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Slums --- Urban poor --- Marginality, Social

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The trend toward ever greater urbanization continues unabated across the globe. According to the United Nations, by 2025 closes to 5 billion people will live in urban areas. Many cities, especially in the developing world, are set to explode in size. Over the next decade and a half, Lagos is expected to increase its population 50 percent, to nearly 16 million. Naturally, there is an active debate on whether restricting the growth of megacities is desirable and whether doing so can make residents of those cities and their countries better off. When analyzing whether megacities have become too large, policy makers often analyze a single city in depth. But no city is an island: improving urban infrastructure in one city might attract migrants, and a negative shock in one location can be mitigated because people can move to another. Considering the general equilibrium effects of any such urban policy is thus key. That is, when deciding whether to make medium-size cities more attractive, policy makers need to understand how cities of all sizes will be affected. The second section briefly summarizes the theoretical framework and discusses which data are needed. The third section implements the methodology for the benchmark case of the United States. The fourth section does the same for China and Mexico and compares the findings. And the last section concludes. A technical online appendix guides the reader through a practical, step-by-step, discussion of how to do the analysis.

Analysis --- Cities --- City Development Strategies --- Communities & Human Settlements --- Governance --- Growth --- Megacities --- Spatial --- Urban Development --- Urban Governance and Management --- Urban Services to the Poor --- Urban Slums Upgrading --- Urbanization

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Urban areas tend to have much more productive labor and higher salaries than rural areas, and there are vast differences across urban areas. Areas with high salaries and high productivity tend to have employers that invest in much more research and development than areas with low salaries and low productivity. This paper addresses two questions. First, it discusses the causes of these vast geographical differences in wages, human capital, and innovation. The second part of the paper discusses regional economic development policies. The European Union has an even more ambitious program transferring its development funds to regions with below average incomes. Asian countries, especially China, have a variety of special economic zones, designed to attract foreign investment to specific areas. Such regional development policies, often called place-based economic policies, are effectively a form of welfare, targeting cities or regions, not individuals. While such policies are widespread, the economic logic behind them is rarely discussed and even less frequently understood. This paper clarifies when these policies are wasteful, when they are efficient, and who the expected winners and losers are. Understanding when government intervention makes sense and when it does not is a crucial first step in setting sound economic development policies. Local governments can certainly lay a foundation for economic development and create all the conditions necessary for a city's rebirth, including a business climate friendly to job creation.

Cities --- Communities & Human Settlements --- Economic Development --- Economic Policy --- Education --- Growth --- Jobs --- Labor --- Labor Markets --- Labor Policies --- Local Government --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Political Economy --- Social Protections and Labor --- Tertiary Education --- Urban Slums Upgrading

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Adequate urban infrastructure can be expensive, but the costs of not delivering housing, transportation, water, sewage, public facilities, and other necessities are also high. Inadequate infrastructure slows and even reverses economic growth, driving unemployment, crime, and urban decay. It can fuel urban tensions by widening divisions among ethnic or income groups or between long-time residents and recent immigrants. And it can foster a general malaise that drains a city's vitality and spirit. One study in Africa showed that the return on investment for infrastructure was about 50 percent, based on contributions to gross domestic product (GDP), and that if investments were optimized, the return will be closer to 150 percent. This value is delivered through increased productivity and job creation, among other channels. Social benefits from improved public services and living standards are also substantial. In emerging markets, inadequate infrastructure can be a substantial barrier to growth. Adequate infrastructure reduces costs, supports economic activity, increases factor productivity in cities, and connects cities to domestic and international markets. With the staggering demand for infrastructure in emerging economies, officials will need to continue gathering as much funding as possible to meet their needs. This paper looks closer at the infrastructure needs of cities in emerging markets, based on the most recent McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) analysis. It offers practical suggestions on how to answer fundamental questions facing any government trying to get the greatest impact from limited infrastructure funds. And before concluding, it examines how cities worldwide have improved governance, institutions, processes, and capabilities to help close the infrastructure funding gap.

Cities --- Demand --- Emerging Markets --- Global Capacity --- Growth --- ICT Policy and Strategies --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Infrastructure --- Municipal Financial Management --- Transport --- Transport Economics Policy and Planning --- Urban Development --- Urban Services to the Poor --- Urban Slums Upgrading

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Urbanization is undoubtedly a key driver of development-cities provide the national platform for prosperity, job creation, and poverty reduction. But urbanization also poses enormous challenges that one is familiar with: congestion, air pollution, social divisions, crime, the breakdown of public services and infrastructure, and the slums that one billion urban resident's call home. Urbanization is perhaps the single most important question in development today. It is clear that cities have not performed as well as can be expected in their transformative role for more livable, inclusive, people-centered, and sustainable development. But they have enormous potential as growth escalators, offering the opportunity to lift millions out of poverty, and serve as centers of knowledge, innovations, and entrepreneurship. Cities in both the developed and developing world want to attract more entrepreneurs and create more jobs. Cities also need to be resilient to natural hazards and the impacts of climate change. If these are left unaddressed, cities will become part of the problem rather than the solution.

Cities --- Environment --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Housing --- Infrastructure --- National Urban Development Policies & Strategies --- Resilience --- Transport --- Transport Economics Policy and Planning --- Urban --- Urban Development --- Urban Services to the Poor --- Urban Slums Upgrading --- Urbanization