Municipalities in Mozambique were
established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first
time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most
inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and
central government systems and infrastructure, and as such
limited progress was achieved in transforming them into
functioning local governments during the first mandate
(1998-2002). During the second mandate (2003-2008), however,

Rural-urban migration is playing an
increasingly important role in shaping the economic and
demographic landscape of Chinese cities. Over the past two
decades, China has transformed itself from a relatively
immobile society to one in which more than 10 percent of the
population are migrants. China's mobility rate is still
low compared with that of advanced industrial economies, the
sheer size of the migrant flows and their dramatic economic

This policy note focuses on analyzing
critical institutional and planning issues affecting
Dhaka's Metropolitan Area, and suggests policy
recommendations for introducing sound urban environmental
planning to improve the quality of life by mitigating and
reversing environmental degradation. The report concludes
with urgent recommended actions to address gaps in urban
planning and environmental management that focus on

This report describes a pilot study of
natural risk hazards in the peri-urban extension areas of
the Dakar Metropolitan Area, Senegal. The area subject of
this study stretches across 580 square kilometers, covering
less than 1 percent of the national territory, but housing
about 50 percent of Senegal's urban population. Much of
the rapid population growth of the Dakar Metropolitan Area
is taking place beyond the boundaries of the Department of

Namibia is a large country in Southern
Africa that borders the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola
to the north and South Africa to the south. With a surface
area of 824,290 square kilometers, it is similar in size to
Mozambique and about half the size of the U.S. state of
Alaska. Namibia has a small population of approximately 2.1
million people. It is also one of the least densely
populated countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average

China's progress in poverty
reduction over the last 25 years is enviable. One cannot
fail to be impressed by what this vast nation of 1.3 billion
people has achieved in so little time. In terms of a wide
range of indicators, the progress has been remarkable.
Poverty in terms of income and consumption has been
dramatically reduced. Progress has also been substantial in
terms of human development indicators. Most of the

Post-Industrial East Asian Cities
analyzes urban developments and policies responsible for the
growth of producer services and creative industries. This
study is based on the findings of firm surveys conducted in
East Asia and a review of the data and literature on several
key regional cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul,
Bangkok and Tokyo) that are transitioning away from
traditional manufacturing activities.

In 2000 the World Bank made a corporate
commitment to organize a small states Forum each year in the
context of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World
Bank annual meetings. The forum is intended to raise the
profile of small states issues and provide an opportunity
for small state officials to bring their views and ideas to
the attention of the international community. Forty-eight
World Bank members comprise the small states forum, all but

At the outset of China's reform
period, the country had a far higher poverty rate than for
Africa as a whole. Within five years that was no longer
true. This paper tries to explain how China escaped from a
situation in which extreme poverty persisted due to failed
and unpopular policies. While acknowledging that Africa
faces constraints that China did not, and that context
matters, two lessons stand out. The first is the importance

This document builds upon several recent
studies and reports carried out in the 2006-2007 period. The
first note, entitled analysis of housing supply mechanisms
(World Bank), analyzes the situation of housing supply in
urban areas in Egypt, including the study of existing formal
and informal mechanisms for the delivery of urban housing,
the institutions responsible for supply and regulation, the
characteristics of the formal and informal stock, and the

This study on Bangladesh Dhaka-improving
living conditions for the urban poor reflects a
comprehensive look at poverty in Dhaka with an aim to
provide the basis for an urban poverty reduction strategy
for the Government of Bangladesh, local authorities, donors,
and NGOs. While the needs in Dhaka are enormous, this study
focuses on analyzing those critical for the poor -
understanding the characteristics and dynamics of poverty,

The Ghana Country Environment Analysis
(CEA) has thus been formulated to assist the Government of
Ghana and its development partners to: (a) assess the
country's environmental priorities in key sectors, the
environmental implications of key economic and sector
policies, and the country's institutional capacity to
address them; and (b) find practical management,
institutional, and policy solutions to handle issues of