This study aims to strengthen the
understanding of the vulnerability of Kolkata from increased
precipitation caused by climate change effects with a
specific goal to: compile a data base with past weather
related information and damage caused by extreme weather
related episodes; develop hydrological, hydraulic, and storm
drainage models to identify vulnerable areas and determine
physical damage estimates resulting from climate change

Services are failing poor urban and
rural people in the developing world, and poverty remains
concentrated in rural areas and urban slums. This state of
affairs prevails despite prolonged efforts by many
governments to improve rural and urban services and
development programs. This book focuses on how communities
and local governments can be empowered to contribute to
their own development and, in the process, improve

Urban flooding is an increasingly
important issue. Disaster statistics appear to show flood
events are becoming more frequent, with medium-scale events
increasing fastest. The impact of flooding is driven by a
combination of natural and human-induced factors. As recent
flood events in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia
show, floods can occur in widespread locations and can
sometimes overwhelm even the best prepared countries and

Structural change is a key driver of
rapid growth: countries diversify into new industries, firms
learn new things, people move to new locations. Anything
that slows this structural change is also likely to slow
growth. Because urbanization is one of the most important
enabling parallel processes in rapid growth, making it work
well is critical. Urbanization's contribution to growth
comes from two sources: the difference between rural and

India is the largest groundwater user in
the world, with an estimated usage of around 230 cubic
kilometers per year, more than a quarter of the global
total. With more than 60 percent of irrigated agriculture
and 85 percent of drinking water supplies dependent on it,
groundwater is a vital resource for rural areas in India.
Reliance of urban and industrial waste supplies on
groundwater is also becoming increasingly significant in

This paper aims to investigate
empirically how international migration and remittances in
Indonesia, particularly female migration, affect child
outcomes and labor supply behavior in sending households.
The authors analyze the Indonesia Family Life Survey data
set and apply an instrumental variable estimation method,
using historical migration networks as instruments for
migration and remittance receipts. The study finds that, in

This paper examines international
experience with mobilizing funding for both capital and
recurrent costs for municipal infrastructure with a view to
identifying areas where India could improve its system of
financing infrastructure in cities. Based on international
data, the analysis shows that there is indeed a wide range
of models for funding municipal infrastructure across a
group even as relatively homogeneous as the European Union.

Wastewater use in agriculture is a
growing practice worldwide. Drivers include increasing water
stress, in part due to climate change; increasing
urbanization and growing wastewater flows; and more urban
households engaged in agricultural activities. The problem
with this trend is that in low-income countries, but also in
many middle-income countries, it either involves the direct
use of untreated wastewater or the indirect use of polluted

This paper examines the policy options
for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the
poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums.
Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the
market at the city level and a recognition that government
interventions, rather than thwarting the operations of the
market, should seek to make it operate better. This can
substantially reduce the subsidies required to assist low

Ethiopia's second poverty reduction
strategy, the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development
to End Poverty (PASDEP) outlines a strategy of complementing
a continued strong focus on increasing agricultural
productivity with an increased emphasis on urban
development. In this context it highlights the importance of
facilitating accelerated employment generation to address
the issue of high levels of urban unemployment. This report

An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges
can be ascertained by overlaying Geographic Information
System information with data on land, population density,
agriculture, urban extent, major cities, wetlands, and gross

The purpose of this guidance note is to
bridge precisely identify how to implement World Bank
resettlement policies in the context of infrastructure
projects affecting South Asian largest cities, with a focus
on the impacts on poor areas and slums. The guidance note is
intended as a tool to help decision makers in Government
agencies and in the Bank, particularly in respect of the
main aspects: 1) methods to assess and evaluate resettlement