LOCAL STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATING SUSTAINABILITY
CASE STUDIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUCCESS TABLE OF CONTENTS
LOCAL STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATING SUSTAINABILITY This book was made possible by a generous grant from the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands. 04
INCREASING RESOURCES TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN AHMEDABAD, INDIA 07
DEVELOPING A COHESIVE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN BURLINGTON, USA 10
ORIENTING URBAN PLANNING TO SUSTAINABILITY IN CURITIBA, BRAZIL 13
CREATING A FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN HEIDELBERG, GERMANY 17
ADDRESSING POVERTY IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
World Secretariat, City Hall, 16th Floor, West Tower, 100 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2N2 Telephone: +1-416/392-1462 Facsimile: +1-416/392-1478 Email: iclei@iclei.org Web: www.iclei.org 20
©May 2002, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Canada 24
REDESIGNING LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN MANIZALES, COLOMBIA 27
CREATING WORKING ALLIANCES IN VANCOUVER, CANADA 30
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR LOCAL IMPACT IN NORWAY 33
AN INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR LOCAL ACTION: CITIES FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION CAMPAIGN All rights Reserved. Printed on Sandpiper by Domtar, made from 100% post-consumer waste. DEVELOPING A RESILIENT CITY IN KOBE, JAPAN INTRODUCTION
At the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the global community will assess and reinvigorate response to Agenda 21, the global blueprint for a sustainable future endorsed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The 2002 Summit will focus on action and implementation, on partnerships and on the strategies that will advance sustainable development. Since the Rio Earth Summit, and in many cases predating it, local governments and their partners have instituted strategies for action that are accelerating the transition to sustainable, equitable and secure communities. Through local Agendas 21 they have established strategic planning processes for sustainable development, tackling the fundamental challenges of poverty alleviation, security, climate protection, and conservation of natural resources such as water and soil, among others. In the preparatory process for the Johannesburg Summit, local governments identified a number of successful strategies for advancing sustainable development, which, if further supported, would accelerate progress worldwide. They called on their partners--international agencies, donors, local and regional stakeholders and all spheres of government-- to work with them to advance sustainable development by implementing the following five key strategies. > Strengthen local government. > Strengthen inter- and intragovernmental cooperation. > Foster international solidarity and cooperation. > Build a new culture of sustainability. > Accelerate the transition to sustainable communities and societies. Local Strategies for Accelerating Sustainability presents summaries of ten case studies and related examples that demonstrate the diverse ways in which these strategies are being carried out successfully in municipalities large and small, worldwide. These comprehensive strategies and policy frameworks, unlike isolated applications of technologies or projects, address the complexities and underlying causes of problems on a systemwide basis. Through the implementation of these strategies, local governments are: > redesigning themselves for sustainable development, > ensuring adequate resources to build effective local capacity, > creating effective working alliances to address the complexities of ecosytem-based planning, > mobilizing to respond to international priorities, > adopting sustainable cultural norms within their communities, > orienting urban planning and investment toward resource-efficiency, and > creating resilient communities and cities. The examples in this compilation illustrate how longterm, integrative solutions to local social, economic and environmental challenges have met with success. They highlight the importance of strong leadership and vision, community involvement, and the necessity for fiscal responsibility and meeting basic human needs. They illustrate the positive change that national policies and programs can foster, and the value of partnerships and inter-municipal cooperation. And finally, the cases featured here demonstrate that success typically results from steady implementation, over time, of a comprehensive strategy that reflects a community's vision. Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 advises that the best strategies for realizing sustainable development at the local level will be achieved through consultation and consensus building among all stakeholders. The following case summaries bear this out. Local governments and their partners have built on their inherent strengths to become champions of sustainable development. With the support of their stakeholders, subnational and national governments, and international agencies, this work can be accelerated to benefit the global community. Full versions of each of the case studies, as well as references and contact information for the associated examples, are available on the Internet (www.iclei.org/localstrategies) or by contacting the World Secretariat of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). STRATEGY
Strengthen Local Government CHALLENGE
To provide basic services for an expanded urban area and growing population, and improve living conditions in slum neighborhoods in the face of cash losses and a deteriorating financial situation ACTION
Introduce fiscal and management reforms to enable the AMC to improve and expand basic services and initiate urban development projects PROFILE
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), India Population: 3,515,361 (2001) Land Area: 191 km2 Municipal Budget: US$118 million (2000) NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA
One of the initial reforms addressed Octroi. Octroi (an entry tax on goods) has traditionally been the AMC's major source of revenue, accounting for about 70­75% of total revenue. To increase octroi revenues, the valuation manual for tax assessment was updated based on current market prices. Octroi collection was further improved through a number of means including the deployment of police personnel for controlling touts and catching defaulters and the installation of weighing machines at spot checks. Annual octroi collection increased by 60%. Similarly, in 1994, AMC introduced a series of measures to improve property tax collection, which accounts for about 30% of tax revenues. A computer database was created to identify defaulters, while attention was focused on recovering major outstanding tax amounts. Annual property tax collection increased by 55%. In the mid-90s, AMC also introduced a number of management improvements such as computerization of accounts and upgrading of the workforce. In April 1996, the corporation introduced a computerized doubleentry accounting system, purchased new computers and recruited chartered accountants to introduce the new system. In 1997, about 40 chartered accountants and business management graduates were recruited. Placed in key administrative and operational positions, these new officers are improving Ahmedabad's service delivery while introducing a new work ethic. In 1996, AMC prepared a five-year capital investment plan worth US$150 million for water supply, sewerage, roads, bridges and solid waste management projects. It proposed to meet 30% of the total investment requirement from internal accruals, while mobilizing the remaining amount through municipal bonds and loans from financial institutions. Ahmedabad became the first city in India to request and receive a credit rating for a municipal bond issue. The US Agency for International Development's Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion (FIRE) Project played a multifaceted role in assisting Ahmedabad in developing the bond issue. The city was ultimately assigned an "AA" rating. In 1998, AMC publicly issued secured redeemable bonds aggregating to a total of 1 billion Rupees. City bonds, as they are popularly known, had a face value $1,000 Rupees (US$25) each (for cash at par). AMC sold 25% of the bonds to the Indian public and the remaining 75% of the issue to institutional investors. Under pressure of an impending water crisis, AMC was able to rapidly expend bond proceeds to successfully implement an emergency bulk water supply scheme known as the Raska Project in a record five months. Designed to supply 65 million gallons of water a day to the city, the Raska Water Project consisted of constructing a pump house and laying pipelines to bring water to 60% of the city's population. As well, the healthy state of municipal finances also enabled AMC to partner with the business community, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and other organizations to undertake new initiatives, including: > a partnership with a textile company to redevelop an important commercial artery; > a Slum Networking Project in which the corporation partnered with a textile company, an NGO and the slum community to improve basic infrastructure and provide water and toilets to households.
In 1997, Newcastle, Australia, established a revolving energy fund (REF) to increase funds available for energy efficiency programs. Often a perceived lack of capital can prevent local governments from undertaking energy efficiency programs that require significant initial funding. Newcastle, established an AUS$300,000 REF to pay a Green Energy Coordinator and fund energy saving projects. REFs rely on identifying energy cost savings and, in future budgets, allocating these savings to a REF so that the money can be reinvested in future energy efficiency projects. Since 1995, Newcastle has reduced its energy bill by 40% and they expect to exceed 50% by 2002. INCREASING RESOURCES TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN AHMEDABAD, INDIA
Ahmedabad, the largest city of the state of Gujarat, is the seventh largest city in India. Known as the textile capital of India, Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of the state and is also a major industrial and financial city. In the midst of the overall prosperity of the city, a large poor population has suffered from deprivation of basic services and amenities. In 2000, 41% of the population lived in slums and low-income housing, with the bulk of the slum residents sharing the water supply and many living without toilet facilities. Prior to 1993, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had accumulated a cash loss of over US$9 million and their financial situation was deteriorating. In 1994, the corporation launched a major effort to strengthen its capacity to develop commercially viable projects. As a result, AMC was able to turn around its financial position and achieve a closing cash surplus of US$50 million in 1999. The main credit for the financial turnaround and other development initiatives and administrative reforms goes to the dynamic leadership of a municipal commissioner who remained at the helm from 1994 to 1997. WITH FUNDS FROM THE BOND ISSUE, THE AMC CONSTRUCTED A NEW WATER PUMPHOUSE AND PIPELINES TO SERVICE 60% OF THE CITY'S POPULATION. 04 Photo courtesy of the Indo-USAID FIRE Project ICLEI > Case Studies of Local Government Success 05 SHENYANG, CHINA
The Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP), operated by UN-Habitat/UN Environment Programme, builds capacities in urban environmental planning and management. The SCP is founded on multistakeholder participatory approaches and promotes good urban governance. Shenyang, China, a SCP participant, is home to one of the largest heavy industry centers in China. For years economic development in Shenyang took precedent over the environment. The city is now taking a different approach. Using a Local Agenda 21 framework, a comprehensive action plan for environmental protection was developed. This approach has led to radical decisions; in 1999 it was decided to close the Shenyang Smelting Plant, one of the city's largest employers but also the largest source of air, water and land pollution. KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
In March 2002, AMC went ahead with another bond issue of the same amount to complete its original water and sewerage infrastructure scheme. The second bond is tax exempt. Ahmedabad is the first municipal corporation in India to issue tax-free municipal bonds. One of the main reasons for inadequate levels of urban infrastructure is the inability to tap available capital to finance infrastructure projects. Financial sector reforms offer opportunities for tapping capital markets. To routinely access capital markets or to form successful partnerships with the private sector, local governments will have to strengthen their capacity to develop commercially viable projects. This will require appropriate pricing of services, efficient cost recovery mechanisms, sound accounting and financial management systems, professionalism of the work force, effective service delivery systems, and development of capital investment plans. STRATEGY
Building a New Culture of Sustainability CHALLENGE
To broaden community understanding of the need for long-term and interconnected projects to revitalize the urban center (local economy and environment) in the face of regional suburbanization ACTION
Develop a long-term community vision, based on sustainability principles, and a multi-faceted action plan to provide the basis for nurturing a culture of sustainability PROFILE
City of Burlington, Vermont, U.S.A. Population: 39,824 Land Area: 27 km2 Municipal Budget: US$158 million RESULTS
Ahmedabad enjoys a high level of autonomy in revenue use in that it depends on the state government for only 10% of its total revenue in the form of grants for primary education. In addition, management innovations introduced by the municipal commissioner and supported by staff and elected officials helped AMC change its image among the local citizenry. Because of the fiscal and management reforms, Ahmedabad built an extensive water project, developed mutual partnerships to improve traffic congestion and improved conditions in slums. CONTACT
Mr. P Panneervel IAS, Municipal Commissioner . Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Fax: +91-79/5350926 Email: mial@ahmedabadcity.org Website: www.ahmedabadcity.org DEVELOPING A COHESIVE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN BURLINGTON, USA
The City of Burlington is the largest urban center in Vermont and its economic hub. Over the past two decades, Burlington has become known for its progressive approach to governance and its strong tradition of activism. The government of Burlington, local organizations and residents have implemented many diverse projects with a focus on sustainable community development and principles of economic self-sufficiency, equity, environmental protection and participation. Raising awareness of its citizens and providing access to information are central to Burlington's sustainability strategy. Over the years, Burlington has developed several mechanisms for citizen engagement in the governance process, including citizen commissions and boards working with each municipal department. Burlington has also been active in a number of initiatives to improve the quality of the natural and built environment. > A major initiative to revitalize the city's waterfront was undertaken in the 1980s which involved cleaning up abandoned industrial sites and creating community and recreational resources. LESSONS LEARNED
Ahmedabad demonstrated that municipal bonds can work in India for raising finances for infrastructure projects. However, before actual issuance of bonds, local governments need to institute efficient project management systems and procedures to reduce time delays and cost overruns. The most critical factor for obtaining market finance is a healthy municipal revenue base. BURLINGTON'S PEDESTRIAN-ORIENTED CHURCH STREET MARKETPLACE 06 For full case study see www.iclei.org/localstrategies Photo courtesy of Burlington Legacy Project 07 KOLDING, DENMARK
> The municipally-owned Burlington Electric Department has implemented many energy conservation and efficiency measures, which have resulted in a decrease in community energy consumption by 18% since 1989. > Several projects have focused on creating equitable opportunities for local residents to participate in the economy. For example, the city has begun employment training programs including a job readiness training center to provide resources and support for higher skilled jobs and Step Up For Women, a free program to teach low- and moderateincome women trade skills. > Economic initiatives have helped to strengthen markets for and access to locally produced goods and services. > In 1988, the city supported the development of the Burlington Housing Trust Fund that assists nonprofit groups to establish perpetually affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. More than 750 affordable housing units have been created. In spite of Burlington's success in the 1980s and 1990s in improving its community, it became apparent that these initiatives were not well connected to each other and a broader method to promote sustainability was required. More recently, the city has faced a number of interrelated problems, including a shortage of affordable housing, increased poverty, environmental degradation and population decline, as a result of rapid suburban growth and other local development trends. Legacy Project In response to these new challenges and as the organizing component of its strategy to promote sustainability, Burlington embarked on a comprehensive process to develop a community vision for the future of the city. As well, the city set out to create a plan that integrates its diverse initiatives into a common framework. Initiated in 1999 by Mayor Peter Clavelle, the Legacy Project seeks to engage all citizens in a dialogue about the principles and actions that will guide the community over the next 30 years. The planning process, Burlington's most extensive participation effort to date, was directed by a steering committee comprised of stakeholders from nongovernmental and business institutions along with youth and municipal representatives. Their actions will have a major impact on the future of the city. Over a period of a year-and-a-half, more than a 1,000 residents contributed to the development of the vision through a multi-faceted participation process. In March 2000, a "Summit on the City's Future" was held in which more than 300 participants finalized the Legacy Project Action Plan. The plan presents goal statements that describe Burlington in 2030, priority actions for achieving these goals and indicators for assessing the city's progress. Burlington City Council unanimously approved the plan in June 2000. The principles and objectives of the Legacy Plan have since been integrated into the city's overall municipal development plan. The common vision that emerged through this process is of Burlington as a regional economic center with an enhanced quality of life and economic security for all residents, a responsive government and extensive civic participation, and a healthy natural environment. The Legacy Project was successful in formalizing a community vision which had been developing over time, resolving a number of fundamental issues facing the city and integrating many diverse policies and programs into a comprehensive strategy for the city. This success was a result of the widespread participation of citizens and community organizations in the process, the forum of open debate that was created, and the commitment of key stakeholders, including political leaders, to the process. The challenge of the Legacy Project is to balance future growth with the principles of sustainability that underlie the community's vision:
In 1994 the Town of Kolding, Denmark, signed the Aalborg Charter and committed itself to pursuing sustainable municipal development. This commitment was acted upon in the town's Municipal Plan in 1998. Among other actions, this document obliges the municipality to increase its environmental management through green planning and purchasing. Kolding evaluates all products and services on environmental criteria as well as on price and quality. Kolding is the area's largest employer and this action has considerable potential for widespread impacts. CONTINUED JINJA, UGANDA
In 1995, Jinja, the second largest urban center in Uganda, launched its Local Agenda 21 (LA21). Before this an unemployment rate of 70% and widespread poverty prevented the municipality from collecting sufficient taxes to provide basic services. Most residents lacked access to clean water and the waste management system was inadequate. Jinja's LA21 set out to improve services to residents while protecting the natural environment. A wide variety of stakeholders participated and the process was particularly successful at including women. The LA21 initiatives eventually resulted in the identification of numerous self-run community projects. Projects include a profitgenerating composting initiative and a biogas digester which uses human waste to generate methane that is then used as an energy source for lighting and cooking. These projects are run by elected management committees independently of the municipality, provide essential services to the community and have nurtured community capacity. Working together for a more sustainable future has become commonplace in Jinja. This process has changed residents' attitudes, instilling a spirit of volunteerism, demonstrating the value of resources and, perhaps most importantly, building their capacity. Local people are more positive about their ability to influence their situation, take care of their environment and improve their living conditions. Decentralization promoted by the national government has undoubtedly been a facilitating factor to the LA21 process, and conversely, LA21 has encouraged residents of Jinja to participate in local government. > > > > economic security, local self-sufficiency and equity; empowerment and responsibility; social wellbeing; ecological integrity. Mayor Peter Clavelle. For Burlington, like the many other municipal signatories, the Earth Charter is an important educational tool for enhancing citizen awareness about the complexities of sustainability and for guiding the work of individuals and institutions. The Legacy Plan provides a framework for implementing these principles through a series of diverse actions. Collaboration among all stakeholders is the approach adopted for initiating these actions. Municipal departments and the stakeholder groups have made commitments to implementing components of the plan, including providing information and resources. The project steering committee meets quarterly to assess whether progress is being made on their commitments and to ensure accountability in the implementation process. Once a year, the city produces an annual report, and a town meeting is held to evaluate the community's progress and assess whether any changes need to be made to the priorities established in the plan. LESSONS LEARNED
The commitment of local political leadership and representatives of the city's major organizations to the concept of sustainability has been critical to the process. Citizens and representatives of business, local organizations and governments have become more aware of the critical issues facing the city and the principles and necessary actions for implementing sustainability. Although Burlington's collaborative approach has been one of its strong points, it has also been very challenging to implement as there was initially no institutionalized structure in place reflecting this new model of governance. Finally, despite its success in raising the awareness of its citizens, Burlington's experience has demonstrated the challenge of aligning attitudes with behavioral change and that nurturing a culture of sustainability is a long-term endeavor. RESULTS
Through the Legacy Project, a number of changes have been implemented to make the governance system more accountable and democratic, including changes to the City Charter that make municipal departments directly accountable to the Mayor and hence voting citizens. The Legacy Project has helped to further educate citizens about the critical issues facing the city and the necessary actions for sustainability. One recent action that furthers the aims of the Legacy Project was Burlington's endorsement in June 2001 of the Earth Charter, a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society. In committing to the Charter, the city recognized that the issues facing Burlington are not isolated problems, that other communities around the world have similar concerns and values, and that sustainable development requires a global framework to unite human efforts. "If we could all be working from the same page, success is more likely," states KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
Burlington's strategy of fostering a culture of sustainability has demonstrated the importance of adopting a longterm, integrated approach to sustainable development and grounding a city's sustainability framework in a set of principles that are defined by the community. Nurturing broad citizen participation and collaboration with community organizations in the visioning and implementation processes are key factors of success. KEY CONTACT
Mark T. Eldridge Director of Planning and Zoning, City of Burlington Fax: 1-802/865-7195 Email: meldridge@ci.burlington.vt.us 08 ICLEI > Local Strategies for Accelerating Sustainability For full case study see www.iclei.org/localstrategies 09 STRATEGY
Accelerate the Transition to Sustainable Communities and Societies CHALLENGE
To guarantee a good quality of life for Curitiba's citizens over the long term, ensuring social inclusion, accessibility, public amenities, urban transparency and environmental sustainability for the city and metropolitan area ACTION
Undertake a series of long-term, integrated urban planning actions based on valuing the individual that have resulted in a model ecological, people-centered city PROFILE
Municipality of Curitiba, Brazil Population: 1.6 million Land Area: 432 km2 Municipal Budget: US$600 million RESULTS
achieve a collective dream. When a city accepts as its mandate its quality of life; when it respects the people who live in it; when it respects the environment; when it prepares for future generations, the people share responsibility for that mandate, and this shared cause is the only way to achieve that collective dream." Strong political leadership and continuity has been essential to long-term implementation of the city's plan. Lerner, now governor of Paraná, was involved in developing the city's 1965 Master Plan. In the same year, Lerner and his colleagues established the Urban Planning Institute of Curitiba (IPPUC) as an independent agency to supervise and implement planning. A clear strategy and vision of the future in Curitiba and creation of an agency to make sure it was implemented has meant that smaller decisions made over the course of years and in many individual programs have added up to a city that's a model of ecological, people-centered urbanism. Although Curitiba is known internationally as a sustainable, ecological city, it calls itself "the city of all of us." In almost any area of Curitiba's urban planning over the years, it is possible to see how consideration has been given to people in the big picture--and also to see the associated, system-wide sustainability benefits of integrated planning. This is what's most unique about the city's strategy: it maximizes the efficiency and productivity of transportation, land-use planning and housing development by integrating them so they support one another to improve residents' quality of life in the city. Curitiba has high rates of recycling, large amounts of green space, a model transit system and social programs reaching all members of the community. Per capita income is 66% higher than the Brazilian average. The city's 30-year economic growth rate is 7%, significantly higher than the national average of 4%. Future expectations relate to Curitiba's metropolitan area, where the city's strategy is being applied to improve the lives of people in the surrounding region. The following individual examples all reflect the city's people-first strategy, and the benefits of integrated urban planning and system-wide sustainability. Transportation and Land Use Integration of traffic management, transportation and land-use planning in the 1970s allowed the city to minimize downtown traffic, provide more leisure areas and pedestrian zones in the city center, and encourage the use of public transport and cycling in order to achieve an environmentally healthy city. Today there's a model transit service used by more than 2 million people a day. While there are more car owners per capita than anywhere in Brazil, and the population has doubled since 1974, auto traffic has declined by 30%, and atmospheric pollution is the lowest in Brazil. In addition, an inexpensive "social fare" on public transit promotes equality. The city has 200 kilometers of bike paths. Downtown areas were transformed into pedestrian streets, including a 24-hour mall with shops, restaurants and cafes and a street of flowers with gardens tended by street kids. This vibrant pedestrian zone encourages tourism, which generated US$280 million in 1994, 4% of the city's net income. BARCELONA, SPAIN
In 1994, the City of Barcelona, Spain, signed the Heidelberg Declaration for Climate Protection and set a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% of 1987 levels. A key aspect of the city's plan is the exploitation of solar energy. In 1999, the city passed a municipal solar ordinance calling for the installation of solar panels on new developments. In addition, the largest photovoltaic plant in the world is planned for operation in 2004. ORIENTING URBAN PLANNING TO SUSTAINABILITY IN CURITIBA, BRAZIL
Curitiba is the capital of the State of Paraná, a mainly agricultural area in southern Brazil. In the 1970s and 1980s, physical, economic and demographic growth was rapid and the city became an important industrial and commercial center. Curitiba's population has doubled to 1.6 million over the past 30 years. Despite the major challenges that came with rapid growth, significant improvements have been made to quality of life in the city. Curitiba is more than a city with a number of outstanding projects. The key to its success is the underlying, cohesive strategy--with a focus on improving life for residents and on integrated planning-- that underpins all of its projects. Specific goals are social inclusion, accessibility, public amenities, urban transparency, efficiency and environmental sustainability for the city and metropolitan area. The strategic vision that informs all aspects of Curitiba is articulated by its visionary former mayor, Jaime Lerner, who led the city's transformation, "There is no endeavour more noble than the attempt to TORONTO, CANADA
Moving the Economy, a five-yearold partnership between the City of Toronto and Transportation Options, has laid a strong foundation to support the growth of sustainable transportation. It has launched two pilot projects to test the viability of new mobility strategies locally, nationally and internationally. The projects have led to an extensive communications network that links businesses and governments with information about new mobility, experts and on-the-ground examples of where new mobility is making money. Moving the Economy's New Mobility Sectoral Study, completed in 2002, has identified the directions government
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE CURITIBA'S ECO-EFFICIENT, BUS-ONLY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS A MODEL FOR CITIES AROUND THE WORLD. THE "SPEEDY BUS" RUNS ALONG A DIRECT LINE AND STOPS ONLY AT TUBULAR STATIONS SPECIALLY DESIGNED TO MOVE PASSENGERS QUICKLY. 10 Photo courtesy of Ricardo Almeida, Municipal Secretariat of Social Communications ICLEI > Case Studies of Local Government Success 11 CONTINUED and businesses should take as new mobility develops over the next 20 years. The study has explored how Toronto and other cities can benefit from this trend. PORTLAND, USA
By integrating land-use and transportation policies, the City of Portland, USA, is developing a more compact, energyefficient urban form that reduces automobile dependency. An urban growth boundary guides development, and Portland's regional 2040 Growth Concept protects natural areas and farmland while improving infrastructure. The concept integrates transportation strategies and land-use policies that strongly support strategic growth management while allowing each regional community to develop its business center and neighborhoods with their own characteristics. Public transit, foot traffic, bicycle use, roadways and freight movement are addressed with a strong emphasis on locating jobs and housing near existing multi-modal transportation infrastructure. As a result, during the 1990s bicycle commuting almost tripled, transit ridership increased by 65%, and per capita gasoline consumption fell by 9%. Green Space Curitiba is referred to as the ecological capital of Brazil, with a network of 28 parks and wooded areas representing one-fifth of the city. Builders get tax breaks if their projects include green space. Waters diverted into new lakes in parks solved dangerous flooding problems, while also protecting valley floors and riverbanks, acting as a barrier to illegal occupation, and providing aesthetic and recreational value to the thousands of people who use city parks. The city has 52 square meters of green space per person, up from 1 square meter in 1970. Waste Management The "green exchange" employment program focuses on social inclusion, benefiting both those in need and the environment. Low-income families living in shantytowns unreachable by truck bring their trash bags to neighborhood centers, where they exchange them for bus tickets and food. There's also a program for children where they can exchange recyclable garbage for school supplies, chocolate, toys and tickets for shows. Seventy percent of the city's trash is recycled, and the money raised from selling materials goes into social programs. Education and Capacity Building Open University, created by the city, lets residents take courses in many subjects such as mechanics, hair styling and environmental protection for a small fee. The "capacity building job line" includes business incubators designed to help small companies get established and prosper and the Crafts Lycée that trains people for professions such as marketing and finance. LESSONS LEARNED
Curitiba's officials found that the application of a citystrategy with strong, coherent governance, design values and a focus on integrated systems can be used successfully to align the actions of planning departments to meet strategic objectives. The integration of different elements of urban development avoided problems associated with piecemeal development such as pollution, traffic congestion and nonsustainable fuel consumption rates. Creative, cheap solutions that fit the city provided better solutions to Curitiba's urban problems than more expensive approaches. STRATEGY
Strengthen Local Government CHALLENGE
To address unemployment, unaffordable housing, population exodus to the suburbs and shifting demographics that threaten the city's unique economic, social and environmental fabric ACTION
Develop a plan to integrate the management of the many and varied programs and policies for sustainable development, using environmental budgeting as the framework to control the use of natural resources PROFILE
City of Heidelberg, Germany Population: 139,000 Land Area: 109 km2 Municipal Budget: US$413.9 million (466 million Euro) KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
> Articulation of strong, local core values in a city plan. > Creation of an independent municipal authority such as IPPUC to ensure planning continuity and success regardless of political, economic and social challenges. > Integrated planning processes structured to assure that planners in all areas know the strategy and are working with a shared vision and developing their plans together. CREATING A FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
The City of Heidelberg is located on the Rhine plateau in Baden-Württemberg and is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage site and tourist center. Heidelberg, apart from tourism, has a science and research-based economy. The city has long been a leader in environmental management and sustainable development and in 1994 signed the Aalborg Charter. When the current mayor, Beate Weber, came into office in 1990, she found the existing city plan no longer fit with realities in the city. The population living in the city had increased only slightly, while the number of commuters coming in from the suburbs had risen sharply. The number of unemployed people and those looking for housing in the city had increased. It was time to engage in a new city development planning process to move the city's activities towards sustainable development. Developed over two-and-a-half years starting in 1994, and with broad public participation, the planning process was framed by the idea of "Responsibility for KEY CONTACT
Luiz Masaru Hayakawa President, IPPUC Fax: +55-41/252-6679 Email: ippuc@ippuc.curitiba.pr.gov.br IPPUC website: www.ippuc.org.br Curitiba website: www.curitiba.pr.gov.br THE CITY OF HEIDELBERG, A PROTECTED UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE 12 For full case study see www.iclei.org/localstrategies Photo courtesy of the City of Heidelberg, Germany 13 BIELEFELD, GERMANY
the Future." Social, economic and environmental factors were to be considered. The City Development Plan was to present a strategy to take Heidelberg to the year 2010. Expanding on the city's 1974 development scheme and incorporating the lessons learned through developing climate and transportation plans, the new City Development Plan,
sets the comprehensive and integrative scope of action for a policy which assumes responsibility for social co-existence within the City and the conservation of an environment worth living in. Its core feature is the commitment towards a sustainable city development which meets the task of the "Local Agenda 21"... RESULTS
and that previous experiences are considered in the next period. The application of a budget cycle similar to the financial management process ensures that the issues of the use of natural resources and environmental quality are returning to the political agenda regularly. In a transparent way, municipal decision makers determine in advance the spending framework (targets), and can be held accountable for meeting the targets or overspending (debt to nature). In Heidelberg, a project team with representatives from various departments in the administration oversees the implementation of the environmental budget, including presenting it to the mayor and city council for approval. The environmental budget is seen as a "Meta-Environmental Management System" in that it provides a framework to review the success of various actions. The environmental budget serves to build a network of departments and their various projects, each with responsibilities to balance their respective "budget lines." Heidelberg's concept links the various single projects and policies to the environmental budget (ecoBUDGET) and eventually the city's Local Agenda 21 (City Development Plan). Heidelberg has expanded on the original environmental budgeting concept, keeping a budget for the city's overall environmental consumption (municipality, citizens, businesses, etc.). They now also have special budgets for environmental consumption by "big" municipal projects (those requiring an environmental impact assessment) and municipal institutions. The city recently completed the first review of the implementation of the City Development Plan. While some activities have been completed, others are longterm commitments that will continue to evolve. The city already has formulated environmental quality targets through the ecoBUDGET process, has presented an "undeveloped area structure concept" and an environmental plan, and has reduced CO2 emissions from municipal buildings through energy saving measures. In the environmental target area, Heidelberg is now able to prove the success of its activities, moving to quantify statements like, "we have improved the environment." Heidelberg can now state: > reductions in municipal CO2 emissions by 30% since 1993, > reductions in nitrous oxides (NOx) emissions by 65% since 1986, > reductions in drinking water consumption by 12% since 1990, > reductions in specific residual waste by 49% since 1990. Environmental budgeting has allowed the city to set targets, and then use the resource management process to ensure that the targets are being met. As Mayor Beate Weber puts it, "With environmental budgeting we have a reliable basis for decisions and can check if our aims are being met." The cross-departmental nature of the environmental budgeting procedure has served to educate municipal staff not traditionally involved in that field on environmental concerns and limits. Overall, environmental budgeting has proven to be a useful controlling instrument for successfully meeting the environmental targets set out in the City Development Plan. It will continue to support Heidelberg's overall strategy going forward. (Source: City Development Plan) In the end, the plan looked at objectives under seven target areas: urbanism, regional cooperation and development, employment, housing, environment, mobility, social matters, and culture. Existing commitments and plans, such as the climate protection and transportation plans, were incorporated into the broader City Development Plan, although they are still followed separately as well. The environmental target area addresses overall improvement in the local environment and permanently protecting natural resources such as water, soil and air. This section includes a call to establish an environmental budget as such a "scheme plays a vital role for the initiation of sustainable development." Over a full budget cycle, Heidelberg used and adapted the ecoBUDGET® system developed by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The city subsequently introduced environmental budgeting on an ongoing basis. Environmental budgeting is a management system for the use of natural resources that complements financial budgeting and human resource management. It applies periodic financial budgeting processes, mechanisms and routines to the management of natural resources so that city managers devote the same amount of attention and concern to these resources and to environmental quality. As a comprehensive system of municipal environmental planning, controlling and reporting, environmental budgeting constitutes the environmental cornerstone for Integrated Resource Management (IRM). IRM relates the management of financial, human and natural resources to one another, thus building a consistent framework for effective municipal service delivery with efficient resource use. Environmental budgeting does not attempt to express environmental effects in monetary terms. To set limits on, and follow the "spending" of natural resources, budgets are based on five to twenty resource accounts, using environmental indicators measured in physical quantities. In Heidelberg, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, water consumption and residual waste generation were some of the indicators used. For each account (indicator) a mid-term (five to ten year) target is set. Based on the state of each indicator from the reference year, annual or biennial targets are set to reach agreed mid-term targets. At the end of the budgetary cycle, an environmental budget balance is established to inform the municipal council of the progress towards meeting the targets. Environmental budgeting as a management system ensures that objectives are not only discussed but actually adopted, that implementation is controlled Bielefeld, a city of 325,000 in northwest Germany, has been faced with excessive sprawl and increasing motorized transportation over the last few years. Local environmental budgeting was seen as a strategic aid to target setting in planning, especially related to the city's climate protection, water provision and open space activities. Environmental budgeting has been integrated into most of the departments involved. It plays an increasingly important role as Bielefeld politicians decided in early 2000 to introduce environmental budgeting into the local authority on a permanent basis, and are looking at extending the eco BUDGET to include other accounts (indicators). 14 ICLEI > Local Strategies for Accelerating Sustainability ICLEI > Case Studies of Local Government Success 15 NORDHAUSEN COUNTY, GERMANY
Nordhausen is a county of about 100,000 citizens located in central Germany. As a small county with limited financial and staff resources, Nordhausen uses the ecoBudget approach to integrate their environmental policies and programs into their Local Agenda 21 in a cost-effective manner. As Sylvia Stüven from Nordhausen has stated, the county has found that, "... environmental budgeting appears as the optimal instrument for a sustainable use of natural resources on the basis of scientific, region-oriented environmental targets." Nordhausen recently approved its second environmental budget balance and environmental master budget for the next year. LESSONS LEARNED
Heidelberg found that properly organizing before starting the budget process led to a more successful outcome. For example, developing cross-departmental groups, setting very clear targets linked to other initiatives (such as linking climate protection targets to the existing Heidelberg targets to reduce CO2 emissions), and setting in place systems to develop and track budgets throughout the cycle were key to getting the process started. Part of this organization is the development of a system for ongoing reporting. As with many initiatives, a transparent system is critical to success. For the environmental budget to work, a willingness to systemize policies, set priorities and debate conflicts is absolutely necessary. Data availability proved to be a stumbling block. Heidelberg found that the selection of indicators was limited by the available data--current, comparable, and easily and economically collected data are needed. Given the time required to see effects from changes in environmental activities, the city also found the environmental budget cycle worked better over two years. Finally, support from the municipal leadership was very important for the establishment of the City Development Plan and the implementation of the environmental budgeting component of the plan. KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
As the foundation of a sustainable community, natural resources like air, water and land need to be managed to ensure their long-term viability. The ecoBUDGET model serves as a cornerstone for IRM, a system to link the management of financial, human and natural resources. With environmental budgeting, Heidelberg has introduced a mechanism that sustains the attention of municipal decision makers on natural resources and environmental quality through periodic target-setting, controlling and reporting. Building a network within the administration to collect and analyze the necessary data from various initiatives, and to define the budget accounts and targets together with the responsible departments was important in making the mechanism work. As part of the city's overall development plan, environmental budgeting shows the success of the cumulative and interactive effects the city's initiatives have on natural resources in both the short and long term, and link these environmental benefits to sustainable development. STRATEGY
Accelerate the Transition to Sustainable Communities and Cities CHALLENGE
To address immediate basic needs and promote longer term human security and sustainability values among residents where poverty and accessing basic human needs, such as shelter, food and clothing are of primary importance ACTION
Involve the community in selecting the most innovative, technically relevant and ecologically sound solutions to enhance local economic development, and build community capacity to contribute to those solutions PROFILE
City of Johannesburg, South Africa Population: 2.9 million (1998) Land Area: 2,300 km2 Municipal Budget: US$1.04 billion ADDRESSING POVERTY IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Midrand is a neighboring municipality of Johannesburg, now part of the ama