Cities in developing countries
Distinguishing characteristics
Numerous differences exist between the cities of developing countries and those in the developed world. In particular, differences exist in their ability to adopt GIS technologies. Some important distinguishing characteristics of the cities in developing countries which affect their ability to adopt spatial information technologies include:
(1) The rapid growth in population is not matched by growth in delivery of land for housing, services, utilities and infrastructure important to sustain a reasonable quality of life. This is evident from the sprawl of informal settlements, increase in congestion, air and water pollution, poor and deteriorating infrastructure, and dilapidated housing (Williamson, 1991).
(2) The growth of cities is dictated by market forces rather than strategic planning. Urban development is often uncoordinated and land speculation pursues quick financial gains. The suburban and rural areas are invaded by market-induced developments.
(3) Laws and guidelines for land registration, planning and land management is diverse and often uncoordinated in developing countries. The reasons are many and varied between different countries with different traditions and political structures. Thus, the establishment of SDI cannot be easily standardized for developing countries.
(4) Developed countries in general have moved from a prescriptive form of land use planning (e.g.Master Plan) towards a market oriented “spot zoning” approach conforming to environmental guidelines. However prescriptive urban land use planning is adopted in most of developing countries, resulting in long term land use and master plans which are less market sensitive and consequently often not followed.
(5) In order to cater for an urgent demand for housing, almost all cities in developing countries have a significant proportion of the population living as squatters in slums or informal settlements. As a result tenure and ownership is often obscured and unregulated in the cities of developing countries with access to land and security of tenure being major problems. Planning and the management of services is very poor or non existent in these circumstances. Since these informal settlements are a special phenomenon in cities of developing countries, the strategies for managing cities in the developed world are inappropriate to these circumstances.
(6) Unplanned developments make it difficult to provide utilities, while providing utilities at a later stage is very costly. As a result of poor systems for land administration and either poor or nonexistent base mapping, city administrations usually do not know the location of existing services. It follows that efficient maintenance of services and infrastructure is almost impossible. Without proper land information, the acquisition of land for public facilities or the undertaking of any city planning exercise is very cumbersome, if not
impossible.
(7) There is little or no spatial information infrastructure(and particularly large scale base maps). The biggest single barrier stopping the construction of a spatial infrastructure is a lack of data. Other limitations include inefficient processes for purchasing spatial information or GIS technology; lack of skilled personnel to establish and manage the infrastructure; and lack of funding or political will to support the construction of the infrastructure.
In addition to these specific characteristics, there is a growing expectation within the developed world, that cities in the developing world will meet externally prescribed standards in terms of environmental protection and working conditions. These external constraints imply improved information flow to administer effective plans for urban management, resource allocation and distribution (Lai, 1996). The lessons from the developed world are that to do any progressive planning of these cities it is necessary to develop a spatial information system which can be an efficient tool for management of their urban resources. The development of such spatial data infrastructures and the resulting GIS which can build upon them are considered an essential requirement for the cities of the developed world to improve their management. The status of SDIs in developing countries is summarized below.