Topic: Impact of Urbanization
Country: Bolivia
Delegate Name: Molly Dlugos
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Bolivia position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Developing world cities add an average of five million residents each month and will account for almost 95% of the future population growth. Latin America and the Caribbean is the most urbanized region in the developing world, with rapid growth of smaller cities, which contain almost 40% of the urban population. Due to the rapid urban transition, there have been many anti-urban policies in Latin America that have attempted to stem the flow of migrants into urban areas. Instead of focusing on policies that would have lead to a decline in fertility rates (i.e., social development, health and education investments, and reproductive health services for women), and therefore declines in growth rates, many instead focused on policies such as preventing the provision of basic services to new squatter or illegal settlements. Therefore, these anti-urban policies often made it more difficult for the urban poor to get out of poverty while also inhibiting the ability of municipalities to plan for urban growth.
The term “brownfields” is often used in developed countries to indicate former industrial and commercial sites that are either contaminated, unused, and/or abandoned. Alker defines a brownfield site as “any land or premises which has previously been used or developed and is not currently fully in use, although it may be partially occupied or utilized. It may also be vacant, derelict or contaminated. Therefore a brownfield site is not available for immediate use without intervention.” Based on this definition, brownfields can be located within both developed and developing countries. Although the term “brownfield” is often used in developed countries to describe vacant or contaminated industrial or commercial sites, it can also be applied to areas in developing countries that have been contaminated by a variety of domestic or industrial uses (e.g., legal and illegal waste disposal, untreated wastewater, commercial processes). In developing countries, brownfield sites are not only unaccounted for, but they are often still being created as communities struggle to develop and deal with increasing quantities of less organic wastes.
Due to the changing composition in the waste streams of many developing countries – from primarily organic to more commonly non-biodegradable – many brownfield sites are created due to improper solid waste disposal. In the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, at least 53 sites (0.25-5 hectares, 1-4 meters deep) exist that are abandoned brick-making enterprises; 12 of which have been converted into illegal dumps. Some of these ex-tejerias are left to natural succession; however, the majority are either used to illegally dispose of all types of wastes or are legally filled in with construction debris and other rubble to create areas for housing.
