Photo/ Bruce Gilbert "To achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers By 2020" -Target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -seems like a formidable task. However, for a group of experts on urban issues, this goal is not high enough. In 2002, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called upon development experts from around the world to develop concrete action plans to achieve the MDGs. Columbia University professor Elliott Sclar co-chaired Task Force 8, which was charged with Target 11. Dr. Sclar and his team introduced a blueprint to not only achieve the goal of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers, but also provide infrastructure, services and alternative housing to an additional 570 million people who would otherwise become slum dwellers by 2020. The report says that financing for these improvements could come from national and local governments in developing countries (55 per cent), the international donor community (35 per cent) and slum and low-income urban dwellers themselves (10 per cent). It also provides success stories from cities in the developing world, including Porto Alegre, Brazil, Amhara, Ethiopia and Tirana, Albania. The Jonas Hagen of the UN Chronicle interviewed Dr. Sclar on 13 November 2006.

On MDG Target 11

The number 100 million is actually very trivial, because according to UN Habitat's estimates, about a billion people are living in slums, which is about 33 per cent of the world's urban population. Demographic models suggest that by 2020 there will be 1.6 billion slum dwellers, and by 2030, probably 2 billion, so improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers is not enough. As of 2007, more than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas. Target 11 is also the only part of the Millennium Goals that came close to talking about urban issues, and none of the MDGs are going to be solved if you don't take into account that the world's population is largely urban.

On "A Home in the City"

We made a conscious effort to bring a meaningful representation of slum dwellers on to the Task Force-we had the customers on the Task Force. In addition to representatives from the World Bank, UN Habitat and local and national governments, we had members of advocacy groups for slum dwellers: Joel Bolnick [Shack Dwellers International, South Africa], Sheela Patel [Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC), India], Somsook Boonyabancha [Community Organization Development Institute, Thailand and Asian Coalition for Housing Rights] and Jane Weru* [Pamoja Trust, Kenya] work directly with slum dwellers.

Slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo/Nicole Volavka-Close

The consensus we found was that we had to improve the lives of existing slum dwellers, and that we had to plan ahead of oncoming urbanization so that we don't produce more slum dwellers; we needed urban planning. We realized we had to empower community-based organizations and work with local Governments. The Task Force concluded that a coordinated effort between the private sector, community-based organizations and the government was the most effective way to move forward. As cities' populations grew, infrastructure, land and transportation planning had to become part of this effort. The report recognizes that walking, bicycling and public transport should be the main priorities in planning, and automobile transport should be the last priority.

Finally, we figured out what this would cost. What we concluded was that it was one third less expensive to plan ahead than it was to upgrade slums after they already existed. In either case, the cost was well within what the world could afford. We're not constrained by a lack of resources; we're constrained by a lack of political will.

We continue to promote our report, and right now we're organizing a consortium of millennium universities, working on projects wherever we can, and using the term "A Home in the City" wherever we can to underscore the fact that slum dwellers have as legitimate a right to an urban life as do other city residents. The Task Force issued the report about two years ago, but the work goes on.

On the role of the United Nations

I think the United Nations is critical, because this is an issue of urban development. This means that it is an issue of economic development and hence every UN agency needs to be involved in upgrading slums. This includes the World Health Organization, UNDP, UNEP, etc. All of them need to take on the urban character of the issues for which they are responsible.

I have found that there is often a strong bias against urban issues in many organizations working on development. However, people have been moving from the country into cities since time immemorial, and this urban-rural break is artificial. Remittances go from cities; through family and community ties to rural places. The urban dwellers travel back and forth. The problems of rural poverty aren't going to be solved without addressing the issues of urban poverty. The United Nations needs to consider how the urbanization of the global population defines the challenges it faces.

For the complete "A Home in the City" report, visit: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_slum.htm

For the homepage of the Millennium Project, visit: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org

*For an article by Jane Weru (Member of Task Force 8) and Christine Bodewes about slums in Nairobi, Kenya, visit:
http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2001/issue1/0101p42.html