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Introduction
Urban Settlements
Emerging Urban Issues
• Failing Urban Infrastructure
• Urban Health Crisis
• Economic Transition: Massive Unemployment
• Environmental Crisis
Urban Fact Sheets: Eastern Europe & Eurasia
Introduction
Eastern Europe is one of the most urbanized regions in the world and its cities are undergoing massive changes as the countries of the region transition to market-oriented democracies. As urban populations adjust to democratic and global trends, new problems are emerging like unemployment and environmental hazards. At the same time, city administrations are adjusting to new fiscal and political decentralization trends, while attempting to improve their local economies through privatization and free market initiatives.
In addition to being a transition economy, Russia is recovering slowly from a 1998 economic crisis. This large country has a declining population, severe environmental and health problems and a large proportion of people living in poverty. Russia has the world's lowest fertility rates, a high disparity in life expectancy rates between men and women, and very high levels of birth defects and disabilities in children.
Urban Settlement Patterns are Historical
Overall population growth rates in the sub-region are declining. Urban population growth rates range from less than 1 percent, to stagnant, and in one country it is actually negative. Russia has the highest urban population at 78 percent compared to the lowest in the region, Slovakia at 57 percent. 1
Many Eastern European cities were urbanized as a result of planned industrialization during the Soviet regime. The urban populations are located near and around factories, industries and large centers of employment. For example, one-third of Hungary's entire urban population lives in and around Budapest. 2 In Russia, central government controls caused urban populations to grow unnaturally through the elimination of villages throughout the country. Due to inadequate planning, these urban areas do not have sufficient housing, are overcrowded and offer poor living conditions.
Emerging Urban Issues
Failing Urban Infrastructure
Much of the water, gas and electricity utilities and infrastructure throughout the sub-region are in a deteriorating or non-functional condition. Economic transition has had a direct impact on the energy and infrastructure sectors, as they have become the least financially stable of all the previously state owned enterprises. As a result, capital investments for much-needed equipment and facility repairs and expansion have been forgone.
Data shows that in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary, 100 percent of urban residents have access to water and sanitation. The reality is however, even though urban dwellings are connected to water supply systems, limited amounts of water, and unsafe water at that, are being pumped through city pipes. 3 Other forms of mismanagement include waste storage facilities that exceed capacity and violate health standards, which impact surrounding urban communities. Inadequate toxic waste policies are a significant problem for Eastern Europe and Russian urban areas due to historical mishandling of toxic waste, much of which is still in place throughout the subregion.
Wastewater flowing from Eastern Europe and Russian cities receives little to no treatment before being dumped directly into larger bodies of water, seas and rivers.4 Both surface and groundwater supplies are also heavily polluted from agricultural contaminants and improper toxic and hazardous waste storage procedures throughout Eastern Europe and Russia. As a result of these pollutants, urban dwellers are exposed to significant health risks.
Urban Health Crisis
Health conditions in Russia are in a state of crisis. Indicators, like extremely low life expectancy rates for men, high prevalence of disease for all populations, high disability rates in children and high levels of alcoholism and depression, support this fact. The most commonly occurring diseases are tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, respiratory conditions, parasitic diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular and liver diseases.5 The health care system in Russia provides insufficient care for urban populations for whom the concentration of these diseases is higher. Only 20 percent of Russia's children were deemed "fully healthy" in the mid 1990s and 40 percent had severe abnormalities or chronic difficulties.6 Eastern Europe has similar health concerns, although the incidence of liver and cardiovascular diseases is decreasing and HIV/AIDS infection rates are still low.
Economic Transition: Massive Unemployment
Both Eastern Europe and Russia have potentially strong industrial and manufacturing capacities, and healthy and growing informal sectors that are covering the gaps created by the severe decline in GDP over the last decade. Industrial and market development continues to improve and increase as Eastern European cities interact more with Western European cities and markets, explore more privatization scenarios, and become more competitive.
The majority of the GDP for the countries in Eastern Europe is produced in the cities. Over half of the region's poor populations live in urban areas and the capital city typically has the most concentrated areas of poverty. Approximately thirty percent of Russia's population lives below the poverty line. Since 78 percent of Russians live in cities, two-thirds of the poor are urban residents. 7
In Russia, 13 million jobs were lost, wage levels dropped 40 percent, up to 15 million workers received late wages, and formal unemployment jumped to 13 percent during the past decade. 8 The drop in industrial production across the region is the primary cause of high levels of sudden unemployment, from which Eastern European cities are slowly recovering. Hungary reports the highest level of unemployment in the region at 40 percent. 9 The economic decline impacts the smaller urban areas more, as they have even fewer competitive industries and limited capacity to respond to current decentralization trends.
Environmental Crisis
Russia's historical neglect of the environment has created a current state of crisis. Poor agricultural, mining and manufacturing practices have led to contaminated air, soil and water supplies and dangerous levels of untreated toxic and hazardous waste. 10 Some environmental reform efforts have been made, however the damage done is such that these efforts have made little progress.
Concerns over the safety of nuclear plants, such as Kozloduy in Bulgaria, focuses on the potential for nuclear accidents due to sub-standard equipment and safety procedures. This plant in particular, which is located next to the Danube River, has leaking pipes and deteriorating reactors and is considered one of the most dangerous nuclear installations in the world. 11 As a result of dumping of nuclear waste into water sources and underground nuclear testing, the city populations of the sub-region have been exposed to extreme levels of radiation. This exposure is evidenced by the prevalence of birth defects throughout the sub-region.
In Eastern Europe, the state of the environment is slightly better due to focused efforts on the part of the cities and local municipalities. However, the area is still plagued with severe toxic waste problems, high pollutant emissions, urban air pollution, failing oil pipeline leakages, serious nuclear safety problems and gas leakages. 12
Role for USAID Assistance
Urban Infrastructure Services. Assistance on upgrading and improving the basic urban utilities structures will provide better services for urban dwellers. Provision of safe water and sanitation will reduce the level of illness and increase economic productivity. Housing development will alleviate dangerous living conditions and overcrowding in the cities.
Health. Direct health care assistance is needed to help local clinics assess and treat the illnesses experienced by urban populations. Training on hygienic practices, the importance of nutrition and exercise and maternal health are of high priority. Assistance with the treatment of stress and alcoholism are also highly important issues.
Economic Growth. Assistance with trade development and privatization of major industries will increase industrial productivity, reduce unemployment and improve the business climate in the region. Business development training and access to credit will increase economic progress and development of this growing sector.
Urban Environmental Reform. Technical assistance and aid for the recovery of a healthy environmental status will reduce disease and illness, add longevity to the lives of Eastern Europeans and Russians. Assistance with modern environmental reform will prevent future disasters and damage.
1 USAID Making Cities Work, Urban Profiles
2 ibid.
3 World Bank Country Assistance Strategy, ECA 2002
4 UNEP State of the Environment Eastern & Central Asia 2002
5 ibid.
6 World Bank Country Assistance Strategy, Russia 2002
7 World Bank Country Assistance Strategy, Russia 2002
8 ibid
9 USAID Making Cities Work, Urban Profiles (Hungary)
10 World Bank Country Assistance Strategy, Russia 2002
11 www.american.edu/TED/Bulgarnik - "Bulgarian Nuclear Plant Kozloduy"
12 World Bank - ECA Region, Topics in Development, 2002
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