RESEARCH DOCUMENTS:
Resources on Urban Development

This section contains a selection of publications from the Human Settlements Programme of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). These include papers from its journal Environment and Urbanization and from its working paper series.


This Programme has long advocated that governments and international agencies need more 'bottom-up', community based, locally rooted approaches to urban development (and poverty reduction) - both to be more effective and to make limited resources go further. This includes support for low income groups and their community organizations, since these have been responsible for most new homes and neighbourhoods in most cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America over the last few decades. Many of the publications contained here are case studies of remarkable local initiatives undertaken by low income groups (usually with the support of their own federation) and local NGOs. The publications here also encourage a greater focus on supporting 'good local governance' - city and municipal authorities that are more transparent and accountable to their city populations and that can work in partnership with them. The publications here also include case studies of how international agencies have channelled funding to local initiatives through local institutions. They also include case studies of many of the innovations mentioned in the paper on "10 and a half myths".

The publications are organized under the following headings:  

Bottom up development

Appadurai, Arjun (2001), "Deep Democracy: Urban Governmentality and the Horizon of Politics", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 23-43.

This describes the work of an Alliance formed by three civic organizations in Mumbai to address poverty - the NGO SPARC, the National Slum Dwellers Federation and Mahila Milan, a cooperative representing women's savings groups. It highlights key features of their work, which includes: putting the knowledge and capacity of the poor and the savings groups that they form at the core of all their work (with NGOs in a supporting role); keeping politically neutral and negotiating with whoever is in power; driving change through setting precedents; the development of a horizontal structure as the Alliance is underpinned by, accountable to and serves thousands of small savings groups; and community to community exchange visits that root innovation and learning in what urban poor groups do. The paper notes that these are features shared with urban poor federations and alliances and it describes the international exchanges and other links between them. These groups are internationalizing themselves, creating networks of globalization from below. Individually and collectively, they seek to demonstrate to governments (local, regional, national) and international agencies that urban poor groups are more capable than they in poverty reduction, and they also provide these agencies with strong community-based partners through which to do so. They can be instruments of deep democracy, rooted in local context and able to mediate globalizing forces in ways that benefit the poor.

Baumann, Ted, Joel Bolnick and Diana Mitlin (2002), The Age of Cities and Organizations of the Urban Poor: The Work of the South African Homeless People's Federation and the People's Dialogue on Land and Shelter, IIED Working Paper 2 on Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas, IIED, London.

Patel, Sheela and Diana Mitlin (2002), The Work of SPARC and its Partners Mahila Milan and the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, IIED Working Paper 5 on Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas, IIED, London.

This paper describes the work of an Indian NGO, SPARC and its alliance with the women's cooperatives (Mahila Milan) formed by pavement dwellers and the National Slum Dwellers Federation. This Alliance has shown how work in many different areas such as community-based savings and credit groups, pilot projects, housing construction, the development of toilet blocks and the management of resettlement can contribute to poverty reduction, as long as these are based on what communities can do for themselves and the communities retain control. This implies the need for changes in the relationship between urban poor groups, government and international donors. The Alliance has also demonstrated the need to work at different levels, including securing policy and institutional changes through mass mobilization, based on precedents that are developed by the poor.

Chitekwe, Beth and Diana Mitlin (2001), "The urban poor under threat and in struggle: options for urban development in Zimbabwe, 1995-2000", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 85-101.

This paper describes the development of savings schemes by urban poor groups in different urban centres in Zimbabwe and their negotiations with local authorities to allow them to develop their own homes and neighbourhoods. It also describes how these savings schemes developed the Zimbabwean Homeless People's Federation (now with 20,000 members), and the constant inter-change between different savings schemes as they learnt from each other (and from leaders of federations from other countries) and encouraged new savings schemes to be set up. Despite very difficult political circumstances and economic problems, there are housing and income generation schemes underway in many Zimbabwean urban centres, organized and managed by urban poor groups' own savings schemes. The larger ones are inevitably those where local authorities have recognized their potential and provided appropriate support.

Arévalo T, Pedro (1997), "May hope be realized: Huaycan self-managing urban community in Lima", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.1, April, pages 59-79.

This paper tells the story of how the settlement of Huaycán in Lima (Peru) came into existence and how, from the outset, when the land invasion which was to form the settlement was first organized, the organizers sought to achieve a democratic, self-managed community. The author, who was one of the community leaders involved in the formation and development of Huaycán, also describes the complex political struggles they faced, especially with Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) but also with other political factions and parties. The article describes how in successive people's congresses they achieved support for self-management and development and recounts the marches into Lima to demand that the politicians keep their promises. It also describes the improvements in basic infrastructure and services achieved in Huaycán with support from local, national and international sources.

Cabannes, Yves (1997), "From community development to housing finance; From Mutiroes to Casa Melhor in Fortaleza, Brazil", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.1, April, pages 31-58.

This paper describes two new approaches to financing and supporting the improvement of housing and living conditions for low-income groups in Fortaleza, capital of one of the poorest Brazilian states. The first is the comunidades programme which primarily supports the development of new homes, settlements and income-generating activities for the lowest-income groups through mutirão, mutual self-help (as the participants collectively build and also manage the building process). This is sometimes known as the mutirão programme. The paper presents a case study of one project within this wider programme, Parque Havaí, to illustrate how it works. The second programme described is the casa melhor (meaning "better house") which provides loans, subsidies and technical support to households living in squatter settlements or other poor quality settlements to improve, rebuild or expand their homes. Although there are elements of mutual aid, this is primarily support for individual self-help. In Section III, the paper explains how this fund was developed, along with support programmes provided by NGOs and government agencies to help it function. The programme is financed through a combination of savings, loans and subsidies and has achieved high rates of repayment for the loan component. This section also describes its achievements and limitations - and what possibilities exist for scaling-up the support for housing finance of this kind to meet growing demand. The concluding section reflects on what the experience with both these programmes implies for future work in this area.

Schusterman, Ricardo and Ana Hardoy (1997), "Reconstructing social capital in a poor urban settlement: the Integrated Improvement Programme, Barrio San Jorge", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.1, April, pp. 91-119.

This paper describes how the continuous support provided by an external team over a ten-year period in a low-income informal settlement in Buenos Aires (Barrio San Jorge) resulted in a development process which helped to improve living conditions, to change the inhabitants' relationship with society and to reduce the deprivations normally associated with low income. Over time, and with each new initiative seeking to build on the momentum achieved by previous initiatives, considerable improvements have been achieved, including improvements in housing quality, access roads, land tenure and provision for water and sanitation and for child health and development. Perhaps as important has been the development of a representative community organization within the barrio since no such organization had existed previously. This, in turn, has helped change the relationship of this settlement's inhabitants with the rest of society - the settlement is no longer "illegal" as the inhabitants are acquiring legal tenure of the land on which they live, as provision for water and sanitation is now managed by the official utilities and as an engagement has developed between the inhabitants and government agencies at municipal and other levels. This case study suggests that many low-income illegal settlements need a long and continuous support programme to allow the many kinds of deprivation and illegality their inhabitants face to be addressed. Poverty is not "solved" through one or two quick, sectoral interventions. Action is needed on many fronts. But this case study also shows the important catalytic role that international funds can have in helping low-income communities develop their own representative organizations. This is important for allowing them to address their own problems but it is also central to them being able to successfully negotiate with their own local governments and utilities for the infrastructure and services to which they are entitled.

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, (2001), "Building an urban poor people's movement in Phnom Penh, Cambodia", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 61-72.

A photo-essay showing how the urban poor and their organizations are working with government agencies, NGOs and international donors in Phnom Penh to develop homes and neighbourhoods and also income generation and, where needed, to manage relocation schemes. It also describes how the city's urban poor developed their own Solidarity and Urban Poor Federation, drawing on the advice of and exchanges with similar federations from other countries. The Federation's work centres on linking and supporting community savings groups that develop their own schemes. The Federation also supports community-mapping and surveys to document conditions in the city's many low-income settlements. The essay emphasizes the strengths and resources that the urban poor can bring to developing housing and jobs, if external agencies allow them to do so and also support their organizations.

Patel Sheela, Celine d'Cruz and Sundar Burra (2002), "Beyond evictions in a global city; people-managed resettlement in Mumbai", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 14, No. 1, pages 159-172.

This paper describes a resettlement programme in which 60,000 people moved without coercion to make way for improvements in Mumbai's railway system. It also describes the resettlement sites and the attention given to minimizing the costs for those who were relocated. This resettlement programme was underpinned by strong levels of community organization among the population that was to be relocated; their involvement in the whole process included preparing the baseline survey of households to be moved, designing the accommodation into which they moved and managing the relocation process, including the allocation of units. The paper also outlines the difficulties that the relocation process created and the measures taken to address these. It suggests the factors that must be in place to protect low-income groups from the impoverishment that usually accompanies population displacements caused by infrastructure investments and central city redevelopment.

Díaz, Andrés Cabanas Emma Grant, Paula Irene del Cid Vargas and Verónica Sajbin Velásquez (2000), "El Mezquital - a community's struggle for development in Guatemala City", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 12, No. 1, pages 87-106.

This paper describes the history of the community in El Mezquital, from the land invasion in the mid 1980s, through its consolidation and growth, until the present, drawing principally on interviews with the inhabitants and staff from supporting agencies. It analyzes the development of the different, and sometimes conflicting, community organizations and compares their different mandates and objectives. It shows important processes of community empowerment, the changing role of women and community self-help initiatives. It also describes how, in much of the settlement, basic infrastructure and services were in place and of good quality. However, it also highlights the lack of employment opportunities, how many people still live in overcrowded conditions, and the problems of violence, drug addiction and street children. It also highlights the inadequacies on the part of government agencies - including their incapacity to respond to the needs of the community, their under-estimation of community capacity and the attempts at political manipulation.

Patel, Sheela Sundar Burra and Celine D'Cruz (2001), "Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI); foundations to treetops", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 45-59.

Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) - foundations to treetops by Sheela Patel, Sundar Burra and Céline D'Cruz describes the formation and development of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), an international people's organization which represents member federations of urban poor and homeless groups from 11 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It also describes the evolution of these national federations and how they grew to challenge conventional development thinking and develop new, community-directed precedents for poverty reduction. These federations and the NGOs with whom they work formed SDI to support the many ways in which the federations (and their member groups) learn from and help each other, and to ensure that global institutions and events became more useful and relevant to the urban poor.


Children

Bartlett, Sheridan (1999), "Children's experience of the physical environment in poor urban settlements: impliations for policy, planning and practice", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.2, pages 63-73.

This paper describes the high costs for children when their needs are routinely ignored or misunderstood by urban development policy, plans and practice. Provision for water, sanitation and housing often fails to consider the requirements for child health; neighbourhood-wide development can neglect the significance of play for children's development; and evictions, overcrowding and neighbourhood violence may have profound implications for emotional well-being. The paper argues, with examples, that a concern for children's needs and priorities can be incorporated into existing interventions without major cost increases and that this can result in benefits for all inhabitants

Driskell, David, Kanchan Bannerjee and Louise Chawla (2001), "Rhetoric, reality and resilience: overcoming obstacles to young people's participation in development", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 1, pages 77-89.

This paper describes the difficult relationships between those implementing an action research project with children in a low-income settlement in Bangalore (India), the distant and unresponsive bureaucracy of an international funding agency, and the authoritarian management of the NGO through which its money was channelled. This case study highlights the difficulties that international agencies face in operationalizing the principles of grassroots participation that they officially endorse. The action research was one of several projects within the Growing Up in Cities programme. It shows the difficult circumstances under which so many young people live, including six and seven year-olds thrust into adult roles, and lives cut short by disease and violence. But it also shows their astonishing resilience and energy, self-reliance and optimism. External agencies, from local governments and NGOs to international funders, need to work with children to understand what does (and what does not) work for them. This means recognizing that they are important actors in their own communities and that their insights, energy and creativity should be fostered and supported rather than ignored.

Chawla, Louise (1997), "Growing up in cities: a report on research underway", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.2, October, pages 247-251.

This describes the research underway in many cities to understand how well urban communities function for adolescents from low-income families and how to work with them in planning and implementing improvements.


Good Local Governance

Souza, Celina (2001), "Participatory budgeting in Brazilian cities: limits and possibilities in building democratic institutions", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13, No 1, pages 159-184.

This paper describes participatory budgeting in Brazil, where citizen assemblies in each district of a city determine priorities for the use of a part of the city's revenues. This is one of the most significant innovations in Latin America for increasing citizen participation and local government accountability. After describing its antecedents, as various local governments sought to increase citizen involvement during the 1970s and 1980s, the paper reviews the experience with participatory budgeting in the cities of Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte. It describes who took part in different (district and sectoral) citizen assemblies, the resources they could call on and the priorities established. It also discusses its effectiveness regarding increased participation, more pro-poor expenditures and greater local government accountability. While noting the limitations (for instance, some of the poorest groups were not involved and, in other cities, it was not so successful), the paper also highlights how participatory budgeting allows formerly excluded groups to decide on investment priorities in their communities and to monitor government response. It has helped reduce clientelist practices and, perhaps more importantly for a society as unequal as Brazil, helped to build democratic institutions.


Inequality

Todd, Alison (1996), "Health inequalities in urban areas: a guide to the literature", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.8, No.2, October, pp. 141-152.

Stephens, Carolyn (1996), "Healthy cities or unhealthy islands: the health and social implications of urban inequality", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.8, No.2, October, pp. 9-30. [see Journal]

This paper suggests that governments and international agencies must address the large and often growing levels of inequality within most cities if health is to be improved and poverty reduced. It describes the social and health implications of inequalities within cities and discusses why descriptions of the physical symptoms of poverty (and their health implications) are more common than analyses of the structural systems which produce and perpetuate poverty. It also describes the health problems from which low-income groups in urban areas suffer more that richer groups including those that are not linked to poor sanitary conditions and those that are more linked to relative poverty (and thus the level of inequality) than to absolute poverty.

 

Stephens, Carolyn, Marco Akerman, Sebastian Avle, Paulo Borlina Maia, Paulo Campanareio, Ben Doe and Doris Tetteh (1997), "Urban equity and urban health: using existing dat to understand inequa,lities in health and environment in Accra, Ghana and Sao Paulo, Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.1, April, pp. 181-202.

This paper describes the methods used to study inequalities in health status and environmental conditions between different groups in the cities of Sao Paulo and Accra. The studies used existing data, drawn from different sources, and involved staff from different government agencies (from city authorities and higher levels), academic and NGOs in determining how best to use it. The paper also provides a summary of the main findings, including a discussion not only of inequalities in health between the best and the worst quality zones in each city but also on how health risks differ by age group. The paper begins by considering why information on such inequalities is so important for policy makers and why so little data on this are available in most cities in the South.


Local Agenda 21

Miranda, Liliana and Michaela Hordijk (1998), "Let us build cities for life: the National Campaign of Local Agenda 21s in Peru", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.2, October, pages 69-102.

This paper describes the establishment of a national forum to promote the development and implementation of Agenda 21 in cities in Peru which, today, brings together representatives from 41 institutions in 18 cities. The paper describes the origin, development, vision, strategies and work to date of the forum, showing how it developed from a conventional project which depended on the technical assistance and initiatives of a local NGO into a network of many different actors from many urban centres in Peru who, together, form an autonomous and independent entity. The paper outlines the main environmental problems in Peru's urban areas and the unsupportive national framework within which urban authorities and other urban actors strive to address environmental problems.


Bottom up development

Hordijk, Michaela (1999), "A dream of green and water: Community-based formulation of a Local Agenda 21 in peri-urban Lima, Peru", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.2, October, pages 11-29.

This paper describes the development of an integrated environmental plan by the inhabitants of informal settlements on the edge of Lima, Peru - and how this formed the basis both for local action and for negotiating support from external agencies. It discusses the different internal and external groups that were involved, and the measures taken to ensure real community participation and to avoid the imposition of professionally-driven "solutions". It also considers the limitations of most international donor funding for Local Agenda 21s because it is too 'project cycle' oriented and too concerned with 'outputs' to be able to support such participatory processes.

López Follegatti, Jose Luis (1999), "Ilo: a city in transformation", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.2, October, pages 181-202.

This describes a city initiative to defend the environment and reduce pollution. Chimbote is an important industrial fishing port now considered the third most contaminated city in Peru due to the lack of urban environmental planning and regulation and lack of leadership from local government. The paper includes an account of the work of the Association for the Defense and Conservation of the Environment of the Province of La Santa (ADECOMAPS), which started as an ecological movement for the protection and conservation of an important park and which now brings together 42 different institutions including grassroots organizations, NGOs, universities, professional training institutions, politicians and government bodies. The association has developed an environmental action plan (or Local Agenda 21) for the city despite the reluctance of the provincial mayor.

Velasquez, Luz Stella (1998), "Agenda 21; a form of joint environmental management in Manizales, Colombia", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.2, pages 9-36.

This describes the development of Bioplan-Manizales, a local environmental action plan (LEAP) for the city of Manizales, and the different groups that contributed to its development including the municipality. The paper also describes the broader national and international context for the innovations in Manizales including the political, legislative and fiscal changes in Colombia that have encouraged local authorities to develop local environmental agendas and the city's own historical development.

Roberts, Debra and Nicci Diederichs (2002), "Durban's Local Agenda 21 programme: tackling sustainable development in a post-apartheid city", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 14, No. 1, pages 189-202.

This describes Durban's Local Agenda 21 programme which has been at the forefront of the Local Agenda 21 movement in Southern Africa since the mid-1990s. The paper also outlines the difficulties faced in localizing the sustainable development concept in Durban, key among them the challenge of establishing the programme during a period of local government transformation and restructuring. The perception of Local Agenda 21 as "green" and "anti-development" has also resulted in a lack of proactive and sustained political support. These problems have been exacerbated by limited human and financial resources, which have restricted the capacity to build support and consensus amongst stakeholders. The programme has, however, helped keep sustainable development on the city's agenda and has provided a mechanism through which local stakeholders can interact with local government around environmental management issues. The paper concludes with a section on the lessons learned and factors required to ensure future progress.

Roberts, Ian (2000), "Leicester environment city: learning how to make Local Agenda 21, partnerships and participation deliver" participation deliver", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.12, No.2, pages 9-26.

Leicester Environment City: learning how to make Local Agenda 21, partnerships and participation deliver by Ian Roberts describes the pioneering experience of the city of Leicester (in the UK) over the last 10 years in developing its Local Agenda 21 and other aspects of its work towards environmental improvement and sustainable development. It includes details of measures to improve public transport and to reduce congestion, traffic accidents, car use and air pollution. It also describes measures to improve housing quality for low-income households, reduce fossil fuel use, increase renewable energy use and make the city council's own operations a model of reducing resource use and waste. It also describes how this was done - the specialist working groups that sought to make partnerships work (and their strengths and limitations), the information programmes to win hearts and minds, the many measures to encourage widespread participation (and the difficulties in involving under-represented groups) and the measures to make local governments, businesses and other groups develop the ability and habit of responding to the local needs identified in participatory consultations.


Participatory Tools and Methods

Nurick, Robert and Victoria Johnson (1998), "Towards community-based indicators for monitoring quality of life and the impact of industry in South Durban", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.1, pages 233-250.

This presents the findings of research carried out in residential communities adjacent to petrochemical and chemical industries in Durban, South Africa during January-March 1997. The purpose of the research was to begin the process of developing community based indicators for monitoring and evaluating industrial performance. This was done using a range of participatory methods with men and women in community groups, and was a part of a wider set of Local Agenda 21 activities within the city.

Nieuwenhuys, Olga (1997), "Spaces for the children of the urban poor: Experiences with Participatory Action Research", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.1, April, pp. 233-249.

This paper explains why participatory action research (PAR) could be so important in helping the children of the urban poor, and those who work with them, generate relevant insights into their specific needs and priorities and help them influence decisions that are taken about their lives. The paper begins by discussing the problems facing children in urban areas of the South and why more participatory research approaches which work with children have come to the fore. It then describes what participatory action research is (and is not) and why researchers and the institutions that fund them have difficulty in supporting such a research approach, especially in relation to children. The paper then addresses the three main implications for researchers who want to use PAR with children: taking responsibility for the children's needs and priorities within the research; balancing participation and mediation; and ensuring the research helps to negotiate more spaces for children in their environment and more power in their relationship with the state and society.

Moser, Caroline O.N. and Cathy McIlwaine (1999), "Participatory urban appraisal and its application for research on violence", Environment and Urbanization, Voil.11, No.2, pages 203-226.

This paper emphasizes the importance of participatory research on violence and describes the range of Participatory Urban Appraisal tools that can be used to document the perceptions of poorer groups regarding the extent, causes and consequences of violence, as well as the strategies for coping with, or reducing, it. The use of these tools is illustrated with examples drawn from the findings of research in 18 low income communities in different cities in Colombia and Guatemala. The paper also outlines a conceptual framework on violence, poverty/exclusion. inequality and social capital that can help in the research design and in analyzing the findings.

Revi, Aromar and Manish Dube (1999), "Indicators for urban environmental services in Lucknow - process and methods", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.2, pages 227-246.

This paper describes how the development of community indicators was used in Lucknow both to support a dialogue between representatives from communities lacking basic services and service providers, and to benchmark existing environmental conditions and urban services, and set priorities for improvements. Local organizations were approached in four neighbourhoods and, through community meetings, interviews with households and service providers, and a joint workshop, an indicator set was agreed on. The paper ends with an analysis of what the collection of data for this indicator set showed and a discussion of lessons for future work in this area.

Montiel, René Pérez and Françoise Barten (1999), "Urban governance and health development in León, Nicaragua", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.1, April, pages 11-26.

This paper describes the development of a "healthy municipality" initiative in Léon and of the innovations in local governance that preceded it - especially the partnerships that local government developed with the university, bilateral agencies and the long-established urban social movement. After first discussing why participation and good governance are so central to "healthy cities", the paper describes the specific conditions which fostered the participatory approach in Léon, and the difficulties faced. The paper also analyzes the process of citizen participation in policy-making and the contents and results of the programme.

Abbot, Jo (1999), "Beyond tools and methods: reviewing developments in participatory learning and action", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 11 No 1, pages 231-234.

This reviews recent innovations in the use of participatory tools and methods that have relevance for urban areas. This includes the use of participatory approaches for understanding poverty, involving children, identifying livelihood opportunities and monitoring and evaluating projects.

 

 


Poverty and Environment

Hartmann, Betsy (1998), "Population, environment and security: a new trinity", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.2, pages 113-127.

This critically examines the literature which claims that internal conflict in Africa, Asia and Latin America is often the result of population pressures and resource scarcities, focusing particularly on the work of Thomas Homer-Dixon. The author shows how this literature provides a convenient rationale for sustaining US military expenditures and gives hardliners in the population control lobby a justification for moving away from the new, broader focus on reproductive health back to more coercive population policies. The paper ends with a discussion of why it is important to challenge this ideology, not least because it leads to negative stereotypes of women and "peasant" farmers and could lead to the militarization of environmental policy.


Poverty Reduction; Supporting Local Processes

Navarro, Lia (2001), "Exploring the environmental and political dimensions of poverty: the cases of the cities of Mar del Plata and Necochea-Quequén", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 13, No.1, pages 185-199.

This paper presents a framework to show how information drawn from different sources for any city allows the construction of poverty profiles and maps. These not only help local governments to act but they also provide a catalyst for more participatory and integrated approaches to poverty reduction. The paper also gives examples of how this framework was used in two cities in Argentina. The framework brings out the multi-dimensional nature of urban poverty, including environmental and political dimensions which are not made evident by conventional definitions of poverty. The framework also highlights the complex linkages between the different dimensions and how the environmental dimensions (including housing conditions) are not just visible features of poverty but also key 'entry points' through which social, economic and political dimensions can be understood and addressed. Mapping environmental conditions also brings out key social and spatial inequalities.

Satterthwaite, David (2001), "Reducing urban poverty: constraints on the effectiveness of aid agencies and development banks and some suggestions for change", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 1, pages 137-157.

This paper discusses the institutional constraints that aid agencies and development banks face in being able to address urban poverty. These include their limited capacity to support local institutions that respond to the needs and priorities of low-income groups and that are accountable to them. It describes the distance between the decision-making processes of most international agencies and the 'urban poor', and the very limited possibilities for the urban poor to influence what gets funded and by whom. It also discusses the political constraints that have inhibited more effective donor agencies and suggests how support for locally based funds for community initiatives could help overcome some of these. It ends by describing the low priority given by donor agencies to urban poverty reduction and suggests some changes that would help development assistance to meet its targets for reducing urban poverty.

Kiyaga-Nsubuga, John Raphael Magyezi, Sarah O'Brien and Mark Sheldrake (2001), "Hope for the urban poor: DFID city community challenge (C3) fund pilot in Kampala and Jinja, Uganda", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 1, pages 115-124.

This paper describes a new pilot fund to support community initiatives for urban poor groups in Uganda's two largest cities, Kampala and Jinja. Supported by the UK government's Department for International Development, it is called the C3 fund since it is city-based, set up to support community-initiated proposals and includes a focus on capacity-building. The approach is unusual in that external aid is supporting a local fund to which community groups can apply, and where decisions about the projects that receive funds are being taken locally. The paper first describes the decentralization programme in Uganda and the changes that have encouraged NGOs and foreign donors to work with local authorities. Then it describes the C3 fund's design, how it has been set up, and its operational mechanisms and financial and managerial procedures.

Etemadi, Felisa U. (2000), "Civil society participation in city governance in Cebu City", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 12 No 1, pages 57-72.

This paper describes the range of partnerships between government and non-government organizations in the city which provide services targeted at low-income groups or at settlements with a predominance of low-income households. It also describes a coalition of NGOs and people's organizations which seeks to ensure the election of mayors with pro-poor policies and to ensure these policies are implemented. Their successes mainly involve improved service provision; the limitations include very limited economic benefits for low-income groups despite rapid economic growth, difficulties in acquiring land for housing, and the limited influence of NGOs and people's organizations on the policies of city government.

Anzorena, Jorge, Joel Bolnick, Somsook Boonyabancha, Yves Cabannes, Ana Hardoy, Arif Hasan, Caren Levy, Diana Mitlin, and others (1998), "Reducing urban poverty; some lessons from experience", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.1, pages 167-186.

This discusses how many donor agencies are recognizing the need to address the growing levels of urban poverty in Africa, Latin America and much of Asia. As they develop or expand programmes on poverty reduction in urban areas, there are many remarkable initiatives on whose experience they can draw. This paper reflects on the lessons from seven of these: three from Asia, three from Latin America and one from Africa, drawing out the common features between these initiatives.

Satterthwaite, David (2002), "Local funds and their potential to allow donor agencies to support community development and poverty reduction", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 14, No. 1, pages 179-188.

This paper describes the growing number of local funds or local institutions through which international agencies or national governments channel resources to support community initiatives. It discusses the advantages that these can have over more conventional projects in reducing urban poverty (including their flexibility, fast response time, demand-driven nature and local accountability). It discusses how they differ from social funds, and points to their strategic value in changing official perceptions of "the poor", in strengthening the capacity of urban poor organizations and in enhancing partnerships between community organizations and municipal governments. The paper ends with a discussion of the challenges that these local funds pose, both for the local institutions who manage them and for donors who fund them.

Stein, Alfredo (2001), "Participation and sustainability in social projects: the experience of the Local Development Programme (PRODEL) in Nicaragua", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 1, pages 11-35.

This paper describes the work of PRODEL in eight cities in Nicaragua where it provided small grants for infrastructure and community works projects and loans for housing improvement and micro-enterprises, targeted at low-income groups. The external funds provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) were matched by municipal, community and household contributions. Between 1994 and 1998, more than 38,000 households benefited and both loan programmes achieved good levels of cost recovery. This paper describes the micro-planning workshops and other methodologies through which households and communities were given more scope for participation. It explains how local governments and the bank responsible for managing the loans learned to work in a more participatory way and it outlines the measures taken to ensure that the needs and priorities of women and children were addressed. The paper ends by considering some of the lessons learned in terms of sustaining the initiatives after projects are completed, and institutionalizing citizen participation in social programmes. It also describes how PRODEL's methods have come to be used by central and local governments in other programmes.

Boonyabancha, Somsook (2001), "Savings and loans - drawing lessons from some experiences in Asia", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, pages 9-21.

This paper describes the role of community-managed savings and loans schemes in poverty reduction and how these are best supported by external agencies. It draws particularly on the last ten years work of the Thai government's Urban Community Development Office including how the 1997 financial crisis and the difficulties this brought to low-income savers was turned into an opportunity to rethink how to support savings groups. Community savings and loan schemes bring people together, helping them learn how to develop and manage their own resource base. They reduce individual vulnerability by providing an immediate lending facility the poor can access. They strengthen community processes so that other key issues can be addressed - for instance, developing plans for housing and negotiating with external agencies for land and infrastructure. If savings groups are supported to learn from each other (through community exchanges), networks develop, creating stronger, larger groupings of the urban poor with a greater capacity to negotiate with external agencies and develop a common fund. The possibilities for collaboration with government increases greatly as these networks demonstrate cheaper, more effective ways of addressing housing problems. Thus, community savings and loans schemes can reduce the poor's exclusion from formal political and financial systems by providing a bridge between these and the informal systems from which most of the poor draw their living. They can also become the means by which the urban poor obtain good quality, well-located, secure housing with basic services, without the need for large subsidies.

Boonyabancha, Somsook (1999), "The Urban Community Environmental Activities Project, Thailand", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.11, No.1, April, pages 101-115.

This describes the work of an environment fund set up to support community-initiated and managed projects within low-income settlements in urban areas. Over a two year period, this supported 196 projects benefitting 41,000 families. Although this was managed by a Thai government agency (the Urban Community Development Office) and with funds from the Danish Government agency DANCED, it allowed low-income communities to develop their own projects and to manage their implementation. It also encouraged inter-community exchanges and a strengthening of the capacity of low income communities to negotiate and work with external agencies.

Sida (1997), Seeking more effective and sustainable support to improving housing and living conditions for low income households in urban areas: Sida's initaitives in Costa Rica, Chile and Nicaragua, Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.2, pages 213-231.

This describes three initiatives funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for improving housing and living conditions for low-income urban households in Latin America. All three centred on support for developing new homes or for improving or extending existing homes. After outlining the goals and characteristics that the three initiatives had in common, the paper gives short descriptions and assessments of each programme and then considers their relevance to donor assisted interventions in other countries.

 


Rural-Urban Linkages

Tacoli, Cecilia (1998), "Rural-urban interactions; a guide to the literature", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.1, pages 147-166.

Potts, Deborah and Chris Mutambirwa (1998), "Basics are now a luxury: perceptions of the impact of structural adjustment on rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.10, No.1, pages 55-75.

This describes differences in the impact of the Economic Structural Adjustment Policy on Zimbabwe's rural and urban areas through the views of recent migrants to Harare. Although the outcomes of this policy have been more acutely felt in the city than in the countryside, rural populations have also suffered in multiple ways. Due to the strength of rural-urban interactions and the economic interdependence between city and countryside, the impact of structural adjustment is not clearly geographically defined.


Tenants; Getting a Better Deal

Mitlin, Diana (1997), "Editor's Introduction: Tenants - addressing needs, increasing options", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.2, October, pages 3-15.

Barbosa, Ronnie Yves Cabannes and Lucia Moraes (1997), "Tenant today, posseiro tomorrow", Environment and Urbanization, Vol.9, No.2, October, pages 17-41.

This tells the story of FEGIP, a federation of tenants and posseiros working in Goias State, Brazil and their struggle over the last 17 years to assist tenants and the homeless. Section I serves as introduction and Section II outlines the methodology and scope of the research. Section III provides some basic information on the city of Goiani, and the situation of tenants within the city. Section IV explains the central role of tenants' movements in creating an alternative means through which low-income families are able to secure housing. It analyzes the specific nature of FEGIP - the Goiania Federation of Tenants and Posseiros - and former organizations. Section V illustrates these strategies with a number of histories of individual settlements. The final sections consider the achievements and impacts, and some conclusions are drawn following an assessment of their great effect on both local and national housing policy.


Water and Sanitation

Alimuddin, Salim, Arif Hasan and Asiya Sadiq (2001), Community-driven Water and Sanitation: The Work of the Anjuman Samaji Behbood and the Larger Faisalabad Context, IIED Working Paper 7 on Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas, IIED, London.

This case study describes the work of a local NGO, the Anjuman Samaji Behbood (ASB) in Faisalabad, which demonstrated the capacity to support community-built and financed sewers and water supply distribution lines in the informal settlements in which most of Faisalabad's population lives. It also suggests a model by which provision for water, sanitation and drainage could be much improved in Faisalabad, despite the deficiencies in the existing infrastructure and institutions, and the limited availability of local resources.

Jaglin, Sylvy (2002), "The right to water versus cost recovery: participation, urban water supply and the poor in sub-Saharan Africa", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 14 No 1, pages 231-246.

This paper reviews reforms that have directly and indirectly affected water services in urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa over the last two decades, and discusses the difficulties of reconciling universal provision with a market-oriented approach. It describes measures to reconcile these, including different forms of user participation and a greater reliance on informal reselling of water, and demonstrates that most participation is about transferring costs from water companies to low-income households. It also points out that relying on informal resellers may constrain the extension of better quality services to low-income neighbourhoods, and that community-based schemes often fail to raise the capital needed to extend water mains to unserved peripheries. Whilst many participatory schemes can, under certain conditions, help ensure wider access to water, they are in no way a miracle solution and there is a considerable risk of institutionalizing two-tier services which lock low-income groups into more inconvenient, poor quality services.

Solo, Tova Maria (1999), "Small scale entrepreneurs in the urban water and sanitation market", Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 11, No.1, April, pages 117-131.

This describes the importance of small-scale private sector or NGO providers of water and sanitation in a great range of urban areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Without these operations, large sections of the South's urban populations, including tens of millions of low-income households, would be worse off. This paper discusses how public policy can support such entrepreneurs in water and sanitation provision while ensuring checks on the quality and price of the services they provide.

Thompson, John, Ina T Porras, Elisabeth Wood, James K Tumwine, Mark R Mujwahuzi, Munguti Katui-Katua and Nick Johnstone (2000), "Waiting at the tap: Changes in urban water use in East Africa over three decades", Environment and Urbanization, Vol 12 No 2, pages 37-52.

This paper reports on changes in water supplies in 16 sites in nine East African urban centres (including Nairobi and Dar es Salaam) between 1967 and 1997. The sites included both low-income and affluent neighbourhoods. In most sites, water supplies had deteriorated. For sites that already had piped water in 1967, most received less water per day in 1997 and had more unreliable supplies. For households without piped supplies, the average time spent collecting water in 1997 was more than three times that in 1967. One of the most notable changes when comparing 1997 to 1967 was the much greater importance of private water-vending through kiosks or vendors and these had become a booming business in many of the low and middle-income sites. But on average, those using kiosks were spending almost two hours a day collecting water and the water from kiosks was nearly twice the price of piped supplies.