This study responds to the need for
information and analysis on the urban sector in Sudan, to
inform the Bank's policy dialogue with the Government
of Sudan (GoS) on urban and local government issues, and to
inform the design of future Bank assistance. The first phase
of this analytical exercise, which is the focus of this
report, develops an overview of the urban landscape. The
report is structured as follows: section two describes the

This working paper by Tikvah Breimer previously of the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) and Mark Napier previously of Urban LandMark, analyses the provision of core housing in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, specifically taking into account the residents' response to the state's delivery of core housing. It aims to explore to what extent the South African government's approach to providing large-scale housing addresses the relevant demands in the context of rapid urbanisation.

Informal settlements are a permanent
feature of South Africa's cities. Estimates from the
General Household Survey by Statistics South Africa show
that more than 26 percent of all households in the
country's six metropolitan areas live in informal
dwellings. The government's policy efforts have focused
on provision of subsidized housing, first introduced as part
of the Reconstruction and Development Program. Through the

This paper discusses the importance of maps in urban planning and the consequences for cities planned within a'non existent maps context', when the power of decision belongs to the dwellers.

Uttaran is the pioneer leading national non-government to promote rights for landless people of Bangladesh since 1985. As part of its activities under land less people and state land settlement, it has already piloted the participatory land less selection process and state land identification. The process has been accelerated with number of communication materials such as posters, leaflets and brochures. This poster has described the discrimination between men and women during state land allocation and also promote advocacy agenda with government.

Morocco is a middle-income country with
good water infrastructure that provides access to safe
drinking water and sanitation to the majority of the urban
population. In 2005, Morocco made it a priority to extend
service to poor peri-urban settlements, and encouraged
operators and local governments to reduce connection fees
for their inhabitants. These connection fees had been priced
at marginal cost, which represented a major obstacle for

This document builds upon several recent
studies and reports carried out in the 2006-2007 period. The
first note, entitled analysis of housing supply mechanisms
(World Bank), analyzes the situation of housing supply in
urban areas in Egypt, including the study of existing formal
and informal mechanisms for the delivery of urban housing,
the institutions responsible for supply and regulation, the
characteristics of the formal and informal stock, and the

After many decades of stagnation, Kenyan
economy started to grow from the early-2000s. Much of this
growth has been attributed to total factor productivity
improvements in Kenyan economy arising out of many factors.
A large share of this growth originated in urban areas, in
the service and manufacturing sectors. These gains also
paralleled reduction in poverty and higher enrolment in
primary education. Yet, it has been argued that Kenyan

At the request of the Government of
Egypt (GOE), the objective of this brief note is to provide
concise recommendations on next steps for the National
Housing Program (NHP). These recommendations and policy
analysis are an elaboration of the framework for housing
policy reform in urban areas in Egypt, a draft of which was
endorsed by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban
Development (MHUUD) and the Ministry of Investment (MOI) in

The objective of this study, requested
by the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development,
is to assist the government of Egypt in: formulating a
coherent national affordable housing strategy which puts in
place an effective institutional and regulatory framework
that creates the necessary conditions for an efficiently
functioning housing market, devises the incentive structure
needed to promote increased private sector participation in

This book reviews the role of addressing
within the array of urban management tools and explores the
links between addressing and civic identity, urban
information systems, support to municipal services, tax
systems, land management and tenure issues, slum upgrading,
support to concessionary services, and economic development.
It outlines current and future applications, highlights
practices in many African countries, and offers a

A recent study of house price behavior
in U.S. cities by Gyourko, Mayer, and Sinai (2006) raises
questions about so-called superstar cities in which housing
is so inelastically supplied that it becomes unaffordable,
as higher-income families outbid residents. We consider the
case of Accra, Ghana, in this light, estimating the
elasticity of housing supply and discussing the implications
for growth and income distribution. There is not a great