In the first of three articles, Henrik Valeur confronts us with a full catalogue of the health problems caused by motorised transportation in India's cities. The seemingly endless list suggests that the question of mobility may not be the balance between public and private forms of motorised transportation, but between motorised and non-motorised forms such as walking and cycling.
Whereas governments are quick to scapegoat the chop bar owners of Accra, in reality they spend onerous sums of money on sanitation, an effort which should be supported by health policy.
While most are aware of the need for education and prevention, Noemi Reiner of ARCHIVE highlights the need for stable housing for people living with HIV/AIDS to lower transmission rates and reduce the physical and emotional risks of disease and stress.
Despite claims of lack of accountability and transparency on both sides, NGOs and governments need to learn to trust each other lest basic services for the urban poor continue to go undeveloped.
Abandoned by owners in the post-Apartheid years, 1,500 buildings in Johannesburg have turned into overcrowded tenements.
The 25th of April, 2010, is World Malaria Day. Diana Inegbenebor of the ARCHIVE Institute argues that alongside treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying, adequate housing should be considered a third site for intervention against malaria.
Henrik Valeur is a Danish architect-urbanist based in Copenhagen. His work is available at http://www.henrikvaleur.dk .
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
