Geneva, Palais des Nations - May 3-6, 2000
CITIES OF THE SOUTH:
SUSTAINABLE FOR WHOM?
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ESF/N-AERUS International Workshop Geneva, Palais des Nations - May 3-6, 2000
CITIES OF THE SOUTH:
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Han Verschure
Post Graduate Centre Human Settlements KULeuven, Belgium
In 1995 a Belgian Consortium (coordinated by the Post Graduate Centre Human Settlements-K.U.Leuven), UNCHS and three priority secondary towns (Nakuru-Kenya, Essaouira-Morocco, Vinh-Vietnam) initiated a major project aiming at assisting medium-size towns in Localizing Agenda 21. The project benefited from a partial financial support of the Belgian Development Cooperation (multilateral programmes).
The preference for medium-size towns was based on the observation that a good number of large cities in developing countries were already benefiting from assistance of multilateral programmes such as the Sustainable Cities and the Urban Management programmes, and that many medium-size towns in developing countries show a rapid growth and have greater difficulties in building up capacity to tackle dynamic urban development change processes. In addition the particular priority towns were selected because of their willingness to strengthen a localized urban development process and also because of their location in lower per capita income provinces in the respective countries (this was particularly the case of Vinh in Vietnam and Essaouira in Morocco).
The project inserts itself in the general recommendations of the 1992 Agenda 21 as outlined among others in Chapter 28 calling upon local authorities to work out, together with local communities, a "Local Agenda 21"; likewise the Habitat Agenda of 1996 recommends a Local Agenda 21 framework for a more sustainable urban development.
After a good four years of operation, this project already provides interesting lessons both in terms of fundamental principles and in terms of methods and approaches. A few of these lessons will be highlighted.
N-AERUS: Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South
http://www.naerus.net