The Social Tenure Domain Model offers practical solutions and opportunities for land professionals, researchers, grassroots organisations and government authorities. These opportunities include the empowerment of the grassroots communities to develop and manage their own information systems (and their own data), with all the benefits of the advanced technologies can offer, with less investment in resources and with less reliance on highly paid experts. Land professionals can also make their services available to all and offer people-centred and affordable solutions.

This policy note provides a summary of
extensive analysis carried out on urban poverty in Indonesia
today and a review of main urban poverty programs, with the
objective of providing the basis for an urban poverty
reduction strategy. A second policy note, 'Indonesia:
evaluation of the urban Community-Driven Development, or CDD
program, Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat
(PNPM)' summarizes a more detailed process evaluation

Against the backdrop of rapidly rising
urbanization in the developing world and the growing demand
for basic services such as water and power, there is an
increasing need to improve service delivery, particularly in
low-income urban settlements. Output-based aid (OBA)
approaches, with their pro-poor targeting, have been piloted
in cities around the world. This note discusses the benefits
and challenges of using an OBA approach in urban projects

The main aim of the study was to examine water provision in informal settlements in Nyeri town. The objectives of the study were; to identify the current water sources in Nyeri‟s informal settlements, assess the current levels of mains provision in the informal settlements, to identify and suggest ways of ensuring a sustainable method(s) of providing water services to the informal settlements within the municipality. The provision of this crucial service particularly in informal settlements is a major challenge and cannot be expanded at the desired rate.

This book talks about participation,
from the first to the last page. And that is its strength,
for participation is a road leading to democracy. The true
participation it talks about does not rely on hours of
compulsory labor or imposed levies; there is nothing forced
about it. Rather, it is a process in which men and women
engage their will, their sense of responsibility, their
abilities, their dignity. It is a vital participation,

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.

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

For many years, Rio de Janeiro has held
the dubious distinction of being one of the world s most
beautiful cities, and at the same time, one of the most
dangerous. This report is the story of Rio s attempt to
break with history and establish a new kind of state
presence in its favelas. This report documents how life in
the favelas is changing as a result of the Police
Pacification Unit (UPP) pacification effort, as seen through

Afghanistan is one of the poorest and
longest suffering countries among members of the World Bank,
and has been ravaged by chronic conflict and political
instability. Afghanistan's infrastructure has been
destroyed or degraded; its human resource base severely
depleted; and its social capital eroded. Despite existing
public administration structures, the majority of state
institutions are only beginning to function effectively, and

The objective of conducting this case
study on Mozambique is to uncover the pattern of municipal
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) impact that
may exist in other low-capacity countries with analogous
political economy structures in relation to leveraging ICT
in public sectors. The study concludes by suggesting
measures to link the continent's ICT boom in
citizen-based mobile telephony and internet usage with the

This report describes theTransforming
Settlements of the Urban Poor in Uganda. A Secondary Cities
Support Program (TSUPU), is the first national initiative
within the Cities Alliance's global programme, Land,
Services and Citizenship for the Urban Poor (LSC). The first
premise of the Medium Term Strategy is that the Cities
Alliance should prioritise working with those governments
already committed to change and reform over time for three

This learning note prepares policymakers
to engage with their technical experts and staff in
designing and implementing an evidence-informed response to
the challenges of existing and future slum settlements. To
that end, the note discusses a set of indicators and data
analysis techniques needed in the identification and
characterization of slums as well as relevant lessons and
examples. In addition, the noted discusses the data