Directions in Urban Development
9 items available
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These briefs address emerging trends and topics of relevance to cities, towns, national governments and development agencies as they face the challenges of urbanization. This series draws attention to new research and policy issues with references and resources for researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners alike who will wish to further explore these, topics.
Items in this collection
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Publication
Urbanization Trends in Bolivia: Opportunities and Challenges
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05)This note is a summary of a report that considers urban areas as the complement to rural areas that will allow the Plurinational State of Bolivia to achieve the goals set forth in its Patriotic Agenda for the Bicentennial 2025. The report uses data available at the national level from censuses and household surveys from the National Statistics Institute (INE) and the Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit of the Ministry of Development Planning (UDAPE) to provide a first approximation to: (i) identify opportunities that urban areas present to achieve the objectives of the Patriotic Agenda regarding the reduction of poverty and universal coverage of basic services; (ii) understand and overcome the challenges that the expansion of urban areas present, and understand the growth dynamics of different types of cities; (iii) review the institutional framework and planning tools currently available for urban development; and (iv) provide suggestions for future analysis. However, due to limitations of the available data, the report does not include an economic analysis of urban areas nor an in-depth analysis of issues at city level. It is expected that the results of the report can inform the projects that the Government of Bolivia is developing and implementing in cooperation with the World Bank and other partners, such as improving national data, urban labor markets, poverty and informality, and investment for infrastructure in cities. -
Publication
Impacts of Financial, Food and Fuel Crisis on the Urban Poor
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01)The urban poor are particularly vulnerable in times of crisis due to their heavy reliance on the cash economy, job losses and wage reductions in urban based industries, and no agricultural production to fall back on. Prioritizing investments in cities can help to mitigation impacts in the short run and reduce risks in the future. Well targeted safety nets, workfare programs, and urban agriculture can play an importance role in cushioning the impacts for the urban poor during difficult times. -
Publication
Impacts of Financial, Food, and Fuel Crisis on the Urban Poor
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-12)The effects of the recent financial crisis are only beginning to be felt in many developing countries, but economic activity is declining rapidly with far reaching impacts. This crisis comes at a time when most countries are still struggling with the impacts of rising food and fuel prices. Though global food and fuel prices have softened somewhat in recent months from the highs earlier in 2008, there has been much volatility and they are anticipated to remain high over the medium term. It is estimated that the high food and fuel prices alone have increased the number of extremely poor in the world by at least 100 million. While impacts of the crises affect both urban and rural populations, the urban poor have been hit hardest in this recent food and fuel crisis, and in previous financial crisis, given their heavy reliance on the cash economy, no agricultural production to fall back on, and wage reductions and employment losses at urban based industries. This has resulted in social unrest in a number of cities earlier in 2008 all over the developing world. -
Publication
City-Regions : Emerging Lessons from England
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-10)The emergence of city-regions in England offers some useful lessons for the World Bank partners in developing countries. The city-region approach, as applied in England touches upon issues of decentralization, intergovernmental fiscal relations, governance, and the need to realign outdated administrative arrangements with a metropolitan area's economic footprint, among other highly relevant topics for rapidly urbanizing cities in developing countries. As a concept, city-regions are designed to promote cross-boundary collaboration across large urban areas. They aim to facilitate horizontal and vertical co-ordination between multiple jurisdictions. They advance the concept of an appropriate spatial scale for economic development functions such as transport, housing and training. They capture urban hinterlands, as well as core cities. This note explains: 1) the emergence of city-regions in England, 2) the current policy framework in England, 3) a case study of Greater Manchester, 4) city-region contracts as a policy tool to codify intergovernmental institutional arrangements, and 5) transferable lessons.