Global project 940100895 · 1990–1991 · housing, urban and municipal infrastructure · Urban Institute (UI)

Third World urbanization has outstripped the capacity of authorities to manage development and respond to the need for infrastructure, services, and land, according to this report. The resulting environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources now threatens to undermine the productivity of cities and hamper economic growth. The report, a compilation of three papers delivered at an A.I.D-hosted conference on linkages between urbanization and the environment, identifies the most immediate environmental problems facing urban areas as a lack of potable water, inadequate or improper sewage and solid waste disposal, and insufficient land use planning. Five principles to guide urban environmental management are proposed: (1) enhance economic growth through such measures as settlement policy reform, strengthening agricultural markets, etc.; (2) develop strong institutions by, e.g., clarifying jurisdictions and decentralizing authority; (3) create better guidance systems for decisionmaking; (4) direct urban growth with carefully instituted land development policies and improved urban services; and (5) encourage private initiative by offering credit, enacting regulatory reform

Source: DEC abstract, PN-ABG-449 (1990). The source's own text.