Former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings (above, far right) warned city administrators from across Africa that their municipalities face extinction if they fail to assert dynamic leadership in mitigating the hazardous consequences of rapid population growth and uncontrolled urbanization.
In an 18-minute, no-holds-barred, prepared speech that was twice interrupted by sustained applause, Rawlings berated multinational corporations that protect the environment in their home countries but exhibit no such concern when they invest in developing countries. He challenged African leaders to cast aside the Western concept of a city and create new paradigms for urban Africa.
“Africa and the world’s community need to rethink what constitutes a city since the Western concept is no longer the sole legitimate template for its application in Africa. There is need to re-imagine the African city by creating new paradigms for modern African urbanism,” Rawlings said in his keynote speech at the closing ceremony on June 3 in Accra, Ghana, of the Fourth World Summit of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent.
The former president spoke on the topic, “Modernization of Cities: A Necessity for the 21st Century.” His full remarks are below.
“The future of our planet depends on our cities. By 2050, that’s where 70 percent of the earth’s population will be living. And I believe China is probably the biggest current example. This wave of urbanization presents enormous challenges and opportunities for all of us, but especially to city leaders and especially now as broad consensus of change emerges, driven by economic necessity and environmental concern.
“The reality is that the average citizen in every part of the world is contributing to a certain evolution, not only of his city, but his town, village or hamlet. The use and application of modern technologies such as computers, mobile phone technology and the Internet is consistently reducing the technological gap between hitherto rural and urban areas. There is already rapid evolution taking place with rapid pace, and if we do not consciously [coordinate] that evolution as leaders of countries and cities, the modernization will take place anyway but in a very uncoordinated manner.
“Population growth, urbanization and global warming are fueling an increasing focus on the challenges facing the world’s cities. As the global population heads toward seven billion, we’re discovering that more people want the benefits of urbanization than our economies and societies and the environment can necessarily sustain. Accommodating the future billions will require cities that make smarter use of resources to deliver more with less.
“Yesterday, Ghana experienced torrential rainfall for several hours, and many areas across the city were flooded. Even some of our newly constructed streets were not spared the flooding. The floods and the havoc they wreaked were the best reminder of the challenges cities face in the drive to modernity, and why urbanization—though it requires leadership planning, a sense of direction, and boldness—is also about the mindset and education of the people, especially on appropriate sanitation practices and habits.
“Technological advancement is definitely the way to go in ensuring that our cities stay abreast of the challenges of population increases with the attendant increase in the production of waste material and rising pollution. We are racing against time as we confront these challenges, ladies and gentlemen.
“Population pressures are driving an unprecedented explosion in city building. United Nations projections dictate that the world’s cities will need to accommodate an additional 2.9 billion people by the middle of what is being called “the urban century.” Existing cities will grow and hundreds of cities will be built and expanded to accommodate migration and growth. Building good cities is expensive and we will see a rise in competition between cities to secure investment and attract and retain the businesses and people needed for economic success. The limits of economic, social and environmental sustainability will be tested by this competition.
“Africa’s urban transition has the potential to transform the development of countries across the region. Moreover, the density and diversity of cities can encourage the emergence of progressive values and institutions that promote social cohesion. The same diversity can also have its adverse effects as we experience here in Ghana, for instance, and many of the cities not only in Africa, but also across the world. Flooding, crime, management of waste disposal and a host of challenges rear their head even in the United States almost on a daily basis.
“For cities to fulfill their developmental potential, the range of inherent vulnerabilities associated with urbanization must be continuously monitored and mitigated through public policy, planning, investment, and more importantly, education. This is where forward-thinking political leadership is needed with regard to discipline and accountability.
“These vulnerabilities can be roughly divided into environmental and social. The same characteristics that make cities socially and economically progressive spaces also generate complex environmental and social challenges that can only be met by active public interventions at multiple scales, like households, [creating] housing subsidies; city inter-planning on national levels seeking trade and employment policies. If these challenges are not dealt with effectively the welfare of individuals, communities and entire nations can suffer.
“Currently, African cities have not fulfilled their development potential, which is understood by evidence of increasing environmental strains and social conflict in urban areas. Promulgation of legislation that protect the environment and the effective enforcement of these are crucial to the sustenance of any modernization concept or project. We dare not allow political expediency to stifle the strict application of these laws.
“Our cities, rather than modernize, face the threat of extinction if we [haggle] with education and the effective application of the law. We have to concede, however, that law enforcement agencies of our cities are crippled with institutional bureaucracies and attendant failures, resulting in lawlessness and indiscipline, which culminate in social upheavals and social dislocations.
“The repercussions carry throughout a broad spectrum of society resulting in the killing of innocent people, especially the impoverished, and the destruction of the environment. And when it comes to people, those regarded as foreigners [by virtue of] their own geographical territories become the victims of their own frustrations.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in Ghana we have a situation where some foreign nationals and multinational corporations sometimes abuse the systems and act with impunity to exploit the already vulnerable society. There are those who are ensuring that the environment is protected. However, there are those entities who also originate from countries that are very mindful of protecting the environment and yet have a problem with applying the same rules when it comes to our environment in the developing countries.
“Ladies and gentlemen, development partners who are to be seen investing their donor funds in the solving of these economic problems generated are rather engaged in creating jobs for themselves. We need them to fully champion the cleansing of the challenges associated with urban growth, institutionalization and localization of our democracy, and environmental sustainability, which they always advocate for.
“Ladies and gentlemen, rising urban violence should be understood as a consequence of the failure of cities to fulfill the basic needs, aspirations and expectations of their rapidly growing populations. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a dearth of robust research on the incidence and determinants of urban violence in Africa. But poverty, inequality, economic shocks, social exclusion, and weak political institutions are significant predictors of conflict and violence. Many of these risk factors are prevalent, and in some cases worsening, in African cities.
“South of the Sahara, exceptionally rapid urban population growth has outpaced economic development over the past 30 years, contributing to the urbanization of poverty in our region. This, coupled with a generally laissez-faire approach to urban management has seen the proliferation of unplanned, underserviced settlements, where diseases associated with poor water and sanitation are rife. Access to adequate health and education facilities is often limited. Organized policing is ad hoc at best, and employment is often informal, insecure and poorly paid. There is a large and growing gap between material conditions and opportunities in slums and those in more affluent neighborhoods.
“There is a need for a new urban development paradigm. Up to the 1960s, urbanization was largely associated with human progress and modernization, with urban and regional planning as a part of development strategies and development aid. Africa and the world’s community need to rethink what constitutes a city since the western concept is no longer the sole legitimate template for its application in Africa. There is need to re-imagine the African city by creating new paradigms for modern African urbanism.
“Ladies and gentlemen, planning and financing for sustainable urban growth are therefore priorities that can generate opportunities towards higher employment elasticity, secure ecosystem services, and affordable public services. African cities have an advantage that they prove competitive in time, because their development could leapfrog conventional urban development as the [greener] urban economics. There exists a real opportunity to cultivate an inclusive vision through identifying and embracing a new super paradigm that is appropriate to address the present-day and future needs of African cities.
“Northern African cities have been the scene of many dramatic events since 2011, characterized as the Arab Spring, a period of social and political struggle that has not yet ended. Whatever the political and religious overtones of these upheavals, at their root lay the failure of political leaders to cater adequately to the needs of their large, young and mostly urban-based populations.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, there are various methods we can embrace in instituting ambitious modernization projects. But what is integral to any successful drive is the modernization of the people that build the nation. There is a need to put in place a robust educational drive right from preschool for citizens, aside being educated on their rights, are also educated on their responsibilities.
“We in Africa have a cultural backbone in moral education that we have relegated to the background. We cannot continue to discard this to the detriment of our socio-economic development. A modern city must always be in consonant with a politically dynamic mindset.
“Thank you very much.”
