A world more urban... The world is undergoing massive urbanization, and is projected to increase from three to over four billion city dwellers, mostly in the developing world, within 15 years. This historic shift is producing dramatic effects on human well-being and the environment. ...but less poor Unplanned shanty-towns without basic services are not an inevitable consequence of urbanization and slums are not explained by poverty alone. Urban misery also stems from misguided policies, inappropriate legal frameworks, dysfunctional markets, poor governance, and not least, lack of political will. Urbanization and economic development go hand-in-hand and the productivity of the urban economy can and should benefit everyone. Living conditions for the urban poor can be dramatically improved with proper solutions, backed by decisive, concerted action. More Urban - Less Poor brings order to the complex and important field of urban development in developing and transitional countries. Written in an accessible style, the book examines how cities grow, their economic development, urban poverty, housing and environmental problems. It also examines how to face these challenges through governance and management of urban growth, the finance and delivery of services, and finding a role for development cooperation. This is essential reading for development professionals, researchers, students and others working on any facet of urban development and management in our rapidly urbanizing world. Published with SIDA

The book presents academic research on urbanization, urban poverty and slum development initiatives in South Asia, in general, and Bangladesh, in particular, in the light of global slum upgrading initiatives. It combines the urban poverty and slum development initiatives globally and country-specific context in a single frame. The book identifies different dimensions of urban poverty, best practices of slum development initiatives, and challenges of the implementation of these programs so that the government and different development partners redesign their implementation strategies as regards to reducing the urban poverty and making improvement to the living conditions of the slum dwellers. The book provides a clear understanding of the penetrating procedures of different slum development initiatives in the global perspectives, following the operation procedure of different programs in Bangladesh. This allows the readers to make a comparison of the operating procedures of different programs.

This open access book revisits the theoretical foundations of urban planning and the application of these concepts and methods in the context of Southern countries by examining several case studies from different regions of the world. For instance, the case of Koudougou, a medium-sized city in one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso, with a population of 115.000 inhabitants, allows us to understand concretely which and how these deficiencies are translated in an African urban context. In contrast, the case of Nueve de Julio, intermediate city of 50.000 dwellers in the pampa Argentina, addresses the new forms of spatial fragmentation and social exclusion linked with agro export and crisis of the international markets. Case studies are also included for cities in Asia and Latin America. Differences and similarities between cases allow us to foresee alternative models of urban planning better adapted to tackle poverty and find efficient ways for more inclusive cities in developing and emerging countries, interacting several dimensions linked with high rates of urbanization: territorial fragmentation; environmental contamination; social disparities and exclusion, informal economy and habitat, urban governance and democracy.

This report provides an overview of important urban poverty questions. What defines urban poverty and how is urban poverty being measured? What other factors beyond consumption poverty need to be tackled? Who are the urban poor? What relations exist between urban poverty and city size? What linkages exist between urbanization, income, and urban poverty? What policy responses to urban poverty are implemented in selected Asian countries? The report served as a background study for the International Policy Workshop on Urban Poverty and Inclusive Cities in Asia, organized by the Asian Development Bank and the International Poverty Reduction Center held from 24-25 June 2013 in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, the People's Republic of China.

In a squatter neighbourhood of Nairobi (Kenya), sexual division of labour in the informal sector is examined. Five categories of neighbourhood iinformal sector activity were analysed: the entertainment industry, rental of habitat, shop-keeping, small-scale production or services and hawking. Capital investment and costs and incomes were registered. Women owner-operators were predominant in beer-brewing and prostitution, habitat rental and vegetable retailing sectors. A correlation between female barrenness and business success was noted. It is concluded that women sell in the iinformal urban market place the skills they normally practice in the home. It is recommended that urban iinformal sector studies emphasise gender issues.