International urban agendas and sustainable integrated urban development in developing countries

The case of Brazil

Authors

Keywords:

urban agendas, integrated urban development, sustainability, international guidelines, developing countries, Brazil

Abstract

Due to the rapid and unrestrained growth of urbanization worldwide since the second half of the twentieth century, the global community is confronted with a broad spectrum of challenges. In response, the request for more sustainable cities developed in recent decades. Urban agenda setting, like the foundation of the UN-Habitat, emerged subsequently in the public policy process to countervail the negative impacts of the progress, especially in developing countries. The article wants to provide the reader with a brief introduction to global urban agendas in general and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in specific, especially how they approach urban challenges. The analysis offers an overview of the context of the implementation of urban agendas and definitions of sustainability in its setting. Furthermore, it is examined, how non-binding doctrinaire documents like the NUA should be implemented on the regional and national levels. The challenges in implementing these urban agendas, the definition of sustainable urban agendas, and common international challenges are deconstructed and compared with the guiding principles of the NUA. The research question highlights potential approaches, how to improve the implementation of these agendas, and contributes to reducing the research gap of the global south in this regard. Therefore, as a case study, a closer look at the exemplary situation of the developing country Brazil, the local urban evolution, planning policies, and the local challenges are undertaken. To conclude, the challenges of the new urban era identified will be briefly reflected and possible pathways through alternative mechanisms, recommended by the NUA and other international guidelines, pointed out to foster implementation to the detriment of traditional local hard policy mechanisms.

Author Biographies

Tobias Kühner, University of Brasilia (UnB)

Doutorando em Arquitetura e Urbanismo pela Universidade de Brasília – UnB; Pesquisador e Consultor para Cooperações Técnicas Alemãs no Brasil e no mundo

Carlos Vinícius da Silva Pinto, Universidade de Brasília

Doutorando em Geografia pela Universidade de Brasília - UnB; Analista em Desenvolvimento Humano no Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento – PNUD Brasil e Pesquisador Visitante no Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada – IPEA/Brasília.

References

Algebaile, E. (2008) ‘Restruturação setorial da política social e composição contemporânea do campo da gestão territorial’, in X Coloquio Internacional de Geocrítica. Barcelona: Universidad de Barcelona. Available at: http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/-xcol/253.htm (Accessed: 24 November 2019).
Álvarez Rivadulla, M. J. and Bocarejo, D. (2014) ‘Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. Edited by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 38(6), pp. 2025–2041. doi: 10.1111/1468-2427.12201.
De Andrade, E. A. and Franceschini, M. C. T. (2017) ‘O direito à cidade e as agendas urbanas internacionais: Uma análise documental’, Ciencia e Saude Coletiva. ABRASCO - Associação Brasileira de Saúde Coletiva, 22(12), pp. 3849–3858. doi: 10.1590/1413-812320172212.24922017.
Borges, V. P., Moreira, R. and Martins, C. B. (1990) O Que É: História - Geografia - Sociologia. Edited by Circulo do Livro. Primeiros Passos.
Caprotti, F. et al. (2017) ‘The New Urban Agenda: key opportunities and challenges for policy and practice’, Urban Research & Practice. Routledge, 10(3), pp. 367–378. doi: 10.1080/17535069.2016.1275618.
Carolini, G. Y. (2017) ‘Sisyphean Dilemmas of Development: Contrasting Urban Infrastructure and Fiscal Policy Trends in Maputo, Mozambique’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 41(1), pp. 126–144. doi: 10.1111/1468-2427.12500.
Club of Rome (2015) History • Club of Rome. Available at: http://www.clubofrome.org/about-us/history/ (Accessed: 5 April 2019).
Cociña, C. et al. (2019) ‘Knowledge translation in global urban agendas: A history of research-practice encounters in the Habitat conferences’, World Development, 122, pp. 130–141. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.014.
Costa, Marco Aurelio, Matteo, M. and Balbim, R. N. (2010) ‘Faces da metropolização no Brasil: desafios contemporâneos na gestão das Regiões Metropolitanas’, in Morais, M. da P. and Costa, Marco Aurélio. (eds) Infraestrutura Social e Urbana no Brasil: subsídios para uma agenda de pesquisa e formulação de políticas públicas. Brasilia: IPEA, pp. 641–682. Available at: https://books.google.com.br/books?id=pJZcuAAACAAJ&dq=Infraestrutura+social+e+urbana+no+Brasil:+subsídios+para+uma+agenda+de+pesquisa+e+formulação+de+políticas+públicas&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC5Jfs74PmAhWOct8KHWfQCqwQ6AEIKTAA (Accessed: 24 November 2019).
Crot, L. (2010) ‘Transnational urban policies: “relocating” spanish and brazilian models of urban planning in buenos aires’, Urban Research and Practice. Taylor & Francis, 3(2), pp. 119–137. doi: 10.1080/17535069.2010.481217.
Dahiya, B. and Das, A. (2020) New Urban Agenda in Asia-Pacific: Governance for Sustainable and Inclusive Cities, Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-6709-0_1.
Fernandes, E. (2013) ‘Cidade , Mais De 10 Anos Depois’, Revista UFMG. Belo Horizonte, 20, pp. 212–233.
Filho, G. M. (1993) Ecodesenvolvimento e desenvolvimento sustentável; conceitos e princípios, Textos de Economia - CSE/UFSC. Florianópolis.
Galal, H. (2018) How much progress has been made on the New Urban Agenda?, World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/how-much-progress-has-been-made-on-the-new-urban-agenda/ (Accessed: 7 April 2020).
Galindo, E. and Monteiro, R. A. (2016) ‘Nova agenda urbana no Brasil à luz da Habitat III’, Boletim Regional, Urbano e Ambiental (IPEA), 15, pp. 83–84. Available at: http://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/handle/11058/7102 (Accessed: 24 November 2019).
Gobbi, L. D. (2016) Urbanização brasileira | Urbanização | Geografia | Educação. Available at: http://educacao.globo.com/geografia/assunto/urbanizacao/urbanizacao-brasileira.html (Accessed: 28 May 2019).
Goodland, R. (1991) ‘The case that the world has reached limits’, in Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development: Building on Brundtland. World Bank, pp. 5–17. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/332821467989482335/pdf/multi-page.pdf (Accessed: 13 April 2020).
Haavelmo, T. and Hansen, S. (1991) ‘On the strategy of trying to reduce economic inequality by expanding the sale of human activity.’, in Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development: Building on Brundtland. World Bank, pp. 27–35. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/332821467989482335/pdf/multi-page.pdf.
Harrison, P. (2006) ‘On the edge of reason: Planning and urban futures in Africa’, Urban Studies, 43(2 SPEC. ISS.), pp. 319–335. doi: 10.1080/00420980500418368.
Hillier, B. (1996) Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://books.google.com.br/books/about/Space_is_the_Machine.html?id=8CygHAAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y (Accessed: 8 November 2019).
Holanda, F. de (2019) Construtores de mim. Brasilia.
Iberdrola (2020) New Urban Agenda: towards a Sustainable Urbanism. Available at: https://www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/new-urban-agenda (Accessed: 7 April 2020).
IBGE (2011a) News » Census 2010, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Available at: https://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/noticias-censo.html?view=noticia&id=1&idnoticia=2057&busca=1&t=censo-2010-11-4-milhoes-brasileiros-6-0-vivem-aglomerados-subnormais (Accessed: 23 January 2019).
IBGE (2011b) Primeiros resultados definitivos do Censo 2010. Available at: https://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/noticias-censo.html?busca=1&id=3&idnoticia=1866&t=primeiros-resultados-definitivos-censo-2010-populacao-brasil-190-755-799-pessoas&view=noticia.
IBGE (2018) Brasil Panorama. Available at: https://cidades.ibge.gov.br/brasil/panorama (Accessed: 23 January 2019).
Laura, A. A. (2004) Um Método de Modelagem de um Sistema de Indicadores de Sustentabilidade para Gestão dos Recursos Hídricos-MISGERH: O Caso da Bacia dos Sinos. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.
Marguti, B. et al. (2018) ‘Contribuições À Nova Agenda Urbana: O Relatório Do Concidades Para a Conferência Habitat Iii’, Texto para Discussão (IPEA), 1, p. 90. Available at: http://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/bitstream/11058/8407/1/TD_2389.pdf.
Meadowcroft, J. (2007) ‘The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: in 32 volumes; [Trudeau - Zywiec]; Description, Theories, & Practices | sustainability’, in Safra, J. E. (ed.) In 32 volumes. 15th edn. Chicago [u.a.]: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/sustainability (Accessed: 13 April 2020).
Meadows, D. H. et al. (1972) The Limits to growth; a report for the Club of Rome’s project on the predicament of mankind. Universe Books. Available at: https://www.clubofrome.org/report/the-limits-to-growth/ (Accessed: 11 November 2019).
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L. and Randers, J. (1992) Beyond the limits : confronting global collapse, envisioning a sustainable future. Chelsea Green Pub. Co.
MMA (2016) Plano Nacional de Adaptação, Ministério de Meio Ambiente. Available at: http://www.mma.gov.br/clima/adaptacao/plano-nacional-de-adaptacao.
Mumford, L. (1961) The city in history : its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Available at: https://books.google.com.br/books?id=q0NNgjY03DkC&dq=The+city+in+history:+Its+origins,+its+transformations,+and+its+prospects&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil-rrM6vnlAhXmIbkGHYvPBZkQ6AEIMDAB (Accessed: 20 November 2019).
Namdeo, A. et al. (2019) ‘Land-use, transport and vehicle technology futures: An air pollution assessment of policy combinations for the Cambridge Sub-Region of the UK’, Cities. Elsevier, 89(July 2018), pp. 296–307. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2019.03.004.
National Council of Cities (2015) National Report for Habitat III, IPEA. Brasilia. Available at: https://www.habitat3.org/bitcache/d1f41b386058450bbea8a99aa920ecd3044a122e?vid=567460&disposition=inline&op=view (Accessed: 8 November 2019).
Netto, V. M. (2016) The social fabric of cities, The Social Fabric of Cities. London and New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315552804.
Parnell, S. (2016) ‘Defining a Global Urban Development Agenda’, World Development. Elsevier Ltd, 78, pp. 529–540. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.028.
Pimentel Walker, A. P. (2016) ‘Self-help or public housing? Lessons from co-managed slum upgrading via participatory budget’, Habitat International. Elsevier Ltd, 55, pp. 58–66. doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2016.02.005.
Planalto (2001) Estatuto das Cidades, Lei 10257/2001. Available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/leis_2001/l10257.htm.
Planalto (2015) Estatuto da Metrópole, Lei 13.089/2015. Available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2015/lei/l13089.htm.
PNAD (2015) População rural e urbana | Educa | Jovens - IBGE, Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios. Available at: https://educa.ibge.gov.br/jovens/conheca-o-brasil/populacao/18313-populacao-rural-e-urbana.html (Accessed: 17 May 2020).
Robinson, J. (2011) ‘Cities in a World of Cities: The Comparative Gesture’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 35(1), pp. 1–23. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00982.x.
Robinson, J. D. and Parnell, S. (2011) ‘Travelling theory: Embracing post-neoliberalism through southern cities’, in Bridge, G. and Watson, S. (eds) The New Blackwell Companion to the City. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781444395105.
Rodríguez, A. and Sugranyes, A. (2017) ‘La nueva agenda urbana: pensamiento mágico.’, Hábitat y Sociedad, (10), pp. 165–180. doi: 10.12795/HabitatySociedad.2017.i10.10.
Sachs, I. (1974) ‘Environment and Styles of Development’, Economic and Political Weekly, 9(21), pp. 828–837. doi: 10.23074363676.
Sachs, I. (1993) ‘Estratégias de transição para o século XXI.’, in Bursztyn, M. (ed.) Para Pensar o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. São Paulo: Brasiliense, pp. 29–56. doi: 10.1590/S0034-75901994000200011.
Santos, M. V. (2018) O Parlamento e os Acordos Multilaterais. Estudo de caso: Projeto de Lei n. 132/2017, de Uso e Ocupação do Solo no Distrito Federal, no contexto da Agenda 2030 e Nova Agenda. Brasilia.
UN-Habitat (2014) History, mandate & role in the UN system, About us. Available at: https://unhabitat.org/history-mandate-role-in-the-un-system/ (Accessed: 5 April 2019).
UN-Habitat (2016) Issue papers: the process. Available at: http://habitat3.org/documents-and-archive/preparatory-documents/issue-papers/ (Accessed: 10 June 2019).
UN-Habitat (2017) The New Urban Agenda, United Nations Publications. Available at: http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf.
UN Habitat III (2016) About Habitat III, The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. Available at: http://habitat3.org/the-conference/about-habitat-3/ (Accessed: 2 April 2020).
United Nations (2017) Regional Action Plan for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016-2036. Santiago. Available at: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/42146/4/S1701121_en.pdf.
United Nations (2019) ‘# Envision2030: 17 goals to transform the world for persons with disabilities’, pp. 1–4. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html (Accessed: 10 June 2019).
Vidal, J. and Scruton, P. (2007) ‘Burgeoning cities face catastrophe, says UN’, The Guardian, 28. Juni, pp. 1–3. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/28/climatechange.conservation (Accessed: 19 November 2019).
Wahl, D. C. (2016) Designing Regenerative Cultures. Triarchy Press.
Walton, J. (1982) ‘Comparative urban studies’, in Armer, J. M. and Marsh, R. M. (eds) Comparative sociological research in the 1960s and 1970s. Leiden: Brill, pp. 22–39. Available at: https://books.google.com.br/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0oUfAAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA22&dq=Comparative+urban+studies+WALTON,+John+&ots=Fow4Ys287A&sig=qMw7gs8U6bHnyh6sV9KM04XrZJI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Comparative urban studies WALTON%2C John&f=false (Accessed: 8 November 2019).
Watson, V. (2012) ‘Book review: Crossing borders: International exchange and planning practices, by Patsy Healey and Robert Upton’, Planning Theory. SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England, 11(3), pp. 328–330. doi: 10.1177/1473095211432617.
Wey, W. M. and Huang, J. Y. (2018) ‘Urban sustainable transportation planning strategies for livable City’s quality of life’, Habitat International. Elsevier, 82(June), pp. 9–27. doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2018.10.002.
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report), Medicine, Conflict and Survival. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1080/07488008808408783.

Downloads

Published

2021-04-15

Issue

Section

Article