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26. Urban Challenges
- University of Hawai'i Press
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310 In almost all Pacific Island countries a significant demographic, economic, and cultural transformation is taking place as urban populations are growing faster than total populations. Indeed, if Papua New Guinea is excluded, more than half of all Pacific Islanders live in urban areas, reflecting a global watershed heralded by the United Nations in 2007. In some countries—such as the atoll states of Kiribati and the Marshall Islands—this growth has resulted in exceptionally high population densities, comparable with those in the most highly populated Asian cities. In larger states, such as Fiji, the majority population now lives in cities and towns. And where urban areas still account for a minority of people, such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, urban growth rates are among the highest in the Asian Pacific, foreshadowing a late though inevitable urban revolution. Though migration still drives much of this growth, it is significant that an increasing share is generated by birth rates of second- and third-generation urban citizens, indicating the permanent shift of many Pacific Islanders from “traditional” rural societies to urban centers and contradicting the still held view that migration is temporary and urban challenges can be met through rural development . Unmistakably the Pacific faces an urban future, but what kind of future will this be? The recognition of these urban realities, by both Pacific Islanders as well as outsiders, has been slow and this has arguably weakened effective responses. Emerging problems of poverty, urban management, environmental degradation, and security are evident throughout the region, yet they have received limited policy attention . As the president of Fiji, Sir Ratu Kamisese Mara (1994: 9), warned more than a decade ago: It does not require any great genius to figure out the consequences of this urban drift. Quite apart from the basic strains placed on limited infrastructure, we have seen an erosion of cultural values, growing unemployment and the attendant restlessness, increased crime and other ills which plague large urban centers. But in our case we have the additional constraints of limited resources, small land areas, isolation caused by distance and the consequences of the great social and cultural changes wrought by the new realities that our traditional ethos was not equipped to handle. All these changes are now widespread in the Pacific, but alongside these problems many cities remain and will continue to be key centers of economic growth, tertiary education, and technological change. Demographic Transformation The movement of people within and between islands has intensified in volume, increased in distance, and become more complex in pattern and purpose since the conclusion of the Second World War. The shift of Pacific Islanders from rural to urban locales has also become more permanent. With the development of modern transportation, the continued stagnation of rural economic development , and the increasing significance of urban economies in globalizing spaces, the opportunity for and logic of migration has increased in a region that has historically been characterized by high mobility. Whereas in the past migration tended to be circular or repetitive—often seasonal and usually over short distances—permanent and relatively long-distance migration has in recent years become a more general feature. Throughout the Pacific there are a number of general trends in population movement, although not all are necessarily present. First, international migration extends beyond the region; second, small islands are being depopulated as people move to large islands; third, mountain populations are moving to lowlands, usually along the coast; and fourth, urban populations are continuing to grow. In the past quarter of a century these trends have intensified and been accentuated to the extent that it is no longer possible to regard the Pacific as characterized by rural populations. Within and even more so on the fringes of the Pacific, urban islander populations have grown substantially (Table 26.1). The rationale for urbanization and increased population concentrations is consistent throughout the Pacific: employment opportunities and services (especially education and health) are concentrated in the urban centers. In small island states, where the labor force and capital are often limited, this urban concentration is inevitable to some extent; hence rural-to-urban migration follows . Urbanization is proportionally least in Melanesia—though towns and cities are larger—since modernization has been belated. Yet even in Kiribati and Tuvalu, urbanization has become significant and development problems have resulted. Almost everywhere, urbanization has been accompanied by rapid population growth 26 Urban Challenges Donovan Storey and John Connell Urban Challenges ■ 311 (heightened through the limited impact of...