Urban development Solution : expedien E solutions are essential in combatting poverty, providing affordable energy and waste management, building climate-resilient cities that feature nature as part of their infrastructure, improving health and wellbeing by reducing air pollution and food insecurity, as well as providing climate resilience. Renaturalizing brownfields or turning vacant lots into urban farms are among many nature-based solutions.
1. Public-Private Partnerships
Public-private partnerships bring private sector competencies and efficiencies in infrastructure development and management. They are an alternative to privatization and help governments meet goals set in the New Urban Agenda, including “people-first urban services” and “innovative infrastructure.”
P3s allow cities to use private sector experience and capital to finance infrastructure projects, reducing project costs by eliminating the need for upfront public funds. Private firms are incentivized to find cost-effective solutions, deliver on time and budget and take on financial risk – ultimately saving city resources and taxpayer dollars.
There are several types of PPP contracts based on the level of risk transfer, investment level and type of project. These include build-lease-operate-transfer (BLOT), in which the private firm designs, finances and builds a facility on leased public land and transfers ownership upon expiration of the lease; design-build-finance-operate (DBFO), where a private company provides the design, financing and construction of a new infrastructure component while retaining operation and maintenance responsibilities until transfer to the public sector; and build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT), in which privatization is granted for designing, building, operating and owning a new infrastructure component for a designated period, in exchange for regular revenues from user fees.
Revenue risk is the possibility that a PPP’s private partner will not be able to charge enough to cover the cost and operating expenses of its infrastructure over the life of the contract, for example, if traffic projections are lower than expected. Extensive research is necessary to identify and mitigate such risks.
2. Nature-Based Solutions
Nature-based solutions (NBS) refers to any actions which seek to conserve, sustainably manage or restore ecosystems as an approach for addressing social challenges such as disaster risk management, climate change adaptation or food security. Examples include protecting coastal forests that act as natural flood barriers as well as rewilding brownfields for sustainable urban agriculture.
Nature-based solutions not only bring social and environmental advantages, but are often cost-effective alternatives to human-built infrastructure. Re-establishing mangrove forests along coastlines can reduce storm effects such as tsunamis while simultaneously providing fishery production for local communities while serving as carbon storage sites.
NBS are becoming more prevalent, with governments including them in their national climate and biodiversity goals, while businesses investing in projects including protecting wetlands to reduce flooding and restoring degraded habitats to benefit wildlife and human health. IFRC is helping build the evidence base and advance best practice around NBS solutions through our first ever guide for community-led nature-based solutions for natural hazard mitigation and climate adaptation.
However, to ensure that NBS are designed and implemented in ways that advance sustainability and human well-being while mitigating adverse impacts on biodiversity and local communities. This includes avoiding unsustainable forestry practices that increase CO2 emissions through replacing native forests with monoculture plantations; incorporating ecological diversity into reforestation projects in order to improve landscape function while limiting carbon accumulation in tree biomass; as well as encouraging system innovations that integrate NBS into urban environments, agricultural landscapes and the management of water resources.
3. Compact Development
As urban populations increase, the need for efficient and sustainable development becomes ever more essential. One solution to this challenge is compact development – which creates walkable neighborhoods with amenities within close proximity – such as creating walkable neighborhoods. Compact development offers several advantages over conventional planning methods: it reduces commute times, fossil fuel usage and environmental sustainability are reduced significantly while at the same time increasing accessibility for residents. Unfortunately however, this form of planning has received criticism.
One of the primary criticisms against artificially restricting land expansion is that it leads to higher property prices and displacement of low-income communities, as well as concerns regarding green spaces, air quality, hygiene, and density effects on cities. Furthermore, research has suggested that mixing residential and commercial activities within dense neighborhoods may increase criminal activity.
Policy makers need to devise comprehensive yet targeted plans in order to reach their goal of increasing livability through compact development. To do this, it is necessary to identify factors which discourage developers from exploring innovative designs and create policy interventions to encourage these efforts. Municipalities should consider loosening restrictive planning regulations that limit innovative design features, and offering incentives like density bonuses to lure developers. This can help mitigate negative impacts while providing all stakeholders the benefits of compact cities. Furthermore, strengthening local government agencies’ capacity is necessary in order to implement and enforce these policies effectively.