Urban Metabolism
The 6th Regional Nexus Workshop, held during 22-23 June 2016 in the Philippines, is considered the kick-off for the second phase of the Urban Nexus Project implemented by GIZ in collaboration with UN ESCAP and ICLEI South East Asia.
Santa Rosa, one of the Nexus Partner cities, hosted the workshop, which was attended by more than 120 participants from across Asia-Pacific. The outgoing Mayor of Santa Rosa, Arlene Arcillas, hosted the workshop in the presence of Mayor Bongat from the Nexus Partner City of Naga in the Philippines, two vice mayors from Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand as well as the General Manager of Ulaanbaatar.
Some 120 participants from the local and national levels and from academe and networking organizations from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand as well as such city networks as ICLEI South East Asia and CITYNET actively engaged in the issues of mandates in the framework of vertical and horizontal integration.
The first day of the workshop was dedicated to the Philippines, which is at cross-roads with a new government about to take power, as well as to international agendas such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, COP 21 and the New Urban Agenda for the Habitat III Conference to be held in Quito in October 2016, a process in which the Philippines will play a leading role.
The second day concentrated on an analysis of the accomplishments of the Urban Nexus Project, lessons learnt and the plans for the next phase. It was clearly stated that integrated urban planning has become a striking feature in elaborating new infrastructure projects in the Nexus partner cities. The Nexus Task Forces are the “think tanks” to promote this “other way of thinking”, moving away from the linear economy to the concept of a circular economy.
Circular economy as a tool to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
As a basic principle within the linear economy “take, make, dispose” is no longer state-of-the-art, given the increasing scarcity of natural resources such as water, energy and food. “Take, make, reuse/return” is the new way of thinking and reflects the strong concern for the separation of energy and mass flows. A separation of waste water into grey and black water makes use of the potential inherent in grey and black water and hence provides opportunities for their treatment and reuse as service and irrigation water, energy and sludge as fertilizer. Innovative technologies such as Maximum Yield Technology (MYT) allow for a recycling of solid waste mainly consisting of the components, water, non-fossil fuel, minerals and metals refueled into the production process.
The circular economy approach found numerous followers and was intensively discussed. It fits well with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offering concepts of how to reach the SDGS in an integrated manner.
Give cities a voice – empowering cities
The promotion of decentralization “giving cities a voice” making them “main actors of change” in order to reach the 2030 Agenda, the COP 21 targets as well as the New Urban Agenda is another main objective of the Nexus partners’ cooperation. Cities will be at the forefront in reaching the international agreements to which the international community has committed.
Cities have to strengthen their financial capabilities, starting off by collecting the taxes they are due. Moreover, they need reliable long-term financial resources and access to finance, also on an international level.
The Workshop ended with a “ground-breaking ceremony” with Mayor Arlene Arcillas for the low-cost housing project to be implemented in Santa Rosa for 162 informal settlement households and 168 families in the low urban income groups. It covers cost–efficient low-cost housing technology, improved urban designs as well as plans for an innovative urban infrastructure in collaboration with the Urban Nexus project and the private sector.
Ruth Erlbeck
Email:ruth.erlbeck(at)giz.de