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WORLD BANK RECOMMENDS ACTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF EURASIAM CITIES ALONG THE 'SILK ROAD'
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/03/18/world-bank-recommends-actions-for-sustainable-development-of-eurasiam-cities-along-the-silk-road/
15:28 18.03.2013
Once flourishing along the Great Silk Road, today, a thousand years
later, the cities of Eurasia need to be rethought in order to be
competitive in a market economy and to re-emerge as the main drivers
of growth. Policy makers need to promote the changes and reorganize
cities by better planning, connecting, greening, and financing them,
says a new World Bank report "Eurasian Cities: New Realities Along
the Silk Road".
"The central planners got some things right - easy access to public
transportation, district heating networks, almost universal access to
water systems, and socially integrated neighborhoods," said Indermit
Gill, World Bank Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia. "But
they failed to acknowledge the importance of markets and individual
choice in shaping places for people to live in. To become sustainable,
Eurasian cities need to find the right balance between markets and
institutions."
The report looks at cities in 12 countries of the Former Soviet Union:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, KyrgyzRepublic,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan,
which prospered during the times of the Great Silk Road thanks to
burgeoning international trade. Today the cities are reorganizing
due to recent economic, political, and demographic developments. The
fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the European Union and Asia
affect the reorganization of Eurasia and reshaping of its cities,
and present new opportunities for re-emergence of the "Silk Road".
"Modern cities need to be the catalysts of development by bringing
people together, helping them benefit from mobility, better
connectivity, and economies of scale," said Souleymane Coulibaly,
World Bank Senior Economist and lead author of the report. "To be able
to respond flexibly and dynamically to changing economic circumstances,
the Eurasian cities need to be rethought along the four key intertwined
dimensions: planning, connecting, greening, and financing."
For better planning of the Eurasian cities, the policy makers need to
eliminate the bottlenecks caused by weak rental markets, misallocated
housing stock, and missing or poorly enforced regulations. This can
be done through collaboration between local and central governments to
enhance land markets, revive and make attractive the housing markets,
and revamp public infrastructure, including transportation systems.
For better connectivity, the report reviews the necessary changes to
enhance trade and transport corridors, improve air transportation,
and further promote information and communications technology (ICT).
Specific recommendations include: standardizing transit fees,
harmonizing border procedures for road and rail transport, simplifying
customs procedures, improving regulations and strengthening the
capacity of institutions governing air transportation, new investments
and better regional cooperation for enhanced ICT, and others.
To green the Eurasian cities and make them environmentally
friendlierand more livable, the report recommends a number of measures
to mitigate pollution and use resources more efficiently. Recommended
actions include reducing transport congestion from private cars,
motivating use of environmentally friendlier cars, improving
public transportation networks,upgrading district heating networks,
improving energy efficiency of the residential housing, and reviving
the recycling networks.
To finance all the changes needed, the report suggests new approaches
to mobilizing additional financing for the cities. On the sub-national
level, policy makers first need to improve the technical and
economic efficiency of public utilities. Then they can explore ways
of getting additional revenues from the most appropriate source: the
consumers of the urban services themselves. Increases in local taxes,
housing maintenance fees, and charges for water, heating, and public
transport are among the possible sources of finance. More private
sector investment and financing from reputable regional development
banks can also be considered by policy makers, particularly to provide
cross-border infrastructure needed for regional connectivity.
As cities in Eurasia experience unprecedented spatial reorganization
influenced by city agglomeration, renewed mobility and population
dynamics, policy makers need to find sustainable development paths
for the cities in the region. "When a new "Silk Road" emerges, it
will have to be biaxial: along the North-South axis connecting Russia
and India and along the East-West axis connecting China and the EU,"
the report said.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/03/18/world-bank-recommends-actions-for-sustainable-development-of-eurasiam-cities-along-the-silk-road/
15:28 18.03.2013
Once flourishing along the Great Silk Road, today, a thousand years
later, the cities of Eurasia need to be rethought in order to be
competitive in a market economy and to re-emerge as the main drivers
of growth. Policy makers need to promote the changes and reorganize
cities by better planning, connecting, greening, and financing them,
says a new World Bank report "Eurasian Cities: New Realities Along
the Silk Road".
"The central planners got some things right - easy access to public
transportation, district heating networks, almost universal access to
water systems, and socially integrated neighborhoods," said Indermit
Gill, World Bank Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia. "But
they failed to acknowledge the importance of markets and individual
choice in shaping places for people to live in. To become sustainable,
Eurasian cities need to find the right balance between markets and
institutions."
The report looks at cities in 12 countries of the Former Soviet Union:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, KyrgyzRepublic,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan,
which prospered during the times of the Great Silk Road thanks to
burgeoning international trade. Today the cities are reorganizing
due to recent economic, political, and demographic developments. The
fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the European Union and Asia
affect the reorganization of Eurasia and reshaping of its cities,
and present new opportunities for re-emergence of the "Silk Road".
"Modern cities need to be the catalysts of development by bringing
people together, helping them benefit from mobility, better
connectivity, and economies of scale," said Souleymane Coulibaly,
World Bank Senior Economist and lead author of the report. "To be able
to respond flexibly and dynamically to changing economic circumstances,
the Eurasian cities need to be rethought along the four key intertwined
dimensions: planning, connecting, greening, and financing."
For better planning of the Eurasian cities, the policy makers need to
eliminate the bottlenecks caused by weak rental markets, misallocated
housing stock, and missing or poorly enforced regulations. This can
be done through collaboration between local and central governments to
enhance land markets, revive and make attractive the housing markets,
and revamp public infrastructure, including transportation systems.
For better connectivity, the report reviews the necessary changes to
enhance trade and transport corridors, improve air transportation,
and further promote information and communications technology (ICT).
Specific recommendations include: standardizing transit fees,
harmonizing border procedures for road and rail transport, simplifying
customs procedures, improving regulations and strengthening the
capacity of institutions governing air transportation, new investments
and better regional cooperation for enhanced ICT, and others.
To green the Eurasian cities and make them environmentally
friendlierand more livable, the report recommends a number of measures
to mitigate pollution and use resources more efficiently. Recommended
actions include reducing transport congestion from private cars,
motivating use of environmentally friendlier cars, improving
public transportation networks,upgrading district heating networks,
improving energy efficiency of the residential housing, and reviving
the recycling networks.
To finance all the changes needed, the report suggests new approaches
to mobilizing additional financing for the cities. On the sub-national
level, policy makers first need to improve the technical and
economic efficiency of public utilities. Then they can explore ways
of getting additional revenues from the most appropriate source: the
consumers of the urban services themselves. Increases in local taxes,
housing maintenance fees, and charges for water, heating, and public
transport are among the possible sources of finance. More private
sector investment and financing from reputable regional development
banks can also be considered by policy makers, particularly to provide
cross-border infrastructure needed for regional connectivity.
As cities in Eurasia experience unprecedented spatial reorganization
influenced by city agglomeration, renewed mobility and population
dynamics, policy makers need to find sustainable development paths
for the cities in the region. "When a new "Silk Road" emerges, it
will have to be biaxial: along the North-South axis connecting Russia
and India and along the East-West axis connecting China and the EU,"
the report said.
From: A. Papazian