We now live in an urban world. For example in 2007,humanity witnessed a signignificant event in its history: the world's urban population,for the first time,equalled the rural population. This historical milestone represented both a demographic change signifiedby a growth of populations and more importantly a social,cultural and economic transformation. The change is even more remarkable if consider that some hundreds years ago the human existence in rural was overwhelmingly with less than five percent of the total world population living in urbans.
Urbanisation
Urban growth started to accelerate in the late 1950s,when the urban population accounted for one-third of the global population.Since then humanity has experienced the fastest urban growth ever experienced, bringing the number of urban resident closer to the number of rural resident hence making urbanisation an essential part of most nation's development.
Urbanisation process has led to the direct progress in areas such as Economic growth,social and political changes,technical and scientific advances.Level of income and performance on human development indicators are also strongly linked to the urbanisation. However, in some countries and cities urbanisation is raising red frags,particularly because an increase on income inequalities not only in Developing Countries,but also in various Developed Nations. In many other places urbanisation in synonymous to slum formation, with more and more people living in poor informal settlement,that describe forms of deprivation.economic and social differentiation.
Harmonious cities means that harmony in the economic and societal relations,urban and regional relation and finally urban growth and environmental relations.Cities has tremendous potential to combine safe and healthy living conditions and culturally rich and diverse lifestyle with low level of energy consumption,resource use and waste.However to realise this potential there is a need to promote a more balanced urban development by trying to harmonise the various interest,diversity and inherent contradictions within cities.
The concept of harmony call not only for economic prosperity in the cities and its attendant benefits,but for various interrelated aspects such as equity,sustainability,fairness,social justice and good urban governance.Cities with a good governance and are well planned ,when they are competent and efficient and when the care for the poor have an enormous potential for a more balanced social,economic and environmental development.
This concept is both theotical framework and an operation tool to act today.It is as well an instrument to raise awareness in different cities of the world about the need to shift policy priorities toward those more in need on the road to amore balanced urban development.This may be done by addressing social, economic,environmental and political dimensions of urban growth in a more intergrated manner.
