China's economic development
since the opening of its economy in the late 1970s has
resulted in an eight percent average annual rate of economic
growth. Key facets of this growth are rapidly increasing
domestic and foreign trade as well as increasing personal
mobility and consumption of energy. The deficiencies of the
Chinese road and highway system have in particular created a
bottleneck in China's economic development. The major

This paper is a review of the experience of the Asian Coalition for Community Action (ACCA) Program operated by the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR).

L’étude de Qasimabad, un district urbain, de Shahidano Meena, un district semi-urbain, et Achin à Shinwari, un district rural, dans la province de Ningarhar, permet d’analyser le rôle du shafa (droit coutumier et islamique du voisinage) dans l’accaparement foncier (land-grabbing) et, par extension, dans le développement tant urbain que rural.

The main objective of the Egypt Public
Land Management Strategy is to provide the Government of
Egypt (GOE) with practical and politically feasible policy
recommendations to reform existing public land management
policies and practices in the aim of improving the business
climate in Egypt. This study is presented in two volumes:
Volume one with the main policy note, supported by Volume
two with background notes on access to public land by

In 2000, the Government of India
launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (hereinafter
PMGSY) with the primary objective of providing all-weather
road connectivity (with necessary culverts and
cross-drainage structures operable throughout the year), to
eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas. Currently,
about 60 percent of the 170,000 eligible habitations have a
road. By the end of 2010, expenditures for the program had

Within the next two decades Indonesia
aspires to generate prosperity, avoid a middle-income trap,
and leave no one behind as it tries to catch up with
high-income economies. Can Indonesia achieve them? This
report argues that the country has the potential to rise and
become more prosperous and equitable. But the risk of
floating in the middle is real. Which pathway the economy
will take depends on: (i) the adoption of a growth strategy

While the negative impacts of climate
change on urban areas are well-known and widely discussed,
its implicit impacts on historic downtowns have not been
studied as extensively. In recent years, cultural heritage
conservation and valorization have increasingly become
drivers of local economic development. Many projects
supported by the World Bank in this field help leverage
cultural heritage for economic development while developing

Countries everywhere are divided into
two distinct spatial realms: one urban, one rural. Classic
models of development predict faster growth in the urban
sector, causing rapid migration from rural areas to cities,
lifting average incomes in both places. The process
continues until the marginal productivity of labor is
equalized across the two realms. The pattern of rising
urbanization accompanying economic growth has become one of

This paper describes the serious fiscal
crisis faced by cities around the world following the Great
Recession of 2008. Five years later, the after-effects of
this major crisis continue to be felt and limit economic
opportunities in cities. Section 1 summarizes how the crisis
was triggered and how it unfolded in the US, then spread to
the rest of world -- highlighting the links between
financial sector and housing sector. Section 2 discusses the

Cities and the people who live in them
account for more than 80 percent of the world's total
greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, more than 80 percent
of the overall annual global costs of adaptation to climate
change are estimated to be borne by urban areas. This issues
brief looks at potential financing opportunities and costs
of mitigation and adaptation in the urban context.
Wide-ranging potential sources for finance for climate

The objective of this paper is to
present a succinct and up-to-date review of the urban sector
in Egypt, with a focus on issues for which there is new
insight or emerging government interest. The two main themes
of the report are the challenges facing the urban sector and
the policy implications at various levels of government.
Some of the reports mains findings are: urbanization in
Egypt takes on forms and processes which are not well

The agri-food sector is an important
part of the Ukrainian economy. Agriculture could make an
even larger contribution to economic growth and the vitality
of rural areas in Ukraine than is currently the case.
Ukraine has the agro-climatic potential to be a major player
on world agricultural markets. Agricultural competitiveness
in Ukraine also suffers from inadequate systems to test and
document food product quality and food safety.