NCeHu 697/04
Intermediate Cities and Aspects of
Urban Sustainability in the Andean
Region
Christoph Stadel
Salzburg, Austria
Abstract:
Although most Latin American countries are still
characterized by an urban primacy of large metropolitan
centers, in many cases a shift in the most pronounced relative
growth dynamics from the metropolises to medium-sized cities
can be observed today. This may have been the result of the negative
consequences of the metropolization, or of less attractive
economics of scale. It may also be a consequence of
decentralization efforts of governments and of new economic
potentials of non-primate cities and of a perceived higher
quality of life in these urban centers.
Taking into account the newly recognized importance and
potentials of non-metropolitan centers, the author of this
paper has coordinated during the last two years the
international research program ALFA-GEORED I and II, largely
supported by the European Commission, which dealt with the growth
processes, urban structures and urban sustainability aspects of
selected medium-sized cities in Andean countries. In addition
to participating universities in Austria (Salzburg and
Innsbruck), Germany (Marburg), Spain (Salamanca and Barcelona),
institutions in Colombia (Manizales), Ecuador (Quito), Peru
(Lima) and Chile (Santiago, Valdivia, Temuco) participated in
the research network. In a series of workshops in Lima,
Manizales, Valdivia, Salzburg and Innsbruck, the participants
placed a focus on the cities of Manizales, Colombia, Cuenca,
Ecuador, Cajamarca, Peru and Valdivia and Temuco, Chile to
examine dimensions, parameters, potentials of and constraints
for urban sustainability. The results of these studies will be
published next year in a special volume of the journal 'Espacio
y Desarrollo' in Lima.
Compared to other disciplines and regions, the concept
of sustainability, applied to urban areas has only recently
received greater attention. Within the context of cities in the
Andean realm, it is evident that urban centers are powerful
agents of environmental transformation, of ecological
degradation, and of socio-economic stress which are major
counteractive forces to urban sustainability and are threats to
the individual and collective quality of life of their
inhabitants. Major constraints of and barriers to a sustainable
environment and urban life are the multiple dimensions of
poverty and marginality; it has become evident, that the
environmental conditions and the level of socio-economic
well-being reach their most pronounced stages of
non-sustainability in the barrios of the urban poor.
Thus the principal target groups and target areas
towards a sustainable development of cities have to be the
urban poor and the urban marginal settlements. Strategies
towards an urban sustainability are not limited to measures
simply responding to and alleviating environmental and
socio-economic problems and deficiencies. They must be
complemented by a use and mobilization of the local and
regional natural and human resources. This does require a
strengthening of the cultural identity of the urban people and
an individual and of the collective 'sense of place' and attachment to
their community. Only on the basis of this 'conscientización'
the processes of a 'capacitación' and empowerment towards a
better urban future can begin to unfold. While the reliance
upon and the mobilization of the intrinsic resources and
potentials appear to be paramount in attaining urban
sustainability, the extrinsic political, economic and social
factors and processes must support or at least not be
counterproductive to the local 'patrimonio urbano', to the
socio-economic viability and potential and to a move towards
greater decentralization, local empowerment and autonomy.
Thus, the concept and the objectives of and the
strategies toward urban sustainability are characterized by
many interrelated aspects and parameters; they affect and need
to be supported by all segments of the urban society; they have
spatial impacts at various scales ranging from the micro-level
of small barrios to the wider urban region; and they include a
time horizon spanning from a concern of preserving valuable
cultural traditions, to meeting the basic needs of the current
population, to assuring a future healthy environment and
quality of life.
Resumen de la Conferencia dictada durante el
Primer Encuentro Internacional Humboldt. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Noviembre de
1999.
|