pollute.
Q: What keeps you motivated?
A: I’ve been campaigning on this issue for the last 10 years, and I can tell you when I started this, it was a long and lonely walk. Not many people were talking about cities and towns and urbanisation. So I’m very happy to see that the UN-Habitat, and global discussion about how best to build cities, has developed its own momentum.
This interview was taken from an original interview with The Straits Times.
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