Urbanization is transforming the developing world. However, understanding the pace, scale, and form of urbanization has been limited by a lack of consistent data. East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape aims to address this problem by using satellite imagery and other data to measure urban...

Urban growth is, in all parts of the world, inevitable and welcomed. Despite concerns that local governments will not be able to address those issues associated with increased urban population, the number of people living in urban centers will sur-pass those of the rural population by 2030....

Government debt management has a long tradition. More than three centuries ago, the Bank of England was managing government debt, and the origins of Sweden's National Debt Office go back to 1789.1 In recent years, there has been a move toward building the professionalism of government debt...

This study is intended to help underpin a more coordinated, effective approach to assessing and reforming systems for public expenditure, procurement, and financial accountability in developing countries-especially countries that receive international aid for budget support. Such support, also...

The report's objectives are i) to better understand the nature and magnitude of urban transport problems, particularly in respect of the poor, and ii) to articulate a strategy by which the World Bank and other agencies can assist national and city governments to address these problems. The first...

In the last 30 years, China’s record economic growth lifted half a billion people out of poverty, with rapid urbanization providing abundant labor, cheap land, and good infrastructure. While China has avoided some of the common ills of urbanization, strains are showing as inefficient land...

With cities accounting for half the world's population today, and two-thirds of global energy demand, urbanization is exacting a serious toll on the environment. As rapid urban growth continues, energy use in cities and associated levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to...

The World Bank is one of the world's premier international financial institutions. It provides low-interest loans, interest-free credits, and grants to developing countries for a wide array of purposes that include investments in education, health, public administration, infrastructure,...

Land reform can broadly be divided into land tenure reform-the establishment of secure and formalized property rights in land-and land redistribution-the transfer of land from large to small farmers. The paper is therefore divided into two chapters. The first chapter gives a short narrative of...

With three quarters of its population living in cities, Latin America is now essentially an urban region. Higher urbanization is usually associated with a number of positives, such as higher income, greater access to services, and lower poverty incidence, and, Latin America is no exception....