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The urbanization revolution: Planning a new agenda for human settlements
Book reviews
modern economy. The current mismatch between labour supply and demand is undermining the economic and social vitality of Britain’s cities. Such issues need to be addressed in a book of this type. I find it particularly disturbing that the model for research presented in many of the chapters is merely to graft a discussion of policy developments since 1980 onto a brief overview of earlier policy. What this reader would have liked to come away with is some appreciation of the nature, magnitude and geographical incidence of the problems discussed in this book. Without wishing to appear an advocate of logical positivism, surely an important element of urban research, whatever the subject matter, involves empirical documentation and analysis. In those few cases where empirical analysis is presented, it is often poorly conceived and executed. As a case in point Gordon, analysing urban unemployment in Greater London, presents the results of a regression analysis. He uses unemployment rates as the dependent variable and fits a model using some 32 independent variables. The analytical utility of this approach is doubtful. Instead of using regression analysis to test explanations of unemployment he uses it to generate explanations. On a statistical note it would have been useful to have shown the zero-order correlations between the independent variables, or to provide some discussion of the problem of multicolinearity given the large number of apparently related independent variables in the model. In addition, there is no discussion of the problems of spatial autocorrelation. Because Gordon takes unemployment in geographically distinct areas (wards) as the dependent variable, he needs to account for the fact that unemployment rates in adjacent wards will be correlated. The omissions in Gordon’s analysis, and the lack of an empirical foundation to other chapters, is most worrying. On a more positive note I would like to mention the useful pieces in this book. Robert Bennett addresses the important issue of resources and finances. He presents data which show a wide variation between city govern-
CITIES August
1990
ments in the costs of providing services. Given the lack of resources available in many cities, a crucial task for city government is to deliver the best possible services to its citizens for the least cost. Bennett’s analysis points to the failing of many local councils to monitor the relationships between financial inputs and service output. Two chapters, one by Geoffrey Pearson on heroin use and one by Christopher Smith about alcoholism and its control in US cities, were for this reader the most interesting in the book. In the former Pearson discusses the research evidence which concludes that heroin use is ‘concentrated in areas of social deprivation and has significantly increased in Britain over the past decade. Drawing on North American research findings we see that in many of the poorest communities the illegal drug economy provides the principal avenue for rewarding
ingenuity and bringing resources into the community. The inclusion of the essay about alcohol is important because it reminds us of the important role which the consumption of alcohol plays in the social and physical form of the city. In conclusion, given the large number of books published each year about urban policy I would suggest that all but the most avid follower of the literature should skip this book. The book fails to provide a clear presentation of the scale or nature of social problems in Britain’s cities. Without such analysis an evaluation of policy is mostly pointless.
David C. Rose of Urban Design and Planning University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA
Department
Shelter and urban development THE URBANIZATION REVOLUTION: Planning a New Agenda for Human Settlements edited by Richard May, Jr. Plenum
Press,
New
York,
1989,
277 PP This volume of papers has been selected from the contributions made to the annual conferences of the American Planning Association in 1987 and 1988. ‘This volume’, writes the editor, ‘illustrates some of the new approaches, many already being tested for broader application, which will form the basis for shelter and urban development assistance organizations during the working decade’. The book contains no less than 21 chapters, divided into six sections. In the first, ‘Shaping the future: new commitments to shelter and national development policies’, USAID and UNCHS representatives present some of their good intentions. In the ‘Mobilizing second, resources for urban housing, infrastructure and finance’, established names such as
Rondinelli, Boleat. Renaud and Struyk are above the sometimes superficial chapters. In the third section, the role of small towns in the development and urbanization process is discussed through four unrelated case studies of Bolivia, Jordan, Kenya and Egypt. In ‘Changing priorities for consultants, donors, clients and counterparts: views and experiences’ there is an account of the role of expatriate consultants in Egypt, and a panel discussion on consultants and counterparts in projects. One does not come across this type of discussion very often in books. The next section. with six chapters, is entitled ‘New roles for communities, organizations and planning educators’. The broad title just covers this variety of papers. In the final section, ‘Epilogue: exploring the parameters of global survival’ there is only one chapter which covers a speech by a UNEP director on cities and the environment. editors of books can In general, take two positions. One is to guide and direct the contributors, to introduce the volume, to give it a structure
267
Book reviews
and a focus, and to conclude the volume with a reflective or recapitulative chapter. The other is to minimize interference, and to do some text editing and invent titles for the sections. New professional fields of attention may benefit from the latter approach, but generally further development of an existing area on which a lot of work already has been done, such as Third World urbanization, demands more critical editing. The present volume is edited by R. May, who took this latter ‘minimal position’. There are a variety of unconnected papers in the book, some of them speeches, some of them rhetorics of international organizations, and some of them serious professional work. The volume lacks focus and body. It may be wondered what the target audience of the book is supposed to be. As usual, the cover flap and preface say that is good for students, researchers, professionals and academics, but this is doubted. Stu-
dents. researchers and academics would prefer more serious and detailed work, and professionals would apt to read less discussions about intentions and more about practice. One issue is the origin of the contributions. An overwhelming majority are American. The chapters on training and education focus on the US. And the book contains more than the average dose of typical development organization jargon, in which ‘problems’ are a challenge, ‘finding solutions’ is a challenge, and ‘coping with urbanization’ constitutes a challenge. In conclusion, a clearer focus would have benefitted the book. So would a chapter with a detailed historical perspective, and perhaps a comparison of different views on the role of international aid and assistance organizations. Peter Nientied institute for Housing Studies Rotterdam, The Netherlands
The health of the urban poor IN THE SHADOW OF THE CITY: Community Health and the Urban Poor edited by T. Harpham, T.D. Lusty and P. Vaughan, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1988, 237 pp, f5.00 paperback, f 15.00 hardback ‘At least you’ve got your health’ remains a basic consolation for the elderly, the poor and the unfortunate in affluent countries like Britain. For a distressingly high proportion of the world’s population, especially children in developing countries, even this is often denied. While those engaged in urban development - whether as local professionals or expatriates - inevitably become inured to the existence of inadequate incomes and housing, the extent to which the poor also suffer from bad health is still not fully appreciated. What work that has been done is mainly in rural areas, and this
268
book is an attempt to assess the urban problems. Although urban areas contain a high proportion of a country’s health facilities, it is clear that the poorer majority do not always enjoy access to them and the editors claim that half or more of urban populations in the Third World live ‘in the shadow of the city’. This is a vast human tragedy which has an equally negative impact on development programmes. High infant mortality contributes to a high birth rate which increases the demands on already limited jobs, services and food supplies, forcing mothers out to work to the detriment of their children’s health and further exacerbating infant mortality and underdevelopment. It is indeed a vicious spiral. The book addresses this issue and is based on papers presented at a conference at Oxford in 198.5 on ‘Community health and the urban poor’. It brings together contributions on a wide range of subjects impinging on
community health, such as nutrition. incomes, sanitation and housing. All these specialist chapters contain case studies to amplify issues raised and to provide examples of innovation. These are particularly helpful in showing that something can be done even with limited resources and also indicates lessons learned ‘from setbacks. Although some of these chapters are quite short, the balance of general issues, reviews of the literature, case studies and concluding comments enables them to cover considerable ground. This will be particularly appreciated by hard pressed but sympathetic practitioners, as much as by analysts. On balance. the book would have been more helpful had these sections and the closing discussion on urban health policy been expanded further. The first three chapters are allocated to an introductory review of urbanization trends which, while relevant, will already be familiar to most readers. Conversely. options for urban health policy are only allowed one and a half pages. This bias towards analysis rather than action is understandable in a book based on a conference, but remains a limitation. For those interested in that aspect, a small booklet published later by WHO is strongly recommended as a complementary publication.’ Less understandable are the arguments advanced for organizations to be interested in urban health development. These focus on a quotation to the effect that in addition to it being a duty and obligation of government agencies, needy areas also provide the most accessible places for students’ field studies and exposure! Also disappointing is the lack of a clear focus on the impact of bad health in urban and national development strategies. The Bhopal and Mexico City gas explosions are referred to in passing as problems, but the need for urban management and planning options to mitigate the exposure of poorer groups to such environmental risks is largely omitted. Even speculative suggestions for action would have been welcome given the urgency of the problem. Thanks to financial support from
CITIES August
1990
modern economy. The current mismatch between labour supply and demand is undermining the economic and social vitality of Britain’s cities. Such issues need to be addressed in a book of this type. I find it particularly disturbing that the model for research presented in many of the chapters is merely to graft a discussion of policy developments since 1980 onto a brief overview of earlier policy. What this reader would have liked to come away with is some appreciation of the nature, magnitude and geographical incidence of the problems discussed in this book. Without wishing to appear an advocate of logical positivism, surely an important element of urban research, whatever the subject matter, involves empirical documentation and analysis. In those few cases where empirical analysis is presented, it is often poorly conceived and executed. As a case in point Gordon, analysing urban unemployment in Greater London, presents the results of a regression analysis. He uses unemployment rates as the dependent variable and fits a model using some 32 independent variables. The analytical utility of this approach is doubtful. Instead of using regression analysis to test explanations of unemployment he uses it to generate explanations. On a statistical note it would have been useful to have shown the zero-order correlations between the independent variables, or to provide some discussion of the problem of multicolinearity given the large number of apparently related independent variables in the model. In addition, there is no discussion of the problems of spatial autocorrelation. Because Gordon takes unemployment in geographically distinct areas (wards) as the dependent variable, he needs to account for the fact that unemployment rates in adjacent wards will be correlated. The omissions in Gordon’s analysis, and the lack of an empirical foundation to other chapters, is most worrying. On a more positive note I would like to mention the useful pieces in this book. Robert Bennett addresses the important issue of resources and finances. He presents data which show a wide variation between city govern-
CITIES August
1990
ments in the costs of providing services. Given the lack of resources available in many cities, a crucial task for city government is to deliver the best possible services to its citizens for the least cost. Bennett’s analysis points to the failing of many local councils to monitor the relationships between financial inputs and service output. Two chapters, one by Geoffrey Pearson on heroin use and one by Christopher Smith about alcoholism and its control in US cities, were for this reader the most interesting in the book. In the former Pearson discusses the research evidence which concludes that heroin use is ‘concentrated in areas of social deprivation and has significantly increased in Britain over the past decade. Drawing on North American research findings we see that in many of the poorest communities the illegal drug economy provides the principal avenue for rewarding
ingenuity and bringing resources into the community. The inclusion of the essay about alcohol is important because it reminds us of the important role which the consumption of alcohol plays in the social and physical form of the city. In conclusion, given the large number of books published each year about urban policy I would suggest that all but the most avid follower of the literature should skip this book. The book fails to provide a clear presentation of the scale or nature of social problems in Britain’s cities. Without such analysis an evaluation of policy is mostly pointless.
David C. Rose of Urban Design and Planning University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA
Department
Shelter and urban development THE URBANIZATION REVOLUTION: Planning a New Agenda for Human Settlements edited by Richard May, Jr. Plenum
Press,
New
York,
1989,
277 PP This volume of papers has been selected from the contributions made to the annual conferences of the American Planning Association in 1987 and 1988. ‘This volume’, writes the editor, ‘illustrates some of the new approaches, many already being tested for broader application, which will form the basis for shelter and urban development assistance organizations during the working decade’. The book contains no less than 21 chapters, divided into six sections. In the first, ‘Shaping the future: new commitments to shelter and national development policies’, USAID and UNCHS representatives present some of their good intentions. In the ‘Mobilizing second, resources for urban housing, infrastructure and finance’, established names such as
Rondinelli, Boleat. Renaud and Struyk are above the sometimes superficial chapters. In the third section, the role of small towns in the development and urbanization process is discussed through four unrelated case studies of Bolivia, Jordan, Kenya and Egypt. In ‘Changing priorities for consultants, donors, clients and counterparts: views and experiences’ there is an account of the role of expatriate consultants in Egypt, and a panel discussion on consultants and counterparts in projects. One does not come across this type of discussion very often in books. The next section. with six chapters, is entitled ‘New roles for communities, organizations and planning educators’. The broad title just covers this variety of papers. In the final section, ‘Epilogue: exploring the parameters of global survival’ there is only one chapter which covers a speech by a UNEP director on cities and the environment. editors of books can In general, take two positions. One is to guide and direct the contributors, to introduce the volume, to give it a structure
267
Book reviews
and a focus, and to conclude the volume with a reflective or recapitulative chapter. The other is to minimize interference, and to do some text editing and invent titles for the sections. New professional fields of attention may benefit from the latter approach, but generally further development of an existing area on which a lot of work already has been done, such as Third World urbanization, demands more critical editing. The present volume is edited by R. May, who took this latter ‘minimal position’. There are a variety of unconnected papers in the book, some of them speeches, some of them rhetorics of international organizations, and some of them serious professional work. The volume lacks focus and body. It may be wondered what the target audience of the book is supposed to be. As usual, the cover flap and preface say that is good for students, researchers, professionals and academics, but this is doubted. Stu-
dents. researchers and academics would prefer more serious and detailed work, and professionals would apt to read less discussions about intentions and more about practice. One issue is the origin of the contributions. An overwhelming majority are American. The chapters on training and education focus on the US. And the book contains more than the average dose of typical development organization jargon, in which ‘problems’ are a challenge, ‘finding solutions’ is a challenge, and ‘coping with urbanization’ constitutes a challenge. In conclusion, a clearer focus would have benefitted the book. So would a chapter with a detailed historical perspective, and perhaps a comparison of different views on the role of international aid and assistance organizations. Peter Nientied institute for Housing Studies Rotterdam, The Netherlands
The health of the urban poor IN THE SHADOW OF THE CITY: Community Health and the Urban Poor edited by T. Harpham, T.D. Lusty and P. Vaughan, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1988, 237 pp, f5.00 paperback, f 15.00 hardback ‘At least you’ve got your health’ remains a basic consolation for the elderly, the poor and the unfortunate in affluent countries like Britain. For a distressingly high proportion of the world’s population, especially children in developing countries, even this is often denied. While those engaged in urban development - whether as local professionals or expatriates - inevitably become inured to the existence of inadequate incomes and housing, the extent to which the poor also suffer from bad health is still not fully appreciated. What work that has been done is mainly in rural areas, and this
268
book is an attempt to assess the urban problems. Although urban areas contain a high proportion of a country’s health facilities, it is clear that the poorer majority do not always enjoy access to them and the editors claim that half or more of urban populations in the Third World live ‘in the shadow of the city’. This is a vast human tragedy which has an equally negative impact on development programmes. High infant mortality contributes to a high birth rate which increases the demands on already limited jobs, services and food supplies, forcing mothers out to work to the detriment of their children’s health and further exacerbating infant mortality and underdevelopment. It is indeed a vicious spiral. The book addresses this issue and is based on papers presented at a conference at Oxford in 198.5 on ‘Community health and the urban poor’. It brings together contributions on a wide range of subjects impinging on
community health, such as nutrition. incomes, sanitation and housing. All these specialist chapters contain case studies to amplify issues raised and to provide examples of innovation. These are particularly helpful in showing that something can be done even with limited resources and also indicates lessons learned ‘from setbacks. Although some of these chapters are quite short, the balance of general issues, reviews of the literature, case studies and concluding comments enables them to cover considerable ground. This will be particularly appreciated by hard pressed but sympathetic practitioners, as much as by analysts. On balance. the book would have been more helpful had these sections and the closing discussion on urban health policy been expanded further. The first three chapters are allocated to an introductory review of urbanization trends which, while relevant, will already be familiar to most readers. Conversely. options for urban health policy are only allowed one and a half pages. This bias towards analysis rather than action is understandable in a book based on a conference, but remains a limitation. For those interested in that aspect, a small booklet published later by WHO is strongly recommended as a complementary publication.’ Less understandable are the arguments advanced for organizations to be interested in urban health development. These focus on a quotation to the effect that in addition to it being a duty and obligation of government agencies, needy areas also provide the most accessible places for students’ field studies and exposure! Also disappointing is the lack of a clear focus on the impact of bad health in urban and national development strategies. The Bhopal and Mexico City gas explosions are referred to in passing as problems, but the need for urban management and planning options to mitigate the exposure of poorer groups to such environmental risks is largely omitted. Even speculative suggestions for action would have been welcome given the urgency of the problem. Thanks to financial support from
CITIES August
1990