Founded in 1980, with permanent headquarters in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) is a regional, non-governmental, non-profit urban research, technical and consulting organization. Audi is the technical and scientific arm of the Arab Towns Organization (ATO), has an active membership of more than 400 Arab cities and towns representing 22 Arab states.
A major goal of the Institute is the enhancement of the quality of municipal services in Arab towns and more...

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending two grants totaling $15 million to support the development of micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

ADB is providing a $6 million grant to establish an integrated policy, strategy and institutional framework for the development of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The grant will also enhance business laws and regulations to facilitate the operations of those enterprises, improve their more...

The Cities Alliance is pleased to announce the release of its 2007 Annual Report, which highlights the slum upgrading and city development strategy activities of Cities Alliance members over the past year. The growth of the Cities Alliance, which now has 23 members, is also reflected in the broad and dynamic range of activities which includes policy reforms, city and nationwide slum upgrading programmes, increased commitment to economic development as part of city strategies, and dedicated suppo more...

Representatives from various local government units, non-government organizations, people's organizations, private sector groups, the academe and the national government met conducted a Priming Activity on September 20, 2007 to prepare for the Cities Alliance Public Policy Forum to be hosted by the country from November 5 to 9, 2007.

The Cities Alliance (CA) is a global coalition of cities and their development partners committed to scaling-up effective approaches to poverty reduction and su more...

A gathering of parliamentarians, mayors, local and national government officials and civil society experts and advocates of slum upgrading and scale took place in Brasilia from September 20th and 21st 2007, under the name, “Cities for All: Policies for Slums” programme. The event discussed the challenges and opportunities of the upgrading component of the government’s Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC), launched January this year by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and proje more...

he Network was founded in 1999 by John R. Logan and is currently led by geographer Christopher J. Smith and sociologist Zai Liang (Co-Directors). Other members of the Steering Committee are: sociologists Steven F. Messner and John Logan, historian Jennifer Rudolph, geographers Youqin Huang, Si-ming Li and Fulong Wu, and political scientist Cheng Chen. The Network has institutional support provided by University at Albany's Mumford Center and the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis (CSDA). more...

" From the first, Johannesburg has been a site of international organisations, particularly corporations, and media. The city is the key point of global economic contact for South Africa and a much wider region – a role hugely expanded since 1990. In turn it is Johannesburg based companies which increasingly shape business in many other African cities from Bamako to Dar es Salaam, in sectors such as telecommunications, retailing and banking.

Like most other cities of the global south a larg more...

The 6 CDS cities of Dumaguete, Calbayog, Muntinlupa, Naga, Malaybalay and Iloilo were the pilot areas of the Local Initiatives for Affordable Wastewater Treatment (LINAW) project of the USAID.

The project was conceived as a way to help local governments implement the Clean Water Act (2004), by introducing low-cost alternatives for wastewater treatment. Among the priority areas were the treatment of household waste which is the main source of organic pollution of the waters in the Philippines. more...

International Conference to mark World Habitat Day, October 1-2, 2007. The Hague, Netherlands. Presentations will be given on Rotterdam by Dominic Schrijer (member of municipal executive, Rotterdam) and on Johannesburg by Renier Erasmus (CEO Madulamoho Housing Association, Johannesburg. Panellists on the Rotterdam case: Sophie Body-Gendrot (Director of the Center for Urban Studies at Paris Sorbonne University), Sadik Harchaoui (Director of FORUM, Institute for Multicultural Development) and Mart more...

Pacific Asia is the fastest growing region in the world, and its very large cities - world cities - have been laying a critical art in spearheading economic growth and social and cultural transformation. This book focuses on the functional characteristics and linkage effects of Pacific Asia's world cities against the background of global economic restructuring since the 1980s. These cities are examined as individual entities, in their regional setting, and in the context of subregional cooperati more...