In 2012 Papua New Guinea undertook a
national Service Delivery Assessment of rural water, rural
sanitation, urban water and urban sanitation services to
identify coverage and targets, how well services are being
delivered and the financing shortfalls in these subsectors.
Immediately following this assessment, stakeholders, through
a national policy task force, have developed a draft of the
country s first National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The paper investigates determinants of
civic participation in local budget processes in rural areas
in the Kyrgyz Republic by using data from the Life in
Kyrgyzstan survey, conducted in 2012. The analysis of the
data suggests that although civic awareness and interest in
local budget processes is relatively high, the participation
rate in local budgeting processes is low. The paper also
shows that interest, awareness, and participation are

Many cities of developing countries are
experiencing rapid growth of motorized transportation. This
is leading to severe congestion, which, in turn, is reducing
productivity. Road accidents have been increasing. Transport
emissions have become a major contributor to severe air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The main cause of
these problems has been the increasing preference for
personal motor vehicles for commuting to work and getting

As Vietnam enters a crucial period of
urbanization corresponding to its present stage of economic
development, the Government of Vietnam has placed strong
emphasis on developing its system of cities. In accordance
with this objective this Urbanization Review is dedicated to
understanding the key dimensions and aspects of
Vietnam's urbanization process and to identifying
trends, opportunities, challenges and core policy priorities

While the negative impacts of climate
change on urban areas are well-known and widely discussed,
its implicit impacts on historic downtowns have not been
studied as extensively. In recent years, cultural heritage
conservation and valorization have increasingly become
drivers of local economic development. Many projects
supported by the World Bank in this field help leverage
cultural heritage for economic development while developing

The current report is part of the work
on integrating poor areas and marginalized communities in
Romania. Specifically, the Bank's technical assistance
provided through this project focuses on three primary
components: (1) a methodology for defining different types
of urban disadvantaged communities based on a set of key
criteria and indicators; (2) detailed maps that present the
spatial distribution of these indicators and the

This report provides an analysis of the
spatial planning system in Romania and suggests ways in
which it can be improved. Romania has recently experienced a
proliferation of plans, strategies, and policies developed
at all administrative levels. Adding to this, the analysis
of territorial and urban development in Romania reveals
important dynamics and challenges, such as uncontrolled
expansion of built perimeters, increased pressures on

Housing matters to the livability of
cities and to the productivity of their economies. The
failure of cities to accommodate the housing needs of
growing urban populations can be seen in the proliferation
of poorly serviced, high-density informal settlements. Such
settlements are not new in the history of rapidly growing
cities, their persistence results as much from policies as
from economics and demographic transition. Slums have

Urbanization deserves urgent attention
from policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and social
reformers of all stripes. Nothing else will create as many
opportunities for social and economic progress. The
urbanization project began roughly 1,000 years after the
transition from the Pleistocene to the milder and more
stable Holocene interglacial. In 2010, the urban population
in developing countries stood at 2.5 billion. The developing

Rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa
places immense pressure on urban services to meet the needs
of the burgeoning urban population. Although several
country- or city-level reports offer insight into the
housing challenges of specific places, little is known about
regional patterns affecting housing markets. This lack of
clear knowledge on the relative importance of the factors
influencing households' housing demand in countries in

Across the world, the housing sector
plays a key role in local and national economies, and
expanding access to housing can encourage more equitably
shared economic growth. This report surveys current policy
interventions designed to encourage affordable housing in
East Asia and the Pacific (EAP). The purpose of this report
is to provide a general overview of the recent trends in
urbanization and development in EAP and to consider

As the global population heads toward 9 billion by 2050, decisions made today will lock countries into growth patterns that may or may not be sustainable in the future. Care must be taken to ensure that cities and roads, factories and farms are designed, managed, and regulated as efficiently as possible to wisely use natural resources while supporting the robust growth developing countries still need.