For June 2001 Earth Report focuses on urban issues.
Already nearly half of humanity lives in cities. The UN predicts that this figure will rise to more than three-fifths by the year 2030, and that 94% of that increase will be in the new megacities of Asia, Latin America and Africa. To coincide with the UN City Summit in New York, Earth Report features a season of five special city programmes, which investigate how poor people are striving to live in cities despite pressure from developers and city authorities, who view them as the problem rather than part of the solution.
'Earth Report' is broadcast weekly on BBC World at the following times
GMT: Monday at 03:30 & 21:30, Tuesday at 08:30, 11:30 & 14:30,
Wednesday at 01:30 & 05:30, Saturday at 18:30, Sunday at 07:30
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June 4 - 10: Land Rites & Streetwise - A View from the People
Land Rites
Imagine waking up in a typhoon and being too scared to evacuate, in case your home of twenty years was demolished - not by disaster but by developers... This is the reality for millions of the urban poor. The first of five Earth Report City Specials, Land Rites looks at how land titles may or may not create security for the urban poor, and considers a range of options which may be adopted by communities and governments in order to create more inclusive cities. Land Rites looks at the problem from the perspective of the urban poor and challenges conventional ways of thinking about how they can become more secure.
Streetwise - A View from the People
Running concurrently with Land Rites, the first of four 'Streetwise' programmes introduces city dwellers from around the world, whose lives we will follow through their video diaries. These short films give members of urban poor federations a chance to show how their organisations can tackle urban poverty and, on the eve of the City Summit, to tell governments how they can help. Despite the ever-present fear of eviction and daily hardships it is clear that their willpower is driving change and raising hope.
June 11 - 17: Streetwise - Facing the Challenge
In this the second of four 'Streetwise' programmes we see how individuals backed by federations, are tackling the daily threat of eviction. In Bangkok, Thailand we see how a centuries old community, Ban Krua, has effectively blocked an expressway which threatened to destroy their homes; while in India we see how a group of (local networks) involving the Railway Slum Dwellers Federation, SPARC, Mahila Milan and the National Slum DwellersFederation have negotiated a new way of working with the authorities to safeguard the lives and homes of 32,000 slum dwellers living within 50 feet of the tracks in Mumbai.
June 18 - 24: Streetwise - Banking On Us
If you want to borrow money to buy or improve your home, you must be credit worthy. But for the millions of people living in shanty towns borrowing from the high street bank is out of the question. In this the third of four programmes introducing city dwellers from around the world we follow four people who tell us the stories of their communities and federations. In the Philippines, scavengers living on a rubbish tip have come together to lobby the government for land and save money to move to a safer environment; while in South Africa we see how a group of women who spent months living on a grass verge in the middle of one of Durban's busiest highways found a way to secure land through a savings scheme which now has over 100,000 families.
June 25 - July 1: Streetwise - Changing Places?
In this the final of four programmes tracking city dwellers from around the world, we see how the problems of homelessness are not just a 'Third World' issue. From New York to Moscow we hear from people who have lost their homes through family break ups or shifting political agendas; and see how contrary to public opinion many are overcoming prejudice and low self esteem to come up with practical solutions which challenge government policies and create change.
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'Earth Report' is produced by TVE with support from the United Nations Environment Programme, WWF, the Global Environment Facility, the European Commission, the UK's Department for International Development, Intermediate Technology and the UK National Lotteries Charity Board.
