Reforms reflecting the dynamics of city and an enabling approach, bringing down the high standard that poor people can't adapt to and master plans with special provisions for the poor will help create better living conditions in the cities for them, says Diana Motta, Project Director of Emplas Metropolitan Planning Agency for Sao Paulo State of Brazil.
Ms. Motta is here to participate in the two-day international conference on ‘slum-free urban India' that began here on Monday.
On the successful experience in Brazil, she said in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro upgradtaion of existing houses and creation of urban (housing) stock led to improvement.
In an interaction on the sidelines of the conference, she said India and Brazil had similarities in urban policies and housing and shared similar challenges.
In Sao Paulo, in an effort to create better living conditions, slum upgradation had been taken up.
Ms. Motta is of the view that reforms must bring down cost to facilitate inclusion of people in the city. Alternative urban planning, including institutional reforms, legal framework and capacity building would help in bringing about a change, she felt. If regulations were static, people would find it difficult to adapt them.
“There is also a need to harmonise environmental issues with development issues and at present it is not linked,” she said. More urban issues should be linked with environment policies.
Besides, more participation of the private sector was required in the form of investments, she felt.
