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“Continuity and Change” by Dr. Mona Serageldin, Topic Paper for 48th World Congress, International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP), 2004

Abstract

In 2004, Mona Serageldin prepared remarks in a report titled “Continuity and Change” for a topic panel on “Governance for Urban Change” at the 48th International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) World Congress in Oslo, Norway. Serageldin’s paper addressed change in urban zones and the value of consistency to preserve cultural heritage, in relation to urban dynamics and large migratory flows.

Documents include the report, as well as another IFHP panel presentation by Serageldin, titled “Managing Dynamics on Development and Change.”


[Excerpt: Introduction, “Continuity and Change,” Dr. Mona Serageldin, 2004]

“Culture is now recognized as an important dimension of development. Professor Amartya Sen has convincingly demonstrated this link from the standpoint of an economist and a philosopher. Culture and Development both embody concepts of continuity and change but attitudes vary regarding the value placed on the legacy of the past and the role this legacy should play in shaping the future. Cultural continuity provides a coherent framework which can integrate change while providing anchors that shape identity and references that affect social behavior.”

“The inability to manage change creates disruptions that tend to aggravate cleavages along ethnic, religious and class lines. It also affects governance in that it tends to encourage the transfer of imported models and the establishment of technocratic structures as an expedient solution. Yet devoid of cultural significance, these structures can neither motivate participation nor provide modes of empowerment and end up undermining the development of local institutions.”

“Dr. Ismail Serageldin has argued that the management of change in developing countries which have experienced sudden culturally disruptive transformations requires restoring the coherence of the socio-cultural framework so that it can evolve by incorporating new elements, adapting and responding to new challenges and generating new opportunities. This implies restoring some degree of continuity.”

“This presentation focuses on two major challenges to continuity confronting local authorities in both developing and developed countries: (1) Dealing with increasingly complex urban dynamics and (2) Coping with unprecedented mobility and large migratory flows.”
____

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2004
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Oslo, Norway (Conference Location)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Climate Change and Resilience Building
  
ID:2004_09_002

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IEP October 2000: “Seminar on Strategic Planning for Urban Revitalization and Local Development” in Pretoria, South Africa, International Education Programs, 2000

Abstract

Seminar materials represent curriculum components from the 2000 International Education Program (IEP), “Seminar on Strategic Planning for Urban Revitalization and Local Development” held October 30 through November 3, 2000 in Pretoria, South Africa. Documents include project excerpts and case studies used in the seminar, including a presentation by Mona Serageldin presented at the HABITAT II Urban Finance Conference in 1995, “Empowerment and Accountability in Local Governance: Adjame’s Community Development Experience.”

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2000
Project Type:IEP; Education
Geographic Regions:Pretoria, South Africa (Seminar Location)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; John Driscoll; Sameh Wahba; Boguslaw Trondowski; Patrick Bodart; Yves Cabannes; Emily Costa
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:International Education Program; Education; Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2000_10_001

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Beginning in 1982, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design hosted International Training Programs (ITP), an annual series of 2- to 4-week summer seminars designed to strengthen the decision-making skills of senior professionals in public and private agencies responsible for urban development.

The I2UD Digital Library holds curriculum materials for ITPs from 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998:

The tradition of ITPs continued after 2000, when the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) (a re-organization of the Unit) continued training seminars as International Education Programs (IEP) from 2000-2004:

Programs included inter-linked modules, lectures, case studies, interactive computer simulation models, site visits to urban projects, discussion groups and networking with professional counterparts from international metropolitan regions. Sessions had a modular format and structured team teaching, taught by a team of senior faculty and guest lecturers. Programs ended with a synthesis presented through a project evaluation exercise. Participants used case projects to examine strategies from the viewpoint of both public and private partners — to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of policies and projects on the community and the city. Presentations by guest speakers, representing U.S. and international agencies, NGOs, and community groups, were also integrated within the pedagogic framework of each module.

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“Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes,” Case Study in Academy Editions, Architecture of Empowerment: People, Shelter and Livable Cities, for Fortaleza, Brazil, 1997

Abstract

Specialists at the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, including Mona Serageldin, wrote the report “Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes” in 1997, published in The Architecture of Empowerment: People, Shelter and Livable Cities.

This housing case study of Fortaleza, Brazil examined the four interlinked urban programs in Fortaleza, which formed a coordinated framework for public and community action to address the human and environmental aspects of rapid urbanization. Programs combined capacity building, participation, civic engagement, and community-based management of local resources.


[Excerpt: Final Report, 1997]

“Fortaleza’s interlinked urban programs (Mutirão 50, Comunidades, Casa Melhor and the Integration Council) created a framework for coordinated public and community action addressing the human aspects as well as the environmental dimensions of rapid urbanization. The programs combined capacity building, participation, civic engagement and community based management of local resources. Fortaleza, the capital of the Ceara State, in the Northern region of Brazil, has a population of 2.5 million inhabitants, over half of whom live in more than 350 irregular settlements, known as “favelas”, lacking infrastructure and services. Rapid demographic growth and sustained migration from rural areas has fueled their proliferation. Since 1973, a new favela has developed every month . . .”
. . . .

“The goal of the Mutirão 50 pilot and the Comunidades programs is to create an interface for coordinated action by the different actors involved in urban development. The process capitalizes on the complementary roles of NGOs that have the capacity to innovate and lead an outreach and mobilization effort, and the public authorities that can foster institutionalization and replication of successful actions. The programs have 3 strategic objectives: to create a setting for self-built mutirões housing; to generate employment opportunities; and to set in motion a process of sustainable development.“

“The programs reinforce citizen participation and the autonomy of community based organizations by building up their capacity to negotiate with public authorities and broadening their vision and understanding of the wider socio-economic context. The Comunidades program is managed by a special commission, referred to as the Integration Council. It includes two representatives of each of the partners involved: the State, the municipalities, the university and the technical school, the NGOs and the community groups. . . “
. . . .

“Close ties to education and research institutions help develop innovative approaches to the three complementary and integrated action lines of the program: Housing construction institutional development and job creation. In light of the importance given to technical training, the collaborative effort with educational institutions is considered critical to the program’s success.”

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1995
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Fortaleza, Brazil
Reports:Community Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes: (Final Report, 1997)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Boguslaw Trondowski; Sameh Wahba
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1995_00_006

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“Sustainable Improvement Strategies for Lower Income Urban Communities,” Upgrading Policy Plans for Amman and Aqaba (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), and Karachi (Pakistan), 1990

Abstract

In 1990, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization undertook a project, “Sustainable Improvement Strategies for Lower Income Urban Communities,” focusing on upgrading strategies for low-income neighborhoods in Amman and Aqaba (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), and Karachi (Pakistan).

The project was in collaboration with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) in Jordan and the Department of Community Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. Co-funded by the Ford Foundation and UNICEF, the study assessed projects in Jordan and Egypt that demonstrated successful approaches to improving environmental quality in urban neighborhoods.

The assessments focused on determining the potential for empowering lower income households to improve their economic conditions and living environments through the provision of appropriate infrastructure services. In Karachi, the Unit funded a survey of low-income communities (see “Issues Checklist”).

Documents include an overall summary of the study components and a working paper on “Sustainability of Public Spaces,” prepared by Howard Trett for the Unit in December 1990, as well as component reports by region. Supporting documents are an outline of the research agenda, a quality of life “Issues Checklist for the Reassessment of Common Spaces,” and a background report on HUDC Municipal and NGO Support Options for urban development assistance to the studied regions.


[Excerpt: “Summary of Overall Study Components,” p. 1-2]

PROBLEM DEFINITION
“The World Health Organization estimates that 5 million deaths and 2 to 3 million cases of permanent disability are caused yearly by contaminated water, poor sanitation, air pollution and overcrowding. The cumulative impact of these conditions is the most severe for children in low income urban neighborhoods. It is estimated that a child born in a squatter settlement is 40—to-50 times more likely to die before the age of five than a child in an industrialized country. According to the UN, efforts to alleviate these conditions through conventional upgrading and sites-and-services projects, has reached only ten percent of the urban poor. This investment has been concentrated in 150 projects which sought to achieve replicability through lower standards and higher levels of cost recovery.”

“These projects, which necessitate central government subsidies in one form or another, are increasingly becoming unaffordable to nations burdened by heavy foreign debts at a time when decentralization policies are shifting the responsibility of providing services to local governments.”

“Municipalities in developing countries are attempting to cope with their new obligations by redefining their land development strategies, reorganizing their institutional structures and finding new methods of generating the financial resources necessary to provide and maintain urban services.”
…
“The ability of local government to respond to needs, and the effectiveness of the responses are linked to the capability to formulate and implement affordable improvement strategies which are also sustainable without a continuous infusion of public resources.”


PROJECT GOAL
“The research project seeks to identify, define and test strategies and methods to enable government authorities with private sector participation, to develop sustainable approaches to upgrading and maintaining urban environments in limited income communities. Special emphasis will be placed on defining strategies which have beneficial impacts on the quality of life for children and youths.”

PROJECT OBJECTIVES
– “Identify and select pragmatic approaches to sustaining environmental quality in low-income urban neighborhoods with particular emphasis on the needs of children and youths.

– Identify, select and define appropriate monitoring and evaluation criteria to appraise prevailing levels of urban environmental quality including health and sanitary conditions.

– Develop guidelines for sustainable improvement programs to be implemented by public authorities and non-government organizations.

– Train public officials and members of community organizations in assessment techniques and implementation of action programs for improving and maintaining environmental quality.”

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1990-1992
Project Type:Policy Plan
Geographic Regions:Amman and Aqaba, Jordan / Cairo, Egypt / Karachi, Pakistan
Reports:—
Authors:John Driscoll; Mona Serageldin; Howard Trett; François Vigier
Sponsors:Ford Foundation; UNICEF; Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Aga Khan Trust for Culture; Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Jordan)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1990_01_001

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I2UD Photograph Collection, Galleries 6-7: Egypt: Cairo and Helwan (1986, 1990)

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International Training Programs (ITP) 1982-2000: Survey of Modules for International Training Program Seminars

Abstract

These documents represent a survey of International Training Program (ITP) materials between 1982-2000, including a list of modules, a history summary, ITP Archives Brochures from 1993-2000, and case studies on the Boston Charlestown Navy Yard, New Market in Roxbury, and London’s Docklands on the Isle of Dogs. See A History of ITP and IEP Seminars below for more information on ITP work.

Modules below represent a range of topics, some repeated for later years of International Training Programs:

  • Strategic Planning and the Financing of Urban Development;
  • Financing Infrastructure and Urban Services;
  • Urban Environmental Improvements Through Community Empowerment;
  • Accessing Resources for Community Development;
  • Economic and Financial Assessment of Urban Projects;
  • Financing Affordable Housing and Infrastructure Planning.

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1982-2000
Project Type:ITP; Education
Geographic Regions:Boston, USA / London, UK / Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador
Reports:
—
Brochures, 1993-2000:
—
Case Studies:
Authors:François Vigier; Victor Karen; Barry Shaw
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:International Training Program; Education
  
ID:1982_00_001

Related I2UD Projects

Beginning in 1982, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design hosted International Training Programs (ITP), an annual series of 2- to 4-week summer seminars designed to strengthen the decision-making skills of senior professionals in public and private agencies responsible for urban development.

The I2UD Digital Library holds curriculum materials for ITPs from 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998:

The tradition of ITPs continued after 2000, when the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) (a re-organization of the Unit) continued training seminars as International Education Programs (IEP) from 2000-2004:

Programs included inter-linked modules, lectures, case studies, interactive computer simulation models, site visits to urban projects, discussion groups and networking with professional counterparts from international metropolitan regions. Sessions had a modular format and structured team teaching, taught by a team of senior faculty and guest lecturers. Programs ended with a synthesis presented through a project evaluation exercise. Participants used case projects to examine strategies from the viewpoint of both public and private partners — to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of policies and projects on the community and the city. Presentations by guest speakers, representing U.S. and international agencies, NGOs, and community groups, were also integrated within the pedagogic framework of each module.