The present century is marked by its intricate nature and the amalgamation of complex crises such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts with the potential threat of nuclear involvement, and the mass displacement of communities. These issues are further aggravated by critical concerns like famine and limited access to food, intensifying worldwide despair and exclusion.
In that framework, when we talk with urban planners, experts in public policy, or professionals from different disciplines about how to improve the quality of life of dwellers, the first conclusion that comes up with any kind of proposal, is the necessity of developing a diagnosis of the scenario where we are embedded. To arrive at any type of solution, action, or practice, it is crucial to have an observation process as a first and mandatory step.
However, the common practice in different latitudes is quite the opposite. Usually, many governments, constrained by the expedited nature and characteristics of the electoral process, lack the time and capacity to invest their resources in this matter. This scenario typifies the traditional political climate.
A significant shift was witnessed in 2020. In January, The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos spotlighted pressing global dilemmas and spearheaded discussions on challenges that humanity needed to address. Yet, this crucial gathering failed to foresee the imminent health crisis that COVID-19 would unleash just two months later. Come March, an unknown and unparalleled crisis upended all prior assessments, plans, and timelines. Decision-makers were suddenly thrust into an unpredictable crisis. Before the advent of vaccines, this seemed like an interminable new reality, rendering all previous plans and diagnostics obsolete. People had to rethink and reimagine other solutions to survive this period, with a clear necessity for contingency planning to navigate this crisis.
Currently, the repercussions of climate change are manifesting more challenges across the globe, with the devastating floods in Porto Alegre, caused by severe rain and storms. These floods have razed cities, displacing over 155,000 individuals. A particularly alarming development is the call from local authorities for the relocation of entire cities, such as Eldorado do Sul and Charqueadas, which house around 40,000 residents each, indicating their current dwellings are irrecoverable.
The ongoing global crises, including climate change, conflicts, and the lingering impacts of health crises like COVID-19, clearly signal the inadequacy of prolonged diagnostic and planning phases.
This new century demands embracing a resilient and adaptive strategy when diagnosing problems and implementing solutions. Instead of tackling these phases sequentially, we must pursue them concurrently, integrating diverse perspectives and scenarios into a unified strategy. Pursuing these activities in parallel, merging varied insights and scenarios into a cohesive plan, is imperative. Adhering to outdated modalities of extensive diagnostics followed by delayed implementation risks rendering proposals or plans obsolete in the face of current realities.
Moreover, the unpredictability of emerging challenges -not only reshapes urban planning and public policy on all fronts-, but also demands rapid and timely responses in our interconnected and globalized world. Thus, the essential shift towards agile and prompt strategic responses in urban development and policymaking against unpredictable global challenges represents the contemporary standard for strategies and policies across public and private sectors.
The New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted by the United Nations during Habitat III Conference, facilitates principles and strategies for planning and managing urban spatial development. It highlights concepts such as innovation, collaboration and strategic associations as essential tools for developing urban contingency plans.
NUA stresses innovation as a vehicle for robust policy formulation and reliable data, and as a driver for sharing and exchanging knowledge. In this sense, innovation is key to fostering a vibrant urban economy.
Another element is collaboration, which strengthens decision-making capacities and facilitates coordination to intensify the scope of the plans for sustainable urban development.
Last but not least, the consolidation of strategic associations provides capacity building. It empowers sub-national and local governments on urban priorities and improves the existing networks in their communities, connecting best practices and practitioners as allies of this process plan and implementation.
A successful example of a contingency plan during the COVID-19 pandemic was the rapid implementation of technology in New York City to meet the needs of working, studying, and medical assistance, among other demands. For instance, the NYC Education Department launched an agreement with Google Classroom and Microsoft to provide student accounts for every single public school student granting free access to educational resources. Additionally, other companies offered free-of-charge packs to assist during this unprecedented event. In this example, innovation, collaboration, and strategic associations were integrated into a contingency plan.
Unfortunately, some of these kinds of innovative practices and experiences were abruptly interrupted after the pandemic and, in many cases, forgotten or not communicated as a part of a concrete action aligned with the New Urban Agenda. Paradoxically, these experiences are part of the humane knowledge that people need to embrace and sustain to succeed in these recurrent global crises.
Photo: V. Coniglione (Smartly).