The United Nations currently estimates that there are approximately 837 million urban slum dwellers worldwide. If current trends and policies are not reversed, the total number of people living in urban slums could be close to 1.5 billion by 2020.
The Cities Alliance is a global partnership of cities and their development partners that aims to help scale up successful approaches to slum upgrading and stop the growth of new slums. Its Cities Without Slums action plan aims to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers worldwide by 2020, a target which has been incorporated into the United Nations" Millennium Development Goals, as Target 11.
In this context, studying and disseminating successful approaches to slum upgrading is a task of paramount importance. This book offers five geographically and institutionally diverse case studies from Latin America, where some of the longest-running and most successful programs in this field have been conducted. Representing a wide variety of funding arrangements and outside involvement, the stories presented here rely on a qualitative approach and demonstrate the positive impact that community participation and people-oriented service solutions can have on slum upgrading efforts.
A road map and practical, hands-on guide for local officials and policymakers as they attempt to design and manage slum upgrading and shelter projects, this book will be of particular interest to people and organizations seeking to answer the following questions: How can we increase service provision to low-income urban areas? How can we increase the impact of projects and the durability of the improvements they bring about? How can we enhance projects" financial sustainability and mobilize added resources by involving the private sector? What are the key issues this kind of initiative needs to address?
This study was carried out by the Brazilian consultancy Diagonal Urbana, under a contract with the World Bank, and with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Government of Japan. The book is published with support from the Cities Alliance and Diagonal Urbana.
Foreword by Oscar Arias, 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Costa Rica (1986-1990).
Preface by Francoise Lieberherr-Gardiol, Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation
A World Bank Directions in Development Series title Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Slum Upgrading and Participation: Lessons from Latin America (Directions in Development) (Ivo Imparato, Jeff Ruster)