Context
Continuing urbanisation will have a major impact in determining the processes and agendas for ecological, social, economic and political change in the coming decades. Most urban growth is taking place in developing countries and emerging economies. The regional effects – such as the increasing density of settlement structures, greater consumption of resources and growing flows of commuters – intensify the links between rural and urban areas, and also between neighbouring towns and cities. Urban agglomerations are spreading beyond their administrative boundaries.
Demographic developments, insufficient public services and insecure types of economic activity provoke the formation of socio-economically segregated areas. Furthermore, inefficient production and consumption patterns, unsustainable use of resources, and the absence of city-wide land management put a strain on regional ecosystems, increasing land use, inefficient infrastructures and reduced resilience. Administrative and political institutions often lack clear mandates or the skills, resources and capacities needed to tackle these challenges appropriately and to plan and implement sustainable solutions.
City-to-city and urban-rural interactions can be taken up by cooperative inter-municipal schemes and integrated governance systems within the metropolitan regions. Alternatively, they can be created in cross-sectoral cooperation, for example in the case of resource cycles, regional value chains and migration. Deficits still exist in the development of context-specific governance systems aimed at using the potentials of metropolitan regions in order to reduce poverty and enhance food security, resource efficiency, economic growth and innovation – for both local and national development. The conscious, systematic planning and design of metropolitan regions is a prerequisite for sustainable development.
Objective
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German implementing organisations have integrated implementation strategies and concepts for the sustainable development of metropolitan regions into their development activities.
Approach
The sector project concentrates on four fields of action in order to achieve its objective:
1. Raising the importance of the topic through agenda-setting
2. Developing demand-based advisory services and measures for developing skills, resources and capabilities
3. Implementing advisory services and pilot measures
4. Promoting and establishing strategic partnerships.
The topics covered by the project are metropolitan governance, urban resource efficiency (for example through integrating approaches such as Urban Nexus), innovative business regions, smart cities, mixed working and residential areas, urban-rural linkages, integrated territorial development, urban food security, and strategies for action on climate and resilience in cities and metropolitan regions.
Results
Due to the innovative nature of the topic of metropolitan regions, German development cooperation activities require corresponding concepts and methods to be devised. To this end, the sector project has prepared analyses and case studies, and carried out pilot projects – for instance in Nashik, India, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Furthermore, it has also implemented Urban Nexus training programmes. In addition, it has developed instruments such as the Metropolitan Capacity Assessment Methodology, and initiated technical exchange with partners, for example in experts’ workshops during the Habitat III process.
In international and national agendas, the consequences of rapid urbanisation and the increasing importance of metropolitan regions are recognised and discussed by local and national policy-makers; the demand for advice and support is growing. The topics of metropolitan regions, city-rural links and integrated approaches have been anchored.in the United Nations’ Habitat III New Urban Agenda