Press Statement

Dr. Zahidul Huque
Launch of the State of the Philippine Population Report 2004
Hyatt Hotel, Manila
Philippines


The United Nations has projected the urban population to grow by 1.8 per cent per year between 2000 and 2030, almost twice as fast as global population growth. The proportion of urban dwellers will increase from 48 per cent in 2003 to 60 per cent in 2030, with the less developed regions accounting for much of the increase. Asia, for instance will be 55 per cent urban. All these will develop as more and more people continue to flock to cities and towns in search of jobs, educational opportunities, and higher standards of living. However, most of this urban growth will be due to natural fertility rather than migration.

A continuing trend towards urban agglomerations has also been noted. There are now 20 mega-cities with at least 20 million people and 15 of these are found in developing countries. By 2015, there will be 22 such mega-cities, with 5 per cent of the global population. Cities with less than one million people will add 400 million by 2015, and more than 90 per cent of this growth will be in cities of fewer than 500,000.

What do these figures suggest? This means that there should be significant improvements in local infrastructure and in the capacity to manage and provide public services, particularly in the face of increasing decentralization of decision-making to municipalities and cities. With rapid urban growth outpacing economic progress that usually accompanies urbanization, national and local governments are hard put in providing even the most basic services such as water, electricity, education, health care, transportation, and sanitation. Squatter settlements have sprouted, giving rise to increased need for disease control, particularly in congested urban slums.

Priority attention will have to be given to the needs of the urban poor, whose access o health and other basic services is far worse than their rural counterparts. Unmet need for family planning among the urban poor in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, is nearly as great as for rural populations.

The 2004 State of Philippine Population Report by the Commission on Population, with its theme Population, Urbanization and Local Governance is therefore, a very timely resource for local governments on how best to manage their growing urban population and address the concomitant problems and constraints. The report gives a very good account of lessons on urbanization and local governance based on the experience of eight cities. It takes a hard look at the extent to which these local governments have been involved in managing urbanization, particularly in terms of service provision, local policies, planning and monitoring and resource mobilization.

Large movements of people from rural to urban areas will continue to confront most nations, including the Philippines. As growing urbanization continues to loom ahead of us, it becomes imperative for local governments to take definitive actions to abate its negative consequences and, at the same time, maximize the opportunities that it offers.

Many countries have resorted to integrate urban and rural development programs that adapt to, rather than attempt to modify, population dynamics. A few have attempted to contain urban growth by relocating population to new secondary cities. Land management policies and human settlement programs now include measures to upgrade infrastructure and services, control the location of new housing, and, in general, ensure sound land use.

The Philippines could learn from the experiences of these countries and vice-versa. Local governments in the Philippines could also very well learn from each other. Expanding the knowledge based on the interrelationships between and among population, urbanization and local governance and encouraging increased and sustained technical exchange among local governments on good urban governance are critical at this point in time and will prove beneficial in the long run.