Category: International (Page 1 of 3)

From the Archives: Essential Urbanist Documentaries from the National Film Board of Canada

December 3, 2021 / odrozd

This post was originally published on April 2, 2019. With winter break right around the corner, we wanted to share some recommended Canadian urbanist films to entertain you in the coming weeks.

By Adam Hasan, B.A. Geography ’19

The National Film Board of Canada–NFB (Office National du Film du Canada–ONF) was established as the National Film Commission in 1939 during the third government of Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King. As Canada’s public film producer and distributor, the NFB’s mission as set forth in the National Film Act of 1950 has been “to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations.” As part of this mandate, the NFB has produced over 13,000 works that speak to issues of national and international importance. As I have also come to find out, its collection is also a treasure trove of historically-relevant urbanist films. From feature-length interviews with Jane Jacobs to vignettes about Montreal neighborhoods in transition, here are some must-see titles for your next urbanist movie night:

Regina Telebus (1973)

“This short film from 1973 offers a report on Regina’s successful experiment with dial-a-bus, a flexible service midway between a bus and a taxi. The idea is to provide passengers with door-to-destination transportation at an affordable cost.”

Regina Telebus, Rex Tasker, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

September Five at Saint-Henri (1962)

“This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father’s enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying – the unposed quality of daily life.”

September Five at Saint-Henri, Hubert Aquin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

A Capital Plan (1949)

“This short documentary features a portrait of Ottawa in the mid-20th century, as the nascent Canadian capital grew with force but without direction. Street congestion, air pollution, and rail traffic were all the negative results of a city that had grown without being properly planned. French architect and urban designer Jacques Gréber stepped in to create a far-sighted plan for the future development of Ottawa. With tracks moved, factories relocated, and neighbourhoods redesigned as separate communities, Ottawa became the capital city of true beauty and dignity we know today.”

A Capital Plan, Bernard Devlin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Chairs for Lovers (1973)

“In this documentary short, Vancouver architect Stanley King demonstrates his method for involving the public in urban design. Called the “draw-in/design-in”, the method is applied to a downtown Vancouver area slated for redevelopment. How can it be made to best serve the needs of the people who will use it? Here, sketches prepared by students and refined by adults are used to guide city planners.”

Chairs for Lovers, Barrie Howells, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

City Limits (1971)

“This short documentary features acclaimed author and activist Jane Jacobs’ forthright, critical analysis of the problems and virtues of North American cities. Jacobs orients her fascinating observations around Toronto, to which she moved after leaving New York City because Toronto “is a city that still has options … it hasn’t made so many mistakes that it’s bound to go downhill.” Her remarks, made in 1971, are prescient yet earnest and will interest all urban stakeholders. This colourful city film, accompanied by an upbeat, jazzy soundtrack, is a must-see for all civic and community groups—indeed, for all urban dwellers worldwide.”

City Limits, Laurence Hyde, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983)

“This feature documentary takes us to the heart of the Jane-Finch “Corridor” in the early 1980s. Covering six square blocks in Toronto’s North York, the area readily evokes images of vandalism, high-density subsidized housing, racial tension, despair and crime. By focusing on the lives of several of the residents, many of them black or members of other visible minorities, the film provides a powerful view of a community that, contrary to its popular image, is working towards a more positive future.”

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community, Jennifer Hodge & Roger McTair, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

“In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. Director Alanis Obomsawin—at times with a small crew, at times alone—spent 78 days behind Kanien’kéhaka lines filming the armed standoff between protestors, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around the world, winning over a dozen international awards and making history at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it became the first documentary ever to win the Best Canadian Feature award. Jesse Wente, Director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, has called it a “watershed film in the history of First Peoples cinema.”

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Alanis Obomsawin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

*Descriptions retrieved from NFB website

Featured image courtesy of Adam Hasan

Thoughts from Abroad: A Reflection on Week 1 of the UN Conference of Parties (COP) 26

November 19, 2021 / odrozd

By Pierce Holloway, CPJ Editor-in-Chief

From November 1st to the 6th I had the immense privilege of attending the first week of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 26th Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. My time at COP26 was ripe with captivating juxtapositions, intriguing talks, and harsh reminders of climate impacts. I am thankful to have attended the conference. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with professionals and academics from across the world. Yet, I left with mixed feelings and a refocused eye on how my planning education may be leveraged to affect positive change. Many reports have come out noting COP26 as a failure which is accurate in some senses. However, there is still progress to be celebrated.

Many articles have been written in the past weeks describing COP26 as the most exclusive COP in history, noting that celebrities and world influencers alike were unable to obtain passes.^[i] Beyond the task of getting a pass, one had to find housing in Glasgow. This mission was one flush with privilege, paved easier for those with access to more money (not climate activists). Locating housing was difficult: an estimated 25,000 people were expected at COP26 while Glasgow has only 15,000 hotel rooms.^[ii] Even accounting for Airbnb and other non-traditional options there was still a noticeable dearth in local accommodations for an event billed as the “biggest and most important climate-related conference on the planet.”^[iii] This resulted in attendees such as myself locating housing in Edinburgh, a 55 minute train ride east, and other satellite towns. What does this say about the UN’s promotion of better planning and development if their climate conference fell so short on housing? This may be even more evident next year where COP27 is scheduled to take place in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.^[iv]

Every day I woke up at 7:00 AM in Edinburgh, bought food for the day, and caught the hour train to Glasgow. Next, I caught a circulating electric-bus (a sign of more transit electrification to come) exclusively used for COP26 attendees.^[v] The 10-15 minute ride led me to the hour-long process of going through three waves of security to enter the conference area. This totaled a nearly 2.5 hour daily commute from my door to the conference. This daily journey was facilitated by a travel pass provided to all COP26 attendees which allowed for free access to all public trains and busses. While helpful, the unified travel pass is drawing criticism from local residents that are still required to have separate paid passes for trains and busses, questioning why a similar unified pass is not available to them.^[vi]

Each day of the conference was jam-packed, attending panels and presentations from world leaders, academics, and professionals alike. The conference center was divided into two general areas, the pavilions, and the UN negotiation & plenary rooms. The near 50 pavilions represented many of the prominent countries and NGOs attending as well as specific interest groups for indigenious peoples, water, and nature. The plethora of individual stalls and rooms resulted in roughly 40 conference pavilion talks and 10 UN negotiations occurring at any one moment. This abundance of possibilities left me often feeling overwhelmed on how best to utilize my time.

My experience at the conference, while laden with a full schedule of insightful talks and interesting conversations, left me with 3 general criticisms of COP26:

COVID-19 precautions

The COVID testing system in place was not enforced the first day at all. The system used was based on self reporting, it was possible for someone to test positive for COVID on a rapid test but report a negative test. Attendants at the first gate only looked for a text from the NHS saying that the individual had registered a negative test. This issue was very concerning for myself as I and thousands of others waited in lines shoulder to shoulder for nearly an hour to get inside, only to be packed together at talks, and walking through hallways.

General lack of space

In passing conversations with other attendees I was told that the event space for this COP was by far the smallest space for the conference yet. While anecdotal, I find it easy to believe due to the packed nature of the pavilions, which begs the question of why this space was chosen originally. The limited space manifested in a severe lack of seating in the UN negotiations. Each of the open meeting rooms had a stated capacity which was quickly reached. With people standing along the wall or sitting on the ground not allowed there was often little to no room for observers such as myself. If this capacity limit was due to COVID precautions, why then were the pavilions where people were packed tightly into small spaces not policed?

Innovation versus behavioral change

The paths offered towards more positive climate outcomes were overwhelmingly spearheaded by innovation and creation of new markets. This speaks to me as a continuation of capitalistic ambitions: solving a problem fueled by desires of infinite growth with further fuel for capitalistic motivations. For example, on transportation day electric cars dominated the conversation while there was much less emphasis on designing our built environment to greatly reduce our need for cars overall. Now this is not to say I am a luddite of innovation or believe that we can completely turn away from a capitalist economy, but I am wary of its implications. Additionally, it is a question of equity: how can we ensure that innovation in the global north doesn’t serve to benefit only select populations?

The main COP26 banner falling down on the 3rd day Source: Pierce Holloway

Criticisms aside, I concede that there were a myriad of positives that I took away from this conference:

A planning education may be rewarded

From the many presentations and panels I attended, an overwhelming theme is that the world needs people focused on the intricacies of climate change adaptation at its implementations . Individuals that understand the value of communication, are able to adapt/react to a changing world, and value community leadership. From my perspective this embodies what a holistic planner should be. The skill of effective communication and systems thinking is invaluable to translating innovation into action. Specifically, there is a need for individuals who know how local governments and communities can manipulate new policies and resources to adapt to a changing world.

An emphasis on systems thinking

Climate adaptation cannot exist in a siloed field. One of my favorite themes was the repeated need for system-based thinking in nearly every approach, be it transportation, housing, energy, social equity, etc. Multiple speakers emphasized the need for policy makers to consider how intertwined climate adaptation must be to achieve its goals. Moreover, the nature of international issues necessitates systems thinking approaches.

Strong developments for third party verification of climate accounting efforts

I was very happy to learn about efforts towards creating tracking techniques that will allow for third party verification of climate accounting efforts. Much of this work appears to be coming out of the Open Earth Foundation and the Data-Driven EnviroLab, headed by UNC public policy professor Dr. Angel Hsu. Her work along with others is blazing a path towards methods that are allowing for validation of how corporations and governments are keeping with their climate emission reduction goals. The development of climate accounting is a necessary step to be able to track how organizations are adhering to their climate goals.

There has been a shift in talks from mitigation to adaptation and resilience

Consistently, I heard panelists acknowledge that we are past the point where we can solely mitigate climate impacts. A major speaker on this was a panel moderated by Ali Zaidi, US Deputy National Climate Advisor. Zaidi spoke multiple times on how we are entering a time where we must adapt to the future of climate change instead of simply operating under the belief we can mitigate it.

With COP26 officially ending Friday November 12th there are already analyses and many criticisms arising. One such report notes that the goal of not exceeding 1.5 degrees of warming is not in reach based on current pledges.^[vii] This report among others is just cause for concern and is yet another call of activists and scientists to keep politicians’ feet to the fire and to not give an inch. This conference and exposure to the international governance involved in climate adaptation has made me consider how best I can leverage my privilege and education to affect a positive change on the climate frontier. There are many issues surrounding international development and top-down policy development but I feel through listening and remaining a humble learner I and other planners may be able to affect positive change.

^[i] Taylor, Matthew. 2021. “Cop26 will be the whitest and most privileged ever, warn campaigners.” The Guardian.

^[ii] Hodari, David & Colchester, Max. “Glasgow Expects 25,000 Climate Summit Guests. It Has Just 15,000 Hotel Rooms.” The Wall Street Journal.

^[iii] “COP26 – what we know so far, and why it matters: Your UN News guide.“ 2021. United Nations.

^[iv] “UN Climate Change Conference 2022.” IISD SDG Knowledge Hub.

^[v] Manthey, Nora. 2021. “World leaders get the e-bus at COP26 in Glasgow.” Electrive.com.

^[vi] Musson, Chris. 2021. “’Work To Be Done.” The Scottish Sun.

^[vii] Dennis, Brady et al. 2021. “World leaders reach climate agreement at U.N. summit following two weeks of negotiations.” The Washington Post.

Pierce Holloway is a second-year master’s student at the Department of City and Regional Planning with a focus on Climate Change Adaptation. Before coming to Chapel Hill he worked as a geospatial analyst for Urban3, working on visualizing economic productivity of communities and states. Through his coursework he hopes to explore the nexus between adaptation for climate change and community equitability. In his free time, he enjoys long bike rides, trail running, and any excuse to play outside.

Edited by Ruby Brinkerhoff

Featured image: Author Pierce Holloway attending COP26. Courtesy of Lauren Jensen.

Planning for 36 Hours in Tokyo, Japan

December 10, 2020 / odrozd

About the series: Welcome to our ongoing travel series. These are all posts written by planning students and professionals about what to do in a given city when looking for Brunch, Brews, or a good idea on a Budget. To cap it all off, we include a fun planning fact!

By Siobhan Nelson

As the days grow darker and temperatures colder, I dream about summers in Tokyo. It’s true that Japanese summers can be oppressively hot and humid, but trust me when I say that it’s worth it. The heat, the lights, and sounds of the city meld together for an exhilarating experience.

You could spend years exploring the nooks and crannies of the vast metropolis, but here are some quick tips to maximize a 36-hour summer visit.

Budget: Fortunately, Tokyo is a city of options. It can be as expensive or as affordable as you need it to be, and you can still enjoy it on a budget.

Tokyo is a massive, sprawling city. It’s hard to grasp just how large and densely built it is, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building can give you a glimpse. The government building is centrally located and allows free visits to its observation deck. From the 45^th floor, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city, and on a clear day, even see Mount Fuji.

*View from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Photo Credit: Siobhan Nelson*

It bears repeating that summers in Tokyo are the best. Matsuri festivals fill the streets in neighborhoods across the city – bringing music, dancing, games, and food. Everything is amplified as the sun sets, the lanterns turn on, and the drinks flow. If exploring Tokyo on foot, you’re sure to come across a festival or two.

*Matsuri dancing. Photo credit: Siobhan Nelson*

The one downside to humid Tokyo summers is the accompanying rain. Nevertheless, if your visit happens to fall on a rainy day, don’t worry. The Edo-Tokyo Museum is not only a great way to hide out from the weather, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn about Tokyo. The museum covers the history and changing urban form of the city and will be of particular interest to planners.

*Exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Photo Credit: Grigoris Miliaresis via Tokyo Cheapo*

No post on Tokyo would be complete without mentioning the transit system. Tokyo is often cited as having one of the best train systems in the world. Local trains will take you anywhere in the city, express trains to the outskirts, and bullet trains will have you on the other side of the country in a matter of hours. Riding the train is an experience in and of itself, but ticket buying can be a confusing experience.

To ensure that you never overpay, purchase a transit card. Operating like a debit card, you simply swipe it at each station and the machines do the rest. Beyond transit, the card can be used at vending machines and grocery stores.

*Tokyo’s subway system. Photo Credit: http://subway.umka.org*

Speaking of vending machines, you can find them everywhere. A staple in the hustle and bustle culture, they offer a fast way to sample some of the more interesting drink options. In the summer, you can find choices like cherry blossom Pepsi and in the winter, hot corn soup.

*Cherry Blossom Pepsi. Photo Credit: Siobhan Nelson*

Convenience stores are also all over and a must for visitors of all budgets. The bento meals are an affordable way to try traditional Japanese food, but the snack and sandwich selections are also delightful. If you need additional guidance in picking out a quick lunch, the egg sandwiches were a favorite of chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain.

Brunch (or any meal): When in Japan, eat sushi! It might seem cliché, but you really should. If you are a sushi enthusiast, invest in an omakase (chef’s choice) dinner at a nice restaurant. If you’re not sold but want to give it a try, visit a rotating sushi place. Plates of everything from salmon to hamburger sushi circle you on a conveyor belt, and you can grab whatever catches your eye. Plates are color coded by price.

*Rotating sushi. Photo Credit: Siobhan Nelson*

Brew: Tokyo is a very caffeinated city, and in addition to the vending machines, you can find nice kissaten coffee shops all over. You really can’t go wrong with any of the local establishments. If you’re craving the familiar taste of Starbucks, make sure to go the Nakameguro location. It’s not only one of the largest Starbucks roasteries in the world, but it was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

*The Nakameguro Starbucks Roastery. Photo Credit: Matthew Glac via dezeen*

Fun Japanese Planning Fact: There are only 12 different land use zones, which are determined at the federal level. Unlike the traditional American approach that outlines what is allowed in each zone, the Japanese system focuses more on distinguishing functions that are not allowed. This is considered to be a more liberal approach to zoning and results in a unique urban form. Read more about their system here.

Cover Image: Tokyo from above. Photo Credit: Siobhan Nelson

Siobhan is a second-year master’s student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She is specializing in transportation planning and is interested in public transportation as a way to promote equity and improve community vibrancy. She received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, with a major in the Growth and Structure of Cities and a minor in Environmental Studies. In her free time, she enjoys listening to 80s music.

From the Archives: Can America Replicate Singapore’s Garden Cities?

November 13, 2020 / odrozd

This week’s post was originally published on February 20, 2020.

By Lizzie Tong

In the realm of sustainability and urban planning, Singapore is often hailed as a city-state worthy of envy and comparison – a Garden City. Through 40 years of rapid economic development and a transformation into an international financial hub, Singapore has been mindful to protect its natural environment, developing a reputation as a leader in green design.

As a small island about half the size of Hong Kong, Singapore has limited resources available for agricultural production, clean water, and energy production. Thus, policymakers have been prudent about maximizing resources and maintaining a healthy and clean environment for citizens to live, work, and play. While Americans have the luxury of escaping city limits to a wild sanctuary, the urban island forces Singaporeans to have a heightened incentive to conserve energy use, minimize water waste, and prevent air pollution.

As a result, the city-state contains almost 50% green cover, over 150 acres of rooftop gardens and green walls, and at least 10% of land is set aside for parks and nature conservation. Further, 80% of households are within a 10-minute walk to a park. The Sustainable Singapore Blueprint details even more rigorous environmental targets for 2030, doubling the amount of skyrise greenery to almost 500 acres, creating over 50 more miles of park connector greenways, and cutting harmful emissions of particulate matter (PM 2.5) in half.

Vertical greenery and historically preserved trees along National University of Singapore. Photo Credit: Lizzie Tong

This path has been present since the founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, stated that “the blighted urban jungle of concrete destroys the human spirit. We need the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits.” Since 1967, intentional, careful, long-term master planning directed by the government and the Urban Redevelopment Authority has succeeded in building an environment that citizens are proud of. Singaporeans have an inherent trust in policymakers to succeed in building a livable environment. Simultaneously, by pursuing a green city brand, Singapore has created a one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability.

In Singapore, green roofs, green walls, and skyrise greenery take priority over any other sustainable building solution. Cool roofs, which reflect light that would otherwise be absorbed by building materials, are much less expensive and effective at decreasing city temperatures and mitigating urban heat island. 95% of Singapore’s energy comes from natural gas and yet the Singaporean government has only recently began pushing to increase targets on solar panel coverage. Alternative sustainable building solutions are being pushed to the wayside because of the limited area of rooftops and self-imposed requirements to improve city greenery. In pursuing greenery objectives, nations like the United States overlook more feasible methods of reducing urban heat island and improving other measures, like air quality and overall well-being.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore are developing innovative ways to improve individual well-being in compact, high-density environments. Projects like Cooling Singapore consist of a research team of engineers and climatologists that are determined to collect data on the optimal outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) levels for everyday citizens and create comfortable environments to follow suit. Participants in the research respond to questions on wearable devices, gauging their individuals comfort levels based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, amount of shade, vegetation, and a variety of other factors. The research team then hopes to design indoor and outdoor environments that can be adjusted to individual comfort. For Singapore, improving well-being and livability is the final frontier in urban design – and increasing integrated greenspace is the solution to this challenge.

ParkROYAL on Pickering, Singapore, by WOHA. Photo Credit: Creative Commons, HeyItsWilliam

Yet, this blanket sustainability approach of a Garden City may only be worthwhile in certain areas. Research from the Center for Liveable Cities plots cities on a chart with livability against population density and finds that Vancouver City, Sydney, Melbourne, and Singapore rank the highest. Aside from Singapore, these cities with high rankings are also low-density. Singapore is one of the few high-density, compact environments that succeed in prioritizing well-being and livability. While residents of sprawling American cities have the option of escaping to concentrated areas of greenery, integrated greenery is the only option for a nation with limited resources and finite land.

Cloud Dome in Gardens by the Bay. Photo Credit: Lizzie Tong

The 160-foot tall Supertree Grove, powered by photovoltaic cells, along with the Cloud and Flower Domes at Gardens by the Bay are notable attractions. Designs and developments like these contribute to Singapore’s green city brand, driving the city’s tourism industry. Singapore is now the 5th most-visited city in the world. Although the design is envious, a City within a Garden transformation in American cities is likely less feasible. Unless more American city governments decide to stop developing sprawling neighborhoods and start building denser and higher, maximizing a diverse range of sustainable building solutions – cool roofs, solar panels, green roofs – will be the most low-cost, effective way to mitigate urban heat island, air pollution, and improve city well-being.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Photo Credit: Creative Commons, J. Philipp Krone

Feature Image: Singapore Changi Airport, The Jewel. Photo Credit: Lizzie Tong

Works Cited

https://www.clc.gov.sg/research-publications/publications/digital-library/view/singapore-the-first-city-in-nature

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/world/asia/eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/a7fac49f-9c96-4030-8709-ce160c58d15c

About the Author: Lizzie Tong studied economics and computer science at UNC and is interested in applying data science to solve challenges tied to urban sustainability. She currently works as a research assistant for the Community Development and Policy Studies Team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In her free time, she enjoys trying her hand at oil painting, competitive running, and new Bon Appetite recipes.

DCRP Master’s Project Preview

February 7, 2020 / odrozd

UNC’s top-ranked master’s program is designed to successfully prepare students for professional planning practice. A central component of the curriculum is a final capstone project, an ‘MP,’ which provides an opportunity for students to apply the skills and knowledge they’ve developed in the classroom and demonstrate their readiness for practice. But the MP is also a space for students to engage with pressing social and institutional challenges that affect real-world communities.

Current second-years Tory Gibler and Catherine McManus are both working on projects with real-world applications to address 21st challenges. A preview of their MPs illustrates the breadth of research being done at UNC and the ways in which the DCRP program aims to develop planners that are both successful and socially-engaged.

Curbside Management in North Carolina (Tory Gibler)

Curbside management seeks to optimize curbside usage, typically in urban downtowns, where a variety of users, businesses, and city functions are all competing for limited space. Large cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, and New York are proactively addressing curbside management, but curb competition is not unique to large metropolitan areas. Small to mid-size southeastern cities face the same challenges at the curb, particularly with the growth in Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft, the emergence of micromobility start-ups (e.g. e-scooter and dockless bicycle companies), urban freight delivery, and new complete street policies. My research looks at six North Carolina cities to better understand how these urban areas are managing the curb in light of new 21st century challenges.

Water Committees in sub-Saharan Africa (Catherine McManus)

The United Nations estimates that 1.8 billion people worldwide do not have access to safely managed drinking water sources. A major contributing factor to this problem in sub-Saharan Africa is that 25% of hand-pumps no longer work within four years of their construction. What explains why some water points reliably serve a community for decades while others fail within a year? Often, the answer lies in how local water committees manage their water systems. My MP looks at data from more than 3,000 water points across twelve countries in sub-Saharan Africa to understand whether different characteristics of these committees – including their composition, operations, and fee collection system – influence local water system functionality. I also intend to examine the potential of new definitions of ‘functionality’ to test the validity of existing, commonly used measures. These are questions we need to answer to help guarantee safe, reliable sources of drinking water for all.

Can America Replicate Singapore’s Garden Cities?

February 3, 2020 / odrozd

By Lizzie Tong

Feature Image: Singapore Changi Airport, The Jewel. Photo Credit: Lizzie Tong

Sources

https://www.clc.gov.sg/research-publications/publications/digital-library/view/singapore-the-first-city-in-nature

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/world/asia/

eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/a7fac49f-9c96-4030-8709-ce160c58d15c

About the Author: Lizzie Tong is a senior studying economics and computer science at UNC, with an interest in applying data science to solve challenges tied to urban sustainability. After graduating, she will be working as a research assistant for the Community Development and Policy Studies Team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In her free time, she enjoys trying her hand at oil painting, competitive running. and new Bon Appetit recipes.

Understanding Urbanization and Globalization in Shenzhen, China

January 21, 2020 / odrozd

By Heyne Kim

In the most literal sense, the term Global South indicates countries situated south of the Equator. In practice, however, it encompasses emerging and developing economies in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania, regardless of their geographic location relative to the Equator. Despite the discrepancy in its literal reading and underlying definition, the term has become synonymous with youth, energy, hope and excitement. Many of the fastest growing cities are found in the Global South today, which are “overflowing with opportunities.”[i] Already in 2011, the World Bank highlighted that Dubai, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo are fulfilling the role that Tokyo, London, and New York had assumed in the last century.[ii]

While countries and cities in the Global South share many traits, they differ widely in cultures, socioeconomic structures, and political systems. Scholars have suggested various interpretations of urbanization and globalization in the Global South, focusing on a specific city, region, or country to contextualize the experience, but not all have been successful at painting a full picture of development across time and space. For example, the success of Shenzhen is frequently discussed in economic terms while other non-economic elements are not highlighted as much. Indeed, Shenzhen’s urbanization and globalization are as much political and cultural phenomena as they are economic.

Within a mere span of 40 years, Shenzhen transformed from a tiny fishing village of 30,000 people to a manufacturing hub and subsequently to a center of the high-tech industry. The Garden City, as it is affectionately called, is home to 11 million people and constitutes the world’s largest continuously urbanized area.[iii] It is one of the world’s 123 largest metro areas and an Emerging Gateway, places that “…serve as the business, transportation, and oftentimes political centers of their respective countries.”[iv]

Shenzhen’s remarkable progress toward urbanization and globalization is undeniably a result of Deng Xiaoping’s economic liberalization in 1979. One of the first Special Economic Zones in China, Shenzhen promoted features that were attractive to businesses and foreign direct investments, such as: competitive corporate tax holidays; low-cost land, services, and labor; lax labor regulations; zero or low tariffs on certain goods; simplified entry and exit procedures; and easy access to the domestic market and inputs.[v] Bordering Hong Kong to the South, Shenzhen also benefitted from evolving conditions in Hong Kong during the 1980s and 1990s, where rising rents and labor costs prompted many manufacturing businesses to relocate. The share of manufacturing in Shenzhen’s GDP grew from 26 percent to 53.2 percent between 1980 and 2005.[vi]

With the services sector gradually replacing the manufacturing sector, Shenzhen is now repositioning itself as the “Silicon Valley of China.” The city, which is home to numerous Chinese technology giants—notably Huawei and Tencent—produces 90 percent of the world’s electronics and caters to a growing number of high-tech startups.[vii][viii] As a result, the share of the services sector in Shenzhen has grown from 46 percent in 2005 to 58 percent in 2018.[ix][x] Overall, Shenzhen’s nominal GDP grew more than 12,000 times between 1979 and 2018, from 0.196 billion RMB to 2,422.198 billion RMB.[xi]

Besides economic liberalization, political conditions in the region and across China were in Shenzhen’s favor. Urbanization in China has picked up a tone of inevitability since the Central Urbanization Work Conference in 2013, where the Chinese leadership likened urbanization to “the road China must take in its modernization drive.”[xii] Support for the growth of Shenzhen was part of the central government’s grand strategy to uplift the economy and society of China nationwide.[xiii] Moreover, the relative lack of government oversight from Beijing allowed the municipal government to create an environment favorable to the high-tech industry. In 1992, the central government and the Communist Party of China granted the City of Shenzhen the authority to write their own policies and laws.[xiv] This gave the municipal government significant leverage to introduce laws and regulations that incentivized high-tech firms to locate in Shenzhen. As part of this initiative, the City reformed its household registration system (hùkǒu) under the 2014 National New Urbanization Plan: depending on the extent of educational attainment and work experience, people from outside of Shenzhen were now eligible for residency permits and housing subsidies.[xv] In 2016 alone the City of Shenzhen issued 1.71 million permits.[xvi]

Shenzhen’s success is an indication of the growing political instability in Hong Kong, where the demand for full democracy has been escalating since the transfer of its sovereignty in 1997. The diminishing role of Hong Kong in China’s economy is evident in its share of China’s GDP, which has shrunk from 20 percent to less than three percent since 1997.[xvii] Beijing’s preference for Shenzhen became clear in August 2019 when the Central Committee for Deep and Comprehensive Reforms (Zhōngyāng Quánmiàn Shēnhuà Gǎigé Wěiyuánhuì) gave Shenzhen special rights to carry out reforms and reify the socialist model with Chinese characteristics. The government envisions Shenzhen becoming a leader in the global economy and providing top-notch welfare.[xviii] Given the political support, Shenzhen is expected to not only outperform Hong Kong, but is poised to become a global city comparable to Tokyo, London, and New York.

Lastly, while local history and culture had little impact on shaping urbanization and globalization in Shenzhen, the city has increasingly invested in building its cultural capital. Before 1979, Shenzhen was known as the place where the term “generic city” originated.[xix] Once people from all over China migrated to Shenzhen and settled in, diverse and innovative thinking have set in and come to define the culture of modern-day Shenzhen. Dafen, a suburb of Shenzhen, is one such example of agglomeration: artists from all over China and abroad flocked to Dafen in the late 1980s and engaged in oil painting production, which led to the establishment of Dafen Oil Painting Village, the largest oil painting producer in the world. Once a hotspot of the fake art business, Dafen has evolved into a creative haven for artists to develop their own style and brand.[xx] It is now part of the creative clusters in Shenzhen through which the city reinforces the pioneering spirit across the municipality.[xxi]

For much of the past century, urbanization and globalization in the Global South have been emblematic of colonial legacies. Many of the large cities found in the Global South are previously colonial cities that served as trading posts and administrative capitals for resource extraction and control of the indigenous population. In contrast, Shenzhen had no such history when it was first designated a Special Economic Zone. At the time, China was struggling with the widespread poverty produced by the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Successful policy implementation, evolving political dynamics between Beijing and the Pearl River Delta, and cultural agglomeration have however changed the course of Shenzhen’s future.

Shenzhen’s path to success is multifaceted and may not be easy to replicate elsewhere. While not discussed extensively, the lived experience of locals and migrants is also likely to vary widely, given how top-down policies often fail to reach all levels of society, leaving out the most marginalized and distressed. Although parity concerns remain, Shenzhen is a great inspiration for the Global South. With a bold vision, strong leadership, and a stroke of fortune, perhaps one day other cities in the Global South will be liberated from their colonial pasts and rise to become leaders in the global economy.

About the Author:

Heyne J. Kim is a candidate for the Master of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the program, she worked as a Coordinator for International Relations in southeastern Japan, promoting multiculturalism to Japanese citizens and foreign residents.

References

[i] Goldman, M. (2015). “Development and the City.” Cities of the Global South Reader. Franak Miraftab and Federic Stout (Eds.). New York, NY: Routledge. 5^th edition.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39: Shenzhen – from rural village to the world’s largest megalopolis. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/10/story-of-cities-39-shenzhen-from-rural-village-to-the-worlds-largest-megalopolis

[iv] Trujillo, J. and Parilla, J. (2016). Redefining Global Cities: The Seven Types of Global Metro Economies. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/redefining-global-cities/.

[v] Lockett, M. (1987). China’s Special Economic Zones: The Cultural and Managerial Challenges. Journal of General Management. 12(3), 21-31. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/030630708701200302

[vi] Huang, Y. and Bocchi, A. Reshaping Economic Geography in East Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reshaping_Economic_Geography_in_East_Asi/tOAITgWbNLEC?hl=en&gbpv=0

[vii] Harris, B. (2017, Nov 9). The astonishing rise of Shenzhen, China’s gadget capital. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/inside-shenzhen-china-s-gadget-capital/

[viii] Whitwell, T. (2014, June 13). Inside Shenzhen: China’s Silicon Valley. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/13/inside-shenzen-china-silicon-valley-tech-nirvana-pearl-river

[ix] Huang, Y. and Bocchi, A. Reshaping Economic Geography in East Asia.

[x] Shenzhen (Guangdong) City Information. (2019, May 16). HKTDC Research. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2AQiTy3

[xi] China CN: GDP: Guangdong: Shenzhen. (n.d.). CEIC. Data. Retrieved from https://www.ceicdata.com/en/china/gross-domestic-product-prefecture-level-city/cn-gdp-guangdong-shenzhen

[xii] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39: Shenzhen

[xiii] Kurry, A. (2012). Case Study: Shenzhen’s tale of “success” [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/akurry/2012/05/20/case-study-on-the-effects-of-rapid-growth-shenzhens-tale-of-success/

[xiv] Wang, M. and Meng, X. (2003). “Building nests to attracts birds”: China’s hi-tech zones and their impacts on transition from low-skill to high-value added process. 15^th Annual Conference of the ACESA. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.196.6091&rep=rep1&type=pdf

[xv] Arellano, G. (2019). 2014 New Urbanization Plan: What prograss has been made in Chinese cities towards implementing hukou reforms? (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from https://csub-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/210056/ArrellanoG_PPA_sp2019.pdf?sequence=1

[xvi] Sheehan, S. (2017, Feb 22). China’s Hukou Reforms and the Urbanization Challenge. The Diplomat. Retrieved from https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/chinas-hukou-reforms-and-the-urbanization-challenge/

[xvii] Schlesinger, D. (2019, Aug 27). Can China’s Government Replace Hong Kong? ChinaFile. Retrieved from http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/can-chinas-government-replace-hong-kong

[xviii] China plans to make Shenzhen a ‘better place’ than Hong Kong. (2019, Aug 20). The Strait Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-plans-to-make-shenzhen-a-better-place-than-hong-kong

[xix] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39:

[xx] Zhou, H. (2014). Redevelopment of Urban Village in Shenzhen.

[xxi] Lintu, M. (2012, Sept 17). Shenzhen: culture on the rise. GBTimes. Retrieved from https://gbtimes.com/shenzhen-culture-on-the-rise

Photo Credits

Shenzhen City Center (lead photo): Sparktour [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Luohu District, Shenzhen: “hdr6-2” by trey.menefee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Dafen Oil Painting Village: “04500037” by skha818 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Interaction with Memory: Preserving the Past While Embracing Change

August 9, 2019 / odrozd

“The process of planning is very valuable, for forcing you to think hard about what you are doing, but the actual plan that results from it is probably useless.” – Marc Andreessen

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” – 1984, George Orwell

Cities not only represent the future but also have the responsibility to preserve their past. This summer, while exploring ancient monuments and historic sites in India, I also read about modern and newly constructed memorials all around the world representing various incidents of significance including the war in the Middle East and the world’s first memorial for a melted glacier in Iceland. Most cities today are rapidly growing without taking into account their history and character. In many cases, city planners do not acknowledge monuments or memorials as integral parameters in long-range planning. Hyderabad in India is one such example. I have been lost in this city numerous times, both alone and accompanied, and always end up with the same experience: the streets seem to fold onto me suddenly and every single corner I turn to seems familiar and surrounded with history while simultaneously having high towers that rise from nowhere. I have wondered how my city reinvented itself around me all these years.

Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad Photo Credit: Siri Nallaparaju

As professionals, we think of urban planning as a two-dimensional subject that consists of “space” and “utility” or in generic planning terms, “land” and “use”. I, however, have recently discovered that there is a third dimension: human behavior. Planning, today, has the need to influence a certain human behavior. This instinctive behavior needs to be captured through design and should be channeled into being a monitored definitive movement. It need not be something that is momentarily influenced but as a continuous loop that is structured by a fixed dimension, such as space. While we do look into physical aspects of design, the question of ‘who’ gets influenced by the design arises. Various themes revolving around concepts of inclusivity, gender specificity, and even neutral cities have risen. However, with a continuous growing circular economy, there is a need for cities to cater to global interaction unlike traditional beliefs of modern followers of the Bauhaus. One such aspect is the concept of memorials and monuments and how these spaces symbolize the value of freedom of expression as well as introduce a sense of belonging.

Planning theory states that cities, in order to grow, need to be established from a specific focal point. An alternate theory comes to mind: what if they need to be established based on human behavior and certain incidents that play a vital role in the growth and well-being of the citizens? Planning in ancient India was evident through the great Indus Valley civilization where spaces were designed based on social behavior. Similarly, in the Western world, Paris was built with the Notre Dame as its center and the preliminary road network nodes forming a star shape. Likewise, temple cities in India such as Madurai and Thanjavur grew from the focal point of temples.

While eminent journalists such as Jacobs, Geddes, Mumford, and others focused on physical and materialistic aspects of planning, Henri Lefebvre focused on people’s expression. He adopted the techniques of these ancient cities and civilizations, understood their importance and mirrored them to reflect today’s cities. In ancient planning, non-market values, such as civic responsibility, were resources for planning as a purely societal tool. In an era where planning is dominated by slum rehabilitation in Mumbai or massive structures such as The Vessel of the Hudson Yards in Manhattan, where urban revival and affordability are the most sought after problems, the necessity of protecting the sense of character and history of a city is secondary.

However, in his book Production of Space, Lefebvre focused on specific elements of urban design that help build a city for the future as well as preserve it. Whether it’s the valley of Kanchanaburi in Thailand with its never-ending Hellfire Pass, the long-forgotten Tombs of the Qutb Shahi rulers of India or even the National 9/11 Memorial that’s surrounded by Manhattan’s dense urban fabric, these memorials are a symbol of a relationship of an eternal memory surrounded by a city that is constantly changing and developing. With developing countries having rapid urbanization rates, their heritage is at risk unless Planning takes it into account as a necessary parameter.

New York City, 9/11 Memorial. Photo Credit: vikwaters, Creative Commons.

While Lefebvre’s analysis and perception of cities are noteworthy, what was staggeringly profound was his description of the advancement of technology and its inability to change social relationships as well as the relationship between people and memory in a positive manner. Citizens will one day need these spaces to escape the monotonous cacophony of urban lifestyle, he says. Today, Space is defined as something quantitative in a financial district while it can be analyzed as a more qualitative and pure aspect in reference to a memorial. We are now stuck in a circle where development overruns bring to light more issues such as agglomeration, lack of urban services, etc. Furthermore, modern capitalism has strengthened the value of place arousing a longing for a specific community which thus, led to the concept of community planning.

While acknowledging the success of many cities in achieving planned growth, it is perhaps the intangible aspects of personal and public spaces, as Lefebvre mentioned, that bring the symbolic eternity into focus while being surrounded by a heavy, dense yet mundane environment. With New York City working on its first-ever master plan for public memorials, it is important for planners to decide whether to lock down areas today for a future where commemorative planning can remain open to various themes and forms of remembrance that are yet to be imagined or even accepted.

In a busy world such as ours, humans need the sanctity that these memorials and monuments offer, a true space with sentimental purpose while bringing about collective identity. Memorials and monuments act as spaces for engagement and interaction which makes cities more efficient and inclusive not of gender, race or creed but of thoughts and opinions.

About the Author: Siri Nallaparaju is a second year Master’s candidate in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her research interests mainly focus on global climate change, international development, and environmental degradation. As a planner, she is interested in bringing about a positive change in the world through sustainable development. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and experimenting with various cuisines of food while simultaneously trying to solve all the planning questions that constantly revolve in her head.

Featured Image: Evening Kites, Hyderabad, India. Photo Credit: Frank Starmer.

Citations:

Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, Wiley-Blackwell; 1992

Henri Lefebvre, The Critique of Everyday Life, Verso, 1991

Knapp M L, Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction, Rinehart & Winston, Holt, New York, 1978

Lewis Mumford, “What is a City,” (first published in Architectural Record, 1937) The City Reader, (Fifth Edition) Richard T. Le Gates and Frederic Stout, (London and New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 91-95

Path to Peace: Road Building and Recovery in Afghanistan

May 31, 2019 / odrozd

While Americans are debating a Hyperloop, electric scooters, and ride-hailing services, some people are still just trying to access basic road infrastructure. Take Kunar, Afghanistan: located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Kunar is a stronghold for the Taliban and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan branch of ISIS. Despite the ongoing violence in Kunar, the government has been unable to advance its counter-terrorism agenda in the region due to the poorly connected and managed road network. According to former US commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, “Wherever the road ends, that’s where the Taliban starts” (1).

Since the official ‘end’ of the Taliban regime in 2001, the Afghan government has been trying to rehabilitate and expand its Soviet-era road infrastructure after decades of war and neglect. According to a 2016 report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense have spent $2.8 billion since 2002 on construction and repair of the country’s road infrastructure (2). Starting during the Obama era, however, the US shifted from funding road maintenance projects to relying on pre-allocated money to build new roads. President Trump has gone a step further, expressing his intent to slash $3 billion in foreign aid (3). In response to these losses, the Afghan government cut more than half of its infrastructure spending in 2018. The overall development budget, meanwhile, was reduced by 42 percent (4).

A few examples of the eclectic private vehicle fleet on the roads of Afghanistan. Cars are typically old, can have a steering wheel on either side, and are subject to little safety regulation (photo credit – Heyne Kim).

Although Afghanistan saw an average growth rate of 7 percent in GDP between 2007-2016, and has become more responsible in government spending, the country still relies on international donors. For example, in the 2018 budget, domestic revenue accounted for only 47 percent of the total, compared to 52 percent from foreign aid (4).

Today, China has in many ways taken up the role previously held by the US, investing $62 billion in Pakistan for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A part of China’s greater Road and Belt initiative, the CPEC project aims to build a roughly 2,000-mile road network across Pakistan, all the way to the Port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea (5). CPEC also features a real-time monitoring and 24-hour surveillance system in urban areas, as well as explosive detectors and scanners for major roads, case-prone areas, and crowded places (6). China’s pilot program will be launched in Peshawar, a critical Taliban stronghold, and expanded overtime to other important political and economic hubs. The political motivations behind, and long-term implications of, these investments are complicated, but, currently, CPEC may be Pakistan’s best option for combatting terrorism.

Aside from the security concerns of the Taliban’s resurgence and China’s growing presence, there are other reasons why the US needs to maintain its commitment to improving infrastructure in Afghanistan. Infrastructure has been identified as a top government priority to ensure long-term economic growth and the eradication of poverty in Afghanistan, where agriculture produces 24.5 percent of the GDP and employs nearly 60 percent of the population. The country also contains 1.3 million hectares of valuable forestland and mineral resources estimated to be worth at least $1 trillion (7). Due to the lack of access, though, these resources are currently underutilized and subject to illegal exploitation by terrorist groups. Moreover, Afghanistan contains five major river basins and 36 sub-basins, which are critical to the larger region’s fragile freshwater management system (8). As such, having good relations with Afghanistan is key to promoting US-Central Asia relations more broadly.

Of course, foreign aid alone cannot solve Afghanistan’s infrastructure crisis; real change must come from within. Corruption has caused an estimated $5 billion in losses every year, while a lack of domestic traffic regulation has led to the proliferation of illegal drivers, overweight trucks, and improvised explosive devices, all of which contributes to wear and tear on the roads (2,4). Meanwhile, use of local contractors for road maintenance has been shown to help avert insurgent attacks. As such, addressing corruption and poor governance, while also increasing the share of local resources in road projects, will help ensure safety while also improving the local economy and allowing greater public participation in the planning process.

An efficient, safe, and accessible road network is seen as a matter of life or death today in Afghanistan, just as it was at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s here at home. As such, continued US investment in Afghanistan’s road infrastructure is critical for combatting terrorism, improving US relations in the region, and protecting Afghan life and property. However, efforts must be made from the Afghan side as well, like two horses pulling a cart side by side. Peace and prosperity in Afghanistan is long overdue, and a better road network is one of the first steps to get there.

References:

Sieff, K. 2014. After billions in US investment, Afghan roads are falling apart. The Washington Post. 30 Jan. 2014. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/after-billions-in-us-investment-afghan-roads-are-falling-apart/2014/01/30/9bd07764-7986-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.29ba8ab84656>
SIGAR. 2016. Afghanistan’s Road Infrastructure: Sustainment Challenges and Lack of Repairs Put U.S. Investment at Risk. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Audit Report 17-11. Oct. 2016. <https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/SIGAR-17-11-AR.pdf>
Ferris, S. 2018. Trump administration to attempt to kill $3B in foreign aid. POLITICO. 17 Aug. 2018. <https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/17/white-house-cut-foreign-aid-money-743481>
IWA. 2017. The Game of Numbers: Analysis of the National Budget 2018. Integrity Watch Afghanistan. Dec. 2017. <https://iwaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IWA__National-Budget__English_6.pdf>
Rafiq, A. 2017. China’s $62 Billion Bet on Pakistan. Foreign Affairs Letter from Gwadar. 24 Oct. 2017. <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2017-10-24/chinas-62-billion-bet-pakistan>
Bilal, S.H. 2017. How China and Pakistan are Combating Terrorism. The Asia Dialogue Belt and Road Initiative. 15 Nov. 2017. <https://theasiadialogue.com/2017/11/15/how-china-and-pakistan-are-combating-terrorism/>
Schewe, E. 2017. War Has Made Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion in Minerals Worthless. JSTOR Daily. 20 Nov. 2017. <https://daily.jstor.org/war-has-made-afghanistans-1-trillion-in-minerals-worthless/>
Huwaida, M.R. 2018. Afghanistan Water Resources: The Cause of Conflicts with Neighboring Countries. Daily Outlook Afghanistan. 23 May 2018. <http://outlookafghanistan.net/editorialdetail.php?post_id=20987>

About the author: Heyne J. Kim is a candidate for the Master of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the program, she worked as a Coordinator for International Relations in southeastern Japan, promoting multiculturalism to Japanese citizens and foreign residents (edited by Leah Campbell).

Featured Image: A small town in Kunar, a politically volatile region in Afghanistan mentioned in the opening paragraph.

DCRP Students Work on Interdisciplinary Research at the Nexus of Climate Change and Health

April 24, 2019 / odrozd / 0 Comments

Featured Image: Playas de la Costa Verde, near Lima, Peru. Photo Credit: Willian Justen de Vasconcellos, Unsplash.

A strength of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is the potential for students to take courses in other departments and engage with faculty and students across the university. This interdisciplinary education is critical for planners-in-training. Planning, more than most professions, requires engaging with cross-disciplinary issues and obligates practitioners to serve as facilitators on teams with diverse backgrounds and expertise. Thus, the opportunity to engage in high-quality academic research on a multidisciplinary team as a student is an invaluable experience in graduate school.

Two DCRPers engaged in this opportunity in spades during the spring 2019 semester. First-year graduate students Emily Gvino (MPH/MCRP) and Leah Campbell (PhD) were members of a five-person team brought together for a semester-long research seminar with the goal of developing a paper that could eventually be published. The theme of the GEOG 803 class, hosted by the Department of Geography, was climate change and health, broadly interpreted. One group in the class focused on the impacts of climate change on agricultural yields in the Southeast United States. Another looked at deforestation and forest livelihoods in Central Africa.

Emily and Leah’s team looked at the impacts of long-term climate change on the prevalence of stunting for children under five in Peru. This research is highly related to Emily and Leah’s academic interests: Leah focuses on integrating equity and resilience into climate adaptation, and she possesses a background in geophysics and environmental science. Emily’s research interests involve how the natural environment can address social justice issues and the impact of climate change and the environment on health.

Stunting is defined by a measured height-for-age two or more standard deviations below the international median determined by the World Health Organization. As a nutritional health outcome, stunting is a critical condition to study because of its association with several subsequent health and social outcomes. The negative repercussions include an increased risk of death, poor adult health, reduced cognitive function, decreased fine motor skills, and decreased lifetime economic productivity and earnings. As of 2011, more than 165 million children under five were stunted worldwide; an additional 25 million are projected to be undernourished (and therefore stunted) by 2050, with projections connecting these results to climate change.

Peru is a particularly interesting place to investigate stunting trends given the overall high rates of stunting nationally. As a result of both pervasive poverty and social inequality, as well as economic and political instability through the 1980s, Peru previously had one of the highest rates of stunting in Latin America. As of the early 2000s, more than a quarter of children in Peru were stunted. Specifically, the Peruvian government ventured on a country-wide, coordinated effort to rectify the public health crisis, which had not improved despite the concurrent economic growth in the region. In particular, the government focused their policy and intervention efforts on improving nutritional outcomes; this program was the most effective on the part of the Peruvian government in two decades, reducing the rate of stunting by 11.7 points in only six years (from 29.8% in 2005 to 18.1% in 2011). The findings from their paper, by examining the connection between climate anomalies and stunting in Peruvian children, may illuminate if these continued governmental efforts will be undermined by climate change in the coming years.

Given these interesting trends, many studies have looked at the relationship between different demographic characteristics and stunting in Peru. The results are consistent with other studies that have been done through the developing world. Unsurprisingly, the highest rates of stunting are typically found in the poorest households, those most dependent on agriculture, located in rural communities, and present in families where mothers have the least number of years of formal education. In Peru, specifically, indigeneity has been found to be another important predictor of stunting with a stunting rate of 47% in indigenous communities versus only 23% in non-indigenous households.

Plenty of research has also been done on the ways in which climate change may increase the prevalence of stunting globally and exacerbate the socioeconomic disparities in stunting rates. Three main mechanisms have been proposed for how climate may impact child height. The first is that fetal stress will permanently inhibit child growth if a mother is exposed to climate extremes while pregnant. However, that finding ignores the potential of ‘catch-up’ growth after the earliest development stages. The second is that climate anomalies will change agricultural productivity, in turn negatively impacting family incomes and food availability. This argument is complicated by individual and household-level adaptation and non-environmental drivers of agricultural productivity including prices and market access. The final proposed mechanism is that climate change will reduce water quality and change the disease environment, increasing the prevalence of diarrheal and gastrointestinal illnesses that can inhibit growth in children at critical early stages.

Emily and Leah’s paper this semester focused less on the specific pathways than simply what impact climate change may have on Peruvian children’s health outcomes. This connection represents a notable gap in the literature to-date. This analysis was also somewhat unusual in its method. Rather than trying to investigate the relationship indirectly (many previous studies looked at climate impacts on agriculture and then made assumptions as to the impacts on child nutrition), this paper looks at the direct relationship between temperature and precipitation anomalies and height-for-age scores, without making assumptions as to the nature of that relationship.

Using data from the global Demographic and Health Survey, one of the most important datasets in public health research, regression models were developed to look at how year-to-year exposure – including prenatal exposure – to climate anomalies predicted the likelihood of stunting. Both a logistic regression (with the WHO standard cut-off for the stunting determination), and a linear regression (using height-for-age scores as the outcome variable) were developed, controlling for various socioeconomic characteristics at the household and child level, including maternal education and age, child age and sex, family wealth, indigeneity, and geography. The sample of children – almost 80,000 records – were then divided into five cohorts based on age to examine whether the effect of climate differed based on a child’s age.

Results are still being analyzed, but the initial findings are promising for a publishable paper. In line with previous studies, findings confirm that larger households with lower socioeconomic status or in indigenous communities are more likely to have stunted children. Interestingly, young boys were found to be more at risk of stunting than girls. This is a common finding as well, though no satisfying social or biological reason has been found to explain it.

Where the study gains intrigue is what it suggests about climate impact on stunting. While increasing rainfall was actually found to have a positive effect on children’s height, there is a clear relationship between increasing temperatures and increased rates of stunting. Interestingly, children don’t seem to be affected by the most recent year of climate exposure; that is, kids in the 4 to 5-year-old cohort were not significantly affected by temperature anomalies experienced in their 3rd to 4th years of life. It’s difficult to know the cause of this finding in the scope of this analysis; it’s possible that there are delays between temperature extremes, reduced food availability because of temperature, and poor nutritional outcomes because of reduced food availability or quality.

Figures 1 and 2. Monthly mean precipitation (1) and temperature (2) values for each region, represented by five month moving averages over the years 1981-2012. Regional monthly means were calculated using weighted averages over polygon size for departments located in each region. Vertical lines represent the first months of years with very strong El Niño events as defined by the Oceanic Niño Index index.

Figures 3 and 4. Overall monthly average for precipitation (1) and temperature (2) across Peru departments over the 1981-2012 year period.

Another particularly interesting finding is that the effect of climate experienced in utero on stunting rates, though significant in the first couple of years of life, dissipates after age three. The positive explanation for this is that children experience ‘catch-up’ growth over time. The more negative interpretation is that children most dramatically affected by fetal stress die early and are, thus, lost from the sample. The issue of selective mortality was beyond the scope of this analysis but represents an important issue to explore in the future.

The team is wrapping up its first draft of the analysis and paper currently. After this semester, they hope to continue working together to move the project forward towards publication. The most immediate goal is to expand the regression models to include interaction terms between the climate variables and some of the socioeconomic/demographic variables. This will allow the team to elucidate any direct relationships between these characteristics and climate to determine whether climate change will disproportionately affect some groups and whether the negative effect of certain characteristics, like poverty is exacerbated by climate change. After that point, it’s a matter of preparing the paper for submission in a publication, which will undoubtedly bring its own challenges and opportunities!

The full team on this project includes: Leah Campbell (Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); Khristopher Nicholas (Department of Nutrition and the Carolina Population Center, UNC-CH); Emily Gvino (Department of City and Regional Planning and Department of Health Behavior, UNC-CH); Gioia M. Skeltis (Department of Anthropology, UNC-CH); Wenbo Wang (Department of Statistics, UNC-CH)

References:

Marini, Alessandra, and Claudia Rokx. 2016. Standing Tall: Peru’s Success in Overcoming Its Stunting Crisis. Public Disclosure. World Bank, Washington, DC. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28321.

Mejía Acosta A., and L. Haddad. 2014. The politics of success in the fight against malnutrition in Peru. Food Policy, 44:26-35.

Huicho, L., Huayanay-Espinoza, C. A., Herrera-Perez, E., Segura, E. R., Niño de Guzman, J., Rivera-Ch, M., and A. J. D. Barros. 2017. Factors behind the success story of under-five stunting in Peru: A district ecological multi-level analysis. BMC Pediatrics, 17(29):1-9.

Johnson, K., and M. E. Brown. 2014. Environmental risk factors and child nutritional status and survival in a context of climate variability and change. Applied Geography, 54:209-221.

Larrea, C., and W. Freire. 2002. Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries. Public Health, 11(5-6):356-364.

Lloyd, S. J., Kovats, R. S., and Z. Chalabi. 2011. Climate change, crop yields, and undernutrition: Development of a model to quantify the impact of climate scenarios on child undernutrition. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(120):1817-1823.

Phalkey, R. K., Aranda-Jan, C., Marx, S., Hofle, B., and R. Sauerborn. 2015. Systematic review of current efforts to quantify impacts of climate change on undernutrition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 112(33):4522-4529.

Prendergast, A., and J. Humphrey. 2014. The stunting syndrome in developing countries. Pediatrics and International Child Health, 34(4):250-265.

Shin, H. 2007. Child health in Peru: Importance of regional variation and community effects on children’s height and weight. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48:418-433.

Tiwari, S., Jacoby, H. G., and E. Skoufias. 2017. Monsoon babies: Rainfall shocks and child nutrition in Nepal. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 65(2):167-188.

Woldehanna, T. 2010. Do pre-natal and post-natal economic shocks have a long-lasting effect on the height of 5-year-old children? Evidence from 20 sentinel sites of rural and urban Ethiopia. Working Paper 60. Young Lives: An International Study on Childhood Poverty. Department of International Development, University of Oxford: Oxford, UK. 49pp.

By Adam Hasan, B.A. Geography ’19

Regina Telebus (1973)

September Five at Saint-Henri (1962)

A Capital Plan (1949)

Chairs for Lovers (1973)

City Limits (1971)

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983)

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

By Pierce Holloway, CPJ Editor-in-Chief

COVID-19 precautions

General lack of space

Innovation versus behavioral change

A planning education may be rewarded

An emphasis on systems thinking

Strong developments for third party verification of climate accounting efforts

There has been a shift in talks from mitigation to adaptation and resilience

By Lizzie Tong

Curbside Management in North Carolina (Tory Gibler)

Water Committees in sub-Saharan Africa (Catherine McManus)

By Lizzie Tong

By Heyne Kim

About the Author:

References

[i] Goldman, M. (2015). “Development and the City.” Cities of the Global South Reader. Franak Miraftab and Federic Stout (Eds.). New York, NY: Routledge. 5th edition.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39: Shenzhen – from rural village to the world’s largest megalopolis. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/10/story-of-cities-39-shenzhen-from-rural-village-to-the-worlds-largest-megalopolis

[iv] Trujillo, J. and Parilla, J. (2016). Redefining Global Cities: The Seven Types of Global Metro Economies. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/redefining-global-cities/.

[v] Lockett, M. (1987). China’s Special Economic Zones: The Cultural and Managerial Challenges. Journal of General Management. 12(3), 21-31. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/030630708701200302

[vi] Huang, Y. and Bocchi, A. Reshaping Economic Geography in East Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reshaping_Economic_Geography_in_East_Asi/tOAITgWbNLEC?hl=en&gbpv=0

[vii] Harris, B. (2017, Nov 9). The astonishing rise of Shenzhen, China’s gadget capital. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/inside-shenzhen-china-s-gadget-capital/

[viii] Whitwell, T. (2014, June 13). Inside Shenzhen: China’s Silicon Valley. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/13/inside-shenzen-china-silicon-valley-tech-nirvana-pearl-river

[ix] Huang, Y. and Bocchi, A. Reshaping Economic Geography in East Asia.

[x] Shenzhen (Guangdong) City Information. (2019, May 16). HKTDC Research. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2AQiTy3

[xi] China CN: GDP: Guangdong: Shenzhen. (n.d.). CEIC. Data. Retrieved from https://www.ceicdata.com/en/china/gross-domestic-product-prefecture-level-city/cn-gdp-guangdong-shenzhen

[xii] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39: Shenzhen

[xiii] Kurry, A. (2012). Case Study: Shenzhen’s tale of “success” [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/akurry/2012/05/20/case-study-on-the-effects-of-rapid-growth-shenzhens-tale-of-success/

[xv] Arellano, G. (2019). 2014 New Urbanization Plan: What prograss has been made in Chinese cities towards implementing hukou reforms? (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from https://csub-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/210056/ArrellanoG_PPA_sp2019.pdf?sequence=1

[xvi] Sheehan, S. (2017, Feb 22). China’s Hukou Reforms and the Urbanization Challenge. The Diplomat. Retrieved from https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/chinas-hukou-reforms-and-the-urbanization-challenge/

[xvii] Schlesinger, D. (2019, Aug 27). Can China’s Government Replace Hong Kong? ChinaFile. Retrieved from http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/can-chinas-government-replace-hong-kong

[xviii] China plans to make Shenzhen a ‘better place’ than Hong Kong. (2019, Aug 20). The Strait Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-plans-to-make-shenzhen-a-better-place-than-hong-kong

[xix] Sala, I. (2016, May 10). Story of cities #39:

[xx] Zhou, H. (2014). Redevelopment of Urban Village in Shenzhen.

[xxi] Lintu, M. (2012, Sept 17). Shenzhen: culture on the rise. GBTimes. Retrieved from https://gbtimes.com/shenzhen-culture-on-the-rise

Photo Credits

Shenzhen City Center (lead photo): Sparktour [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Luohu District, Shenzhen: “hdr6-2” by trey.menefee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Dafen Oil Painting Village: “04500037” by skha818 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

A few examples of the eclectic private vehicle fleet on the roads of Afghanistan. Cars are typically old, can have a steering wheel on either side, and are subject to little safety regulation (photo credit – Heyne Kim).

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[i] Goldman, M. (2015). “Development and the City.” Cities of the Global South Reader. Franak Miraftab and Federic Stout (Eds.). New York, NY: Routledge. 5^th edition.