Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

589 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9388

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 15

Embedding Climate Resilience into Urban and Transport Projects

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-05) World Bank

This note summarizes lessons and practices deployed in embedding climate resilience into the design of projects that received catalytic funds from The Africa Climate Resilience Investment Facility (AFRI-RES). It draws from application of the Resilience Booster Tool to specific projects, as relevant, Compendium Volume on Climate Resilient Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank (2023a) and Guidance, Standards, and Good Practice Notes developed under the program.
Earthquake Recovery and Revitalization in Sisak-Moslavina County

(Washington, DC, 2022-07) World Bank

In March and December 2020, Croatia was hit by series of earthquakes that caused substantial damage and losses to people, infrastructure, and the economy. In the aftermath, the World Bank supported the government of Croatia with technical assistance and funding, including analytics that focused on local government recovery and the revitalization of Sisak-Moslavina County, where the effects of the December earthquakes were severe. These analytics are reflected in two technical notes Rapid Damage and Needs assessment for the cities of Sisak, Petrinja, and Glina – December 2020 Earthquake and Municipal Finance Assessment (both concluded in 2022). This policy brief presents the summary findings and policy recommendations produced in these two notes. The customized information and recommendations generated by the analytics can guide the ongoing recovery and reconstruction process of the local and regional authorities in Sisak-Moslavina County and inform the financial management and governance decisions of authorities at the central level.
Floods and Urban Connectivity: A Toolkit for Prioritizing Resilience Investments – Demonstration Note with Case Studies from Kinshasa and Kigali

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) Avner, Paolo ; Maruyama Rentschler, Jun Erik ; He, Yiyi ; Thies, Stephan Fabian ; Nell, Andrew David

Cities are intricately interconnected socioeconomic systems, with transport networks connecting people to their jobs, health, and education facilities, and ensuring the smooth functioning of supply chains. When floods happen, they isolate people and firms from these vital networks, causing cascading disruptions and losses. Such floods are not limited to rare and extreme events. Especially in developing country cities, the lack of resilient infrastructure systems means that even regular rainfall events, for example, during rainy seasons, can cause havoc. Attention is often biased towards direct asset losses from floods, rather than the wider economic costs of disrupted networks. This is due primarily to the complex dynamics of economic and infrastructure networks. But public transport and road usage data are also often limited, especially when the predominant modes of transport are informal and walking. So how can we identify and prioritize cost-effective measures for urban resilience This note describes an analytical approach that can help prioritize investments in urban transport resilience and public transport, while also strengthening the economic case for such investments.
Predicting Urban Employment Distributions: A Toolkit for More Targeted Urban Investment and Planning Decisions

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) Avner, Paolo ; Maruyama Rentschler, Jun Erik ; Barzin, Samira ; O’Clery, Neave

Cities are intricately interconnected socioeconomic systems, with transport networks connecting people to their jobs, health, and education facilities, and ensuring the smooth functioning of supply chains. When floods happen, they isolate people and firms from these vital networks, causing cascading disruptions and losses. Such floods are not limited to rare and extreme events. Especially in developing country cities, the lack of resilient infrastructure systems means that even regular rainfall events, for example, during rainy seasons, can cause havoc. Attention is often biased towards direct asset losses from floods, rather than the wider economic costs of disrupted networks. This is due primarily to the complex dynamics of economic and infrastructure networks. But public transport and road usage data are also often limited, especially when the predominant modes of transport are informal and walking. So how can we identify and prioritize cost-effective measures for urban resilience This note describes an analytical approach that can help prioritize investments in urban transport resilience and public transport, while also strengthening the economic case for such investments.
Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS): Strengthening Climate-Informed Project Design

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02) World Bank Water Global Practice ; Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership

Climate-informed projects aimed at boosting water utilities’ performance are likely to succeed in achieving intended results by investing in energy efficiency, nonrevenue water (NRW) reduction, climate resilience, and demand-side water use efficiency. Extending water supply and sanitation (WSS) services, especially to unserved or underserved segments in areas with high climate risks, requires managing water resources efficiently and taking into account climate change–related factors.
How is the COVID-19 Crisis Affecting Nitrogen Dioxide Emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05) Masaki, Takaaki ; Nakamura, Shohei ; Newhouse, David

Daily estimates of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)—one of a group of pollutant gases that derive from human activity, primarily combustion—can provide a useful, albeit "noisy", real-time proxy measure of how COVID-19 has affected economic activity. To examine how the crisis affects NO2 levels in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), we calculated mean daily NO2 tropospheric estimates for 43 regions that contain either national capitals or large urban areas for the period July 2018 to April 2020. We found that emissions reductions in April were sizeable, larger in more developed areas, and large in many but not all of the countries that implemented national lockdowns. Overall, the data suggest that NO2 readings contain useful information to help track the reduction in motorized transport, and possibly overall economic activity, in urban, developed areas.
Learning from Japan's Experience in Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management: A Series of Knowledge Notes

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02) World Bank

Globally, floods are the most frequent and damaging natural hazard. This poses a serious development challenge to many countries and their efforts to reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity. To help manage the impact of floods on people and economies, the World Bank provides technical assistance, advisory services, and financial support to a range of countries and cities around the world. Facing different types and combinations of flood risk, Japan’s rich history, range of investments and approaches taken offers a unique knowledge opportunity for other countries seeking to adopt and advance integrated urban flood risk management (IUFRM). This series of knowledge notes compiles many of the key lessons learned from Japan’s IUFRM efforts. While any strategy to reduce disaster risk must be developed based on a close understanding of local contexts, the aim of this series is to help members of the international community improve their own approaches to managing urban floods. These notes are not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis but rather a snapshot highlighting key aspects, practice and lessons learnt from Japanese practice. The four knowledge notes in this series cover urban floods from assessment and planning through to implementation and maintenance.
Location Matters: Welfare Among Urban and Rural Poor in Djibouti

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01) Lara Ibarra, Gabriel ; Mendiratta, Vibhuti

This note presents aspects of welfare of urban and rural poor in Djibouti. With only 15 percent of Djibouti's population, rural areas host about 45 percent of the country's poor. As such, these areas require a comprehensive strategy that invests in infrastructure and service provision and better connection to cities. The urban poor are more numerous and concentrated in the Balbala community of the capital. A policy tool kit to promote high quality of public services, better education and employment opportunities for urban poor would be critical.
Knowledge Exchanges on Integrated Urban Water Management Briefing Note 1—January 2019

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01)

This note describes the outcomes of a June 2018 knowledge exchange visit to study urban water management and urban renewal experiences in Brazil. Participants included 23 country representatives and 9 World Bank staff from Ethiopia, Ghana, and Indonesia who visited the two Brazilian cities of São Paulo and Teresina. São Paulo is a mega-city that has addressed serious urban water issues—from water scarcity and flooding to informal settlements and water supply, sanitation, and pollution—over the past couple decades. Teresina, meanwhile, is a medium-sized town that has integrated several sectors in the urban area at project level. Both cities clearly showed how integration beyond traditional borders between sectors and active stakeholder involvement can lead to significant additional benefits for urban inhabitants. Participants learned from these implementation experiences and took home clear guidance and next steps to be incorporated through ongoing World Bank projects.
Relocation and Resettlement

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-03) UNCTAD ; World Bank

This note provides guidance on approaches to relocation and resettlement of people. Although resettlement is ideally avoided, the complexities of unclear, unrecognized, informal, and overlapping land claims in many areas means that it is an issue that investors and governments often need to address. Field research suggests room for improvement in processes and outcomes where resettlement had been undertaken. Critical factors for success included how resettled people perceived that their living situations had changed after resettlement, which includes compensation, access to livelihood opportunities, and social services. Also important was the extent to which people were consulted, where involved in decision making, and had access to grievance mechanisms.