In 2006-07, the Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) initiated research to identify barriers to
service delivery for the urban poor. The findings of the
research have been presented in the Guidance Notes on
Improving Water Supply and Sanitation Services to the Urban
Poor in India. The Urban Global Practice Team of WSP decided
to expand the ambit of this research to a global context as
the learnings were relevant to experiences across Africa,

This paper arose from the perception
that a gap existed between the practice of project design
and the formal Bank strategies for transport and urban
sectors as stated in the cited reports. Formal strategies
tend to be too general to be linked meaningfully to project
designs. The paper in hand attempts to close this gap by
putting forward a different, operationally-oriented concept
of urban transport strategy and derives one such strategy

"Overall support for the pedestrian
environment," or walk ability, has grown increasingly
important as the world urbanizes and motorized modes
threaten to displace or constrain travel on foot. This
concern encompasses virtually every aspect of the pedestrian
experience. Walk ability takes into account the quality of
pedestrian facilities, roadway conditions, land use
patterns, community support, security, and comfort for

The purpose of this report is to assist
policy makers and planners in developing countries in the
preparation of a National Transport Strategy (NTS). The
report highlights lessons that can be learned from NTSs
developed by different countries around the world. It draws
upon transport strategy and policy documents from 23
countries and from a range of World Bank source material.
The aim is not to provide a ready-made strategy document but

Temporary crediting of carbon storage is
a proposed instrument that allows entities with emissions
reductions obligations to defer some obligations for a fixed
period of time. This instrument provides a means of
guaranteeing the environmental integrity of a carbon
sequestration project. But because the user of the temporary
credit takes on the liability of renewing it, or replacing
it with a permanent credit, the temporary credit must sell

Fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) have become an important focus of World Bank Group assistance in recent years as recognition of the linkages between fragility, conflict, violence, and poverty has grown. Addressing issues of recurring conflict and political violence and helping build legitimate and accountable state institutions are central to the Bank Group's poverty reduction mission. This evaluation assesses the relevance and effectiveness of World Bank Group country strategies and assistance programs to FCS.

This paper presents a new type of land
market analysis relevant to cities with plural tenure
systems as in West Africa. The methodology hinges on a
systemic analysis of land delivery channels, which helps to
show how land is initially made available for circulation,
how tenure can be formalized incrementally, and the
different means whereby households can access land. The
analysis is applied to the area of Bamako in Mali, where

This paper evaluates the impact of
strengthening legal rights on the types of economic
opportunities that are pursued. Ethiopia changed its family
law, requiring both spouses' consent in the
administration of marital property, removing the ability of
a spouse to deny permission for the other to work outside
the home, and raising women's minimum age of marriage.
Thus both access to resources and the removal of

The economic recession, the end of
stimulus funding and central government cutbacks, rising
social costs and aging, and the need for infrastructure
upgrading for urbanization are putting enormous fiscal
stress on cities. The financing capacity of municipalities
is greatly affected because of the decline in the tax base,
expenditure pressures, and growing and more expensive debt.
Today's urban fiscal crisis is similar to that

Despite strong economic growth,
investment in basic urban infrastructure -- water supply,
wastewater removal and treatment, roads, and other
capital-intensive systems -- has failed to keep pace with
urban growth, leaving a critical urban infrastructure
deficit. At the same time, urban lands in these many
developing countries are among the most expensive in the
world. Much of this land is owned by public authorities.

This report assesses the challenges and
opportunities for the development of the Khatlon oblast in
Tajikistan. The report argues that the rise in the strategic
significance of Khatlon must be matched by responses in
public policy and a strong upturn in private investment to
strengthen economic prospects. The report identifies four
key reform imperatives for stimulating growth in the oblast.
These are: (i) promoting cities and internal connectivity to

Major events have reshaped the internal
population flows of Eurasia, including the breakup of the
Soviet Union, the development of market economies, and the
rising influence of regional powers. Looking ahead, policy
makers need to promote reforms to make Eurasian cities the
main drivers of growth. This can be done by rethinking
strategies to better plan, connect, and green the region s
important urban centers. Improved planning means promoting