Home to some 3.5 million people Johannesburg is a city of migrants. Of the 3225816 people in the City of Johannesburg at the time of the 2001 census 1136851 people making 35.2 percent of the population were recorded as internal migrants and 216715 (6.7 percent) were recorded as international migrants. The numbers of migrants are almost certainly underestimated. Johannesburgs international migrants consist of three basic groups - apartheid-era white immigrants from Europe; semi-skilled and unskilled people from neighbouring countries; and post-1990 migrants from around the world. Globalisation and South Africas return into continental and global circuits of production and exchange have turned the city into an attractive destination. South Africa is also a relatively safe haven for asylum-seekers and refugees fleeing Africas hot spots. Skilled professional migrants live in the citys formerly white northern suburbs. Poorer and less-skilled migrants are drawn to live in backyard shacks in the townships of Soweto and Alexandra and the informal shantytowns on the periphery of the city. In between are a range of migrants who have moved into the inner-city. (excerpt)
1976年,联合国环境规划署的一名高级官员收到一份文件,其中建议环境问题与妇女状况应得到环境规划署的关注,这名官员在转发批注上草草写道"除非等我死了".我知道这件事,因为当时我作为联合国环境规划署一名职位较低的官员,不得不负责把这张纸条传到它的下个目的地去.
当今世界年龄在25岁以下的青年人有12亿.下一代的青年,即年龄低于15岁的儿童,人数将会多出一半,预计为18亿人. 任何富有意义的解决城市问题的方法都必须把青年人考虑进来.在只得到非常少的官方支持或资源的情况下,青年人已经在世界上一些极为边缘化的地区开始了构想、设计和实施成功的社区建设项目.他们需要得到认可、指引、资源和培训.
乔斯·杰拉尔多·莫雷拉是一个违章住区的成功案例.他来到里约热内卢的一处名为罗辛哈的贫民窟,随身未携带任何东西.今天,三十年过去了,这位俭朴的贫民窟水果摊贩居住在一个三层的小楼中.房屋由钢筋混凝土和砖建造而成,有水电供应,同时还能看到大海的景色.这个地处叫作两兄弟山的陡坡上、位于Gavea和Sao Conrado两处富人区之间的社区证明了世界上许多违章住区不再是贫民窟了.
尼日利亚是非洲人口最多的国家,拥有非洲最大的城市拉各斯.作为世界上人口增长最快的城市之一,预计到2015年之前拉各斯的人口会达到2500万. 目前,尼日利亚每年的城市化速度高达5.5%.据预测尼日利亚到2007年以前城市化水平将达到50%.贫民窟居民现在占据着城市人口中的绝大多数.
如果我们不把问题弄清楚,我们都会碰到大麻烦.人们向城市迁移的活动自人类诞生以来就存在.辩论会期间,我们都同意这是不可逆转的进程,期待这种情况有所变化不能算是美好的愿望,因为人类会按照自己的意愿行事.
有人诬蔑城市是废物和污染的发生器,或是自然环境的主要威胁。有人赞颂城市是经济活动、文化和创新的中心。这些看法对城市议程的构成和表达有着重大的影响。城市议程是由不同的政治和文化倾向、意识形态立场以及科技能力塑造的。在这30年传奇开始时,1976年,当第一届联合国人类住区会议（人居一）在温哥华召开,城市议程的制定者们认为只有强大的中央
Leo Tolstoy famously wrote that all happy families are alike but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. If the same can be said about dysfunctional cities we must be prepared to deal with the unique micro-realities of each ailing community. This can only be done practically by encouraging residents to engage in a form of therapy that begins with local self-discovery. This must be a central aim in monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In an economically pressurized world where more than 95 percent of all development decisions are made by members of civil society each acting more or less in their own self-interest central coordinative systems of governance are failing. Squatters and slumlords everywhere make their choices outside the world of plans and regulations as do an increasing number of small-scale entrepreneurs. This self-interest promotes unsustainable urban development inhibiting a cooperative vision for the future that the complex urban ecology demands. The collective future is no-one’s baby and in effect has become an orphan. (excerpt)
对于许多发展中国家而言,缺乏充足的医疗物品已经是个难题了,而生物医药类废弃物的处理又是一个难题,而且更艰巨.在塞内加尔首都达喀尔开展的项目展示了一个可持续的手段,连同城市协商会议在内,带来了切实的成效,包括提高认识和推广计划.
2001年,东南非城市发展伙伴关系(MDP-ESA)成为独立的地区非营利性组织,总部设在津巴布韦的哈拉雷.联合国人居署的城市管理项目致力于寻找合作伙伴,在促进权力下放、加强城市地方政府的能力方面,它是理想的合作伙伴.
The world convenes again 10 years after the global meeting in Beijing in 1995 on women peace and development and 20 years after a similar meeting in Nairobi in 1985. This time in New York the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will conduct its 10-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action. It will also commemorate the First UN World Conference on Women held in Mexico in 1975. Twelve critical areas of concern are being evaluated on poverty health education women’s rights the environment the girl child etc. A worthy and noble effort indeed that demands collective energy investment reflection and recommitment. The regional and country reports will narrate a long list of achievements and key results challenges and opportunities and future directions. For Africa celebratory remarks will be made on the adoption of the Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa (Maputo 2003) affirmative action policies and the growing number of women in positions of power such as in Rwanda where this has almost reached the 50 percent mark. (excerpt)
调整全球性结构体系,使之能对地方性的需求作出响应,这一点是近来全球发展合作史上最为显著的一个趋势.在联合国成立的第60个年头,它从整体上来说已经不仅仅是各国中央政府的俱乐部,而是日益成为社会各界需求的收集者和促成者.
