The City is Missing in the Millennium Development Goals

The scale and pace of urbanization in the economic and social transformations of developing countries continue to be among the most overlooked phenomena of the twenty-first century. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, Target 11 focuses on improving the living conditions of 100 million slum dwellers-about 5% of projected urban growth in developing countries from 2000 to 2020. The target is not precise, nor evidence based, nor framed to allow rigorous confirmation of achievement or not. Most importantly, it diverts policy and public attention away from the central role of cities as the sites of production of more than 60% of gross domestic product in most countries, the role of cities in recovery from the global economic crisis, and as a site of impact and remedy of climate change. Target 11 thus "misses the target" of urban development and, more broadly, the target of development and human development altogether. It demonstrates the "power of framing" policy objectives and the "power of targets" that result in agenda setting.