World Bank’s Eco2 Cities Program

The pre-launch materials for the World Bank’s new Eco2 Cities program just came in. “Eco2″ is the term they are using for cities that have (stop me if you’ve heard this before) harnessed the synergies that exist between ecological and economic success and sustainability.

So, is this just a re-branding of two corners of the sustainable development triangle or is there more on offer here than another “10 milestone” program to a brighter future?

It’s a bit early to say. The program launch is scheduled for July 1st in Marseilles – immediately following the Urban Research Symposium that the Bank is co-hosting there (more on that later this month). An Eco2 Cities book will be coming out at the same time, so I’ll put off any detailed comments until then. For now, I wanted to post a preliminary sketch of the program.

The program sets out four key planning principles and 20 milestones that wind their way through it, represented in this diagram.

Eco2 is aimed specifically at cities in developing countries. Our position on the cusp of an explosion in urbanization is, as they put it, “a once in a lifetime opportunity to plan, develop, build and manage cities that are simultaneously more ecologically and economically sustainable.” The goal of the program is to support municipalities in making the decisions that will make that possible.

Overall, the program’s outline definitely hits the mark. It lays out a framework for building long term municipal plans that bridge the inefficient internal silos that plague municipalities, plans that are developed collaboratively with community members and businesses, and that pay attention to life-cycle costs and resource flows.

In many ways it takes the increasingly popular principles of industrial ecology and applies them to the city as a whole: one unit of input (water, energy etc.) can be used many times over, the waste produced by one process can be the input for another, and careful attention to spatial development can make it possible to actually take advantage of these complementary uses (if you are going to use someone else’s wastewater – it helps if you are nearby).

It looks great. But I’m skeptical. What we are looking at in Eco2 is a dramatic rewriting of the way that cities do their planning. It also challenges many of the institutional and social relationships that structure how cities run themselves. Both may be necessary – urgently so even. But it takes a lot to change how people are accustomed to doing their jobs. If you bear those challenges in mind though, it is possible for key interventions can make a real difference. Durban (South Africa), for example, has had real success with changing their GIS system in a way that helps both Planners and Engineers provide residents better access to municipal services. Change how information is gathered and displayed and you can really influence how things get done.

They key isn’t just having good ideas about how things should be done – it’s also knowing how to actually get them done. In my experience, paying attention to the internal dynamics and institutional culture of municipal organizations is key. If the people who keep the city running aren’t interested in what you have to say, or aren’t empowered to put new principles into practice, there’s not much chance that your program will get off the ground. (Especially in cities already stretched to the breaking point by shortages of personnel, finances, and critical infrastructure).

Other recent WB publications have paid real attention to these institutional dynamics. I am looking forward to the full release of Eco2Cities, to see how the World Bank is going to translate these admirable principles into real action.