This paper focuses on several
interrelated key questions on the geography of development.
Although we herald cities with their industrial bases as
'engines of growth,' does industrialization in
fact drive urbanization?1 What economic activities do cities
of different sizes undertake? Does this change as countries
develop? If so, what are the policy implications? Do
development policies have a big-city bias? If so, what does

The Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias
(MDF) and the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) have played
significant roles in the remarkable recovery of Aceh, Nias
and Java, following some of the worst disasters in Indonesia
in recent years. The MDF and the JRF, which is patterned
after it, are each considered a highly successful model for
post-disaster reconstruction. This paper discusses the value
of a phased approach to post-disaster reconstruction as a

The topic of this paper is, in the words
of one reviewer, 'one of the most discussed
sociological and societal issues in African studies: the
relationship between traditional institutions and new
institutions'. Often in such discussions, the
'traditional' and 'modern' are framed as
if in opposition to one another, and debate centers on
whether and to what extent tradition should cede to
modernity, or modernity should yield to the dictates of

Sana'a is located in an upland
basin at an altitude of 2300 meters within a mountainous and
semi-arid region of Yemen. Because of its high altitude, the
city enjoys a moderate climate year around. The main rainy
season is in summer. The nearest port is Hodeidah, roughly
250 kilometers away. Bound by mountains and steep slopes to
the east and west, the city has few options but to expand
primarily along its north and south axes within its basin.

A pro-growth, pro-poor transport
strategy (PGPTS) responsive to the second generation poverty
reduction strategies (SGPRSs) and the millennium development
goals (MDGs) are essential instruments to promote transport
development that facilitates economic growth and poverty
reduction. However, the national poverty reduction and
transport strategy reviews, undertaken by Sub-Saharan Africa
Transport Policy Program (SSATP) member countries, and the

A comprehensive investigative study was
implemented in 2002, on the status, and development of urban
mobility in three Sub-Saharan African cities - Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; and, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Its
purpose was to gather information in terms of size, regional
spread, and availability data, that would allow
identification of issues affecting urban mobility in the
related cities, and prepare action plans, that would lead to

In July 2001, the extractive industries
review (EIR) was initiated with the appointment of Dr. Emil
Salim, former Minister of the Environment for Indonesia, as
eminent person to the review. The EIR was designed to engage
all stakeholders-governments, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), indigenous peoples' organizations, affected
communities and community-based organizations, labor unions,
industry, academia, international organizations, and the

Across the developing world, public
goods exert significant impacts on the local rural economy
in general and agricultural productivity and welfare
outcomes in particular. Economic and social-cultural
heterogeneity have, however, long been documented as
detrimental to collective capacity to provide public goods.
In particular, women are often under-represented in local
leadership and decision-making processes, as are young

Addressing regional disparities in
access to public services is an emerging development
challenge for Thailand. A well-functioning system of
Central-Local Government Relations and proactive expenditure
policy can help achieve this goal. Providing responsive and
accountable public services are necessary for maintaining
trust of the citizens in government and fostering cohesion
within a unitary state like Thailand. Without a reversal of

This paper seeks to develop estimates of
the net cost of the urban expansion in Tanzania. The paper
focuses on developing estimates of the cost of planning and
servicing land for new residential urban settlement. It does
not attempt to develop detailed estimates of the cost of
addressing infrastructure backlogs which would include the
retrofitting of basic urban infrastructure to unplanned
areas. On the revenue side, estimates of current spending in

The type of institutional arrangement
for managing roads adopted by a country depends on the
objectives and performance that it sets for its road
networks. This paper reviews such arrangements for selected
countries; China, Brazil, Slovenia, New Zealand, United
Kingdom, and the Slovak Republic. These countries have
adopted different approaches in several dimensions, such as
decentralization, sources of financing, management

This note aims at providing feedback on
Brazil's successful experience in using performance
based contracts in the rehabilitation and maintenance of the
road networks. Since its introduction in the early
2000's, the use of this contract management model has
progressively spread to reach, as of today, one third of the
federal network and more than 10 percent of the states'
networks, and expectations are for higher figures in the