As the world is urbanizing, many cities
are grappling with a population that is growing rapidly,
thereby increasing demand for land and housing. This
pressure on land and housing markets often is exacerbated by
inappropriate or inadequate policies. The result is a supply
of well-located land and housing that falls well short of
demand and the proliferation of poorly serviced informal
settlements, many of which are located far from jobs, city

Rapid population growth in many
developing countries has raised concerns regarding food
security and household welfare. To understand the
consequences of population growth in a general equilibrium
setting, this paper examines the dynamics of population
density and its impacts on household outcomes. The analysis
uses panel data from Indonesia combined with district-level
demographic data. Historically, Indonesia has adapted to

The rich cultural heritage of China is
an essential touchstone of its collective identity. The
country's archaeological sites, historic architecture,
expressive arts, cultural landscapes, and ethnic diversity
also are treasured around the world. Despite their
importance, China's cultural assets are under
tremendous pressure due to the country's rapid
development, particularly its rapid urbanization. Moreover,

The aim of the scoping study was to gain
an understanding of the productive activities slum dwellers
engage in that rely on energy services and the potentials
and challenges of slums in Ghana regarding access to modern
energy services and income generation from productive
activities. The objective of the ESMED-EAfUP (Energy Sector
Management Assistance Program - ESMAP/SME Development -
Energy Access for the Urban Poor) programme is 'to

The case studies documented in this
report aim to inform the energy access community (including
practitioners, civil society groups, project planners, end
users) about best practices of successful energy access
initiatives targeted at slum dwellers. Eight case studies
focusing on electrification and household energy were
selected from India, Bangladesh, Colombia and Brazil, all
countries that have had varying success in providing access

This paper seeks to develop estimates of
the net cost of the urban expansion in Tanzania. The paper
focuses on developing estimates of the cost of planning and
servicing land for new residential urban settlement. It does
not attempt to develop detailed estimates of the cost of
addressing infrastructure backlogs which would include the
retrofitting of basic urban infrastructure to unplanned
areas. On the revenue side, estimates of current spending in

The paper presents the key objectives
for the rehabilitation of historic centers or medinas in the
Middle East and North Africa as elaborated by the World Bank
on the basis of twenty years of past and present lending and
technical assistance operations to the governments of the
region. These are: 1) the conservation of the urban and
cultural heritage; 2) the local economic development of the
historic city; and 3) the improvement of the living

In 2006-07, the Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) initiated research to identify barriers to
service delivery for the urban poor. The findings of the
research have been presented in the Guidance Notes on
Improving Water Supply and Sanitation Services to the Urban
Poor in India. The Urban Global Practice Team of WSP decided
to expand the ambit of this research to a global context as
the learnings were relevant to experiences across Africa,

This paper arose from the perception
that a gap existed between the practice of project design
and the formal Bank strategies for transport and urban
sectors as stated in the cited reports. Formal strategies
tend to be too general to be linked meaningfully to project
designs. The paper in hand attempts to close this gap by
putting forward a different, operationally-oriented concept
of urban transport strategy and derives one such strategy

"Overall support for the pedestrian
environment," or walk ability, has grown increasingly
important as the world urbanizes and motorized modes
threaten to displace or constrain travel on foot. This
concern encompasses virtually every aspect of the pedestrian
experience. Walk ability takes into account the quality of
pedestrian facilities, roadway conditions, land use
patterns, community support, security, and comfort for

The purpose of this report is to assist
policy makers and planners in developing countries in the
preparation of a National Transport Strategy (NTS). The
report highlights lessons that can be learned from NTSs
developed by different countries around the world. It draws
upon transport strategy and policy documents from 23
countries and from a range of World Bank source material.
The aim is not to provide a ready-made strategy document but

Temporary crediting of carbon storage is
a proposed instrument that allows entities with emissions
reductions obligations to defer some obligations for a fixed
period of time. This instrument provides a means of
guaranteeing the environmental integrity of a carbon
sequestration project. But because the user of the temporary
credit takes on the liability of renewing it, or replacing
it with a permanent credit, the temporary credit must sell