1.This Act may be cited as
the Sustainable Urban Development Act
of 2010
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Approximately 51
percent of the world’s population lives in cities of various sizes and produce
the majority of the world’s economic output.
(2)It is estimated
that by 2030—
(A)almost
4,000,000,000 people will live in cities in the developing world;
(B)urban populations
in Africa and Asia will double; and
(C)the number of
people living in slums will double.
(3)Of the
approximately 1,000,000,000 people worldwide who live in slums, more than 50
percent are younger than 25 years of age.
(4)In most
countries, the largest urban areas account for significant shares of gross
domestic product and, due to the economic advantages of large integrated
markets for skills, inputs and outputs are often drivers of national economic
growth.
(5)More than
1,100,000,000 people lack adequate access to safe water and nearly
2,500,000,000 lack access to sanitation services. These problems may become
more severe with rapid urbanization.
(6)The costs of
diseases and productivity losses linked to water and sanitation amount
to—
(A)2 percent of
gross domestic product in less developed countries; and
(B)up to 5 percent
of gross domestic product in sub-Saharan Africa.
(7)Insecure lease
and real property ownership tenure often subject slum dwellers to arbitrary,
often supra-market rents, forced evictions, threats, and harassment,
particularly affecting women who are often heads of households.
(8)Insecurity of
tenure—
(A)severely inhibits
economic development by undermining investment incentives and constraining the
growth of credit markets;
(B)imperils the
ability of families to achieve sustainable livelihoods and assured access to
shelter; and
(C)often contributes
to conflict over property rights.
(9)Although women
constitute 66 percent of the world’s work force, they own less than 15 percent
of the world’s private property. This disparity is particularly damaging in
cities and towns in which women are disproportionately affected by forced
evictions and insecure tenure as a result of discrimination, gender-biased
laws, and customs that—
(A)define women as
legal minors or otherwise prevent women from acquiring and securing property,
housing leases, or ownership rights; and
(B)increase the
vulnerability of women to poverty, violence, and sexual abuse.
(10)Cities can play
an important role in economic growth only if—
(A)there is
appropriate infrastructure, institutions, and policies; and
(B)basic services
are extended to everyone.
(11)Connective
infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications—
(A)plays a critical
role linking cities and their markets to rural production, to hinterlands, and
to the global economy;
(B)reduces economic
distances; and
(C)strengthens the
ability of cities to take advantage of the resulting market opportunities and
ensures that urban and rural development policies are integrated into a
holistic approach that promotes economic growth throughout the country.
(12)The 2006
National Security Strategy states, America’s national interests and
moral values drive us in the same direction: to assist the world’s poor
citizens and least developed nations and help integrate them into the global
economy.
.
(13)In his October
2009 remarks for World Habitat Day, President Obama stated, My
administration is committed to … bolstering our metropolitan areas, the cities,
suburban and rural areas that are the engines of our economic growth. We are
investing in a clean energy sector that will generate new green jobs, building
affordable, energy efficient homes and promoting more sustainable development
so that we can meet the needs of the present, for securing the future for our
children and grandchildren … That is why we are committed to working with the
United Nations and our partners around the world to help more families find a
safe and secure place to live.
.
(14)Target 11 of
Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals states, By 2020, to have
achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million
slum-dwellers.
.
3.It is the policy of the
United States—
(1)to recognize
urban development, as an objective of United States foreign policy, and
overseas development assistance, particularly programs that—
(A)foster improved
urban governance, management, and planning;
(B)increase land and
real property tenure;
(C)promote the
formal provision of, and access to, essential urban services and
infrastructure;
(D)expand access to
basic shelter, affordable urban housing;
(E)economically
empower women and youth;
(F)promote civic
participation and social cohesion;
(G)respond to, and
proactively prepare for, environmental and climatic challenges;
(H)promote economic
growth and alleviate poverty; and
(I)expand the
availability of financing for urban housing and infrastructure;
(2)to prevent waste
and duplication in the use of United States overseas development assistance
with respect to the programs described in paragraph (1);
(3)to foster
cooperative relations with foreign governments, intergovernmental
organizations, private businesses, and nonprofit and community-based
organizations that support or implement programs similar to those described in
paragraph (1);
(4)to support
innovative international mechanisms designed to increase coordination and
mutual complementarity in the planning, financing, and implementation of
sustainable urban development policies and programs implemented by the United
States and other donors described in this section;
(5)to ensure access
to—
(A)basic shelter and
affordable housing, particularly by residents of slums and informal settlements
and similar densely populated, impoverished urban areas; and
(B)safe water and
sanitation;
(6)to
promote—
(A)the security of
land and other real property use, lease, and ownership rights;
(B)the legal
recognition and protections of such rights by all income groups;
(C)equitable and
sustainable national land policies; and
(D)enhanced land
administration services, including services for groups that—
(i)are
socioeconomically vulnerable or institutionally marginalized; or
(ii)are subject to
discrimination, including women, children, the poor, and people living in urban
slums and informal settlements; and
(7)to support
efforts to enhance the technical and financial capacity of developing country
governments, including regional and municipal governments, to plan and manage
urban growth in transparent, participatory, and accountable manner.
4.Sustainable
urban development strategy
(a)The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development (referred to in this section as the
USAID
) shall develop a strategy to foster sustainable urban
development in developing countries that updates the Making Cities Work Urban
Strategy.
(b)The
strategy required under subsection (a)—
(1)shall be
developed in consultation with other United States Government agencies with
relevant technical expertise or policy mandates pertaining to urban development
in foreign countries; and
(2)shall draw upon
best practices and successful models of urban development undertaken or
developed by international intergovernmental organizations, international
finance institutions, recipient countries, United States and international
nongovernmental organizations, private sector actors, and other appropriate
entities.
(c)The
strategy required under subsection (a) shall—
(1)review and assess
existing or past United States programs and foreign assistance strategies for
developing countries designed to improve urban development, including—
(A)increasing access
to basic shelter, affordable housing, and shared communal
infrastructure;
(B)enhancing land
tenure security;
(C)promoting
environmentally sound urban infrastructure and services;
(D)building capacity
for municipal planning, management, and governance;
(E)leveraging
innovative financing for urban investments;
(F)promoting gender
equality and women’s empowerment; and
(G)promoting active
participation of urban dwellers in the planning and execution of urban
governance and social services programs;
(2)define short- and
long-term objectives and performance measures by which progress in urban
development in foreign countries should be measured;
(3)integrate United
States programs and foreign assistance strategies that address urban
development and slums in developing countries;
(4)integrate into
the broader strategic foreign assistance plans of the Department of State and
the programs and objectives of the United Stated Agency for International
Development related to urban development and slums;
(5)assess the
feasibility of establishing, in the USAID, a senior advisor for urban
sustainable development, who would—
(A)provide—
(i)leadership for
coordinated programming;
(ii)technical
support for urban development; and
(iii)dissemination
of best practices with policy and technical staff with experience and expertise
in urban planning and development;
(B)guide urban
programming;
(C)help build the
capacity of government officials in developing countries to more effectively
manage urbanization; and
(D)encourage the
organization and involvement of local civil society, including collective and
municipal associations;
(6)evaluate options
to leverage private sector partnerships on issues related to housing, slum
improvement, and finance though—
(A)the Global
Development Alliance of USAID and the Global Partnerships Initiative of the
Department of State;
(B)the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation;
(C)the Development
Credit Authority;
(D)the Millennium
Challenge Corporation; and
(E)other relevant
initiatives;
(7)support a policy
of United States Government collaboration and coordination with other donors
towards urban development issues, including—
(A)working to
achieve Target 4 of Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals;
(B)supporting local
development plans and strategies;
(C)reviewing
technical assistance and financial resource needs for urban development
programming;
(D)fostering greater
program coordination among donors; and
(E)disseminating
best practices in urban planning and development;
(8)assess the
feasibility of establishing a pilot urban strategies initiative that
would—
(A)support, through
technical and financial assistance, a select number of cities in developing
countries by identifying, developing, and implementing long-term sustainable
urban development strategies to provide a framework for future growth and
development in identified countries;
(B)provide support
for such urban development strategies through a variety of approaches,
including direct financial support, innovative financial mechanisms, and
private sector investment;
(C)raise critical
global awareness of urban development issues, including the emergence of
mega-cities and the increasing burdens placed on secondary cities in developing
countries; and
(D)fully integrate
the needs of women, who are often heads of households, yet do not have
equitable access to land, resources, or services;
(9)analyze
approaches to improve environmental sustainability in urban areas, while
recognizing that developing cities are facing severe environmental stress as a
result of the difficulties of expanding facilities fast enough to keep up with
rapidly growing populations and industrial activity; and
(10)develop a plan
for providing long-term United States support for sustainable urban growth and
development initiatives in developing countries that—
(A)includes regular
coordination between United States Government agencies that have relevant
technical expertise or policy responsibilities, as appropriate,
including—
(i)the
United States Agency for International Development;
(ii)the Department
of State;
(iii)the Millennium
Challenge Corporation;
(iv)the Department
of Housing and Urban Development;
(v)the
Department of the Treasury; and
(vi)the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation; and
(B)draws upon the
available expertise of United States-based city and regional elected officials
and professionals in—
(i)community, real
estate, and banking sectors;
(ii)major United
States private foundations, nongovernmental organizations, and policy,
education, and research organizations;
(iii)United Nations
organizations; and
(iv)multilateral
development banks.
(d)Not
later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Administrator shall submit a report to Congress that includes the strategy
required under this section.