1. Urban Planning in Developing World : Which Alternative for Poor Cities
Cours Habitat et Développement Urbain
16 novembre 2016
Prof. Jean-Claude Bolay
LASUR (Laboratory of Urban Sociology)
Center for Cooperation and Development (CODEV)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Lausanne, Switzerland

2. Urban issues, which issues ? A state of matter
Urbanisation is a global process that characterises the rapid development of a majority of emerging and developing countries. Of 7,4 billions of people living on earth, 3,8 live in urban areas, and roughly 2.6 billion people of them live in emerging and developing countries. Of them 1 billion of these poverty-stricken urban dwellers live in slums. Around 50% of the world’s city dwellers still live in small or medium-sized urban agglomerations (> inhabitants). Continuing population growth and urbanization are projected to add 2.5 billion people to the world’s urban population by 2050, with nearly 90 per cent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa.
Are we able to act and to plan in order to improve the present urban situation, in a more socially inclusive perspective and in a spatially more coherent planning ?

3. Why urban planning is working so bad
There is a shift between urban theories and urban management.
Urban planning is more considered as a technique more than a method to understand a global complexity
Urban planning is not a science but an heterogeneity grounded in different disciplines (urbanism, architecture, engineering, economics, sociology, management …)
And … much more important for cities of Africa, Asia and Latin America, urban planning has been developed in and for Western cities since the 1950s and reproduced without any adaptation in totally different local, regional and national contexts … with poor results

4. Beyond the West, what for an alternative in urban planning (I)
Small and medium-sized cities in emerging and developing countries are the areas that suffer the highest rates of population growth Urban authorities of these cities tackle the lack of financial and human resources to be able to anticipate and address these issues Their inhabitants suffer the consequences in terms of human and material precariousness, contamination of natural resources, informality of economic activities, and malfunction in the process of decision-making and governance Decentralisation is not always followed by financial support of regional and national authorities

5. Infrastructures and services Economy, culture, society, politics
Based on experiences in Global South, what for an alternative in urban planning (II)
Natural environment
Space
Built environment
Infrastructures and services
Economy, culture, society, politics
Participatory approach means :
Global diagnostic inclusing all the dimensions of the urban reality
Demand driven analysis
Needs appraisal
Definition of priorities (demands <-> needs <-> resources)
Participation of population in diagnostic and actions
= Urban planning as a vision <-> program <-> activities <-> monitoring

6. Lessons learned in 2 medium sized cities
Koudougou is located in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in Africa, with around dwellers. Montes Claros, inhabitants, is considered as an intermediate city in Brazil, one of the most powerful emerging countries (despite the crisis) in the world. These 2 cities have few points in common. But some convergences exist. Both of them play a growing role of intermediation linking the city, their hinterland, the region, and other cities in the country, and even at international level : more than all through industry in Montes Claros, and with a strong support of external agencies of cooperation in Koudougou.

7. What do we learn about urban planning in both cities
Koudougou : Ongoing process of planning decided by national authorities for all cities in Burkina Faso, with support of international agencies of cooperation
Montes Claros New exercice of urban planning decided by local authorities in 2015, responding to national obligations

8. What do we learn about urban planning in both cities (II)
Montes Claros : Advantage -> This ongoing process may be seen as an associative process (with different stakeholders), but not as a veritably participatory one. Weakness -> impossible to discern the authorities’ medium- and long- term vision (spatial fragmentation and social disparities). It only takes into account the dense areas in the city center, and the rapidly growing outskirts and suburban areas are still disconnected from the rest of the city (city planning <-> urban planning <-> regional planning)
Koudougou : Advantage -> The development of each plan (global and sectorial) gives a picture of the investments to be made to improve the situation in the municipality. Weakness -> The plans are not implemented because they are out of step with the financial resources and the competencies of the municipal administration. At best, urban planning serves to reassure donors during financial negotiations (instrument of marketing and promotion of the city).

9. What for a new way to plan more inclusive cities in the South ?
Urban planning represents an opportunity to think about the future from what exists, taking into account the real resources, not only financial but also social, with the goal to fight against poverty and invest in equipment that has a sustainable impact on the living conditions of ALL the dwellers.
Two principles :
Urban investments must be directly or indirectly involved in services and infrastructure impacting the fight against poverty in favor of a more inclusive city.
An overall coherence guide the specific actions in the short, medium and long terms.
Framework conditions to be respected:
Local and regional governments must be given the human competencies and financial resources enabling to act.
Political will.
Legitimacy in the eyes of the population.
Dialogue between population, public administration, political powers, industry professionals and other special interest groups.

10. Thank you for your attention
Jean-Claude Bolay