Person:
Acero, Jose Luis

Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice
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Fields of Specialization
Urban development, Regional development, Housing finance, Land value capture, City competitiveness, Latin America, Colombia
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ORCID
0000-0001-9744-1627
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Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Jose Luis Acero is an Urban Development Specialist at the World Bank. Since joining the Bank in 2013 he has provided operational and analytical support to projects in Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Central America, and Morocco, including work on urbanization assessments, urban policy, access to housing finance for low-income segments, land value capture and local economic development. While earning his MPA degree at Columbia University, he had the opportunity to be a member of a team led by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs to provide advice to the Government of Paraguay on industrial and economic development. He also worked as an Operations Coordinator at United Nations Center for Regional Development promoting urban-regional integration initiatives in Colombia’s main Metropolitan Areas. Jose Luis holds a Masters in Public Administration in Development Practice from Columbia University, a Master in Economics and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Colombia.

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    Leveraging Urbanization to Promote a New Growth Model While Reducing Territorial Disparities in Morocco: Urban and Regional Development Policy Note
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-06-14) Lall, Somik; Mahgoub, Ayah; Maria, Augustin; Touati, Anastasia; Acero, Jose Luis
    Today 60 percent of Moroccans reside in urban areas, as opposed to 35 percent in 1970. By 2050, nearly three-quarters of the country’s population will be living in cities. Along with the concentration of people, urbanization will lead to the increasing concentration of economic activities in cities, which today are estimated to account for about 75 percent of the country’s GDP and 70 percent of investments at the national level. To accompany these transformations, the Moroccan government has adopted, in recent years, ambitious programs to improve living standards in urban and rural areas. Significant improvements in living standards have been achieved through national master plans. Cities are the engines of today’s demographic and economic growth in Morocco, but they also face persistent challenges. Despite substantial public investments and strong potential for cities to absorb rural poverty, important pockets of urban poverty remain. Spatial disparities are a major cause for concern both for citizens as well as for national and local governments. In addition, Moroccan cities are not delivering on their full potential. Urbanization has not generated the same growth benefits in Morocco as it has in many other countries with similar contexts. These patterns suggest that Morocco needs specific policies to improve returns from its urbanization process. The main message of this note is that urbanization and spatial equity are not competing objectives when urbanization is supported and managed well. Well-managed urbanization allows for economies of scale in the provision of services and the development of more efficient labor. This note identifies priority actions to be taken at national, regional, and local levels to allow public authorities to act within a coherent framework and to help urban development to boost economic growth and promote shared prosperity for all.
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    Central America Urbanization Review: Making Cities Work for Central America
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-03-15) Maria, Augustin; Acero, Jose Luis; Aguilera, Ana I.; Garcia Lozano, Marisa; Maria, Augustin; Acero, Jose Luis; Aguilera, Ana I.; Garcia Lozano, Marisa; Andersson, Mats; Parby, Jonas Ingemann; Mason, David Ryan; Sanahuja, Haris; Ishizawa, Oscar A.; Solé, Albert
    Central America is undergoing an important transition. Urban populations are increasing at accelerated speeds, bringing pressing challenges for development, as well as opportunities to boost sustained, inclusive and resilient growth. Today, 59 percent of the region’s population lives in urban areas, but it is expected that 7 out of 10 people will live in cities within the next generation. At current rates of urbanization, Central America’s urban population will double in size by 2050, welcoming over 25 million new urban dwellers calling for better infrastructure, higher coverage and quality of urban services and greater employment opportunities. With more people concentrated in urban areas, Central American governments at the national and local levels face both opportunities and challenges to ensure the prosperity of their country’s present and future generations. The Central America Urbanization Review: Making Cities Work for Central America provides a better understanding of the trends and implications of urbanization in the six Central American countries -Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama- and the actions that central and local governments can take to reap the intended benefits of this transformation. The report makes recommendations on how urban policies can contribute to addressing the main development challenges the region currently faces such as lack of social inclusion, high vulnerability to natural disasters, and lack of economic opportunities and competitiveness. Specifically, the report focuses on four priority areas for Central American cities: institutions for city management, access to adequate and well-located housing, resilience to natural disasters, and competitiveness through local economic development. This book is written for national and local policymakers, private sector actors, civil society, researchers and development partners in Central America and all around the world interested in learning more about the opportunities that urbanization brings in the 21st century.