Bop Urban
UN-HABITAT - WORKING GROUP A
Bottom of the Pyramid Approaches for Urban Sustainability
Background Paper – Draft 0
At the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum held in Nanjing in November 2008, the private sector decided to organise two working groups which would be based on the themes of Urban Governance and Bottom of the Pyramid Approaches for Urban Sustainability. Through their work, the groups will also contribute to the preparation of Core Business Principles for Sustainable Urbanization that will be presented at the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro in May 2010. Given the challenge of urban poverty, with 1 billion slum dwellers projected to rise to more than 1.4 billion by 2020, UNHABITAT is well aware that the private sector is not merely a part of the solution, but instead is a vital partner that must be engaged if the world’s cities are to achieve sustainability. The challenge is first and foremost to address the shelter and basic services needs of low-income segments in urban areas. A further challenge is to scale-up operations through new partnerships in order to address the daunting challenge of rapid urbanization. Ensuring harmonious cities starts by dealing with the slums and finding affordable solutions for those deprived from decent housing and other essential services who find themselves systematically marginalized by mainstream urban market economics. The private sector can play a pivotal role in the process of empowering those at the bottom of the economic pyramid leading to a sustainable and stable urban community. This first draft is intended to guide the working group in the first place. The working group shall update its content and add recommendations based on concrete examples presented by the companies to be inserted in this document.
Prepared by Christine Auclair and Alban Jackohango Private Sector Unit – UN-HABITAT
1
TABLE OF CONTENT
Bottom of the Pyramid Approaches for Urban Sustainability
Background Paper – Draft 0
At the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum held in Nanjing in November 2008, the private sector decided to organise two working groups which would be based on the themes of Urban Governance and Bottom of the Pyramid Approaches for Urban Sustainability. Through their work, the groups will also contribute to the preparation of Core Business Principles for Sustainable Urbanization that will be presented at the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro in May 2010. Given the challenge of urban poverty, with 1 billion slum dwellers projected to rise to more than 1.4 billion by 2020, UNHABITAT is well aware that the private sector is not merely a part of the solution, but instead is a vital partner that must be engaged if the world’s cities are to achieve sustainability. The challenge is first and foremost to address the shelter and basic services needs of low-income segments in urban areas. A further challenge is to scale-up operations through new partnerships in order to address the daunting challenge of rapid urbanization. Ensuring harmonious cities starts by dealing with the slums and finding affordable solutions for those deprived from decent housing and other essential services who find themselves systematically marginalized by mainstream urban market economics. The private sector can play a pivotal role in the process of empowering those at the bottom of the economic pyramid leading to a sustainable and stable urban community. This first draft is intended to guide the working group in the first place. The working group shall update its content and add recommendations based on concrete examples presented by the companies to be inserted in this document.
Prepared by Christine Auclair and Alban Jackohango Private Sector Unit – UN-HABITAT
1
TABLE OF CONTENT
References: Hammond, A.L. et al. (2007). The Next Four Billion – Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid, Washington: World Resources Institute, International Finance Corporation. Auclair C. (2008). How can the Bottom of the Pyramid Approach Work for the Slums? The Habitat Debate, Vol. 14, No. 2. Karnani, A. (2006). Mirage at the Bottom of the Pyramid: How the Private Sector can Help Alleviate Poverty. Prahalad C.K. and Stuart L. Hart (2002). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Strategy + Business, Issue 26. Satterthwaite, D. (1995). Viewpoint – the Understanding of Urban Poverty and of its Health Consequences, Third World Planning Review, 17 (4). Schmidt Stephanie (2006), Housing the Poor by Engaging the Private Sector and Citizen Sectors: Social Innovations and ‘Hybrid Value Chain’. Paper submitted by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, World Urban Forum, Vancouver. UNDP (2004). Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor, Commission of the Private Sector for Development, 2004. UN-HABITAT (2005). Business Unusual, New York: United Nations Global Compact Office. UN-HABITAT (2007). Business for Sustainable Urbanization: Challenges and Opportunities. United Nations Development Programme, Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor, Commission of the Private Sector for Development, 2004. World Bank (2008). What is Urban Poverty. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/EX TURBANPOVERTY/0,,contentMDK:20227679~menuPK:473804~pagePK:148956~piPK: 216618~theSitePK:341325,00.html 14