NEWSLETTER

5.1 BOOK REVIEW

99 Ways to build Transparency in LocalL Governance

UN-HABITAT and Transparency International launch new toolkit
By Shipra Narang, Kenya

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and Transparency International (TI) have recently produced “Tools to Support Transparency in Local Governance,” a guide for urban stakeholders – policy makers, professionals, private sectors, civil society organizations and concerned citizens – wishing to improve the quality of life in their cities. A collection of 29 tools and nearly 70 case studies, the “Toolkit” will assist those interested in improving transparency, combating city level corruption and inefficiency, and promoting effective citizen participation.

This toolkit is the second in the Urban Governance Toolkit Series of UN-HABITAT’s Global Campaign on Urban Governance. Launched in 1999, the Campaign aims to contribute to the eradication of urban poverty through improved urban governance. A key objective of the campaign is to build capacity of local governments and other stakeholders to practice good urban governance, characterized by the principles of sustainability, subsidiarity, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, civic engagement and citizenship, and security. A wide range of tools and training materials have been developed, field-tested and adapted for application of these principles in various contexts. Some are aimed at effecting systematic change, while others are designed to prepare individual players to enhance their roles in promoting good urban governance.

The Global Campaign on Urban Governance is conducted in partnership with major international organizations active in the field of urban governance, poverty reduction and sustainable development, such as IULA, ICLEI, Transparency International, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, Huairou Commission and many others.

To learn more about the Transperancy Toolkit, or to order your copy, contact: The Global Campaign on Urban Governance, UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
E-mail: governance@unhabitat.org. Website: www.unhabitat.org/governance.

Source: The ISoCaRP NET, Vol. 11, Issue 1, July 2004

5.2 JOURNALS

1.European journal of Spatial Development

The Nordic Centre for Spatial Development in Stockholm, Sweden, has published a new electronic journal on spatial planning and regional development. The journal seeks to be multidisciplinary in nature. (For more information see: www.nordregion.se/EJSD)

2. Metropolitan Space Laboratory

The Metropolitan Space Laboratory is a scientific organization to develop computer simulation programs, which can be used to evaluate and optimize future developments of cities and urban regions. The Metropolitan Simulation Game is a strategic game, which helps in dealing with the complexity of urban planning in playing way. One can see by simulation how a city of the future is developing and can also create one’s own city.
(For more information see: www.metspacelab.com)

FACT SHEET

1. 50 percent of the people in the least developed countries (LDCs) live on less than US$ 1 a day. In 2000, this group totaled 334 million. By 2015, they could be 471 million.
2. In 28 LDCs, the ratio of gross capital formation to gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 20.2 percent in 1998 to 23 percent in 2002 and the domestic savings rate from 4.4 percent to 4.8 percent. The rest of 18.2 percent of GDP in 2002 came from external sources.
3. Environmentalist say airlines rate as one of the most polluting forms of transport, with 16,000 commercial jets producing over 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
4. The countries of the South have 75 percent of the world’s people but only:
   
   

   * 15 percent of the world’s energy consumption.
   * 30 percent of the world’s food grain.
   * 18 percent of the world’s export earnings.
   * 11 percent of the world’s spending on education.
   * 6 percent of the world’s spending on health.
   * 8 percent of the world’s industry.
   * 5 percent of the world’s science and technology.
   
5. Of the approximately 1.3 billion people living in poverty, 70 percent are women.
6. Biomass fuels account for 80 percent of all household fuel consumption in developing countries, mostly for cooking, which is done primarily by women.
7. Of the 3 million annual air pollution deaths, 2.8 million are from indoor air pollution, a major by product of the traditional use of biomass.
8. Nearly one half of the total energy consumed in the country comes from non-commercial sources such as cowdung (gobar) and vegetable waste.
9. While oil has an almost equal share in the primary energy consumption compared to the world average, natural gas constitutes less than 8 percent against the world average of 25 percent.

Source: Down to Earth, Volume 13, No. 4, July 15, 2004 and Indian Infrastructure Vol. 6, No. 12, July 2004.

Key Statistics of Indian Infrastructure

• The major ports in India continue to account for two-thirds of the total traffic, with Visakhapatnam port maintaining top position for the fourth year in arrow. Major ports share 75.2% of traffic and minor ports 24.7%.
• Only 2 to 3 percent of the National Highways are four laned and State Highways suffer from severe capacity constraints.
• The National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) is the largest and most ambitious road programme ever undertaken in the country. It has two major components: the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) which involves construction of 5,846 km of road to be completed by December 2005 and the 7,300 km North-South and East-West Corridor. The status of NHDP projects as on July 31, 2004 is that of the GQ work of 2,665 km completed and 3,181 is under implementation; and the work of the NS and EW Corridors Phases I and II, 596 km completed and 467 km is under implementation.
• Coal continued as the main revenue earner for the Indian Railways, accounting for nearly 40% of the total freight revenue.
• International airports at metro cities account for 80% of the total passenger traffic in the country. The passenger and cargo traffic handled at the airports managed by the AAI has been showing a steady increase during the last decade especially in cargo traffic. Passenger traffic decreased somewhat in 2001-02 but showed a rise in 2002-03.

Source: Indian Infrastructure, Vol 7, Ni. 1, August 2004

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V