Closing Intergenerational Gap Proves Critical For Survival of Growing Cities

By an IPS Correspondent Reprint | | Print |

United Nations, Dec 6 2012 (IPS) - An international expert group of government representatives, youth leaders, cultural experts and entrepreneurs, came together for a high-level working session -co-organised by the UN-Habitat and International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC).

The  purpose:  to re-examine the theme of “Youth and Older Adults as City Changers” which focused on  the challenges of a rapidly urbanizing world.

Today nearly half of the world’s population live in urban areas and this figure is expected to reach two-thirds within the next generation.

“We are witnessing a revolution of cities. Cities are changing, growing, being rebuild and expanding at fast pace, so to plan and manage our cities we have to constantly revise the processes”, said Cecilia Martinez Leal, director of UN-Habitat/ New York Office.. 

Referring to Asia, Latin America and Africa, Leal emphasises that the cities –predominantly in the developing world- are increasingly under pressure, and in the wake of the economic crisis are faced with unemployment, social inequity and exclusion and new forms of urban poverty.

The director of UN-Habitat explained that there are three groups –the disabled, the elderly and the slum dwellers- that are subject to dramatic exclusion in developing cities and therefore placed at a detriment. “These groups find themselves excluded from the right to vote, the right to enjoy city life, access to cultural facilities and social services; basically, to full enjoyment of the city.”

According to Leal, the uncoordinated course of cities today, is mainly triggered by the lack of coordination from the local authorities, ill-informed policy choices and the strong political constituencies that sometimes influence these decisions which induce the exclusion of social groups.

An important part of the dialogue—a  series called “Age of Connectivity: Cities, Magnets of Hope” –evolved around the demographic revolution of ageing, placing a burden on the younger global population, which today encompasses 1.8 billion people, predominantly living in cities.

Due to lower fertility rates, betterment of health and augmented child survival, the global population will no longer be young and “therefore we have to address this problem and find a way to take action and work together, both young and old, as city changers,”  Leal told  the meeting.

Cities in both the developed and developing world are aiming to embody the status of “a prosperous city”, which first of all, spurs productivity to contribute to economic growth, secondly, invests in good infrastructure, physical assets and amenities, and thirdly highlights the quality of life, maintaining good social services that include education, health, safety and security.

A fourth characteristic of a prosperous city entails social equity and inclusion of minority groups, “because no city can prosper when a large part of the population lives in poverty,” said Leal.

Additionally Leal also emphasised that this entails the need for gender equality, since growing urban areas not only need a well-equipped younger generation to fall back onto, but the contribution of women proves to be indispensable as well.

Finally, a prosperous city aims to pursue environmental sustainability. “The creation and distribution of benefits of prosperity should not destroy or degrade the environment,” Leal added, highlighting the importance of a sustainable organisation of cities as they continue to grow.