We have drafted a group response for this topic and we will be structuring this response in the format where we will be answering the questions that our NUS lecturers have posed to us.
Please take a look! We are looking forward to hearing from you guys! (:
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Question 1: Identify the challenges that will confront the global community, nations, and communities, in sustainable managing resources
Definition of "commons":
Resources held in common/shared resources; "commons" has come to be applied to other resources which a community has rights or access to" (Wikpedia)
Challenges:
1) Regulation: enforcement (monitoring), corruption (poor policy drafting) 2) Contestation of rights (state vs communal)
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Question 2: List some examples of communal systems that you have been a part of and identify which ones have worked and which have not.
Regulation depends both on the nature of the commons as well as the effectiveness of the regulatory body.
Commons (Singapore):
Management of land: State property >> Singapore's Land Acquistion Act - where the government can always buy back land from private owners, also all transactions of land ownership has to be approved by the state (See http://www.sla.gov.sg/what_we_do/what_we_do_land_acquisition.html)
Land development, Urban planning >> Land which is owned by the state, and allocated for different use, land owned by privates and allocated for personal and bought for building therefore, allocated for communal
Why it works: 1) Scarcity of land/Limited land space in Singapore(need to be regulated to maximise usage) 2) Singaporeans are mostly compliant to state’s laws and regulations (Not much disputes)
Why it does not work: 1) Contestation: Land Acquisition Act seen as a tool for the government to buy land back at a low price in order to build public housing (which is a success story in Singapore) 2) Political agendas and flaws: liable to corruption, biasness, bureaucratic red tape.
An more specific example of landuse:
Condominiums (a form of gated community of high-rise flats in Singapore):
Facilities (swimming pools, tennis courts): - land area privately owned - users exclude outsiders through the presence of security guards and fences while regulating the use by members of the local neighbourhood community
Management of air quality:
Air: has open access therefore what one country does affect the others (ie, the haze problem in Southeast Asia where air pollution cross political boundaries), so external factors affect regulations in Singapore (hard to delineate the boundaries of air)
Causes of air pollution: 1) Forest fires (Indonesia) 2) Cultural practices (Paper/Joss stick burning: a cultural practice of Chinese ancestral worhip in Singapore) 3) Carbon emission from vehicles (e.g. cars)
Regulations (state-controlled): 1) Taxes to reduce carbon emission such as Certificate Of Entitlement for the use of cars (that's why owning a car in Singapore is a costly affair) >> helps reduce the number of cars in Singapore roads 2) Cooperation with other countries to reduce carbon emission 3) Education
Works: 1) Singaporeans are mostly compliant to state’s laws and regulations
Does not work: 1) Air pollution is highly mobile, difficult to avoid negative externality
Question 3: Why is it that some communal systems involved in the management of resources work while others don’t?
Attitude of the users of the systems: - Some facilities in condominiums are well maintained and some are not. Some users do not use the facilities responsibly
I haven't been able to get in contact with the other members of my group recently, so i thought I'd just post a personal response to the questions we've been given. The most striking thing I've noticed so far is the recurring emphasis that both your response and my response have on the social and environmental aspects of The Tragedy of the Commons. They're certainly international issues.
Question 1: What is a commons? I quite like the simple definition of a commons as a resource which is not privately owned. Regulation of the use of public resources in Australia presents particular problems (I.e. very difficult to reinforce laws pertaining to some resources).
Question 2: Commons in Australia: Management of Rivers, particularly the Murray Darling System: The management of water and river systems is currently a hot topic in Australia. Unlike some countries such as the UK, stretches of rivers in Australia cannot be privately owned. This should allow management of the country’s national river systems by the government to best cater to the needs of people all along the river as well as the ecosystems within it.
How this should work: The government is able to restrict the amount of water that individuals draw from the river, ensure the treatment of wastes introduced into it, and regulate development/land use along the banks. This should prevent the river from being overused and depleted, protecting the interests of the environment as well as people down stream.
Why this doesn’t work: Poor government policy results in the over allocation of water rights to individuals, who then draw unsustainable quantities of water from the river (primarily for irrigation). In addition to this, the vast number and sizes of Australia’s river systems mean that laws governing the use of the river are almost impossible to enforce. This results in people utilising river systems illegally. Arguments between the state governments who have jurisdiction over different sections of the rivers also lead to improper management of the system as a whole.
It is interesting to note that the Australian Federal Government proposed taking control of the entire Murray Darling River system in 2007 to end mismanagement of the river system by individual state governments, although ultimately this plan failed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Darling#2007_drought_and_Commonwealth_Government_take-over)
Question 3: The main things determining whether the above example has worked or not are: o Ability to enforce laws o Correct policies o Attitudes of irrigators o Cooperation between state governments
Question 4: I think the key to successful resource management stems from cooperation and understanding between all who benefit from the resource. For example, it seems to me that one reason Singapore’s Land Acquisition Act works is because the people who live there understand that careful regulation and planning is needed for the maximum utilisation of the land resource. Conversely, the management of Australia’s river resources is not so successful because state governments can’t cooperate with each other, and the people who use the water from the rivers don’t understand/care about the needs of others.
When I was in Adelaide in December 2006 for a Geography fieldtrip, I remembered learning (even though I was half-asleep most of the time) about the river management problems associated with the Murray-Darling river system and how it affected communities in Adelaide because they were downstream. And this was exacerbated by the drought at that time..
Officially, I think most of Southern Australia has been in drought continuously since 2003. I don't think it is quite as dry in the south eastern states now as it was in 2006, but rainfall is certainly still below average. Interestingly, North Queensland the Northern Territory have been inundated with rain in the last few years.
I've never actually been to South Australia, so i can't give an answer based on personal experience, but I have friends who frequently visit Adelaide, and they tell me that the water situation is becoming more dire. I seem to recall hearing that South Australia was considering filing a class action against New South Wales, Victoria and maybe Queensland because not enough water in the Murray Darling reaches communities in South Australia.
I'd like to welcome our NUS colleagues to the collaboration. Hopefully we can all learn a great deal from each other.
The first topic is Tragedy of the Commons, and I thought this blog would probably be an easy way to share our ideas. If you have any other suggestions though, just post them!
Hello all!
ReplyDeleteWe have drafted a group response for this topic and we will be structuring this response in the format where we will be answering the questions that our NUS lecturers have posed to us.
Please take a look! We are looking forward to hearing from you guys! (:
----
Question 1: Identify the challenges that will confront the global community, nations, and communities, in sustainable managing resources
Definition of "commons":
Resources held in common/shared resources;
"commons" has come to be applied to other resources which a community has rights or access to" (Wikpedia)
Challenges:
1) Regulation: enforcement (monitoring), corruption (poor policy drafting)
2) Contestation of rights (state vs communal)
----
Question 2: List some examples of communal systems that you have been a part of and identify which ones have worked and which have not.
Regulation depends both on the nature of the commons as well as the effectiveness of the regulatory body.
Commons (Singapore):
Management of land:
State property
>> Singapore's Land Acquistion Act - where the government can always buy back land from private owners, also all transactions of land ownership has to be approved by the state (See http://www.sla.gov.sg/what_we_do/what_we_do_land_acquisition.html)
Land development, Urban planning
>> Land which is owned by the state, and allocated for different use, land owned by privates and allocated for personal and bought for building therefore, allocated for communal
Why it works:
1) Scarcity of land/Limited land space in Singapore(need to be regulated to maximise usage)
2) Singaporeans are mostly compliant to state’s laws and regulations (Not much disputes)
Why it does not work:
1) Contestation: Land Acquisition Act seen as a tool for the government to buy land back at a low price in order to build public housing (which is a success story in Singapore)
2) Political agendas and flaws: liable to corruption, biasness, bureaucratic red tape.
An more specific example of landuse:
Condominiums (a form of gated community of high-rise flats in Singapore):
Facilities (swimming pools, tennis courts):
- land area privately owned
- users exclude outsiders through the presence of security guards and fences while regulating the use by members of the local neighbourhood community
Management of air quality:
Air: has open access therefore what one country does affect the others (ie, the haze problem in Southeast Asia where air pollution cross political boundaries), so external factors affect regulations in Singapore (hard to delineate the boundaries of air)
Causes of air pollution:
1) Forest fires (Indonesia)
2) Cultural practices (Paper/Joss stick burning: a cultural practice of Chinese ancestral worhip in Singapore)
3) Carbon emission from vehicles (e.g. cars)
Regulations (state-controlled):
1) Taxes to reduce carbon emission such as Certificate Of Entitlement for the use of cars (that's why owning a car in Singapore is a costly affair) >> helps reduce the number of cars in Singapore roads
2) Cooperation with other countries to reduce carbon emission
3) Education
Works:
1) Singaporeans are mostly compliant to state’s laws and regulations
Does not work:
1) Air pollution is highly mobile, difficult to avoid negative externality
Question 3: Why is it that some communal systems involved in the management of resources work while others don’t?
Attitude of the users of the systems:
- Some facilities in condominiums are well maintained and some are not. Some users do not use the facilities responsibly
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to get in contact with the other members of my group recently, so i thought I'd just post a personal response to the questions we've been given. The most striking thing I've noticed so far is the recurring emphasis that both your response and my response have on the social and environmental aspects of The Tragedy of the Commons. They're certainly international issues.
Question 1: What is a commons? I quite like the simple definition of a commons as a resource which is not privately owned. Regulation of the use of public resources in Australia presents particular problems (I.e. very difficult to reinforce laws pertaining to some resources).
Question 2: Commons in Australia:
Management of Rivers, particularly the Murray Darling System:
The management of water and river systems is currently a hot topic in Australia. Unlike some countries such as the UK, stretches of rivers in Australia cannot be privately owned. This should allow management of the country’s national river systems by the government to best cater to the needs of people all along the river as well as the ecosystems within it.
How this should work: The government is able to restrict the amount of water that individuals draw from the river, ensure the treatment of wastes introduced into it, and regulate development/land use along the banks. This should prevent the river from being overused and depleted, protecting the interests of the environment as well as people down stream.
Why this doesn’t work: Poor government policy results in the over allocation of water rights to individuals, who then draw unsustainable quantities of water from the river (primarily for irrigation). In addition to this, the vast number and sizes of Australia’s river systems mean that laws governing the use of the river are almost impossible to enforce. This results in people utilising river systems illegally. Arguments between the state governments who have jurisdiction over different sections of the rivers also lead to improper management of the system as a whole.
It is interesting to note that the Australian Federal Government proposed taking control of the entire Murray Darling River system in 2007 to end mismanagement of the river system by individual state governments, although ultimately this plan failed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Darling#2007_drought_and_Commonwealth_Government_take-over)
Question 3: The main things determining whether the above example has worked or not are:
o Ability to enforce laws
o Correct policies
o Attitudes of irrigators
o Cooperation between state governments
Question 4: I think the key to successful resource management stems from cooperation and understanding between all who benefit from the resource. For example, it seems to me that one reason Singapore’s Land Acquisition Act works is because the people who live there understand that careful regulation and planning is needed for the maximum utilisation of the land resource. Conversely, the management of Australia’s river resources is not so successful because state governments can’t cooperate with each other, and the people who use the water from the rivers don’t understand/care about the needs of others.
Hello Liam!
ReplyDeleteJust a short comment..
When I was in Adelaide in December 2006 for a Geography fieldtrip, I remembered learning (even though I was half-asleep most of the time) about the river management problems associated with the Murray-Darling river system and how it affected communities in Adelaide because they were downstream. And this was exacerbated by the drought at that time..
Is the drought still ongoing?
(:
Elaine
Hi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteOfficially, I think most of Southern Australia has been in drought continuously since 2003. I don't think it is quite as dry in the south eastern states now as it was in 2006, but rainfall is certainly still below average. Interestingly, North Queensland the Northern Territory have been inundated with rain in the last few years.
I've never actually been to South Australia, so i can't give an answer based on personal experience, but I have friends who frequently visit Adelaide, and they tell me that the water situation is becoming more dire. I seem to recall hearing that South Australia was considering filing a class action against New South Wales, Victoria and maybe Queensland because not enough water in the Murray Darling reaches communities in South Australia.
I hope that answers your question!
(:
Liam
Yeap it did! Thanks for the insight and information!
ReplyDelete