ISSUE47: SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2007
network of research and training centres/programmes
WIDER plans workshop on urban development in Africa
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Street scene in
Nairobi, venue for next year's |
UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) is calling for papers to be presented at its conference Beyond the Tipping Point: African Development in an Urban World, to be held at UN HABITAT in Nairobi, June 26-28, 2008.
Although cities have always played a defining role in social, political, and economic transformations, in the past 50 years development research and policy has emphasized national development strategies and rural poverty alleviation The resilience of the 'urban bias' thesis has obscured the extent of urban poverty as well as the specific challenges and opportunities posed by urban development.
This year, urban inhabitants will surpass rural dwellers as a percentage of the total world population. The UNU-WIDER workshop will take stock of what we know and what we need to know about cities and development; gather experiences of urbanization and urban growth from across the world; and offer policy options for an inexorably urbanizing world.
Specific issues to be addressed include:
- What are the forces driving urbanization and how do they differ from one region to another?
- What are the economic and environmental costs and benefits of urban agglomerations?
- What is the link between urban infrastructure and poverty reduction?
- What are the gender dimensions of urbanization and urban living?
- How do urban spaces affect interaction between different ethnic, racial and religious groups? Does demographic concentration exacerbate political conflict or promote engaged state-society relations?
- Is our urban future to be characterized by poverty and inequality, fear and violence, or sustainable and prosperous urban spaces characterized by inclusiveness and cosmopolitanism?
- How can urban planning and urban development strategies be integrated into and help inform national and international development policy?
© 2007 United Nations University