Publication: Trees, Cities, and a Green Future: Connecting Urban Forestry Policymakers, Practitioners, and Experts across Central Asia and the Globe for Landscape Restoration and Climate Resilience
Abstract
Urban forestry has evolved into a multifaceted discipline, encompassing far more than aesthetic landscaping. As a cornerstone of environmental stewardship, it includes strategic planning and comprehensive management to optimize the environmental, social, and economic benefits of trees. This involves the conservation of various green spaces—parks, riverbanks, vacant lots— to enhance urban life. It adds economic and property value, creates jobs, and offers costsaving benefits such as reduced infrastructure needs and lower energy costs by providing shade. Social advantages include improved public health through recreational spaces, stress reduction, air pollution reduction, and promotion of physical activity. Additionally, the environmental impacts of urban forestry are profound: mitigating climate change, enhancing air and water quality, reducing erosion, and promoting biodiversity. The World Bank’s series of webinars ‘Trees, Cities, and a Green Future’ were held from January through July 2023 to address the pressing need for awareness, education, and collaborative action in the field of urban tree management; especially considering its multifaceted importance in modern cities and unique relevance in Central Asia. It was cohosted by the World Bank’s Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy and Urban, Resilience, and Land global practices. The series represented a thematic set of learning events curated as an online knowledge exchange platform that aimed to connect policy makers, practitioners, and experts across Central Asia and the globe, all focused on advancing urban forestry and greening best practices for urban land restoration and climate resilience in cities and regional development projects.
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“World Bank. 2023. Trees, Cities, and a Green Future: Connecting Urban Forestry Policymakers, Practitioners, and Experts across Central Asia and the Globe for Landscape Restoration and Climate Resilience. Knowledge Exchange Series: A Compendium of Proceedings. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41683 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication City Diagnostic Report for City Development Strategy : Kathmandu Metropolitan City(World Bank, Kathmandu, 2001-01)In conformity with its objective of functioning as a local Government, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) sought the assistance of the World Bank for the preparation of a City Development Strategy (CDS). The various sectoral as well as integrated strategies presented in this document seem to be an overwhelming demand on KMC with its limited manpower and money. A CDS is essential if KMC is to focus its development potential. The optimism lies in political leadership, enabling environment and necessary support that will be rendered to KMC from civil society. The vision for Kathmandu stresses the need to develop the valley as administrative, cultural and tourism center. The strategy to move towards that vision through improvement in the overall situation of the KMC, however, is likely to be a long drawn struggle, yet achievable. The urban planning study strongly recommends that Kathmandu should be accorded special status as a capital city and large polluting and manufacturing industries should be discouraged immediately and if possible, re-location plans be drawn for existing industries in the near future. Alternatively, service and light industries should be promoted to replace the economic opportunities. Urban areas in KMC are not designated by a functional and occupational structure or contiguity criteria for managing housing and squatter settlements. Housing problems are a serious challenge in a situation where a historically planned city is fast transforming itself into a trade-cum-service center. On the other hand, it is encouraging to note that despite the absence of city specific policies and programs for housing, slums and squatters, the communities are highly organized and are gradually improving their conditions at their own costs, which show their potential for mobilization in participatory home improvement programs.Publication City Development Strategy and City Assistance Programme : Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Volume 2(Kathmandu, 2001-01)In conformity with its objective of functioning as a local Government, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) sought the assistance of the World Bank for the preparation of a City Development Strategy (CDS) for Kathmandu. The various sectoral as well as integrated strategies presented in this document seem to be an overwhelming demand on KMC with its limited manpower and money. However, a CDS is essential if KMC is to focus its development potential. The optimism lies in political leadership, enabling environment and necessary support that will be rendered to KMC from civil society. The vision for Kathmandu stresses the need to develop the valley as administrative, cultural and tourism center. The strategy to move towards that vision through improvement in the overall situation of the KMC, however, is likely to be a long drawn struggle, yet achievable. The urban planning study strongly recommends that Kathmandu should be accorded special status as a capital city and large polluting and manufacturing industries should be discouraged immediately and if possible, re-location plans be drawn for existing industries in the near future. Alternatively, service and light industries should be promoted to replace the economic opportunities. Urban areas in KMC are not designated by a functional and occupational structure or contiguity criteria for managing housing and squatter settlements. Housing problems are a serious challenge in a situation where a historically planned city is fast transforming itself into a trade-cum-service center. On the other hand, it is encouraging to note that despite the absence of city specific policies and programs for housing, slums and squatters, the communities are highly organized and are gradually improving their conditions at their own costs, which show their potential for mobilization in participatory home improvement programs.Publication City Development Strategy and City Assistance Programme : Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Volume 1(Kathmandu, 2001-01)In conformity with its objective of functioning as a local Government, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) sought the assistance of the World Bank for the preparation of a City Development Strategy (CDS) for Kathmandu. The various sectoral as well as integrated strategies presented in this document seem to be an overwhelming demand on KMC with its limited manpower and money. However, a CDS is essential if KMC is to focus its development potential. The optimism lies in political leadership, enabling environment and necessary support that will be rendered to KMC from civil society. The vision for Kathmandu stresses the need to develop the valley as administrative, cultural and tourism center. The strategy to move towards that vision through improvement in the overall situation of the KMC, however, is likely to be a long drawn struggle, yet achievable. The urban planning study strongly recommends that Kathmandu should be accorded special status as a capital city and large polluting and manufacturing industries should be discouraged immediately and if possible, re-location plans be drawn for existing industries in the near future. Alternatively, service and light industries should be promoted to replace the economic opportunities. Urban areas in KMC are not designated by a functional and occupational structure or contiguity criteria for managing housing and squatter settlements. Housing problems are a serious challenge in a situation where a historically planned city is fast transforming itself into a trade-cum-service center. On the other hand, it is encouraging to note that despite the absence of city specific policies and programs for housing, slums and squatters, the communities are highly organized and are gradually improving their conditions at their own costs, which show their potential for mobilization in participatory home improvement programs.Publication The Future of Water in African Cities : Why Waste Water? Integrating Urban Planning and Water Management in Sub-Saharan Africa, Background Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01)This paper is one of a series of analytical studies commissioned by the World Bank's Africa Region and Water Anchor which are intended to identify and address the future challenges of urban water supply, sanitation and flood management in Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) cities and towns. Following the terms of reference for the assignment, and as indicated by its title, the paper is directed at understanding and describing the linkages and interdependencies between water management and water security on the one hand, and urbanization, urban planning and development on the other. The paper is structured in six sections. Section one presents an overview of urbanization trends in SSA. This is followed by a discussion in Section two of what can be seen as the corollary of the unprecedented urban population growth now occurring and projected for SSA, large-scale urban expansion, involving potentially massive increases in urban land cover. This expansion has implications, also discussed in section two, for the internal structuring of African cities and towns, and for the planning and development of the overall urban form which is resulting, as well as for the environmental risks cities and towns face now and into the future. This 'poor urban planning' in the present-day has its roots in the inherited practices of colonial-era planning theories and practices, which are described in section three. These still resonate, as discussed in section four, which discusses key constituent aspects of contemporary planning systems in Africa, as illustrated by a number of case studies. In section five, the focus shifts to the current institutional experience with urban water management, again with a number of good practice cases provided. The author then turn in the concluding section seven to the key concern of this issues paper: that of integrating urban planning and water management as the Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) approach emerges- or, perhaps to put it better, of finding ways in which such integration can promote the emergence of IUWM. This is a necessary but difficult task, complicated by the reality that, as seen in the quote above, IUWM requires quite considerable coordination within the water sector alone. Moreover, our preceding analysis demonstrates, and this is the core argument of this paper, that seen from the side of the overall urban planning system, the deficiencies, decline and the delegitimizing of the 'traditional' planning system and practices in SSA, and the theory which underpins them, along with the failure to modernize them in a consistent fashion, has led, if anything, to greater fragmentation in the planning and managing of urban development. Land use planning and infrastructure (and other sector) planning, including water, typically occur in an uncoordinated fashion. This makes planning adequately for large-scale urban growth and expansion that much more difficult.Publication City Planning Labs : A Concept for Strenghtening City Planning Capacity in Indonesia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013)The cities that emerge from Indonesia s rapid urbanization will be key determinants of the country s overall economic development and competitiveness, as well as their inclusiveness and environmental sustainability. However, without strategically planned investments, policy interventions, and institutional capacity, mismanaged urbanization could become an obstacle to sustainable growth. The city planning labs core module will be initially implemented in four cities: Surabaya, Palembang, Denpasar and Balikpapan, with two additional modules in each city. In the short term, the CPL will: (i) provide just in time , demand driven data and analysis that can feed into immediate decisions, and (ii) streamline ongoing urban management functions, such as building permitting and tax-related functions. In the medium term, it will provide cost-effective analytics to cities that can feed into planning and investment decisions, reducing the expense involved in contracting consultants during each planning cycle. In the long term, the CPL will build local technical capacity, by gathering expertise from Indonesia and international sources to work closely with local staff. Over time, external involvement will diminish as local capacity strengthens. The activities of the CPL will be conducted in modular fashion, each pertaining to a different sector. The sector modules are: instituting the city planning lab and spatial growth analytics (core module); city economic competitiveness; slum analytics and management systems; climate and risk resilience planning systems; and monitoring land and real estate markets.
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Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication World Development Report 2014(Washington, DC, 2013-10-06)The past 25 years have witnessed unprecedented changes around the world—many of them for the better. Across the continents, many countries have embarked on a path of international integration, economic reform, technological modernization, and democratic participation. As a result, economies that had been stagnant for decades are growing, people whose families had suffered deprivation for generations are escaping poverty, and hundreds of millions are enjoying the benefits of improved living standards and scientific and cultural sharing across nations. As the world changes, a host of opportunities arise constantly. With them, however, appear old and new risks, from the possibility of job loss and disease to the potential for social unrest and environmental damage. If ignored, these risks can turn into crises that reverse hard-won gains and endanger the social and economic reforms that produced these gains. The World Development Report 2014 (WDR 2014), Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development, contends that the solution is not to reject change in order to avoid risk but to prepare for the opportunities and risks that change entails. Managing risks responsibly and effectively has the potential to bring about security and a means of progress for people in developing countries and beyond. Although individuals’ own efforts, initiative, and responsibility are essential for managing risk, their success will be limited without a supportive social environment—especially when risks are large or systemic in nature. The WDR 2014 argues that people can successfully confront risks that are beyond their means by sharing their risk management with others. This can be done through naturally occurring social and economic systems that enable people to overcome the obstacles that individuals and groups face, including lack of resources and information, cognitive and behavioral failures, missing markets and public goods, and social externalities and exclusion. These systems—from the household and the community to the state and the international community—have the potential to support people’s risk management in different yet complementary ways. The Report focuses on some of the most pressing questions policy makers are asking. What role should the state take in helping people manage risks? When should this role consist of direct interventions, and when should it consist of providing an enabling environment? How can governments improve their own risk management, and what happens when they fail or lack capacity, as in many fragile and conflict-affected states? Through what mechanisms can risk management be mainstreamed into the development agenda? And how can collective action failures to manage systemic risks be addressed, especially those with irreversible consequences? The WDR 2014 provides policy makers with insights and recommendations to address these difficult questions. It should serve to guide the dialogue, operations, and contributions from key development actors—from civil society and national governments to the donor community and international development organizations.Publication China Economic Update, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-14)Economic activity picked up in China in early 2024, buoyed by stronger exports. Meanwhile, growth in domestic demand moderated. Manufacturing and infrastructure investment and consumer spending on services remained robust, while the property market correction continued. In the long term, China’s rapidly aging population will have wide-ranging economic impacts, but with the right policies the demographic transition is manageable. The economic challenges from an aging population can be overcome with policies that increase labor force participation and extend productive working lives. Affordable childcare, better work-life balance, elimination of gender bias in hiring, a higher retirement age, skills upgrading, and lifelong learning are measures that could expand China’s workforce and make it more productive.Publication EdTech in Developing Countries(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2021-08-02)The emergence of educational technology (“EdTech”) in developing countries has been received as a promising avenue to address some of the most challenging policy questions within educational systems. In this paper, I review and synthesize all existing studies with credible causal identification frameworks of EdTech interventions in developing countries. While other studies review the evidence for EdTech interventions in developed countries, there is currently no equivalent study for developing contexts, in spite of the rising number of studies being produced. I classify studies into four thematic categories based on the type of EdTech intervention analyzed: Access to technology; technology-enabled behavioral interventions; improvements to instruction; and self-led learning. I find that EdTech interventions centered around self-led learning and improvements to instruction are the most effective forms of EdTech at raising learning outcomes. Similarly, technology-enabled behavioral interventions are less promising for generating large effects but highly cost-effective given their typically low marginal costs. Although expanding access to technology alone is not sufficient to improve learning, it is a necessary first step for some other types of interventions. More broadly, the overall success of interventions rests on the thoughtful customization of the EdTech solution to the policy constraints at hand. Finally, EdTech interventions across all thematic areas can and should act as complements by leveraging their respective comparative advantages to address deficiencies within educational systems in developing countries.