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Showing all Blog Posts, Publications in Cities That Work
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Blog post
Urban density and the promises of proximity
As an economist, an end of year tradition is to muse over The Royal Society of Statistics, ‘Statistic of the Year’. In 2018, the singled out stat was: 90.5% - the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled. An important statistic, but an area in which the International Growth Centre’s (IGC) ‘Cities that Work’ initiative has limited...
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Publication - Policy paper
Urban governance institutions: Policy options for fast growing cities
Developing countries today are home to all of the world’s thirty fastest-growing major cities — with sub-Saharan Africa home to twenty-one of these thirty. This rapid growth has made these cities the epicentre for the battle for national prosperity, a struggle whose outcome depends on the policy choices made by city leaders. Policy options which target the...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Enhancing property tax compliance in Mandalay
This brief discusses several policy options that could improve tax compliance and tax administration in Mandalay – helping the city to escape its low-tax and underfunded services trap. Increasing the perceived benefits of paying tax – by communicating the link between tax and infrastructure – would likely encourage compliance, so long as the government can...
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Publication - Case study
A quick, cost-effective approach to land tenure regularisation: the case of Rwanda
Secure, legally enforceable and marketable land rights are critical for cities in developing countries to be able to ensure that urban land is allocated to its most productive use. However, often these cities grapple with multiple overlapping as well as informal tenure systems that ultimately hinder sufficient public and private investment from taking place. The challenge,...
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Publication - Policy paper, Synthesis paper
Policy options for informal settlements
Across the developing world, the pace of urbanisation has outstripped the ability of governments to faciliate decent, affordable housing, resulting in unplanned and often illegal settlements. This paper brings together economic research and cross-country experience to inform trade-offs policymakers face, both in addressing existing informal settlements, and in preventing...
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Publication - Policy paper
Strategies for effective procurement and public-private partnerships in the transport sector
Around the world, investments in transport infrastructure have risen to the top of the urban policy agenda. Effective urban mobility provides the foundation for economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. It is now widely understood that after decades of underinvestment, there is a vast need for cities globally to upgrade and expand...
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Publication - Policy paper
Data-oriented urban transport reform in middle-income and developing cities
The paper highlights the key success factors determining the efficiency of data management interventions, and the benefits that the successful implementation of such policies could deliver for local communities and their surrounding economies. Key success factors include (1) a healthy balance of investments in data technology and human knowledge; (2)...
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Publication - Policy paper
Key considerations for integrated multi-modal transport planning
This paper will start by outlining the limits of city transport policies and planning focused on road and car based infrastructure. It will then outline the main components of integrated multi modal transport plans. This type of planning is increasingly being adopted and to understand why, this paper will outline the potential benefits of such plans if they are...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Informal settlements and housing markets
Across the developing world, over one billion people live in informal settlements, and this number is set to double in the next 15 years. This brief explores options for policymakers both to address existing informal settlements, and to ensure that future urban growth provides affordable formal housing for its residents.
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Publication - Policy paper
How can cities become more resilient? Improving flood management through better governance, private sector partnerships and open data
The health of the world economy is increasingly dependent on well-functioning cities. However, climatic changes and new population patterns are making them increasingly vulnerable to shocks (e.g. flooding) and stressors (e.g. sea-level rise). Robust and timely policy actions, such as finding creative new ways to incentivise cross-institutional cooperation, are...