Environmental management and urban development in the Third World: A tale of health, wealth and the pursuit of pollution from four cities in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America

Miscellaneous · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7170486

Leitmann, J L

Environmentalists tend to deal with intergenerational problems of a global and rural nature, often neglecting the immediate environmental conditions that affect the urban poor. Much of the writings and actions of urbanists focus on the economic and political dynamics of cities, with little attention to the environmental dimension of urban development. Several guiding themes were derived from the fields of economic development, ecology, governance, and sustainable development. These themes were used to design a methodology for rapid urban environmental assessment, and a research expedition for rapid urban environmental assessment, and a research expedition was mounted to cities in developing countries on four continents: Accra (Ghana), Jakarta (Indonesia), Katowice (Poland), and Sa Paulo (Brazil). Comparative information was developed from environmental indicator questionnaires, urban environmental profiles, and environmental town meetings to answer the research question: how can strategies be formulated for managing urban environmental problems to enhance the economic productivity, health and ecology of Third World cities Conclusions were that: (1) enhanced public awareness, consultation and participation can improve environmental management; (2) solutions not heavily dependent on institutional performance may be necessary in the short run; (3) urban environmental strategies should have an explicit focus on the problems of the poor; (4) city-specific strategies should be guided by the configuration of key economic variables; and (5) attention must be paid to selection of problem areas, their spatial scale, and institutional capacity when designing interventions. Criteria for assessing and designing approaches to urban environmental management were developed. An initial process for urban environmental management is proposed, consisting of rapid urban environmental assessment, a city-based environmental management strategy, and an urban environmental action plan.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7170486
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
BRAZIL
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
GHANA
INDONESIA
POLAND
URBAN AREAS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
POLLUTION CONTROL
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
AFRICA
ASIA
CONTROL
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
ISLANDS
LATIN AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
290300* - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology