Financing urban infrastructure

Material Information

Title:
Financing urban infrastructure
Creator:
Scholte, Dr. Marianne ( editor )
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Place of Publication:
Eschborn, Germany
Publisher:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2008
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
World Urban Forum ( lcshac )
Urban development ( lcshac )
Sustainable urban development ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

Summary:
This document outlines the networking events of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) at the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China on the 4th of November 2008. It provides an overview of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation’s (GTZ) activities in various countries supporting the financing of urban infrastructure. The World Urban Forum forecasts that with the current pace of urbanization, nearly two-thirds of humanity will be living in towns and cities within the next fifty years. Thus a few major challenges have been to minimize the burgeoning poverty in cities, to improve the urban poor’s access to housing, clean water, and sanitation, while also achieving environmentally friendly and sustainable urban growth and development. The document highlights Germany’s successful strategies in the field of sustainable development, covering various thematic topics such as: urban governance, city and climate, cultural heritage and urban upgrading, social inclusion, and financing urban development. The key challenges of “Financing Urban Infrastructure” include the lack of adequate legal and institutional regulations and frameworks, and the weak institutional and managerial capacity within many local governments, which are essential to managing cooperation with the private sector. The document moves on to outline the work of the “Cities Development Initiative for Asia” (CDIA) which focuses on bridging the gap between planning and implementation by assisting city governments with pre-project preparation and capacity development. Additionally, it presents other urban infrastructure initiatives from around the world and some of their challenges such as the activities of the Township Development Fund (TDF) in Nepal, municipal revenue and fiscal difficulties in Serbia, and good financial governance in Ecuador as a result of fiscal transparency. Overall, the document highlights the crucial role of strong local governments in raising sufficient resources to develop, operate, and maintain infrastructures, and to engage in real partnerships with national governments, intermediary institutions, and development partners. It also demonstrates GTZ’s role in assisting local and national governments in utilizing practical and well-proven instruments to overcome typical constraints in financing urban infrastructure. ( English )
Subject:
Development ( English )
Scope and Content:
1. UN-HABITAT and the World Urban Forum p. 3; 2. The Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum p. 4; 3. Germany: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future p. 6; 4. Financing Urban Infrastructure – The Networking Event of German Development Cooperation p. 9; 4.1. BMZ: Greeting and Thematic Introduction p. 10; 4.2. The Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) p. 14; 4.3. Nepal: The Town Development Fund (TDF) p. 18; 4.4. Serbia: The Importance of Municipal Revenues p. 22; 4.5. Ecuador: Good Financial Governance and Increased Transparency p. 26; 4.6. Concluding Round of Statements p. 30; 5. Organiser of the Networking Event p. 34; 6. Imprint p. 35 ( English )
Citation/Reference:
Schmelzer, C., Scholte, M. (2009). Financing urban infrastructure. Deutsche Gesellshaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit/German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
General Note:
Networking Event of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) at the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China – 4 November 2008

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042484

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Disaster Risk Reduction