In the context of Romania's push toward sustainable and inclusive development, the government has asked the World Bank to support the harmonization of public investments financed by the European Union and the state budget. The current report describes the national program for local development...

This report examines the role of infrastructure in explaining why the region lags so far behind the rest of the country. More importantly, it looks at how improved infrastructure may help the region catch up. Infrastructure is examined here through its impact on social as well as economic...

Romania lags behind other European Union (EU) countries in many health outcomes. The government of Romania plans to build three new regional hospitals in the North-West (NW), North-East (NE), and South-West (SW) regions. These are envisaged to be tertiary referral hospitals providing highly...

While Uganda has a long history of decentralized service delivery, and has instituted Local Economic Development (LED) as an additional mandate for local governments (LGs), there has been less progress in operationalizing the concept and practically implementing it across LGs in Uganda. In...

Poland is facing an enormous demographic change as the population age at unprecedented pace. Life expectancy is steadily increasing while birth rates for years have remained below simple replacement rate. Access to and quality of long-term care (LTC) services (support for people who are...

The report examines the current tourism development and market of the Prešovský Samosprávny Kraj, Presov Self-Governing Region (PSK), focusing particularly on the lagging district of Snina and the National Park of Poloniny, and the opportunities for their improvement as potential drivers of...

Though the European Union (EU) is a development conversion machine for national economies, it is less so for subnational regions. EU accession countries have been catching up to regional averages in terms of economic development since they joined the union. The economic success of the accession...

The 2014-2015 Romania Regional Development 2 Program is the continuation of the World Bank's technical assistance to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration (MRDPA). Building on the previous engagement, the current work addresses a fundamental question: given Romania's...

Though the European Union (EU) is a development conversion machine for national economies, it is less so for subnational regions. EU accession countries have been catching up to regional averages in terms of economic development since they joined the union. The economic success of the accession...

This paper is part of a series of four Urban Policy Notes that provide a critical review on emergent challenges to Bhutan's increasing urbanization and its ramifications for growth, livability and sustainability in line with the directives of the 12th Plan and Vision 2020. The four notes are:...