Authors: Sonia Chand Sandhu, Vedanti Kelkar and Vaideeswaran Sankaran
ADBI Working Paper Series: Published November 2019
https://www.adb.org/publications/resilient-coastal-cities-enhancing-tourism-economy
Coastal cities face severe planning challenges with growing urban pressures, potential sea level rises, and other impacts of climate change. We share insights for an improved understanding of dynamic coastal ecosystems and tourism impacts, based on project level solutions and experiential knowledge of practices and a literature review of impacts of (a) growing pressures from coastal tourism in cities, (b) urban and environmental management practices, and (c) prevailing processes for creating and managing coastal infrastructure. Solutions to the identified problems are based on an analysis of the coastal ecosystems across three broad pillars: (i) city management, (ii) pollution and climate change risks, and (iii) coastal tourism. The problems range from a fragmented approach to coastal infrastructure planning; land and water pollution, fragmentation of natural ecosystems’ loss of habitat and unique biodiversity, salinity intrusion, and climate change risks from sea level rises and natural disasters; and tourism economy dependencies on the management of natural assets and cross-sectoral planning. We recommend paradigm shifts for innovative planning and policy approaches that engage communities, institutions, and other stakeholders.
Authors: Vedanti Kelkar, KE Seetharam
ADBI Working Paper Series: Published July 2019
Better access to sanitation and wastewater management can provide an array of socioeconomic benefits. Evidence shows that there are numerous socioeconomic and environmental benefits from improved sanitation; conversely, numerous studies have explored the lack of access to basic sanitation and its negative impact on gross domestic product (GDP). We establish the positive impacts on GDP from investment in sanitation and emphasize how it can regenerate countries. We combine and analyze supporting evidence through an extensive literature review to show that a new way of thinking informed by a comprehensive understanding of historical issues must be adopted to address the sanitation challenge. We emphasize decentralization, technological standardization, innovative financing, cost-recovery mechanisms, and the potential of socioeconomic spillover effects as tools to revitalize the sanitation sector. We further elaborate on the significance of hybrid governance and institutional mechanisms, including state and non-state actors, to collectively contribute toward achieving total sanitation coverage in developing Asian countries. We share the message that the benefits of wastewater management are far-reaching and convey the importance of decision makers prioritizing this sector. We conclude that achieving replicability and scalability requires dedicated political will and visionary leadership.