UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
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| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
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References to population and migration in "Habitat Agenda"
(draft of 13 October 1995)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
February 29, 1996
References to population growth and internal migration in the
current draft of the Habitat Agenda are rare (and in some cases
rather peculiar). For convenience, paragraphs from the draft are
reproduced below of all relevant references.1/ Note that no reference
whatsoever is made to reproductive health or family planning.
Relevant Paragraphs from Habitat Agenda:
(PART I: PREAMBLE)
4. Having considered the experience since the United
Nations Conference on Human Settlements held in Vancouver in 1976,
Habitat II has taken up the messages from relevant recent world
conferences and developed them into an agenda for human settlements,
the Habitat Agenda. The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development -- The Earth Summit -- held in Rio in 1992 produced
Agenda 21, which highlighted specific human settlements issues
which must be dealt with. Each of the succeeding conferences on
Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), Small Island States (Barbados, 1994),
Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction (Yokohama, 1994) Population
and Development (Cairo, 1994) The World Summit on Social Development
(Copenhagen, 1995) and Women and Development (Beijing, 1995) also
addressed important sustainable development issues for which
successful implementation requires action at the local, national and
international levels and which includes the Global Strategy for
Shelter adopted in 1988.
6. To overcome current problems and to ensure future
progress in improving environmental, social, economic, and political
conditions in human settlements we must begin with a recognition of
the challenges facing cities. By the turn of the century one-half of
all people will live and work in urban areas. By the year 2025,
almost two-thirds of the world's population will be urban dwellers.
The most serious problems confronting cities worldwide include lack
of employment opportunities, spreading homelessness and expansion
of squatter settlements, increased poverty and a widening gap
between rich and poor, growing insecurity, deterioration of building
stock, services and infrastructure, improper land use, rising
traffic congestion and pollution, lack of green spaces, and an
increasing vulnerability to disaster, all of which have seriously
challenged capacities of governments. Rapid rates of migration to,
and population growth in, the mega-cities of the world pose a
particularly significant challenge for sustainable development,
urban planning and management. These are the places where large
sections of the world's urban population live in inadequate
conditions and are confronted with unsurpassed environmental
problems that require in3creased managerial capacities, investments
and resource mobilization and appropriate allocation.
8. Cities, towns and rural settlements are linked through
movement of goods, resources and people. As rural population growth
has outpaced the generation of employment and economic opportunities,
rural-to-urban migration has steadily increased. Urban areas have
become destinations of hope for many rural poor. It is urgent to
seek new approaches to eradicating rural poverty through sustainable
economic development.
( PART IV: GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION: STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION)
(A. Introduction)
37. Over these twenty years, world population has increased
from about 4.2 billion to about 5.7 billion, and people increasingly
have come to live in cities. By the turn of the century, humankind
will be crossing a threshold where over 50% of the population will
live in urban areas. Meeting the needs of the nearly two billion
more expected in the coming two decades and managing human
settlements towards sustainability will be a daunting task. Rapid
urbanization and the growth of mega-cities, particularly in
developing countries, represent at the same time new opportunities
and challenging difficulties.
(B. Adequate Shelter for All
3. Shelter Delivery Systems
d. Ensuring access to basic infrastructure and services)
68. With rapid urbanization, population growth and
industrialization, the skills, materials and financing for
construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of housing,
infrastructure and other facilities are not often available or are
of inferior quality. Public policy and private investment should,
together, ensure an adequate supply of building materials,
construction technology and bridging finance to avoid the
bottlenecks and distortions that inhibit the development of local
and national economies. By improving the quality and reducing the
cost of production, housing and other public structures will last
longer, be protected against disasters, be affordable to low-income
populations and will provide a better living environment. The job
creating potential, and other external socioeconomic impacts of the
construction industry should be harnessed, its impact on the
environment should be minimized to an acceptable level and its
contribution to overall economic growth should be exploited, all to
the advantage of society at large. Institutional support in the form
of industrial standards and quality assurance with particular
attention to health and consumer safety protection requirements in
urban areas should also be provided.
(C. Sustainable Human Settlements Development in an Urbanizing
World - 1. Introduction)
76. The rapid growth of cities, the concentration of urban
population in large cities, the sprawl of cities into wider
geographical areas and the rapid growth of mega-cities are the most
significant transformations of human settlements. By the year 2000
more than half of the world's population will live in cities, and
much of the remaining population will depend on cities for their
economic and social well-being. The world of the 21st Century will
be dominated by cities. Among the economic and social factors
influencing this process are demographic growth and migration, real
and perceived employment opportunities, cultural expectations,
changing consumption and production patterns and serious imbalances
and disparities among regions.
77. The sustainability of planet earth will not be achieved
unless human settlements, and especially cities, are made
economically buoyant, socially vibrant and environmentally sound,
with full respect for cultural heritage and diversity. Urban
settlements hold a promise for human development and protection of
the world's natural resources through their ability to support large
numbers of people while limiting their impact on the natural
environment. Yet, cities are witnessing irrational and harmful
patterns of production and consumption, of land use and of mobility
as well as degradation of their physical structure. They are often
synonymous with soil, air and water pollution, waste of resources,
and destruction of natural resources. Many of these trends are
aggravated or accelerated by high urban fertility and the increasing
magnitude and permanence of rural-to-urban migration. Therefore a
largely urbanized world implies that sustainable development will
depend very largely on the capacity of urban and metropolitan areas
to manage production and consumption patterns needed to preserve the
environment. The municipal level of government is an effective
partner in making human settlements viable, equitable and
sustainable, as its level of administration is closest to the
citizen. Local authorities need the recognition of governments of
their essential role and international cooperation in securing the
economic development, social welfare and environmental protection
of their local communities.
(8. Improving urban economies)
109. Urban settlements are integral to the process of
economic transformation and development. They are a prerequisite for
the creation of a diversified economic base capable of generating
the employment opportunities. Many new jobs will need to be created
in the urban areas. Cities currently generate at least 60 percent
of the gross national product, worldwide, and if other factors, such
[sic] population growth and migration to cities are managed
efficiently, cities could develop the capacity to maintain their
productivity, improve living conditions of their residents and
manage natural resources in an ecologically sustainable way.
Industry, together with trade and services, provides the main
impetus to this process.
(9. Balanced development of settlements in rural regions)
117. Although at the turn of the century more than half of
the world population will be living in urban areas, a substantial
proportion of that population will remain in rural settlements,
particularly in the developing countries. Insufficient infrastructure
and services, lack of environmental friendly technology and
pollution due to industrialization and urbanization contribute
significantly to the degradation of the rural environment. Policies
and programmes for integrating rural regions into the national
economy require strong local and national institutions for human
settlements planning and management that place emphasis on
rural-urban linkages and treat villages and cities as two ends of
a human settlements continuum.
(E. International Cooperation and Coordination
6. Institutional cooperation)
156. The Habitat Agenda constitutes a new framework for
international cooperation. It should ensure comprehensive
implementation, follow-up and assessment of the outcome of this
Conference, together with the results of other recent United Nations
conferences where they are related to human settlements,
particularly the World Summit for Children, the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, the World Conference on
Human Rights, the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction,
the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States, the World Summit for Social Development, the
International Conference on Population and Development, and the
Fourth World Conference on Women. This will require a better
coordination and collaboration between multilateral and bilateral
partners and joint programming, leading to increased and more
effective cooperation between UNCHS and other entities within and
outside the United Nations system.
NOTE:
1/ The word þpopulationþ occurs in several paragraphs, but only in
the sense of people or inhabitants. For completeness, these casual
occurrences of þpopulationþ are found in parapgrphs 7, 17, 36, 40,
52, 58, 59, 60, 62, 68, 93, 94, 118, 121, 126, 127, 136 and 150.