The Minister of Cooperative Governance, Lechesa Tsenoli and the Deputy Minister Andries Nel together with the 9 MECs responsible for local government on Friday, 15 November 2013, launched the 2nd BRICS Urbanisation Forum and the 3rd Friendship Cities and Local Government Cooperation Forum, which preceded the conference for the BRICS Countries to be held on 27 to 29 November 2013 in Durban.
In addressing media, the Minister indicated that “the BRICS countries which are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have a lot in common, not least the fact that more and more of their individual populations are moving to their cities. This creates challenges, and urbanization was first presented as a matter for the attention of the BRICS countries at the 4th BRICS Summit held in New Delhi, in March 2012.”
A key agenda item referred to the ‘need to address urban challenges linked to: Food Security, Poverty Alleviation, Rural-urban Migration, Water and Waste Management, Public Health and Sanitation.’ The Delhi Summit also agreed that the ‘Green BRICS’ agenda should contain the sub-theme of sustainable urbanization, and urged cooperation in line with the resolutions of Rio+20, and COP17 (sustainable development).
In the resulting Delhi Declaration, (Clause 44), and its supporting Action Plan, the BRICS partners resolved to coordinate efforts to learn from best practices and access available technologies, to better manage and plan for the rapid rate of urbanisation in the BRICS partner countries, and to better understand the issues identified as major urban challenges by the member countries.
The Minister went on to say “following this Declaration, India hosted the first urbanisation forum, again in New Delhi on 1 February 2013 focusing on urban infrastructure. The Forum discussed various thematic areas within the umbrella of urbanisation and infrastructure.”
The BRICS countries are not alone in their concern over the accelerating speed of urbanisation. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro from 20 to 22 June 2012, also provided a solid foundation for the focus areas of the Urbanisation Forum. The resolutions of the Conference on “sustainable cities and human settlements” provide a clear picture of challenges faced by cities as a result of urbanisation.
The deliberations and agreements forged through the BRICS Forum meetings will also contribute to joint international action for sustainable urbanization, as expressed by UN Habitat, which contributed 7 of the 23 Voluntary Commitments on Sustainable Cities, and which are aligned to its Programme of Work for 2014-2019.
Key to this Agenda too is the dissemination of knowledge and capacitation for sustainable urbanisation processes. Focusing on these global initiatives, the approach to the current 2ND URBANISATION FORUM in South Africa draws from Clause 134 of the Resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly during the Sixty-sixth session (Rio+20) on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements which states that:
“We recognise the fact that, if they are well planned and developed, including through integrated planning and management approaches, cities can promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies.”
There have been two previous BRICS Friendship Cities Forums held respectively in Sanya, China (2011), and Mumbai, India (2012), which have emphasised the importance of managed urbanisation and the abundant opportunities for shared trade and exchange of good practices. Both forums recognized the growing role played by state and municipal agencies, private sector businesses associations and civil society organizations.
In this context, the BRICS cities are gaining recognition, not only as starting points for the exchange of ideas and experiences on urban challenges and solutions, but also as actors in international relations; able to launch cooperative projects for innovative urban policymaking.
The challenges of rapid urbanisation, faced by all developing societies, including our own, are multi-dimensional in nature, covering a diversity of inter-linked issues. These forums represent opportunities to further coordinate our efforts and learn from the best practices and technologies available to make a meaningful difference in all of our societies.
It is clear that a key focus area for all BRICS nations is investment in the expansion of infrastructure. It is a driving force for economic and social development, and this has been reiterated at both the main Summits, as well as through the Forums.
In this context, the Government’s Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) is a priority in South Africa. The PICC will integrate and coordinate our long term infrastructure build.
The roll-out is intended to:
- create a significant numbers of new jobs
- strengthen the delivery of basic services to the people of South Africa
- support the integration of African economies
- further enhance cooperation between the BRICS countries.
Another important factor is South Africa’s emerging Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), which is informed by these and many other socio-economic realities of the urbanising landscape. There is a growing recognition that spatial justice requires new spatial forms, in both rural and urban areas, and South Africa regards the forthcoming Forums during as an opportunity to advance our thinking in this regard.
Enquiries:
Tsakani Baloyi
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