For this week's post, I will be addressing France and its efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. The area of focus is SDG #11, make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, and resilient, and sustainable? At this time, France is growing rapidly as they expand towards peripheral areas and now more than ever, the development of more sustainable cities is a challenge. With the concerns of improving residents' quality of life in terms of housing, transport, and services, ensuring thriving economic activity France has prioritized innovative and high quality architectural and urban development projects.
The concern for more sustainable cities in France is due to the surging population where 75% of the population are residents of towns and cities. Within this population, five million residents live inside priority districts, and these districts represent a quarter of the French who live below the national poverty threshold. The demand for basic housing and services has risen, consequently increasing the inequity gap. This demand is prevalent in town centers and metropolises where housing shortage results in rising in rents, alienating and segregating the disadvantaged, and hindering social and geographic mobility (Inequalities in France, 2019)
To address this issue, the French government has implemented and funded national housing strategies to combat the lack of accessible housing. This strategy is characterized by three pillars. Pillar one, build more, better, and cheaper housing to trigger a "supply shock." Pillar two involves meeting the needs of every individual and protect the most vulnerable. Pillar three, improve living conditions (Gouvernement).
This is recognized as an issue for the French government because of the social and economical implications of poor housing, but there is also the issue of climate change and its impact on disadvantaged communities. Climate risk is irreversible, which means that governments should take action to help households and urban spaces adapt. To do this it would be best that the French government build resilient foundations with inclusive development; including improved infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, and social protection. Those who would benefit from this are the residents that live within the districts that lack access to basic services and is impoverished. The poorer communities are the more vulnerable they are to climate change.
References:
SDG Watch. (2019). Inequalities in France. Make Europe Sustainable For All. Retrieved on November 18, from: https://www.sdgwatcheurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/5.3.a-report-FR-1.pdf
The Government's Housing Strategy. (n.d.) Governement. Retrieved on November 18, from: https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/the-government-s-housing-strategy
Comments
Post a Comment