Cities inhabited and built by people and then become a civilization

This focus on the development of a free market economy has promoted community upgrades, promoted evictions, commercialized more aspects of our lives, alienated people from each other, and exacerbated inequality in our cities.

         Despite these problems, the city is still our greatest hope, because the urban community brings together the ruler and the ruled. Some cities have established systems that are more sensitive to real changes on the ground. However, it is important to realize that these changes are too large and happen so quickly that no one can plan or control them alone. We must redesign the systems for managing change in a more innovative way to make them more balanced, inclusive, integrated and responsive. The traditional “vertical” city management system needs to be fundamentally changed; it must become more “horizontal” so that people and communities can manage it together.

         If cities are to be the target of the new global development agenda, then people must be its target. Citizens must be regarded as people who can participate rationally in urban development. In order to ensure the sustainability of any urban development process, people cannot just be passive recipients, voters or numbers in public opinion surveys; on the contrary, they must play an active role as participants and drivers of urban management, not only contributing their views and abilities And economic strength, but also contribute to the richness and interdependence of their history, culture, social system and interdependence.

         One way to promote a more pragmatic and participatory urban development system is to find new alternative platforms or committees that bring together key stakeholders and local communities for discussion and planning at the city level. Such platforms will enable representatives of different population groups, sectors and institutions to participate in all aspects of their urban development and raise broader questions. These participants from different departments can interact and consider all aspects of urban development and agree on how to negotiate, instead of relying solely on a few elected officials. This simple method allows people and groups to participate in city management more widely and creates new opportunities, ideas and forms of cooperation.

         Residential development is one of the most powerful tools for creating a more balanced and participatory urban structure. Housing defines local communities and supports our cities. This is a general concern that affects all key elements of urban development, including land, infrastructure, supervision, finance, participation and governance. Housing meets our basic needs for shelter, safety and social interaction.

         This is especially true for the poor. In informal settlements, interdependence is the lifeline for the poor collectively to meet their individual needs. When we talk about housing development, we are talking about the process by which people realize their status as a group. Then they plan and build the structure in which they will live together, and decide the physical and social form this coexistence will take. This type of housing development involves more than the physical structure itself: it creates new communities in which people can live together, support and care for each other. In this way, this process is rooted in a more people-oriented urban social structure. Residential development is an important activity to construct this bottom-up collective living system led by people.

In the past, the organization of community life may be centered on religion or ethnic group, clan, or handicraft. In Asia, we have the legacy of the existing social structure. In this sense of community, the settlements where low-income people live are very rich. Sometimes these communities are centered on temples or mosques, markets, or factories, or the geographical location of blocks or rivers. We should focus as much as possible on how to support and strengthen the existing social structure. However, as modern society may take on new forms, it is also necessary to creatively think about new systems in which people can live together. Housing is one of the most effective ways to create and advance these new forms of community. It can help people regain control of the development of large cities and ensure that their residents live together in healthy, safe and supportive communities.

         City-wide housing development is desirable-there is an urgent need to assign a central and active role for community improvement and housing development in urban development plans. If we are to encourage changes in political and structural systems, which often lead to increased poverty, slums, evictions and social exclusion in cities, then this should be done within the city. Individual community pilot projects and departmental interventions cannot solve large-scale structural changes. The process of structural change should start from the perspective of the entire city, collect information on the urban structure, and establish a community network. This process should support the creation of an active grassroots movement supported by city-wide savings and community funds to build community financial strength and establish connections with other financial resources. A partnership should be established to bring the main stakeholders together in order to reach a consensus on the city’s situation and determine a common development direction. It may be appropriate to adopt a comprehensive city scope to generate new impetus for change, adjust the relationship between residents and other stakeholders, and establish partnerships.

         It is very important for the international community to adopt a more ambitious approach. Our experience with the Asian Housing Rights Alliance has shown that the alliance has begun to improve the city-wide conditions in 215 Asian cities, and each city’s initial financial support is only 40,000 to 65,000 US dollars, which shows that it can solve the city-wide housing problem of the poor. Change does not necessarily require a lot of money, but the right approach, which focuses on using people’s energy to collaborate with other development partners in the city to promote change.

         Funding is the key-essential to the need for a flexible financial system. Unfortunately, the current system lacks flexibility and adopts a retrogressive market-driven profit method, so it is not in the interests of the poor. If the city-level and national-level financial systems can be redesigned to be more flexible and allow different population groups to establish different social initiatives, then new innovative measures can be adopted. If social goals are taken into account when designing funds, it can provide the city government and residents with the necessary freedom and power to design more innovative city-wide urban solutions.

This new process of participatory urban development can be implemented gradually and amicably. However, all lofty development goals and sustainable development goals in the world still exist. Without structural reforms, it will be futile and nothing will change. Crucially, the international community must adopt this view of the necessity of urban change and fully support the search for new ideas and methods.