Friday, October 31, 2008
Tweet[IWS] STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES 2008/2009 - HARMONIOUS CITIES [23 October 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
UN-HABITAT
State of the World's Cities 2008/2009 - Harmonious Cities [23 Ocotber 2008]
http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=bookView&book=2562
or
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5964&catid=7&typeid=46&subMenuId=0
[full-text extracts]
Half of humanity now lives in cities, and within two decades, nearly 60 per cent of the world's people will be urban dwellers. Urban growth is most rapid in the developing world, where cities gain an average of 5 million residents every month. As cities grow in size and population, harmony among the spatial, social and environmental aspects of a city and between their inhabitants becomes of paramount importance. This harmony hinges on two key pillars: equity and sustainability.
Press Release 23 October 2008
UN-HABITAT unveils State of the World's Cities report
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5979&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
23/10/2008
London
Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT said that the crisis should be viewed as a "housing finance crisis" in which the poorest of poor were left to fend for themselves.
"Clearly you cannot have a harmonious society if people are not secure in their homes," she told reporters at news conference to launch of the < http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=bookView&book=2562 > State of the World's Cities 2008/2009 , a flagship report published every two years by the UN agency.
"The financial crisis we are facing today cannot be seen as an event -- it is a process that has been building up over time and this process now has bust." She said governments had to provide cheaper homes for those on lower incomes because the supply of affordable housing could not be left entirely to the market.
The UN-HABITAT said income distribution (measured through Gini coefficient levels) varies considerably among less-developed regions with the divide most noticeable in African and Latin American cities. In both regions, the gulf is often extreme compared to Europe and Asia, where urban inequality levels are relatively low.
South African cities top the list of the world's most unqual cities, followed by Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. Urban inequalities in this highly unequal region are not only increasing, but are becoming more entrenched, which suggests that failures in wealth distribution are largely the result of structural or systemic flaws.
Mrs. Tibaijuka said the proportion of people living in slum conditions in wealthy countries could rise because of the credit crunch. With 1 billion people already living in slums at the dawn of the new urban era, the report warned of unrest should governments fail to tackle the urban poverty crisis more seriously.
"I would not be surprised that, if we did another global survey on people living in slum conditions without security of tenure, this number will have increased in developed countries as a result of this crisis," she said referring to a recipe for riots and social upheaval to which the financial turmoil might lead.
"I am not surprised that world leaders are now seizing on the matter because without leadership, without governance, it is a clear test of social tensions," she said. Click here for further details.see < http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5964&catid=7&typeid=46&subMenuId=0 > Presskit
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
UN-HABITAT
State of the World's Cities 2008/2009 - Harmonious Cities [23 Ocotber 2008]
http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=bookView&book=2562
or
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5964&catid=7&typeid=46&subMenuId=0
[full-text extracts]
Half of humanity now lives in cities, and within two decades, nearly 60 per cent of the world's people will be urban dwellers. Urban growth is most rapid in the developing world, where cities gain an average of 5 million residents every month. As cities grow in size and population, harmony among the spatial, social and environmental aspects of a city and between their inhabitants becomes of paramount importance. This harmony hinges on two key pillars: equity and sustainability.
Press Release 23 October 2008
UN-HABITAT unveils State of the World's Cities report
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5979&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
23/10/2008
London
Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT said that the crisis should be viewed as a "housing finance crisis" in which the poorest of poor were left to fend for themselves.
"Clearly you cannot have a harmonious society if people are not secure in their homes," she told reporters at news conference to launch of the < http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=bookView&book=2562 > State of the World's Cities 2008/2009 , a flagship report published every two years by the UN agency.
"The financial crisis we are facing today cannot be seen as an event -- it is a process that has been building up over time and this process now has bust." She said governments had to provide cheaper homes for those on lower incomes because the supply of affordable housing could not be left entirely to the market.
The UN-HABITAT said income distribution (measured through Gini coefficient levels) varies considerably among less-developed regions with the divide most noticeable in African and Latin American cities. In both regions, the gulf is often extreme compared to Europe and Asia, where urban inequality levels are relatively low.
South African cities top the list of the world's most unqual cities, followed by Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. Urban inequalities in this highly unequal region are not only increasing, but are becoming more entrenched, which suggests that failures in wealth distribution are largely the result of structural or systemic flaws.
Mrs. Tibaijuka said the proportion of people living in slum conditions in wealthy countries could rise because of the credit crunch. With 1 billion people already living in slums at the dawn of the new urban era, the report warned of unrest should governments fail to tackle the urban poverty crisis more seriously.
"I would not be surprised that, if we did another global survey on people living in slum conditions without security of tenure, this number will have increased in developed countries as a result of this crisis," she said referring to a recipe for riots and social upheaval to which the financial turmoil might lead.
"I am not surprised that world leaders are now seizing on the matter because without leadership, without governance, it is a clear test of social tensions," she said. Click here for further details.see < http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5964&catid=7&typeid=46&subMenuId=0 > Presskit
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 11:22 AM
