QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY
IMPROVING LIVING CONDITIONS IN OUR CITIES
UN/ECE Ministers of housing and spatial planning meet in Geneva (Pictures)
Geneva, 19 September 2000
In Romania, 35% of new homes are built in urban
areas: in Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Ukraine, more than 80% of new homes are for
urbanites. Nearly half the world’s population now lives in cities, up from less than
one-third half a century ago. In the more developed regions of the world, the urban
population now outstrips the rural population by three to one. But what will the city of
the future look like? What will housing conditions be like? Can our cities be made more
liveable?
At a time when many cities are struggling to cope with a lack of social
housing, high unemployment, etc. as a result of globalization, migration and other
demographic changes, the Ministers of housing and spatial planning are meeting in Geneva
under the auspices of the Committee on Human Settlements of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and the chairmanship of Ms. Beverley Hughes,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions of
the United Kingdom (Chairperson) and Mr. László Miklos, Minister of
Environment of Slovakia (Vice-Chairperson).
Today the Ministers outlined their vision of the city in the 21st century. They also adopted a Declaration and a Strategy to improve the quality of life in
human settlements in the 21st century. Their Strategy’s goal is
fivefold:
Promote a system of meaningful and democratic governance that
responds to the needs of local communities
Improve urban environmental performance
Facilitate social cohesion and security
Promote market reform in the housing and urban sector
Improve land and real-estate markets and secure private rights in
land.
Improving the quality of life is at the heart of the Strategy.
"Back in the 50s and 60s people needed a roof over their heads. Quantity was
important: everyone had to be housed," says Kaj Bärlund, Director of the UN/ECE
Environment and Human Settlements Division. "But in the new millennium, the focus has
shifted to quality and taking social and environmental factors into account."
Globalization has had an enormous effect on our cities. Some have been
able to carve out a special role for themselves; they have become international trade hubs
or financial centres (e.g. London, Paris, Rotterdam, Zurich or Frankfurt). Others have
been able to reinvent themselves and have attracted new service industries or tourism. But
many cities have been left behind and are in decline as their previous economic base has
disappeared (e.g. old mining or manufacturing towns).
Many UN/ECE countries face formidable housing-renewal challenges in
their efforts to improve the quality of life of their citizens. The United Kingdom has a
housing stock of some 25 million dwellings, of which roughly a third was built before
1919. About a fifth of Austria’s and Denmark’s housing stocks also dates from
that period. In Hungary and Latvia, a quarter of all homes does not have a flush toilet.
In Turkmenistan less than 40% of homes have piped water, less than 30% have a flush
toilet. In Vienna, one home in five is classified as "substandard".
In some countries the problem is not so much their ageing housing stock
as their degraded modern stock. In the 1960s large apartment blocks in the suburbs were
all the rage. They couldn’t be built fast enough. Now these same suburban areas are
seen as an eyesore and many tower blocks have already been torn down to make room for more
attractive housing.
Increasing affluence is also expected to sustain a trend towards more
low-rise, single-family housing. Moreover, with the end of the nuclear family and growing
numbers of older people and single people, demand for smaller housing units close to
services in densely developed inner cities will also rise. For instance, in Norway, the
proportion of middle-aged, childless couples who prefer to live in apartments rose from
22% in 1988 to 39% in 1995. Among young, single Norwegians the share rose from 17 to 42%.
An ageing population will also require more social services, which will have to be
provided close to where the elderly live. This at a time when many countries are scaling
back welfare services as well as public investment in healthcare, education and other
infrastructure.
Although housing standards in UN/ECE vary widely, people throughout the
region share similar aspirations for decent, affordable housing. Some UN/ECE member
countries undoubtedly have a head start. In the United States, nearly 50 million homes, or
half the total stock, have at least 6 rooms. In Germany one fifth of homes has 6 rooms or
more, in France only one sixth. In Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden most
homes have two, three or four rooms. Switzerland has some 500 dwellings per 1000
inhabitants, Hungary 400, Poland 300. With almost 190 m2, the average home in
the United States is also twice as large as the average Austrian or Swiss home, and more
than three times the size of the average home in Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania.
Urban environmental performance is another problem that needs to be
overcome. Cities are big polluters. They generate waste, consume much energy and generate
traffic. For instance, the average Latvian generates 200 kg of municipal waste a year.
However, there are wide disparities within the country: rural areas generate less than 110
kg per person, Riga’s inhabitants generate three times as much. Almaty (Kazakhstan)
also generates almost 310 kg of municipal waste per inhabitant per year. The Netherlands,
a very urbanized country, generates some 600 kg per person each year, while Lithuania,
Slovenia and Switzerland generate some 400 kg.
The distribution of homes, jobs and services in urban areas influence
transport patterns. Between the late 1950s and the oil shocks of the early 1970s European
countries were transformed from low car-owning to mass car-owning societies. Economies
boomed and cities were overwhelmed by traffic. Many municipalities tried to curb or ban
the use of the car in inner cities, but particularly in the new residential suburbs the
car continued to reign supreme. The physical separation of homes and jobs produces a
commuting pattern that traditional public transport does not cater for. Improving urban
environmental performance also depends on introducing more energy-efficient building
technologies and ecologically sound designs.
For more information, please contact:
Christina von Schweinichen
UN/ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations, office 340
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: (+41 22) 917 23 88
Fax: (+41 22) 907 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
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service, we would appreciate it if you would send a copy of your article to: Information Unit, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), Palais des
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Tel: +(41 22) 917 44 44, Fax: +(41 22) 917 05 05,
E-mail: [email protected], Website: http://www.unece.org
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