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11. Integrating Urban Development and Climate Objectives: Insights from Coimbatore

Author:
Ankit Bhardwaj and Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Indian cities routinely make decisions on land use, housing, water, transport, economic growth and waste management that have implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Aligning these sectoral actions with climate goals involves understanding how infrastructural systems interact and how these choices address both development and climate objectives. City governments, as managers of these various infrastructure systems, can co-ordinate such decision-making. However, so far, this is largely ad hoc. We show how cities can use a ‘multiple objective’ approach to systematically examine, and make explicit, the linkages between local objectives, climate change mitigation and adaptation across their planning portfolio.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Water, Economic growth, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

12. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban): Need vs Planning

Author:
Sama Khan
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
This paper analyses the effectiveness of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) by analyzing the financial and physical progress of the mission and the manner in which funds have been allocated and sanctioned to different activities in various states. It examines the planned allocation of central funds (i) between the SBM (Urban) and the rural component, SBM (Gramin) (ii) among the various components of SBM-U, i.e., Construction of Individual Household Latrines and Community Toilets (IHHLs and CTs), Solid Waste Management (SWM), Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Capacity Building (CB) and (iii) across different states and UTs. It finds that the disparity in funding between the SBM-U and SBM-G does not reflect the risk-adjusted need of urban areas, given their complexities of urban congestion and poverty that lead to higher health and environmental risk. The allocation of funds between the various components of SBM-U undervalues the need for proper solid waste management, IEC and Capacity Building and appears to ignore their effect on sanitation practices, the importance of building capacity to properly manage waste from the increasing number of toilets constructed and more organized solid waste disposal. Finally, the pattern of the allocation of funds between states does not benefit states that need it the most, in terms of states that have a lower share of in-house toilets, because the funds were allocated on the basis of the share of urban population and statutory towns. The paper concludes with recommendations to rectify some of these shortcomings.
Topic:
Environment, Poverty, Finance, Economy, and Urban
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

13. Rural-Urban Disparities in the Utilization of Mental Health Inpatient Services in China: The Role of Health Insurance

Author:
Junfang Xu, Jian Wang, Madeleine King, Ruiyun Liu, Fenghua Yu, Jinshui Xing, Lei Su, and Mingshan Lu
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Reducing rural-urban disparities in health and health care has been a key policy goal for the Chinese government. With mental health becoming an increasingly significant public health issue in China, empirical evidence of disparities in the use of mental health services can guide steps to reduce them. We conducted this study to inform China’s on-going health-care reform through examining how health insurance might reduce rural-urban disparities in the utilization of mental health inpatient services in China.
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Mental Health, Urban, and Rural
Political Geography:
China and Asia

14. Youth in India: Prospects and Challenges

Author:
Bhanu Joshi and Eesha Kunduri
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
India is the youngest country amongst the BRICS. It is estimated that by 2020 the working age population in India would be about 592 million, second to that of China’s (776 million). Theorised in terms of the ‘youth bulge’ or ‘demographic dividend’, this holds out prospects as well as challenges for a developing country like India. This note approaches the question of youth in contemporary urban India by shedding light on a variety of perspectives: the institutional structure and governance framework for young people in India, the involvement of and interest of young people in politics, employment-unemployment amongst youth, aspirations, and everyday politics of the youth. By considering both formal politics and political representations among youth as also more everyday forms of politics and aspirational dimensions of youth engagement, this note attempts to develop a holistic snapshot of contemporary urban youth.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Politics, Employment, Youth, Urban, and Unemployment
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

15. Dynamic Cities? The Role of Urban Local Governments in Improving Urban Service Delivery Performance in Africa and Asia

Author:
Jamie Boex, Ammar A. Malik, Devanne Brookins, and Ben Edwards
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Cities are engines of economic growth that provide spaces for social transformation and political inclusion. Their ability to deliver widely accessible and efficiently functioning public services drives productivity and sustains development. We design and apply an assessment framework to 42 cities in 14 African and Asian countries to better understand the functional, administrative, and political dimensions determining the quality and coverage of water, sanitation, and solid waste collection services. We find that urban local governments are constrained in their authority and discretion to deliver basic public services. Reforming intergovernmental institutional structures to better match responsibilities is essential for realizing cities’ full economic potential.
Topic:
Government, Water, Governance, International Development, Economic growth, Urban, Sanitation, Services, and Cities
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, and Global Focus

16. India: Meeting Energy Needs for Development While Addressing Climate Change

Author:
Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
India is undergoing structural urban and economic transitions and has set ambitious policy targets to meet its rising energy needs for development. Expanding coal and renewables are two important pillars of this undertaking and, since 2008, climate protection is of increasing concern. India’s international engagements reflect these motivations of both energy security and climate change, where India is increasingly engaging in transfer of clean and efficient energy technologies to developing countries like itself.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, Economic growth, and Urban
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

17. The Social Construction of Guangzhou as a Translocal Trading Place

Author:
Angelo Gilles
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Guangzhou has become a key destination for sub-Saharan African traders. These traders have established multilocal forms of business organisation and, in so doing, have developed diverse prac- tices to overcome geographical, political and cultural boundaries. This paper focuses on these practices, looking at the ways in which the movements, relations and interactions within these organisational formations are produced, transformed and lived. A close ethnograph- ic examination was made of the livelihoods of 33 African traders from 13 sub-Saharan African countries. Through the concept of trans- locality, the organisational formations of these Africans are conceptu- alised as links between different places on a larger geographical scale; these links then meet on a local scale in the specific place of Guang- zhou. Following a relational understanding of spatial constructions in social science, these links are conceptualised as one of the main drivers for the social construction and transformation of the city as a trans- local trading place.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Culture, Urban, and Local
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

18. Healthcare-Seeking Practices of African and Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Guangzhou

Author:
Tabea Bork-Huffer
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Taking the examples of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant and African migrant businesspeople in Guangzhou, this article inquires into the commonalities and differences in the health status and health- care-seeking practices of both groups. While both populations of migrants are diverse and heterogeneous, there are many commonali- ties with regard to the challenges they face compared to the Chinese local population. Mixed-methods research frameworks and qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. While existing publications emphasise lacking financial access to healthcare, further individual and social factors account for migrants’ healthcare choices. Their access to healthcare can be improved only by introducing insurance schemes with portable benefits, providing localised and culturally adequate health services adapted to migrants’ specific needs and health risks, and enhancing patient orientation and responsiveness by health professionals.
Topic:
Migration, Health Care Policy, Urban, and Rural
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

19. The Urban Regeneration Experience of The United Kingdom: Lessons for Turkey

Author:
Fatih Eren
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
The United Kingdom (UK) is the most experienced country regarding the theories, policies, strategies and practices of urban regenerations in the world. This study firstly outlines UK’s urban regeneration experience and then discusses how Turkey can benefit from this experience in the best way. The global financial crisis emerged in 2008 forced the UK to go a change in its national urban regeneration policy. Therefore, this paper has been divided into two parts as UK’s urban regeneration policy before and after 2010.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and Urban
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, and Asia