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Periurban areas 

3/7/16

The planet is becoming urbanised at a galloping rate, particularly in less developed countries. By 2050, three billion additional people will find themselves living in and around towns and cities. Experts are concerned: without a minimum of organisation, these changes risk to accentuate the precariousness of huge swathes of the world’s population. At the heart of their concerns are ‘periurban areas’, an emerging concept which has been the subject of research led by Jan Bogaert, Head of the Biodiversity and Landscape Research unit at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech/University of Liège and Jean-Marie Halleux, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Liège. This is also an opportunity to discover the ‘Central Africa Platform' of ULg.

COVER Territoires periurbainsThe history of mankind has experienced several major ruptures. The neolithic revolution, which opened the door to sedentarisation and agriculture, was one of these, followed by the industrial revolution some 10,000 years later. Since the last century, humanity has seen a new rupture, the urban transition. It marks the shift from a period where rurality dominated towards a period where urbanisation becomes predominant. In other words, a very large majority of humans are becoming urban dwellers. This urban transition is striking by the speed with which it is taking place: while nearly three billion people currently live in towns in developing countries, this population will reach about five billion by 2050! In sub-Saharan Africa, the figures are staggering: between 2000 and 2050, the number of city-dwellers will have multiplied by five, and the area of urbanised land will have multiplied by twelve!

This massive displacement towards towns is, in reality, a periurban transition. It does not simply means leaving the countryside to move to the town but rather, given the scale of this entirely new demographic movement, occupying space in an unprecedented way. Indeed, periurban spaces are not ‘towns’ in the traditional sense of the term, but neither are they ‘countryside’. How can these hybrid areas be defined? And above all, how can human activities be organised in these areas in a harmonious way, given that they are intended to become the home of - no less - the majority of human beings in the future? This is the core question of a joint publication hot off the Presses agronomiques de Gembloux, ‘Territoires périurbains. Développement, enjeux et perspectives dans les pays du Sud’ (1). Coordinated and edited by Jan Bogaert and Jean-Marie Halleux, it brings together contributions from more than 80 authors from a variety of disciplines.

A purposely chosen theme

‘This publication follows a conference organised on the same topic in December 2013 at Gembloux, which brought together experts from both north and south’ explains Professor Jan Bogaert, Head of the Biodiversity and Landscape Reseach unit at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech. ‘It seeks to go further than simply publishing the proceedings of the meeting. Indeed, at the end of the meeting, we felt it was appropriate to publish the presented papers into six major sections. The first is simply setting the context and attempting to define what a ‘periurban area’ represents. We consequently address five main issues of these periurban areas: natural resources, food security, public health, public services and, finally, spatial planning’.

The conference, and the book which emerged from it, was, indeed, one of the first institutional initiatives of the 'Central Africa Platform', which is developed by the Centre for Development Partnership and Cooperation (PACODEL) of ULg. ‘The periurbanisation of developing countries was chosen as the overarching theme of the 'Central Africa Platform' ’ specifies Jan Bogaert, who is also the President of PACODEL. ‘By choosing this theme, we are putting ourselves at the heart of rapid social, cultural, economic and environmental transformations which are taking over societies in countries in this part of the world. As such, it is an ideal field to encourage discussions between researchers and institutions in both the northern and southern hemispheres, involving all disciplines, from medicine to sociology and including disciplines such as anthropology, hydrology, agronomy, geography, or political and social sciences. Please note that between 8% and 10% of students at the University of Liège (Liège, Gembloux and Arlon) originate from developing countries...’

The countryside which repels and towns which attract

Throughout the world, towns attract people. People in the country hope to have a better life over there, to increase their income, to have easier access to water, food, healthcare and, also, to offer their children a better education. ‘In developing countries, the standard of living in disadvantaged urban areas is often better than the standard of living of populations who remain in villages’ specifies Jean-Marie Halleux, Professor of Economic Geography and a specialist in spatial planning. ‘If, on the one hand, towns are attractive, we also have to take into account the fact that, on the other hand, the countryside repels people: given the demographic pressure, access to land is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers. This two-fold phenomenon of attraction/repulsion is at the heart of the urban transition and the development of periurban areas. The majority of these areas are not built-up and they are situated closely to a densely populated urban area, with which significant exchanges take place.’

In Africa more than elsewhere, periurban areas are marked by a particularly strong demographic pressure, as well as by hybrid governance methods. The co-existence of these two phenomena leads them to restrict the provision of basic services - the very thing which inhabitants of the countryside are seeking - and to place considerable pressure on natural resources. Examples? Among the contributions requested by Jan Bogaert and Jean-Marie Halleux, ways of dealing with this have been identified. ‘In the countryside, traditional healers continue to be key people to whom medical problems are addressed’ explains Jan Bogaert. ‘In contrast, in towns, people more often benefit from ‘classic’ health services (via hospitals, dispensaries, networks of healthcare professionals, the distribution of non-falsified medication, etc.). In periurban areas, traditional healers are also consulted, but with one major difference to the countryside: because social links are less developed (given the higher population density), less intense social control is exercised over them. The result is that so-called 'charlatans' can carry out their activities for significant lengths of time before being identified and rejected by the community. The quality of healthcare, obviously, suffers from this situation’.

Mont Ngafula

The Virunga National Park: moving towards declassification?

Addressing healthcare issues involves addressing the delicate issue of governance. Periurban populations continue to turn to traditional healers (at the risk of seeing their health deteriorate) because healthcare structures are lacking and because corruption reigns ... The issue of governance also affects other topics such as the access to water and electricity. ‘In some parts of Kinshasa,’ states Jan Bogaert, ‘the inhabitants have no choice other than to connect themselves fraudulently to the electricity network, turning to improvised electricians. Quite legitimately, they want to put an end to continual power cuts, even if it means negotiating the amount of their bills with the staff of the local company. Local electricity companies are, effectively, incapable of fulfilling their obligations to provide electricity to all inhabitants of the city. Staff and technicians turn a blind eye to these practices (and even encourage them), because they don’t receive the salary they deserve and because they themselves need to meet their own families’ needs. The electricity network is thus informally privatised, a process which is tolerated by the State. This prevents the distribution company from increasing its income and investing it in improving the network, which would then benefit everyone rather than simply the most resourceful or best placed.’

Access to basic services is not the only phenomenon in question. In periurban areas, demographic pressure is such that it may threaten the preservation and specific management modes of natural resources. Africa, for example, is rich in natural parks and nature reserves, which have a high potential ecological value. In these areas, the influx of tourists - or hunters - generates a financial income, part of which is redirected towards local populations. These populations are thus encouraged to moderate the impact they have on the animal population (anti-poaching) and plant life (anti-deforestation), while being relatively sure of continuing their development. However, ‘several chapters in our book indicate that this model is crumbling under the effect of demographic pressure’, notes Jan Bogaert. ‘The most worrying example is that of the Virunga National Park (the oldest national park in Africa), in the east of the Congo, which faces a real risk of being declassified! Because of population movements, weakening of the State’s authority and a lack of political arrangements for the region, the development of urban and periurban areas in this region (which has been hit by serious conflicts) appears to be totally uncontrolled. This is reflected in the illegal exploitation of forest resources, the constant degradation of the natural landscape and a reduction in biodiversity’.

‘We are forgetting the lessons of the past’

Another example of great concern is agriculture (and, inextricably linked to it, food supply chains). Urban agricultural production is traditionally considered in the south as a means of ensuring some of the subsistance of city-dwelling populations, but also of reinvigorating the urban economy. The problem is that urban land rent from a piece of agricultural land is significantly lower than that from construction (for the purposes of housing). ‘It is the same in all our regions’, compares Jean-Marie Halleux: ‘Constructible land is sold for a value which can be up to thirty times higher than land sold for agriculture’. The result is that, with the growth of towns, urban agriculture is receding, moving further and further away from the centres and becoming periurban. And what we see as a consequence is a fall in energy and protein supplies per inhabitant in deprived neighbourhoods (for example the Mabalu district of Kinshasa). It has to be recognised that another phenomenon also influences food habits in Kinshasa: the development of urban production - for example poultry rearing - is discouraged by the importation of frozen poultry from Europe, which is rarely taxed.

Urban planning also poses certain problems. These countries too often suffer from a simple reproduction/imitation of what has taken place in the north. ‘To this day, the spatial planners in the south remain influenced by a modernist design which promotes the model of urban motorways and luxury tower blocks’ explains Jean-Marie Halleux. ‘This overlooks the fact that the populations don’t have the means of driving or buying new apartments. Moreover, projects of that kind inspired by the Dubai model of urban development take place in areas with a restricted perimeter, while the vast peripheral areas are often left to their own devices, without any effective distribution network for water or electricity.’ The urban planning specialist makes a bitter observation: ‘the local decision makers take heed neither of the lessons from the past nor the needs of their populations’.

Limette

No time to lose...

How can the south avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, while inventing development models which are specific to this new periurban configuration? The two professors humbly recognise the fact that they do not hold one-size-fits-all, off the shelf solutions. Other than the desire to produce an initial analysis of the morphology and dynamics observed in periurban areas (literature is sparse on this subject, particularly in Africa), their work strives to ask the right questions and, above all, to reflect upon the subject from a multidisciplinary perspective. ‘Above all, we need to understand how these periurban regions are developing, in all their dimensions’, stresses Jan Bogaert. ‘It is incredibly complex, because there are so many of them and they are in permanent interaction with regard to their economic, demographic, ethnic, cultural, agricultural, and governance (including corruption) fonctions. The five approaches which we have adopted in this book are therefore just the tip of the iceberg ... But the needs to be met are already very concrete: access to drinking water, the creation of schools, the organisation of healthcare, etc.’ Jean-Marie Halleux, stresses that there is little time left to act effectively. ‘By 2050, the urban transition will have made significant progress and may even be finished, and by then it will be probably too late to establish adequate periurban regions. The coming decades thus represent a window of opportunity to act effectively. It is up to our generation and not to future ones to deal with this problem…"

But what needs to be done, precisely? ‘Decision makers in the south must first understand and accept that by 2050, some towns may be five to ten times bigger than they currently are’, predicts Jean-Marie Halleux. ‘This is very destabilising for them! In terms of organising urban space, inspiration may be drawn from the work of the American researcher Shlomo Angel and his ‘Making room’ paradigm’. The flagship idea of his theory consists of applying a model of controlled growth, where needs in terms of land to be urbanised are rationally estimated and where the pattern of urbanisation and the infrastructures along the roadsides are well served by public transportation. This approach has already been successfully implemented in various Latin American cities, enabling the poorest to benefit from the economic opportunities offered by major towns. Additionally, a zoning approach should also be used to protect the most fragile areas where populations risk being subject to landslides, seismic damage, flood, etc. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that the actual situation in moste of the developing countries strongly diverges from this model and appears rather like a spontaneous, anarchic and chaotic development, with ‘fait accompli’ and vulnerability to environmental risks’.

'Choralogy’, a forward-looking concept

Jan Bogaert insists on the need to broaden the scale of intervention both in terms of time and space. ‘Too often we consider land as an unlimited resource. However, land resources are finite and limited just like water, energy or biodiversity. Without sufficient land, ecosystem services crucial to human beings are also threatened’. On this basis, the expert proposes a new discipline: that of ‘choralogy’. It is a new multidisciplinary approach based on the claim that land - the earth - is scarce and its use must be carefully considered. ‘From the viewpoint of Belgium or Europe, the concept of using land parsimoniously appears obvious’ recognises Jan Bogaert. ‘But it doesn’t appear to really penetrate into ways of thinking. Yet, the speed with which we use space has important consequences in terms of deforestation, overuse and desertification. In a period of stagnation in agricultural yields and when it is becoming more and more difficult to find new lands,  the capacity - or not - to feed the planet itself is at stake.’

The two researchers then develop one of the strongest messages of the publication: basic needs must be accounted for: not only the needs formulated by local authorities (trickling down from central government or inspired by tribal organisation), but also those of the populations themselves. In terms of town planning, the essence of the culturalist approach is to give great importance to local context, asking the population about its needs and involving them in the decision making process and the realisation of projects. ‘For example, why not take inspiration from river contracts, such as those developed notably in Wallonia’ suggests Jean-Marie Halleux. ‘The article in our publication on the application of this Walloon tool to Kinshasa shows that it’s possible to create areas for discussion and to encourage positive interactions between decision makers and the inhabitants’. Another inspiring example: in Caracas (Venezuela), a government initiative has led the public water company to interact with local committees to develop pipework in periurban areas. Not only is the water better distributed (to all strata of the population) but, moreover, the political representation in the periurban area has been improved, thanks to the created collective dynamics...

Selembao

Not just helping with survival, helping with development

The two experts are not excessively optimistic, however: despite a few encouraging experiences such as these (and there are others mentioned in the book, including in Africa), much remains to be done and to be invented. It is simply that there are two major obstacles. ‘In the south, particularly in a country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the immediate concern of 95% of the population consists of ensuring their survival until the next day’ observes Jan Bogaert. ‘In such context, these new participative governance strategies require availability and time. Try asking a father or the mother of eight children to take part in ten or fifteen meetings !’ The second pitfall is outlined by Jean-Marie Halleux: ‘Without even talking about prevarication or corruption, administrative or governance reforms by political representatives do not generally pay off in electoral or popularity terms with the population. These representatives generally feel themselves bound to present prestigious projects to the population, despite the fact that they are not necessarily well thought, constructed or mature enough to be effective in the long term.’ These two obstacles drive the researchers to lobby for a development aid policy which, in light of demographic changes and its implications for space, will have deep implications for countries in the south in terms of creating systems for pensions, social security, healthcare, unemployment, etc.

Building upon this strong cross-cutting conclusion, the publication, coordinated by two experts - one based in Liège, the other in Gembloux - is exemplary of an intensified collaboration between the ULg faculties and departments. A similar partnership has been established between the Liège University and the Ecole Régionale Post-Universitaire d'Aménagement et de Gestion Intégrée de Forêts et Territoires Tropicaux (ERAIFT), based in Kinshasa. Indeed, since the end of 2013, ULg’s 'Central Africa Platform', created by PACODEL, has been based here. ‘Many of our professors and researchers are already active in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kisangani and Bukavu as well as in Benin, Burundi and as far as Madagascar and Vietnam’ states Jan Bogaert, enthusiastically. ‘The periurban theme is a unique occasion to attract many more university staff, from all faculties without exception, to become active in the field of development cooperation. The platform will help us to strengthen our collaboration with universities in the south and to identify African students to come and study in Belgium. This is not only a scientific approach. It is also a way to serve the community, and to contribute to resolving some of the biggest challenges of the planet.'

(1) Territoires périurbains. Développement, enjeux et perspectives dans les pays du Sud. Edited by Jan Bogaert and Jean-Marie Halleux, Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux, 2015. Available at: http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/188554


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