Discuss the suggestion that the problems of urban areas in economically less developed countries (ELDCs) are more likely to get worse than to improve.

Geography S Paper

It is generally believed that urban areas in ELDCs will suffer for worsening problems, even as economic activities and capital formation increase. The unique urban problems that urban areas face in ELDCs include urban sprawl, congestion(traffic and people), lack of infrastructure (clean water, housing, roads, transport, etc) and pollution. This essay will discuss why this trend of worsening problems is more likely by examining the factors that exacerbate these problems. In addition, this essay will also discuss a few more general problems that is more likely to worsen, paying attention to environmental impacts.

There are several key processes and factors responsible for the worsening of problems in ELDCs. The first major factor is the rapid increase in rural to urban migration. This process occurs because the growing prosperity and economic growth in urban areas of ELDCs are hotspots that attract a large volume of rural migrants in search of better standards of living and job opportunities. The lack of barriers to the urban areas, coupled with poor methods of boundary restrictions in ELDCs, results in the uncurbed influx of low-skilled rural migrants who by their sheer size alone cause physical congestion. Scarce resources like food outlets, transport facilities, medical facilities are unable to deal with the influx and efficiency of these services are strained. Moreover, these rural migrants being low skilled, are unable to find employment and remain in the urban areas as literally ‘dead weights’, living off government welfare. The increased levels of economic dependency of the government puts intense strains, where governments try to deal with the problem by providing housing, provide employment or medical services. Where these are not adequate, these migrants are forced to live in squatter settlements-unsightly additions to the aesthetic value of the urban areas, and are potential fire hazards that can result in unnecessary tragedies, like the Bukit Ho Swee Fire in Singapore. This could worsen the problem of urban sprawl, where the built up area of the urban area is expanded while the urban population remains sparse. Such waste of valuable urban land is coupled with increased pollution of resources like rivers that provide a free supply of water. These migrants may also resort to illegal activities like drug trafficking, pirated vcd peddlers or other crimes like pick pocketing to support themselves. These results in a hike of crime rates and social problems. Social tensions are heightened as the urban populace would view these migrants as pests and the presence a great nuisance, violent behavior may erupt and frequently, the migrants are blamed for the social ills of the urban areas. Hence rural to urban migration brings little benefits to urban areas but instead worsen urban problems.

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While it is undisputed that economic activity is increasing in the urban areas of ELDCs, especially with Multi-National Companies (MNCs) seeking to tap the low costs of production and new markets, the government of ELDCs find themselves lacking the finance to relieve the growing problems in urban areas. This can be explained with the prevalence of high levels of leakages and exploitation from foreign firms. Leakages severely undermine the revenue earned per capita of economic activity in the local economy. This occurs when foreign investors transfer profits earned back to their countries of origin. Import leakages are present where the urban area depends heavily on foreign imports in terms of goods and services. This is especially evident with the tourism industry, seen as engine of growth for ELDCs. However, leakages from tourism activities can be especially severe, especially with enclave tourism. In 1998 it was estimated that 70% of the tourism revenue was leaked out of the Thailand economy. Such leakages deprive the host country of much needed funds to relieve problems in the urban areas. Infrastructure improvement and expansion to accommodate a growing urban population- improvement transportation links to increase accessibility, provision of housing and clean water, sewage system and waste disposal, all these measure that can significantly relieve and manage urban problems, all require high levels of funding which is absent. With the growing number and magnitude of urban problems, government expenditure is also ineffective as it is spread too thinly. As a result problems in these urban areas are likely to worsen than improve.

The urban population are also victims of this vicious cycle as the prevalence of MNCs limits local involvement severely and forces local firms out of business. MNCs are guilty of exploiting the cheap labour available in urban areas, paying low wages while work is tedious and long hours. This is barely sufficient for the local employees to support their families, not considering the prospect of increased standards of living. Moreover, the rise of the service sector in particular the tourism industry, draws a higher number of females into the workforce, with jobs such as clerks, receptionist, chambermaids, salesgirls, etc. This could be detrimental to the social fabric of ELDCs, where women are usually seen to be the care-takers of the children at home. MNCs enjoy economies of scale as well as seasoned expertise and recognized brand names, and hence with their entrance into the local economy, pose a strong competitive threat to local businesses. Local entrepreneurs face smaller profits and in worse cases, are forced out of business. They are then forced into the vicious cycle of being employed by MNCs. With the combined effect of the lack of the trickle down effect to the population due to leakages and the exploitation of locals, locals find themselves worse off then before and problems in urban areas continue to worsen. Ironically, governments are eager to attract foreign investment with hopes of increased revenue, but in the absence of legislature restricting leakages and employment laws, instead exacerbate the problem further.

Another factor that leads to the worsening of problems in urban areas of ELDCs is the inefficiency of local governments. Governments are usually ineffective in managing urban problems because firstly, they are faced with an overwhelming number of problems, and the conflict of which is of higher priority is difficult to establish. Hence they may ignore some pressing problems totally. With limited resources and unlimited problems, governments also run the risk of using one policy to address more than one problem. This ‘kill two birds with one stone’ approach is in fact ineffective and may cause other unforeseen problems - one policy should only be used to counter one problem. With inefficient bureaucracy and bad organization that plagues many governments of ELDCs, survey and consensus collection is hard to obtain and results unreliable, and without these necessary data, governments are unable to implement effective schemes to manage the problems in urban areas and prevent them from worsening. This problem is greatly complicated by rural to urban migration, since these dynamic populations cannot be tracked and therefore hinders data collection. Approximations are often off the mark, seen by the 200,000 disparity in the urban population figure of Bangkok given by the UN and the Thai authorities. Due to these, the problems of urban areas in ELDCs are more likely to worsen than improve.

Other environment problems may also complicate the matter. Occurrences of flash floods become more frequent with the lack of drainage in urban areas. The summation of pollution and emission of greenhouses can cause smog that poses danger to vehicles due to lack of visibility as well as health concerns. The effects of unpredictable natural disasters like earthquakes, tornados or volcanic eruptions are magnified in urban areas because of the high built up area and high population density. Such natural hazards become growing problems of urban areas in ELDCs as such.

However, with all these seemingly impossible challenges, there are a handful of exceptions – ELDCs that have defied the odds and gone on to successful address these urban problems and have grown in prosperity.

For example, Singapore is a virtually resource-less country that has progressed from an ELDC in the 1950s to a highly wealthy and attractive country. This is attributed to the presence of a pragmatic government that successfully led a comprehensive framework to develop the economy. This is similar to Hong Kong where the government has made similar steps. Dubai represents an urban centre in the famously poor African continent that has broken out of the vicious cycle. One feature in these cities is that they have successfully left out high foreign dependency, hence being able to retain the bulk of profits from economic activity. And with this wealth, the governments of both countries created a strong public sector in the urban areas, a strong banking system and financial framework, investing in long term industries of growth that is sustainable. Funds are also channeled to developing infrastructure in urban areas, transport routes are efficient and congestion is avoided. A strong law and legislature must also be in place to curb crime, enforce pollution laws. Authorities are also corrupt-free and this ensures that the welfare of the urban population is taken care off and the urban problems a priority. With such measures in place, it is evident urban areas in ELDCs are able to manage and even solve some the urban problems.

However keep in mind the above listed cities are exceptions and are actually aided strongly by inherent factors. These countries were all previously ruled by colonies and the trend is that they are all coastal urban centers, perhaps the reason for their origin of growth as entrepot trading centers. Moreover, the urban areas of Singapore and Hong Kong are fortunate not to experience the impact of rural to urban migration due their inherent size. The physical constraints of these two islands also inhibit urban sprawl, promote easy governance and force them to utilize resources efficiently.

Hence it is generally accepted that the problems of urban areas in ELDCs are more likely to get worse than improve. Even when some problems improve, urban areas in ELDCs are faced with yet a new set of challenges that continue to worsen the overall situation of these urban areas. Therefore they are stuck in this vicious cycle that only a few ELDCs are able to break away from, given that they have unique experiences and are exceptions.

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Shawn Quek 2AHR