SDG Indicator 11.3.1 and Secondary Cities: An Analysis and Assessment

Melinda Laituri,Faith Sternlieb,Kathleen Galvin,Danielle Davis

doi:10.3390/ijgi10110713

Abstract

Secondary cities are rapidly growing areas in low- and middle-income countries that lack data, planning, and essential services for sustainable development. Their rapid, informal growth patterns mean secondary cities are often data-poor and under-resourced, impacting the ability of governments to target development efforts, respond to emergencies, and design sustainable futures. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 focuses on inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. SDG Indicator (SDGI) 11.3.1 calculates the ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate to enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization. Our paper compares three cities—Denpasar, Indonesia; Kharkiv, Ukraine; and Mekelle, Ethiopia—that were part of the Secondary Cities (2C) Initiative of the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues to assess SDGI 11.3.1. The 2C Initiative focused on field-based participatory mapping for data generation to assist city planning. Urban form and population data are critical for calculating and visually representing this ratio. We examine the spatial extent of each city to assess land use efficiency (LUE) and track changes in urban form over time. With limited demographic and spatial data for secondary cities, we speculate whether SDGI 11.3.1 is useful for small- and medium-sized cities.

Highlights

Published: 20 October 2021The 21st century is experiencing the emergence of the world’s secondary cities as major urbanizing areas
The land use efficiency (LUE) ratio affirms how secondary cities are rapidly growing with land consumption outstripping population growth (Figure 5)
The LUE ratios calculated for Denpasar, Kharkiv, and Mekelle reflect historical and social factors that have influenced the growth of the city

Summary

Introduction

Published: 20 October 2021The 21st century is experiencing the emergence of the world’s secondary cities as major urbanizing areas. The population of a secondary city may range between 10% and 50% of the country’s largest city They are urban centers providing critical support functions for governance, transportation, and production services. They are poorly mapped with limited data and information on infrastructure, land tenure, and planning and exhibit rapid unplanned and informal growth patterns [1,2]. This creates numerous environmental security and sustainability issues that impact the ability of governments to implement development efforts, respond to emergencies, and design sustainable futures [3]

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