Much of São Paulo’s urban expansion is driven by the development of informal settlements on its periphery, which includes the catchment areas that provide important environmental services such as open space and catchments for drinking water reservoirs. In such areas, governance of land, water services and water resources, traditionally administered separately, are in fact interdependent.
The young man was scared. The city government had instructed him to count the shacks in the settlement. He arrived smartly dressed carrying a briefcase and clipboard with pen in hand and a list of the shacks. His job was to find any new shacks without the official number painted on the door. But he immediately ran into problems. The local residents confronted him, asking what he was doing.
Local and Community Driven Development (LCDD) is an approach that gives control of development decisions and resources to community groups and representative local governments. Poor communities receive funds, decide on their use, plan and execute the chosen local projects, and monitor the provision of services that result from it.
This paper examines determinants and consequences of migration from urban slums using panel data from two Nairobi slums. We analyze migration behavior of both adults and children.
All countries have a formal economy and an informal economy. But, on average, in developing countries the relative size of the informal sector is considerably larger than in developed countries. This paper argues that this has important implications for housing policy in developing countries.
This paper reviews the evidence about the effects of urbanization and cities on productivity and economic growth in developing countries using a consistent theoretical framework. Just like in developed economies, there is strong evidence that cities in developing countries bolster productive efficiency.
Countries throughout the world are rapidly urbanising, particularly in the developing world, and for the first time in human history, the majority of people today are no longer living in rural areas, but rather in cities. This report examines the worldwide phenomenon of urbanisation from the point of view of women’s housing rights.
This publication is a summary report of the seminar "Improving Slum Conditions through Innovative Financing", which was jointly organized by the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and took place in Stockholm, Sweden on 16–17 June 2008.
This publication is the second report of the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions (AGFE) to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat.