Opinion – Claudio Bernardes: Is it possible to make cities more inclusive?

It is a fact that urbanization has been one of the most significant driving forces of recent global development. Currently, cities account for approximately 80% of the GDP generated worldwide.

But if, on the one hand, urbanization drives the global economy, on the other hand, inequality and social exclusion within cities, which are increasingly evident, can make development progress unfeasible. In this context, the international community recognizes the need to create more inclusive cities, and ensure that people can more equitably reap the benefits of urban life. However, this remains a major challenge.

According to the World Bank, one in three urban residents in the developing world still lives in slums, with inadequate services and poor quality of life. To ensure that the cities of tomorrow offer opportunities and better living conditions for all, it is essential to understand that the concept of inclusive cities involves a complex web of multiple spatial, social and economic factors.

Urban inclusion requires meeting basic needs such as housing, water and sanitation. An inclusive city still needs to guarantee equal rights and the participation of all, including the most marginalized, in the life of the city. In addition, it is essential to create jobs and give urban residents the opportunity to reap the benefits of economic growth, which is a critical component of urban inclusion.

While inclusion is clearly a multifaceted issue, traditional interventions have mainly focused on physical improvements, such as slum upgrading, for example. In an effort to combat urban poverty and inequality more effectively, the World Bank proposes that a holistic approach be developed that integrates all three dimensions of urban inclusion: spatial, social, and economic.

Designing innovative, multidimensional interventions to create inclusive cities requires multisectoral solutions. This implies combining spatial approaches (access to land, infrastructure and housing) with social interventions (inclusion of the marginalized, community development, investment in crime and violence prevention), and economic measures (creation of jobs and opportunities for all, education and training). , economic strategies for the poorest, access to credit and financing).

It is necessary to combine ‘preventive’ and ‘corrective’ solutions, which allow proactive planning for future growth, with approaches that enable the restoration of distortions that have occurred.

While a multidimensional and integrated approach is recommended, it is not always possible to implement operations that target all aspects of inclusion at once. In some cases, interventions need to be sequenced and scaled up or scaled down, based on context, priorities and needs.

When it comes to building inclusive cities, the highest levels of government must strengthen the capacity of municipalities to tackle the root of problems. It is important to ensure that local governments have the political backing, delegated powers, necessary tools and sufficient resources to make urban inclusion a reality.

However, within the possibilities for municipalities to act on this issue is, for example, the adequate formulation of master plans, which can become relevant instruments in the fight against urban exclusion. They meet the necessary conditions to act in approaches related to the form of occupation of spaces, and in the induction of economic development. The structuring of land use and occupation models, which allow reducing the costs of housing production and optimizing the occupation of areas with better infrastructure, can certainly be an important way to make cities more inclusive.