Invited papers of the Habitat Professionals Forum
Professor Federico Malusardi,
Representative of ISoCaRP
Among the crucial problems this Global Conference on "the future of
the city" is tackling is that of the participation of citizens in the
choices to be taken for a sustainable development. We must be careful because
the theme of democracy is at stake; the city is the place where the concept of
democracy originates and gains strength through citizens' empowerment.
This year ISoCaRP, the International Society of City and Regional Planners,
which I am honored to represent here, will devote its annual Congress to this
theme in Mexico. I address a cordial invitation to those interested in the
debate on this theme.
Today, I intend to briefly deal with two aspects: the first concerns the
participation of citizens in the choices for the city and therefore the citizens
empowerment; the second is very important for our Professional Forum and
concerns the relationship of this democratic process of participation with the
professions (education/research included)
which deal with the organization of human settlements and in particular of
the city of today.
Citizens empowerment
The problem is not new, but today it plays a central role in the debate. In
brief, the problem concerns the ways to make the citizens the participants in
the process of urban development and how to make them aware not only of the
positive effects that economic development seems to promise, but also of the
dangers the city may suffer if its growth is not well guided. If the government
of the city does not undertake the necessary policies, leaving to the so-called
driving forces (abnormal population growth, rapid urbanization,
industrialization and new technologies) absolute freedom of movement, then the
citizens remain deprived of shared programs, of indications and of the new
knowledge necessary for a conscious participation in the choices.
That this process must be supported is widely acknowledged, however there are
large areas of the world still excluded from it, and we learn by experience that
in democracy, no program, project or plan that does not pay attention to the
citizens' needs and aspirations, can be implemented. The participation of
citizens in the urban management is confirmed to be the basis of the new vision
of the good government of the city, that is, of
the more complex concept of governance.
The empowerment of people, which was both the goal and at the same time the
strong point of the international debate at the City Summit of Istanbul '96,
while being a confirmation and a reinforcement of democracy as a value should
also be considered a necessary means for the attainment of sustainable
development. It should be kept in mind that sustainable development, the final
and predominant goal of a system of goals aimed at its attainment, is the result
of a long process starting from the Club of Rome/MIT with the research "The
limits of the development" 1972, to the Brundtland Report "How to
ensure our common future" 1989, to the more recent World Conference in Rio
de Janeiro 1992 and Istanbul 1996.
As for the operational aspects and the application of the concept of
empowerment, evidently, the local level of urban management, the city for the
sake of simplicity, is where the effectiveness of the process of participation
and the social and cultural development of citizens come true, provided that the
local administrations have acquired suitable capacity. In the process of
decentralization of powers going on in the democratic
countries, those responsible for the management of the big cities, the mayors,
are obtaining local autonomy from the central authorities. This is a positive
fact. The only contraindication to this important political conquest is the risk
of radicalization of requests for being heard.
The profession: physical planner
The Forum organized by ISoCaRP and IFHP at the Istanbul Conference in 1996
was directed to both professionals and researchers. In 1997, a separate Forum of
Researchers was established. This separation may lead one to believe that
profession and research are altogether different. On the contrary, it is evident
that the professions, those with a
thorough scientific content in particular, in their development require
research, continuous up-dating of knowledge, new research and innovation. For
these reasons, it is suitable to stress again that the Professional Forum aims
at the establishment of stronger relationships between the various participating
disciplines and at the sharing of the new knowledge produced by the respective
research activities.
If we refer to the Agenda Habitat II we observe that the implementation of
the actions and strategies planned by the Agenda implies a radical change in the
traditional economic logic and related behaviours at any level of social
responsibility and, consequently, a radical revision of the role of the
professions and particularly of the planning profession.
This reconsideration of the role of the planner implies a new approach to the
themes and problems of human settlements which concerns above all the analysis
and interpretation of settlement phenomena for which intervention is required --
and thus how the planning process should be designed. The requirement of a
"sustainable environment", which has impacted also on the professional
culture, has imposed on this an innovation of contents
and methods. Similarly, the growing need for a citizen's participation in the
decisions concerning the city transformations, has led to the democratisation of
planning and management processes that is, to the so-called planning from below.
These two connotations of the planning process represent two major aspects in
the redefinition of the planner's task, which is now that of combining the
requirement of a sustainable environment with that of the participation of all
subjects of planning in the planning design in its significant phases.
As already shown, the real participation of citizens generates a social
production of knowledge of the city and its territory , a prerequisite of
effective actions for the planning and management of human settlements
consistent with the local requests and aspirations.
However, the Habitat II Agenda and its Plan of Actions expect from the
"inhabitants of the Earth" and from the heads of their countries that
they broaden their horizons and sensibility to the global situation world-wide,
highlighting the most severe aspects of human rights mortification (generators
of absolute poverty, growing world-wide) and suggesting the objectives of an
action meant to mitigate, if not to overcome, the
inequalities most offensive of human dignity.
Conclusion
What effects will the Habitat II Agenda have on the activities and management
of human settlements? Maybe a first answer to this question will come from
Istanbul+5 next year. What effects will there be on the behaviour of
professionals and researchers dealing with the city's fast changes and
transformations? Most likely, they will inspire their professional conception to
the principles stated by the Agenda and conform their actions to the Plan of
Action. Many of the principles and contents expressed in these documents
are already present in the professional philosophy, in the physical planning
philosophy in particular, a fundamentally social discipline. However, in all
modesty, it should be kept in mind that planning requires increasingly broader
fields of knowledge to tackle the
themes and territorial problems of human settlements.
For planners of the years to come, the prospective work is difficult but
fascinating. Planners are the experts at urban and territorial organisation and
this implies that their judgements of value and their assessments should not be
ignored. This requires from them a great moral commitment and autonomous
thinking to interpret rather than to
follow the positive signs of the world and of a society of increasing
complexity.
We feel that it is important to participate with clarity in the debate on the
future for planning and social development. The empowerment of more people will
certainly help to overcome contradictions and conflict in this crucial moment of
transition.
In conclusion I would like to recall what Hobsbawn wrote in his The Age of
Extremes:
"Our world risks both explosion and implosion. It must change. ... And the
price of failure, that is to say, the alternative to a changed society, is
darkness".
We are here in Berlin for the light of change.
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