Today, 370 million people live in cities
in earthquake prone areas and 310 million in cities with
high probability of tropical cyclones. By 2050, these
numbers are likely to more than double. Mortality risk
therefore is highly concentrated in many of the world s
cities and economic risk even more so. This paper discusses
what sets hazard risk in urban areas apart, provides
estimates of valuation of hazard risk, and discusses

Cities' development matters to
Pakistan. It is central to economic growth, job creation and
quality of life. This is also one of the core themes in the
2011 Government of Pakistan Framework for Economic Growth
(FEG). This paper explores the conditions for
growth-enhancing spatial change in Pakistan s cities.
Cities' development matters to Pakistan. Two strands of
analysis are developed. First, it reviews the performance

The report's main objective is to
provide policy makers, regulators, and the private sector,
primarily in emerging economies and developing countries,
with a tool for enforcing international best practice and
for developing strategies for successful reforms in the area
of construction regulation. This paper is divided into the
following eight chapters: 1) the importance of construction
regulation reform. The first chapter defines three

This review analyzes the profile, trends
and challenges of Georgia's changing urban landscape
since independence in 1991 and provides policy suggestions
to facilitate the economic transition of the country through
its cities. In its analysis and subsequent recommendations
on policy interventions, this report draws on a program of
diagnostics called the 'Urbanization Review' (UR).
The UR diagnostic is based on three main pillars of urban

The accumulation of decent housing
matters both because of the difference it makes to living
standards and because of its centrality to economic
development. The consequences for living standards are
far-reaching. In addition to directly conferring utility,
decent housing improves health and enables children to do
homework. It frees up women's time and enables them to
participate in the labor market. More subtly, a home and its

This report provides an analysis of the
spatial planning system in Romania and suggests ways in
which it can be improved. Romania has recently experienced a
proliferation of plans, strategies, and policies developed
at all administrative levels. Adding to this, the analysis
of territorial and urban development in Romania reveals
important dynamics and challenges, such as uncontrolled
expansion of built perimeters, increased pressures on

Housing matters to the livability of
cities and to the productivity of their economies. The
failure of cities to accommodate the housing needs of
growing urban populations can be seen in the proliferation
of poorly serviced, high-density informal settlements. Such
settlements are not new in the history of rapidly growing
cities, their persistence results as much from policies as
from economics and demographic transition. Slums have

The great 21st-century migration into
cities will present both a great challenge for humanity and
a significant opportunity for global economic growth. This
paper describes the diverse patterns that define this
metropolitan migration. It then lays out a framework for
understanding the costs and benefits of new arrivals through
migration's externalities and the challenges and policy
tradeoffs that confront city stakeholders. The paper

Across the world, the housing sector
plays a key role in local and national economies, and
expanding access to housing can encourage more equitably
shared economic growth. This report surveys current policy
interventions designed to encourage affordable housing in
East Asia and the Pacific (EAP). The purpose of this report
is to provide a general overview of the recent trends in
urbanization and development in EAP and to consider

This report summarizes the just-in-time
advice provided by the World Bank to the government of the
Philippines (GoP) immediately after Typhoon Haiyan. The Bank
helped the National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA) develop the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda
(RAY) plan, providing recommendations and sharing
international good practice on key aspects of recovery and
reconstruction, including institutional arrangements for

This report summarizes the motivation,
objectives, methodology, results and lessons learned from
the design and implementation of the Demonstration Program
on Inclusive Heritage-based City Development in India. The
development objective of this program is to test an
inclusive heritage-based approach to city development
planning in three pilot cities with a focus on learning and
future expansion. The pilot cities include a metropolis

This report presents a brief discussion
of indigenous peoples’ development as evidenced in a select
number of case studies about World Bank financed projects
that had a positive impact on indigenous peoples’
communities. The main objective of this study is to identify
and document good practices and lessons learned that can be
shared with World Bank staff, borrower governments, and
Indigenous Peoples’ organizations to help improve the design