This publication provides an overview of the theory and practice of urban innovation together with perspectives, trends and international experiences in this area. The publication seeks to stimulate debate and creative thinking around different approaches to dealing with every day urban challenges by presenting a collection of potetnially replicable local and international case studies.

Rural-based economic activity can be just as effective for poverty reduction as that of urban sectors. Since the 1990s, rural transformation has lifted nearly as many people out of poverty as urban development. Many more will be able to climb out of poverty if greater priority is given to public investments in rural areas.

The region of Karamoja, located in the northeast of Uganda, is the poorest and least developed region in the country. Historically, Karamoja has been a pastoral area; crop production, which is less reliable there, has recently emerged as an important source of household food and income in some areas. Although Karamoja bears similarities to other pastoral regions in East Africa, few of its households are self-sufficient in terms of food and most rely on barter trading for much of their staple foods.

This article aims to outline new data on the urbanization of Populonia starting from its foundation, with particular reference to the results of archaeological surveys carried out by the University of Siena since the 1980s. The landscape archaeology approach has allowed us to reconstruct the Etruscan city’s organization of settlements as well as its management of resources. In addition, this investigative tool has proven the most effective method to detect both places of economic or ideological centrality and specific liminal landscapes in the territory of Populonia.

Pedestrian zones are public spaces intended for the continued and safe mobility of pedestrians and people with disabilities, and they provide multiple benefits to urban areas. They counterbalance the densely built-up areas, decrease atmospheric pollution, increase available green or social space, increase walking and cycling rates, and facilitate active play for children. Done properly, pedestrianization may also increase local business sales. Greece boasts open public spaces and the pedestrianization of common roads.

Urban ecosystem services (ES) contribute to the compensation of negative effects caused by cities by means of, for example, reducing air pollution and providing cooling effects during the summer time. In this study, an approach is described that combines the regional biotope and land use data set, hemeroby and the accessibility of open space in order to assess the provision of urban ES. Hemeroby expresses the degree of naturalness of land use types and, therefore, provides a differentiated assessment of urban ES.

Este artigo surgiu das inquietações a respeito do que Henry Lefebvre em 1968 chamou de ‘direito à cidade’. Segundo o autor o trabalhador tem o direito de usufruir das qualidades e benefícios que a vida urbana proporciona. Apesar de válido, tal questionamento exclui as pessoas trans no que diz respeito ao direito à cidade. Compreende-se por pessoas trans o conjunto heterogêneo formado por travestis, por homens e mulheres transexuais. Ou seja, pessoas que vivenciam o gênero de maneira diversa ao que foi de socialmente imposto ao nascimento.

This report is the result of the implementation of an assessment methodology for Colombo and its city region food system (CRFS).

This study reviewed the status of natural resources and the driving forces for change, as well as past and ongoing approaches in natural resource management at the watershed scale in Ethiopia. First, we reviewed established environmental policy tools and the legal and policy framework, and determined whether innovative financing mechanisms are working in other areas with a similar context. We undertook stakeholder analyses and mapping to identify key stakeholders, and to assess their possible roles in the implementation of a sustainable financing mechanism for watershed rehabilitation.

This document outlines some pertinent questions regarding urbanization in Namibia, provides central policy recommendations and identifies relevant research gaps to guide the policy debate on urban land reform as part of the 2nd National Land Conference scheduled for 1-5 October 2018.

The papers in this volume take a city perspective and provide both a critical reflection of and a pragmatic response to what cities are able to do given their current mandate and powers. The first paper begins by considering what the TOD agenda means for the urban poor. It questions whether TOD can adequately address the existing land challenges in South African cities, given the politics of land inequality and the skewed property markets.