The paper's main objectives are to
provide a common thematic basis for urban transport inputs
into the making of country-specific assistance strategies,
and thereafter to guide urban transport project and sector
work included in the business plans agreed under these
strategies. It is a companion volume to the forthcoming ECA
Transport Strategy Paper, which covers all modes of
transport. It also represents a bridge between the

Regulatory reform in all its
aspects--deregulation, re-regulation, simplification, and
building new institutional capacities for developing and
applying high quality market rules--should be integrated
throughout Mauritania's efforts to generate the growth
and market development needed to combat poverty, improve
standards of living, and lay the foundation for a
sustainable development. This report identifies practical

This note puts figures behind the notion
of poverty resulting from war. Using simulation models, the
author estimates the economic and social costs of the El
Salvadorian conflict. The calculations suggest that had
conflict been avoided, income per capita would have been
almost the double of its actual value in 2002, the poverty
rate lower by 15 percentage points, and Millenium
Development Goals (MDG) indicators substantially better.

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Guatemala. The study
is motivated by several factors: First is the recognition
that sub-national regions are becoming increasingly
heterogeneous, and economically differentiated as part of
ongoing processes of development and diversification, with
some areas advancing, and others being left behind. Second

Since the establishment of
Lithuania's independence, the country achieved
substantial progress in transforming its local governments
into independent units of Government: structural reforms to
prod intergovernmental relations were made in 1994 and 1997,
and will continue in 2002. Nevertheless, several issues
remain, requiring particular attention from the Government.
First, revenue and expenditure assignment between levels of

The author explores the issue of urban
over-concentration econometrically, using data from a panel
of 80 to 100 countries every 5 years from 1960 to 1995. He
finds the following: 1) At any level of development there is
indeed a best degree or national urban concentration. It
increases sharply as income rises, up to a per capita income
of about $ 5,000 (Penn World table purchasing parity
income), before declining modestly. The best degree of

The present study describes, and
quantifies the provision of basic urban services to the
poor, in three Central American cities in El Salvador,
Honduras, and, Panama. It also identifies priority areas for
government intervention, using specialized household surveys
to quantify current deficits, and to rank households from
poor to rich, using aggregate consumption as the measure of
welfare. The urban poverty profile is examined in each city,

The study aims to contribute towards a
national urban strategy, in an effort to maximize
Mexico's cities competitiveness, and livelihoods, in
the urban economists' terms - to maximize agglomeration
economies, while minimizing congestions costs. The country
is in a good position for this challenge: it has relatively
a mature urban system, implying an overall urban population
growth, and, a reasonably balanced system of cities.

The major constraints to RNF growth,
according to a large survey of rural entrepreneurs,'
include (1) flood and natural disasters; (2) access to
electricity; (3) road conditions, (4) access to finance and
(5) transportation to markets. Bangladesh's
vulnerability to frequent floods and other natural disasters
severely hampers operations of more than a third of rural
firms. The next most important constraint to RNF growth is

Informal settlements are an integral
part of the urban landscape in developing countries. These
settlements are widely distributed within cities, including
central business centers and peripheral areas with
environment hazards. In most cases, residents of these
settlements do not have access to basic public services and
amenities. In this paper, the authors examine the impact of
interventions, such as upgrading basic services and

Although China has made impressive progress in economic development and improving social well-being, it is facing many daunting challenges while transforming toward a knowledge and service-based economy and further opening up to international competition after its WTO accession in the context of knowledge revolution. One of the biggest challenges is how to create 100-300 million new jobs in the coming decade to absorb the millions of laid-offs, rural emigrants and newly added labor force.

In a globalizing world, cities at or
near the apex of the international urban hierarchy are among
the favored few--New York, London, and Tokyo--that have
acquired large economic, cultural, and symbolic roles. Among
a handful of regions that aspire to such a role--such as
Hong Kong, Miami, and Sao Paulo--Shanghai has reasonable
long-term prospects. If the Chinese economy can sustain its
growth rate, it will rival the United States in a few