Dr. Paul Jones, Senior Lecturer and Program Director, Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney Wednesday, 30 November, 2011
Aims of Presentation: � Examine the nature of Pacific urbanisation – what is it, what defines it, what makes it so unique? � What drives the Pacific urbanisation process? � Examine trends in economic growth in urban areas ‐ the importance of the contribution of urban economic activity to GDP, sectoral shifts, urbanisation as the spatial translation of the production economies of urban areas, etc
1. WHAT IS PACIFIC URBANISATION? � urbanisation is a process of social, economic and environmental change • transition associated with the movement of people from rural areas to towns and cities = social, economic and environmental change • urbanisation and the resulting urban form and structure of Pacific towns and cities can be viewed as the spatial translation of the production structure of their economies
WHAT IS PACIFIC URBANISATION? � Minister Dekena from PNG, 2010 – urbanisation is modernising communities, villages, districts and towns so that the benefits of urbanisation are widespread, rather than being enjoyed by a small percentage of the population � thus urbanisation = spreading the benefits that higher densities - economic agglomeration can bring � Pacific urbanisation = “urban is civilization and civilization is modern and modern is service delivery” (Kep, 2011)
PACIFIC URBANISATION = understanding the diversity and commonalities of the 3 main sub regional contexts Micronesia Melanesia Polynesia Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia - 3 main social, cultural, ethnic and geographical groupings of the Pacific – BIG AND SMALL ISLANDS
WHAT DEFINES PACIFIC URBANISATION? � the beginnings of Pacific towns and cities lies in colonial creations - they are colonial imperatives, not island imperatives � geography - PLUS economic activity and land tenure strongly influence how Pacific towns and cities urbanises � strong role of rural urban migration flows and little economic growth means for many Pacific countries that development is POPULATION LED - not economic development as the main driver of urban change
WHAT DEFINES PACIFIC URBANISATION? � Islands still predominantly rural – subsistence � Pacific urbanisation shaped by varying socio cultural orders - norms, values, attitudes, aspirations – along a rural urban continuum
WHAT DEFINES PACIFIC URBANISATION? � the PNG concept of the cultural permeation of urban areas - that is, how socio cultural orders play out, shape and express themselves in Pacific urban areas � expressed in differing “rural –urban” arrangements for marriage, births, deaths, language, dress, appearance, kinship arrangements, land
WHAT DEFINES PACIFIC URBANISATION? HOW DO WE CONCEPTUALISE URBAN? � What does the spatial term urban mean in the Pacific context? In June and July, 2011, images and thoughts associated with the term ‘urban’ from students from the University of PNG, Port Moresby, and the University of the South Pacific, South Tarawa. urban drift, bars and nightlife, lost identity, values gone, empty villages, big man disappeared, money talks, insecurity, big island, fast lane, ID cards, rubbish and rubbish, divided cities, Japanese cars, overcrowding, hubs of education, wantoks lost.
PACIFIC URBANISATION DRIVING GROWTH � the rise of the ‘rural villages in the city’ = squatter and informal settlements = rural in nature and identity � settlers live and behave via norms and values practised in rural villages • increasing number of enclaves with distinct connections to rural kin and location
MAIN URBAN DEVELOPMENT - SQUATTER AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS DRIVING GROWTH • main source of Pacific town and city urban growth – they are the future form of urban development for many PICs • % squatters and informal settlements - Port Moresby 45- 50% (over 100 settlements), Honiara 35%, Suva 15-50%, Port Vila and Luganville 30%, South Tarawa 30%,etc • exist to varying degrees in all Pacific towns and cities - now a permanent feature of Pacific urban structure • the rise of the ‘rural village in the city ’ – live in identifiable urban villages with kin from rural areas ........................... * the emergence of ‘village cities’
The emergence of ‘ Village Cities’ in Melanesia - Port Moresby with 40-50% of population in settlements
SQUATTER AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS – “rural village in the city” The emergence in Melanesia of ‘Village Cities’ Major implications for urban development and management Port Moresby
2. WHAT DRIVES THE URBANISATION PROCESS? Rates of urbanisation (% urban) are determined by three factors: • Rural to urban migration – flows from rural to areas defined as urban • Natural growth rates (births - deaths, fertility, etc) • Reclassification of rural areas to urban - the inclusion of peri urban areas Increasing focus on rural to urban movement
WHAT DRIVES THE URBANISATION PROCESS? Rural urban migration – why? • Real or perceived inequalities in different areas • ‘Push factors’ such as family and clan issues, lack of work, etc • ‘Pull factors’ such as employment opportunties, (real or imagined), education, kin and clan, bright lights etc AND • Poverty – replacing rural poverty with urban poverty: urban is seen as a better alternative than rural poverty
WHAT DRIVES PACIFIC URBANISATION: TRANSPOSING RURAL TO URBAN POVERTY Urban and Rural Basic Needs Poverty Incidence 50 45 40 35 30 25 % Urban 20 Rural 15 10 5 0 Cook Is. Fiji Is. Kiribati FSM 2005 Palau PNG 1996 Samoa Solomon Timor Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu 2005/06 2002/03 2006 2006 2002 Is. Leste 2001 2002 2005 2006 2005/06 * Impact of GFC – elevated urban poverty onto the development agenda * Less subsistence in urban than rural areas
3. WHAT DRIVES PACIFIC URBANISATION? ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT � How well are towns and cities performing regarding GDP? � Assessment problematic as economic planners do not assess GDP at the urban spatial level on a systematic basis � Despite their inefficiencies and constraints, Pacific urban areas are engines of economic growth and significant contributors to GDP
PACIFIC URBANISATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT • national GDP produced directly or indirectly in urban areas - 80% in Port Vila and Luganville, Rarotonga 60%, 60% in Fiji urban, Apia 70% and South Tarawa 60%
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY • as a general trend, the share of GDP derived from agriculture has been declining, while the proportional share of GDP from services, such as tourism, and for some countries, resources, has been increasing. • for some, such as PNG, there has been an increase in GDP derived from natural resources, including activities associated with mining, forestry and fishing. The service sector accounts for the largest share of GDP in most countries, nearly with PNG the main exception. • the shift in GDP distribution has been increasingly focused in urban areas
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Agriculture % Industry % Services % PIC 2004 2005 2006 2004 2005 2006 2004 2005 2006 PNG 26 42 42 39 39 39 35 19 19 Fiji 15 15 15 26 26 26 59 59 59 Kiribati 14 14 7 11 11 7 75 75 86 Tonga 29 29 29 15 15 15 56 56 56 Vanuatu - - 16 - - 19 - - 82 East Timor 32 32 32 15 15 15 53 53 53 Sectoral distribution of GDP, 2006 – selected PICs
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SUPPORTS THE RURAL ECONOMY urban based economic activities have strengthened the viability of rural economic development by providing markets, processing centres and trans-shipment points for rural products, natural resources and other goods. Urban form and structure of PICs = the spatial translation of the production structure of their economies .
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Main urban sectors generating GDP • services - including finance, business, tourism, information, and accommodation; • transport and communications • industry and construction • public administration • Urban areas are direct and indirect hubs of support for economic activity and national GDP
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY – informal • Major role played by expanding urban informal sector - in Melanesia, market places (urban and rural) play a major role • Exchange, bartering, paid and unpaid including village and community work – not just cash transfers
URBAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY - INFORMAL RESILENT AND STRONG Four Mile Settlement – Port Moresby cooked food, drinks including alcohol, marijuana, stolen goods, second hand clothing, prostitution, animals (raising of dogs, pigs, cats, chickens and ducks), store food and goods, buia and beetle nut, cigarettes, tobacco, fish and crabs, vegetables, fruits, sago, sweets and lollies, gambling (cards, darts, bingo), billums (shoulder bags), string making, coconut brooms, illegal household connections to water and power, land ‘sales’ and plot allocation, money lending and petty crime
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