Mediterranean Economies 2023
DOI: 10.1401/9788815411167/c10
10.Are urban and economic sustainability still priority
goals following the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict? by Loreta Calzaretta, Carmela Gargiulo, Carmen Guida, Yolanda Pena-Boquete and Sabrina SgambatiAuthor contributions: albeit the result of a common reflection, the work was divided as follows: C. Gargiulo wrote section 1, C. Guida wrote section 2, L. Calzaretta and Y. Pena-Boquete wrote section 3, and S. Sgambati wrote section 4. Section 5, Discussion and Conclusions, was the fruit of joint labour
Notizie Autori
Loreta Calzaretta University of Salerno (lcalzaretta@unisa.it).
Notizie Autori
Carmela Gargiulo University of Naples Federico II (carmela.
gargiulo@unina.it).
Notizie Autori
Carmen Guida University of Naples Federico II (carmen.
guida@unina.it).
Notizie Autori
Yolanda Pena-Boquete AYeconomics Research Centre, Spain
(y.penaboquete@ayeconomics.com).
Notizie Autori
Sabrina Sgambati University of Naples Federico II (sabrina.
sgambati@unina.it).
Abstract
This last chapter delve into the potential impact of the
Russian-Ukrainian conflict on urban and economic sustainability of Mediterranean
cities. The authors compare proxy indexes of sustainable development goals (SDG)
before and after the outbreak of war. They also consider environmental analysis
alongside social and welfare dimensions to assess the progress of Mediterranean
cities toward SDG achievement.
1. The challenges and prospects of Sustainable Development: a focus on SDG 11
There remain only seven years until
the projected achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United
Nations [UNDP 2015]. However, cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger: the confluence of crises, dominated
by COVID-19, climate change and, last but not least, the Ukraine-Russia war, is creating
impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, environment, resources, peace and
security, and affecting all the SDGs and their ultimate achievement by 2030 [Carpentieri
et al. 2020; Brondoni 2022; Rawtani et al.
2022].
The history of SDGs dates back to
1972 when governments met under the auspices of the UN Environment Conference to
consider the right to a healthy and productive environment [Spencer 2021]. Twenty years
later, at the Rio+20 Conference, a resolution, known as «The Future We Want», was
reached by signatories. Among the key themes agreed on were poverty eradication, energy,
water and sanitation, health, and human settlement described by the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were supposed to be achieved by 2015 but a further
process was needed to agree and settle on development goals from 2015 to 2030 [UN 1992;
UNDP 2015]. Since then, SDGs have been translated into targets, implementing actions and
measurable advancements which are now monitored on an annual basis.
With more than half the world’s
population living in urban areas, cities are drivers of economic growth and contribute
more than 80 per cent of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) [Fertner et
al. 2016; Gargiulo and Papa 2021]. However, rapid and poorly planned
urbanisation leads to many challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing,
insufficient infrastructure (such as public transportation and basic services), limited
open spaces, unsafe levels of air pollution, and increased climate and disaster risk
[Verma and Raghubanshi, 2018; Battarra, Carpentieri and Gargiulo 2019]. The deep
inequalities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the current energy crisis further
highlight the importance of sustainable urban development. Strengthening the
preparedness and resilience of cities, including through high-quality infrastructure and
universal access to basic services, is crucial in the recovery phase and in our ability
to respond to future crises [Gargiulo and Lombardi 2016].
Within Agenda 2030, SDG 11 is
completely dedicated to cities and committed to building more sustainable communities
and societies. It is articulated in seven targets that address heterogeneous domains of
urban sustainability: pollution (noise and environmental), accessibility and safety of
green and public spaces, systemic response to natural disasters, waste management, etc.
Sustainable development is stated to
be of key importance for the Mediterranean region for several reasons. It is a closed
sea, in which water renewal is limited by the narrow connection to the ocean, and
therefore particularly sensitive to pollution issues [Ijlil et al.
2022]. In addition, its mild climate makes it home to a great diversity of ecosystems
and species.
The Mediterranean is also subject to
considerable pressures.
With its rich history and
exceptional natural and cultural landscapes, its coasts accounted for 30 per cent of
global tourist arrivals in 2022 [Corbisiero and La Rocca 2020; El-Masry et
al. 2022; Leka et al. 2022]. Furthermore, urban
agglomerations on the Mediterranean coasts, along with tourist infrastructure, have
resulted in the development of large and mega-cities, with consequent pressures from
rising population levels and the spread of economic activities in a particularly fragile
environment [Battarra, Gargiulo and Zucaro 2020; Guida 2022].
Moreover, significant discrepancies
in development levels and living standards among countries, together with the conflicts
in ¶{p. 333}the region, which are already negatively affecting
investment and development, also pose challenges for a sustainable future of the
Mediterranean basin. The fragility of the region is further aggravated by its
sensitivity to climate change: in its Sixth Assessment Report [IPCC 2022], the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Mediterranean cities among the
most impacted by global climate change drivers [Guida et al. 2022].
In the light of such
considerations, the aim of this contribution is to explore to what extent the current
economic shock resulting from the Russian and Ukrainian conflict may affect the ability
of Mediterranean cities to be successful in their sustainable development path,
comparing proxy indexes of SDG11 development before and after the outbreak of war.
As part of Agenda 2030 signed by
the member countries of the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 is
aimed at building «sustainable cities and communities». A more equitable urban
environment can make a decisive contribution to the transition process towards
sustainability.
Ensuring accessibility to basic
services and reducing inequalities are essential tasks for making cities more inclusive
and sustainable.
For this purpose, we embed
environmental analysis within the study of the social and welfare dimension, adopting an
integrated approach, in order to assess the overall advancement of Mediterranean cities
towards the sustainable development goals. Empirical research from urban areas has found
that, beside environmental conditions, such as the level of pollution, that strongly
influence human health and hence the quality of human life, other factors, like local
purchasing power, cost of living and level of rent, have a significant impact on the
quality of life of cities, which can be recognized as a general expression of reasonable
and good living conditions existing in locations [Ali, Audi and Al-Masri 2022].
However, scholars have paid little
attention to how cities deal with the consequences of conflict (especially in terms of
sustainable development) and policies can be steered to achieve a balance between
environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive cities [Khan, Hildingsson and
Gartting 2020]. Looking at the steps made by the signatory states since 2015, many
results have been achieved. Yet the road ahead is still long, especially in the light of
current crises. In 2020, as the main hubs of the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities
experienced inefficient and inadequate ¶{p. 334}public health services,
scarcity of public open spaces and private dwellings, and insufficiencies of public
transport systems, let alone the economic consequences of the pandemic that have led to
thousands of business failures. To respond to such problems, several cities have
activated emergency measures, many of them supported by a national urban policy.
The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine
conflict at the beginning of 2022 and its consequences have exacerbated existing
challenges to cities.
After this introduction, the
following paragraph will delve into the targets of SDG 11 and its monitoring indicators.
Then, the Mediterranean coastal cities and their roadmap towards urban and economic
sustainability achievements are described, as envisaged by Agenda 2030 and as recorded
through the years.
Due to a lack of reliable recently
published data, proxy sustainability indicators were selected in order to monitor the
path towards the achievement of SDG11. The indicators were compared between a base (2019
or 2021) and a current scenario (2022). Finally, a concluding section sums the evidence
drawn from the comparative analysis of indicators and possible perspectives,
correlations and similarities between the main cities on the Mediterranean coast in
achieving the goals of Agenda 2030.
2. SDG 11 and urban sustainable development
As stated in the previous section,
the MDGs were a first important step and focal point for governments to orient their
policies and overseas aid programmes to end poverty and improve the lives of poor
people. However, the MDGs have been criticized for being too narrow and leaving out many
people and their needs. The new SDGs, and the broader sustainability agenda, go much
further than the MDGs, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for
development that works for all people. Inclusive social development, environmental
sustainability, inclusive economic development, and peace and security are the four
dimensions of the global vision of sustainable development, according to the UN vision
towards Agenda 2030 (fig. 1).
As urban growth intensifies and
cities become new centres for sustainability challenges, urgent measures are needed to
¶{p. 335}improve the quality of life of those living in cities and, at
the same time, reduce the environmental impacts that cities produce on the global scale.
In this regard, SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities – aims to make cities and
human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by addressing several
challenges, namely affordable and dignified housing, efficiency improvement of waste
management, reduction in air pollution, and an increase in the availability of public
spaces to sustain local communities. These general aims have been translated into seven
targets, whose implementation time is set to 2030.
Source: United Nations, Agenda 2030. https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
The first target concerns the
quality of living. As per the 2030 Agenda, the SDG11.1 target defines it as necessary to
identify and quantify the proportion of the population that live in slums, informal
settlements and those living in inadequate housing in order to inform the development of
the appropriate policies and programmes for ensuring access for all to adequate housing.
Public transport is the focus of SDG11.2. Agenda 2030 aims to provide safe access to
public transport facilities, regardless of gender and age. The third target concerns the
governance of urban and territorial transformation in order to limit uncontrolled urban
sprawl. SDG11.4 is about the protection of natural and cultural heritage. SDG11.5 is
dedicated to the exposure of urban settlements to natural hazards, also related to
climate change and measured in terms of number of deaths, those missing
¶{p. 336}and people directly affected, and economic loss and damage to
critical infrastructure. The sixth target concerns water and air pollution. SDG11.7
concerns open built-up spaces in cities, their accessibility and safety and security.
Note