The World Bank recently released its 10-year strategy for addressing urban issues, focusing specifically on slum areas. Next American City's Josh Leon takes a look at the plan and finds much to be desired.
"Asia's urban population will reach 2.6 billion by 2030, according to the UN. By then Africa's cities will more than double in size to 740 million people and Latin America's cities will have to meet the needs of 600 million. How, given these astonishing realities, do we curb the growth of the world's informal settlements, now one billion residents strong? What can governments do to mitigate the "push effects" of economic despair in agrarian regions that force too many people willy-nilly into cities?
Instead of seriously considering these generation-shaping questions, the World Bank's urban strategy will probably make things worse."
Leon says the World Bank's seemingly "pro-poor" strategy is really a free market jumble that will end up hurting the urban poor more than it helps.
FULL STORY: A Recipe for Slums
Bad Housing Policies Worsening Slums Around the World
Richard Florida argues that policies in cities around the world are making it harder on those most in need of housing.
World Bank: Carbon Pricing Key to Tackling Climate Change and Poverty
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim explains why climate change is a poverty issue - and why we must tackle it today to ensure that carbon emissions do not continue rising after 2016. Establishing a world price on carbon will be difficult to achieve.
India Tries to Hide its Poor As Games Begin
As the Commonwealth Games get underway in New Delhi, India, locals are upset that officials have made efforts to hide slum areas from the view of visitors.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service