Editorial

The articles in this first issue of the fourth volume of Environment and Urbanization Asia can be seen as addressing two broad sets of issues, viz. one of sustainability and the other of governance. In addition, the articles also discuss household quality of life in Indian states and pricing of water supply.

Sustainability has been and continues to be one of the important goals that has long dominated urban and environmental policies, programmes and projects across Asian countries. Indeed, in several countries, it is the foremost criterion for rating or measuring a programme or a project. Over the years, an aura of universality has grown around this concept. Significantly, notwithstanding its long usage, it does not convey a meaning or definition that is fixed in time or that has universal applicability. It is used variously, but the one description that has stuck is that the interests of the future generations are as important as those of the present one. In much of the discourses, this concept has been used to convey that whatever policies or programmes may be brought in, they should result in long-term gains. An important fallout of discourses is the multiplicity of interpretations, including a rich array of examples showing how communities, cities and towns and countries view ‘sustainable development’ differently. This issue attests to this array where authors envision sustainability in the form of principles that include creation of an attractive city, capable of establishing neighbourhoods with landscaped urbanism, development of a unique identity that connects local cultural heritage with new developments, or in terms of interplay of factors as varied as quality of life, productivity, infrastructure, justice and environment; or how gentrification of an area, which is often sought after, can lead to intra-city disparity, over-crowding and reduction in green space and effect sustainability.

Another theme that dominates this issue is ‘governance’. Many Asian countries have discussed and presented evidence of ‘governance deficit’ in managing their cities and towns. Various articles in this issue bring out evidence on how cities are failing to provide adequate citizen participation and how cities are questioning models of service delivery. There are articles on other themes that add to the debate on urban issues, such as the importance of design of planting trees and how a well-planned rehabilitation of slum settlements can affect community cohesion and life style. In sum, this volume covers a variety of themes. Let us give a brief on the various messages that emerge from the articles.

Sustainable urban development in China is the theme of the article by David. J. Edelman and Menelaos Triantafillou. In partnership with the University of Cincinnati, they have been engaged in the preparation of a plan for the city of Anyang in Henan Province which they call innovative and sustainable urbanism. This concept, the authors suggest, departs from the conventional modernist planning principles; this concept builds on smaller scale, humane and sustainable building blocks at the residential level. The authors point out that sustainable development as a concept and practice is little known at the provincial level in China. Policy initiatives and regulations from the central government are aimed at broad environmental needs; their integration with urban planning has not yet taken place. This plan for the city of Anyang is innovative in that it is guided by principles such as the (a) creation of a city, capable of establishing livable neighbourhoods with an increased landscaped urbanism, (b) development of an identity that connects the local cultural heritage with the new development and (c) provision of several typologies capable of defining neighbourhoods and accommodating varying densities, house typologies, commercial services and connectivity to the urban green space.

On a somewhat similar track, Dr. Razavian and Ali Sheikh Azami examine in their article if the way the city of Noor in Mazandaran Province (Iran) has grown, enables it to maintain a ‘quality of life’. The authors specifically analyze the city in terms of environment quality involving air, water, cleanliness, quality of parks, roads and sidewalks and then speculate as to what more needs to be done to improve its quality of life. The hypothesis is tested by using a range of statistical tools, thereby presenting interesting results.

An interesting article on gentrification and its effects in Tembalang area in Indonesia has been prepared by Prayoga, Esariti and Dewi. The authors define gentrification as a phenomenon of the shifting population from one region to another, in order to improve environmental quality. Several scholars define gentrification as an entry of upperclass population into areas inhabited by lower and middle class population. An example of gentrification of a slum area is provided by the author who considers it as a process of transforming it into an area of higher value and higher social status. The authors study the Tembalang area using qualitative and quantitative methods including Discriminant Analysis and conclude that gentrification has made Tembalang crowded, made differences to the behaviour of rented-newcomers and home owner-newcomers and led to declining level of morality. Economically, effects of gentrification are seen in terms of improved economic conditions, business opportunities and growth in trade and business. Physically, gentrification is accompanied by loss of available green space, although there is improvement in aesthetics in terms of architecture, cleanliness, etc.

Dr. Fazal and Amin explores how rapid urbanization in Srinagar (India) is leading to a decay of the environment of Dal Lake—one of the most frequented tourist locations in India—and the impact it has had on the local community of Hanjis who are dependent on the lake for their livelihood. Urbanization has led to shrinking in the area of the lake and deterioration in water quality, coupled with increasing exploitation of natural resources available. Ironically, most of the over-exploitation of resources and pollution of the lake is attributable to the Hanjis themselves as they are unable to perceive the harm their community is likely to face in the long-run because of their actions as economic sustenance and livelihood of this community is completely dependent on the well-being of the lake. There is a need for taking immediate action both from the Hanjis community, as well as from the government and a need for them to work collectively.

An optimal location of an industry that no one wants in his backyard has long been a controversial issue in economics and planning literature. When that industry happens to be one that is polluting, the issue becomes even more controversial. Leather processing industry is one such industry. Avit Kumar Bhowmik examines the relocation plan of leather processing in Dhaka city by applying social theories of the city and the three environmental economics principles—‘Willingness to Pay’, ‘Pigovian Tax’ and ‘Hedonic Pricing Method’. Results prove the strong unwillingness of leather industries’ owners to relocate and pay for relocation, failure at imposing Pigovian tax, and high hedonic prices of houses and threats to inhabitants’ health in the redeveloped residential areas. In additional to high subsidy and compensation, historic growth trends and potential risks of flood and surface water resource pollution of Dhaka defy sustainability issues. Considering failures to meet the relocation deadlines, these results claim that redeveloping an environment-friendly leather processing zone at the present location will ensure sustainable urban development.

In an article that evaluates the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)’s housing development, Victoria Cronin presents the results of an evaluation of in situ rehabilitation of Nanapeth’s slum-dwellers in Pune, India. The first SRA project in the city has been visited five years after the initial occupation for assessing the impact of new housing on residents and development planning policy. The influence and design of the private developer’s delivery model upon sustainability has been investigated via stakeholder perception studies. The top down approach delivered at Nanapeth has resulted in a financially sustainable scheme which has also enabled urban regeneration of a previous slum area. The conclusion that emerges is that the project could benefit from a socially conscious design and implementation. Residents have expressed disappointment with the impact that housing has had on community cohesion and lifestyle despite benefitting from being re-housed in situ with no separation from livelihoods and amenities. The residents’ sense of ownership and pride has been limited due to a lack of participation and bottom-up decision making, financial contribution and communication between the development team and residents.

With the growing importance of issues such as global warming and the heat island effect, maintenance of trees and the design of planting on green land have become increasingly significant. Feng-Chun Jan and the co-authors focus on the variation in sap flow, and transpiration of Araucaria Heterophyllain in Tainan Park (Taiwan). In order to understand the relationship between the allocation of plantings and the physiological functions of trees, the influence of cover conditions and meteorological conditions related to insolation are taken into consideration. First, under similar allocating conditions, the amount of transpiration is affected by ground quality (grassy and sandy). The differences in cover conditions also have a lot to do with water physiology of the tree. In addition, factors such as insolation and changes in the speed of sap flow during a day are positively correlated. The results of this study are the main factors for evaluating the allocation and density of tree plantings and also for analyzing the relationship between microclimatic environments and the physiological characteristics of trees.

Dr.Bhaswati Das and Avijit Mistri refer to Household Quality of Life (HQL) in context of three criteria of housing condition, amenities and assets. The study is an attempt to investigate regional variation of Indian states in terms of HQL based on recently published 2011 Census data. It also investigates the changes in these aspects between the two census periods at the national level. The policies launched so far to meet the minimum basic needs and the extent of achievement is also brought within the ambit of discussion. The study reveals that India’s southern states namely, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra; one western state, Gujarat and four northern states named Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand demonstrate positive HQL in 2011. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and whole eastern and north-eastern states demonstrate low HQL, wherein eastern India demonstrates very poor HQL. Composite index is constructed with the help of PCA (Principal Component Analysis) based on 20 selective variables categorized under three distinctive indices to calculate HQL.

In the developing states of Southeast Asia, street vendors play a significant but frequently unappreciated role in both the vibrancy of public spaces as well as the informal economy. Yet they are often subject to indiscriminate purges from sidewalks and other contested territories, which they occupy for lack of availability of serviced spaces in which they could otherwise do business. But such occurrences and the conflicts that may follow can be addressed by revisiting policies, which seem anti-vendor or which fail to comprehend their presence and needs. This is the subject matter of research on street vendors by Redento Recio and José Gomez, Jr.

Growing urbanization in India has not only boosted the country’s economy but also presented complex governance challenges that need to be resolved to harness economic opportunities associated with urbanization. One such challenge is decentralized urban governance where citizens need to have a stake in deciding on how cities should be managed. Experiences indicate that in view of growing urbanization in the country, the structures of citizen participation provided under the 74^th Constitutional Amendment Act are failing in insuring effective citizen participation. Dr. Shyam Singh in his article calls for a rethinking in this regard, and discusses experiences of successful citizen participation in urban governance and learning’s of such experiences.

The pattern of urbanization in India is characterized by continual concentration of population and activities in large cities; this is manifested in a high percentage of urban population being concentrated in the large cities. A research article of H.S. Kumara attempts to revisit the debate on metropolitan governance and service delivery concepts in the context of efficient service delivery model for water supply. It presents a comparative analysis of efficient service delivery model in the Bangalore municipal area and the Bangalore Metropolitan region. The service delivery model for water supply was framed using various water utility indicators to know the service delivery index, operational efficiency index and performance index within the Bangalore Metropolitan Centre and Metropolitan Region. Kumara concludes that Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board stands well in position while comparing to other Water Boards (local bodies) within the Metropolitan region.

Right pricing is a key to water sector reforms as it would send correct signals for its use. However, water is generally viewed as a ‘social good’ rather than an ‘economic good’ and hence, pricing of water is done accordingly. This has led to over-exploitation of water resource which has a negative bearing for sustainability. Already many states are water stressed and a large section of the population does not have access to drinking water. State and city-level agencies are severely resource-constrained and are providing water service to consumers at prices below cost, further aggravating their financial position. Ultimately it results in lower quality of water supply, insufficient network expansion and lesser emphasis development of water projects. Veena Aggarwal and the co-authors attempt to understand the existing rationale for pricing of urban water supply in different cities in India.They examine tariff setting practices in water sector in countries which at one time faced similar challenges but which were able to successfully reform their sectors. The article then examines regulatory and pricing reforms in the electricity sector in India. This is pertinent as electricity is also an essential service where pricing has been for long a political/populist decision and inefficiencies have affected quality and availability of electricity to end-consumers. Regulatory reforms in the distribution segment in the electricity sector were introduced in the late 1990s and early 2000s and therefore sufficient time has passed to understand the impact of reforms. Based on learning from the electricity sector and based on international experience, the article recommends principles of pricing of urban retail water supply in India, including suggesting an appropriate tariff structure. It also makes recommendations on issues such as subsidies, unaccounted for water and metering.

This issue of the journal carries Chinese translation of the abstracts of papers for which we thank Ms. Wang Yi Ti, who very graciously agreed to undertake the translation work. Our idea in adding the Chinese translation is to reach out to countries that have a large Chinese readership – we plan to continue with this in the future issues of the journal.

As before, I request authors to bring into their articles ‘insights’ from their work in the field. The journal is doing well if the number of articles is used as a measure. I would like to see more debate on contemporary issues of environment and urbanization. A word of thanks to all those who have helped me run the journal.