Towns will only achieve sustainable development if communities own a stake in the economies created within them, says Commonwealth National Climate Finance Advisor Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil.
Dr Pullanikkatil said many towns are characterised by a pattern where people are employed and consume. Still, the economic value generated does not directly benefit them or build long-term household resilience. She said this on Friday, during the last day of the Eswatini Urban Forum, while closing the Forum at the Ezulwini International Convention Centre (ICC).
“We find that some types of people are employed and they just consume. And the retailers, whatever consumption or economy that’s being created within the town is not accounted for in what they receive,” she said.
She said this disconnect leaves families vulnerable, particularly during retirement or when breadwinners pass away and requires a shift in how local authorities plan for development.
Speaking on people-centred development, Dr Pullanikkatil said local authorities should assist household structures to create strategies that involve individuals as well as a collective community plan.
“So if the local authority can actually incorporate assisting the household structure towards creating strategies that actually involve the individuals and also a collective plan, now that also integrates a community plan. Because the community itself has to own a stake within the consumption within the towns,” she said.
She said one practical approach is supporting repair communities and associations that build infrastructure to support families during critical transitions.
“So in assisting the repairs, repair communities, associations that will build infrastructure that will help them in times of retirement or when the individuals that are sustaining families pass away and I think that is an approach to a people-centred future for towns,” she said.
Dr Pullanikkatil said such associations could provide shared resources and support systems that reduce household vulnerability and strengthen community bonds.
She said people-centred development cannot be separated from environmental responsibility. “And also we add on people-centred development, it’s also an environment-centred development because what are we without a planet that we live on?” she said.
She said current consumptive activities are placing strain on the planet and development planning must acknowledge this. “So if we also centre our development towards being conscious that we are living on a planet that is actually grieving because of our consumptive activities,” she said.
Dr Pullanikkatil said future town development should deliberately include the environment as a central consideration, not an afterthought.
She said this requires raising a generation of young people who are conscious of waste and consumption patterns. “So if we build a generation of young people that can be conscious of the waste that just one part of their rules makes, just a simple activity where you think you are hungry but there’s a lot of implications that would come from just your one aspect of consumption,” she said.
She said even a simple decision driven by hunger carries a chain of environmental and economic implications, from production and packaging to waste generation.
According to her, making young people aware of these linkages will encourage more responsible behaviour and contribute to sustainable towns. “So I think also the development of the future should encompass the planet as well,” she said.
Dr Pullanikkatil said towns of the future must be designed around both people and the planet, with local authorities facilitating community ownership, environmental consciousness and long-term planning.
She said without such integration, towns risk growing economically while leaving households exposed and the environment degraded.
