“Sustainable urban development should be based on societal transition processes and not solely on technical solutions”- Dr Klaus Topfler1
According to UN-HABITAT, by 2030, 3 billion people, i.e. about 40 percent of the world’s population will need access to adequate housing. This translates into a demand for 96000 new affordable and accessible housing units per day. Urbanization has powered rapid economic growth across the globe as cities generate 80% of the global GDP. However, as cities expand, policy makers and governance structures are racing to keep up with demand for civic amenities and sustainable & eco friendly dwellings. Unplanned urbanization is a reality in large part of the world. The World Bank estimates that nearly one billion urban poor live in slums and informal settlements, mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Access to housing is a precondition to access to employment, health, education and social services. Goal 11 of UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development aspires to making cities safe, inclusive and resilient, in pursuit of which national governments are striving to address the challenges of unsustainable and unplanned urbanisation through various policy initiatives.
Access to housing is a precondition to access to employment, health, education and social services. Goal 11 of UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development aspires to making cities safe, inclusive and resilient, in pursuit of which national governments are striving to address the challenges of unsustainable and unplanned urbanisation through various policy initiatives.
The Government of People’s Republic of China has started renovation of 217.000 old urban residential communities benefitting over 37 billion households. Further, China has accelerated the construction of modernized comprehensive transport. What has been the role of Supreme Audit Institution of China in assisting the government in improving and optimizing policy design? Readers will find an in-depth analysis of how audit has supported the sustainable urban development in China in the article contributed by the National Audit Office of China.
Ms Mai Malen Abdin of SAI Egypt, through an incisive case study, describes the transformation of ancient district of Fustat in Cairo , Egypt. The auditor’s perspective in auditing such projects and providing value added recommendations to policy makers will provide our readers useful information to replicate in their respective SAIs.
One of the biggest challenges of uncontrolled and unplanned growth of cities is the management of solid waste in urban areas. SAI India’s team at the International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED) writes about the experience of auditing urban waste management in India walking us through a diverse set of policy initiatives being taken in India, and the innovative auditing approach that the SAI has taken for audit of this complex subject.
Our colleagues from the Board of Audit and Inspection, Republic of Korea talk about the risks of urban infrastructure projects and audit strategies and tools being used by the BAI in their article titled Establishing and Operating an integrated Audit System for SOC Projects to Mitigate Risks.
Dear Readers, you have correctly guessed by now that the theme of the April 2024 edition of the ASOSAI Journal is Auditing Sustainable Urban Development.
Diverse articles on this theme along with highly informative articles on auditing health sector, electrical sector and measuring climate performance assessment contributed by colleagues from SAI Georgia, SAI Indonesia and SAI Azerbaijan respectively, makes this edition of the Asian Journal of ASOSAI, rich in information and ideas exchange among the public sector auditors.
I am grateful to General Chanathap Indamara, Chairman of ASOSAI and Mr Hou Kai, Secretary-General of ASOSAI for their inspirational messages. I thank all the contributors for their well-researched and information intensive articles that makes the ASOSAI Journal a leading journal for the professional auditors.
For the team at the ASOSAI Journal secretariat, providing information intensive and enriched content in the Journal remains our continuous endeavour!