Transit subsidies in the urban area of Buenos Aires are high, amounting to a total of US$5 billion for 2012. They have been challenged on several counts: suspected of driving urban sprawl and associated infrastructure costs, diverting resources from system maintenance, and failing to reach the poor among others.
... See More + In this context, this paper examines the impacts of cost recovery fares under a range of different policy scenarios that could cushion the impact of fare increases. The alternative scenarios that are scrutinized are the uncompensated removal of the transit subsidy, its replacement by a lump sum transfer, and its replacement by two different construction subsidy schemes. Using a dynamic urban model (NEDUM-2D) calibrated for the urban area of Buenos Aires, all scenarios are assessed along four dimensions: (i) the efficiency/welfare impact on residents, (ii) the impacts on the internal structure of the urban area and sprawl, (iii) the impact on commuting-related carbon dioxide emissions, and (iv) the redistributive impacts, with a focus on the poorest households. A series of results emerge. First, there are consumption-related welfare gains for residents associated with replacing the transit subsidy by a lump sum transfer. Second, there are only moderate reductions in urbanization over time and thus infrastructure costs associated with the subsidy removal. Third, the replacement of the transit subsidy leads to only moderate increases in carbon dioxide emissions despite lower public transport mode shares, because households will chose to settle closer to jobs, thereby reducing commuting distances. Finally, the replacement of the transit subsidy by a lump sum transfer will lead to short-term harsh redistributive impacts for captive transit users in some areas of the urban area. Medium-term adjustments of land and housing prices will partially mitigate the negative impacts of higher transport costs for tenants, but will further hurt homeowners.
See Less -
Policy Research Working Paper WPS8166 AUG 14, 2017
This paper investigates the presence of endogenous peer effects in the adoption of formal property rights. Using data from a unique land titling experiment held in an unplanned settlement in Dar es Salaam, the analysis finds a strong, positive impact of neighbor adoption on the household's choice to purchase a land title.
... See More + The paper also shows that this relationship holds in a separate, identical experiment held a year later in a nearby community, as well as in administrative data for more than 160,000 land parcels in the same city. Although the exact channel is undetermined, the evidence points toward complementarities in the reduction in expropriation risk, as peer effects are strongest between households living close to each other and there is some evidence that peer effects are strongest for households most concerned with expropriation. The results show that, within the Tanzanian context, households will reinforce each other’s decisions to enter formal tenure systems.
See Less -
Policy Research Working Paper WPS8163 AUG 10, 2017
Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, faces huge traffic congestion, the cost of which is estimated to be more than 2 percent of the city's gross regional product.
... See More + Effective policies are needed, based on weighing their overall economic cost and benefit to society. This study developed an empirical model based on microeconomic theory, accounting for production and consumption behavior related to transportation in the Greater Beirut Area, to simulate various policy combinations. A key finding of the study is that individual supply-side policies, such as the expansion of roads or introduction of a bus rapid transit system, are quite effective at reducing traffic congestion while increasing economic output and welfare. They also account for most of the benefits from implementing policy packages with supply- and demand-side measures. The introduction of bus rapid transit with expansion of the road system to feed the bus rapid transit system reduces congestion by about 16 percent and congestion costs by more than 50 percent. This would increase Beirut's gross regional product by roughly 2 percent, and the average social welfare of the residents of Beirut by 4 percent. In contrast, demand-side instruments, implemented alone, lower gross regional product and welfare with limited effects on congestion.
See Less -
Policy Research Working Paper WPS8158 AUG 03, 2017
Anas,Alex; De Sarkar,Sayan; Abou Zeid,Maya; Timilsina,Govinda R.; El Nakat,Ziad SalimDisclosed
Urbanization in East Asia and the Pacific has created enormous opportunity for many. Yet the rapid growth of cities can also create challenges as national and local governments try to keep up with the needs of their growing populations.
... See More + Among these challenges is a lack of affordable housing, resulting in increasing slums, deficits in basic service provision, and widening inequality for urban dwellers. This study aims to better understand urban poverty and inequality in East Asian cities, recognizing that many countries of the region, particularly those of middle-income status, are at a critical juncture in their urbanization and growth process where potential social divisions in cities could harm prospects for future poverty reduction. The study uses a multidimensional approach to understand urban poverty and inclusion and draws on examples of programs and policies that have been successfully implemented in the East Asia region to develop a set of guiding principles for policy makers.
See Less -
Ratings for the Urban Governance and Development Program: Emerging Towns Project for Nepal were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was substantial, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: bank’s support to local governments in a fragile political environment and weak governance structure will benefit from a realistic and simple project design and clear implementation arrangements. A local governance program can achieve desired outcomes by taking the integrated approach of strengthening of local institutional capacity and supporting capital investment programs for access to service and for infrastructure provision. Stakeholder consultations suggested that the unique nature of the Project was the combination of improving infrastructure and basic services (which the municipalities lack) on the one hand, and strengthening institutional capacity to plan and implement infrastructure investments, on the other hand. By strengthening institutions in tandem with implementing physical infrastructure investments, the project could demonstrate the benefits of sustained institutional development at the local level while addressing critical infrastructure needs. Local government strengthening and institutional development is a slow and incremental process, especially in a fragile environment, and requires time to show results. During the initial implementation period, the Project required close support and follow up with participating municipalities, a strong socialization process, as well as institutional support before benefits materialized. This lead-time however had a pay back and resulted in improved sustainability of urban development. An effective urban governance program requires institution building at both national and local levels. To improve decentralized urban infrastructure and service delivery, the project strengthened institutions at the national level (including MoUD, MoFALD, and TDF) as well as the participating municipalities. This approach enabled scaling up or evolving to wider replication of programs built on strengthened policies and institutions at both national and local levels.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4091 JUL 27, 2017
The Skills Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP) survey is an initiative of the World Bank in cooperation with other development partners and nongovernmental agencies.
... See More + STEP was carried out in more than 14 countries globally. In Ghana, the first phase of the survey, focusing on adults in urban communities, was undertaken in partnership with the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research; the Ministry of Education; the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training; and the Ghana Statistical Service. Stepping Up Skills in Urban Ghana provides detailed insights from the survey for policy makers. These insightscover areas including investments in early childhood education, the role of improvements in the quality of education, and the creation of incentives for economic actors to invest in on-the-job training to improve Ghana’s competitiveness and the well-being of its citizens.
See Less -
The Skills Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP) survey is an initiative of the World Bank in cooperation with other development partners and nongovernmental agencies.
... See More + STEP was carried out in more than 14 countries globally. In Ghana, the first phase of the survey, focusing on adults in urban communities, was undertaken in partnership with the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research; the Ministry of Education; the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training; and the Ghana Statistical Service. Stepping Up Skills in Urban Ghana provides detailed insights from the survey for policy makers. These insights cover areas including investments in early childhood education, the role of improvements in the quality of education, and the creation of incentives for economic actors to invest in on-the-job training to improve Ghana’s competitiveness and the well-being of its citizens.
See Less -
The objective of the Urban Development Project is to support Rwanda’s urbanization process by delivering basic services that will improve living conditions and promote local economic development.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: plots of land were measured by tape measure to determine the size. This will be done in the presence of the Displaced persons and the committee chosen to follow-up the asset inventory and valuation; houses were measured by tape measure, type and quantity of construction materials used on the houses will be determined, state of the structure also determined, all were done in the presence of the affected owner and valuation committee; crops valuation criteria based on area of coverage, in other cases number of standing crops and age; valuation is for annual crops since the seasonal crops shall be harvested by the time of project commencement. For those hiring or care taking for the actual land owner, compensation shall be written against those hiring or care taking of the land not to the land owners to avoid any misconduct by the land owners seize the compensation packages intended for those who hired the land; and all this data was entered into individual valuation field sheets for each plot of land and for each affected person. Each of these were verified by the valuation committee, verified by the affected person, who signed against the sheet. These sheets were signed off by the Cell and Sector authorities before they are sent to Muhanga District land commission for endorsement and for payment processing.
See Less -
The objective of the Urban Development Project is to support Rwanda’s urbanization process by delivering basic services that will improve living conditions and promote local economic development.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: plots of land were measured by tape measure to determine the size. This will be done in the presence of the Displaced persons and the committee chosen to follow-up the asset inventory and valuation; houses were measured by tape measure, type and quantity of construction materials used on the houses will be determined, state of the structure also determined, all were done in the presence of the affected owner and valuation committee; crops valuation criteria based on area of coverage, in other cases number of standing crops and age; valuation is for annual crops since the seasonal crops shall be harvested by the time of project commencement. For those hiring or care taking for the actual land owner, compensation shall be written against those hiring or care taking of the land not to the land owners to avoid any misconduct by the land owners seize the compensation packages intended for those who hired the land; and all this data was entered into individual valuation field sheets for each plot of land and for each affected person. Each of these were verified by the valuation committee, verified by the affected person, who signed against the sheet. These sheets were signed off by the Cell and Sector authorities before they are sent to Muhanga District land commission for endorsement and for payment processing.
See Less -
The objective of the Urban Support Program Project is to establish and strengthen urban institutions to deliver improved infrastructure and services in participating counties in Kenya.
... See More + Economic growth has been accompanied by rapid urbanization. Nonetheless Kenya remains under-urbanized. This means Kenya can still leverage the benefits of urbanization for improving economic opportunities and living conditions. The Government of Kenya has recognized the need to manage urbanization as part of its overall development strategy. Kenya Vision 2030 highlights rapid urbanization as one of four key challenges facing the country. Within the over-arching framework of vision 2030, the urbanization component of the Second Medium Term Plan (MTP2) 2013-17 aims to facilitate a sustainable urbanization process through an integrated urban and regional planning management framework of Kenyan urban centers and towns. Aligned to that goal, the MTP identifies a series of investment programs to enhance infrastructure, connectivity and accessibility, safety and security. Developing the basic institutions required for effective urban management is critical to deliver these investments and for urbanization to contribute to sustainable growth in Kenya.
See Less -
The development objective of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project for Nigeria is to improve the capacity of Oyo State to effectively manage flood risk in the city of Ibadan.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) providing enlightenment forums to community members from the preparatory stage and on potential environmental and social concerns from civil works; (2) traffic control measures to include: strict enforcement of speed limits, use of appropriate road safety signage’s and signalers, and minimization of movement at peak hours of the day; (3) provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers; emergency contingency plans; education of workers; incident and accident reporting; provision of first aid onsite; (4) ensure exhaust fumes from vehicles conform to applicable national standards and specifications; (5) maintain equipment and machineries adequately to reduce; (6) avoid removal of vegetation and trees to the extent possible; and (7) regular inspection of the project sites will be needed.
See Less -
Urbanization is simultaneously a major driver of development, wealth creation, and poverty reduction, as well as one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.
... See More + Urbanization can and should be embraced as an opportunity to reduce poverty. The building regulatory capacity assessment provides an important contribution to help cities and project managers working with development agencies to implement this last priority by offering a new resource to assess building and land use regulatory systems, and facilitate the collection of critical information about the building regulatory framework in any given city or country. The building regulatory capacity assessment is comprised of the level 1 - initial screening, designed for government officials and project managers undertaking rapid preliminary assessments. It provides an opportunity to initiate conversations with clients and relevant parties on strategies for achieving relevant development objectives. Level 1 is complemented by a level 2 - detailed exploration, which provides a set of guidelines for team members and contractors who are tasked with gathering and analyzing data and information about the building regulatory capacity of the target country, region, or municipality. As part of the Building regulation for resilience program supported by the global facility for disaster reduction and recovery, the author hope that this assessment tool will offer an effective resource for interventions within a wide range of urban development initiatives in cities of low and middle-income countries.
See Less -
Urbanization is simultaneously a major driver of development, wealth creation, and poverty reduction, as well as one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.
... See More + The building regulatory capacity assessment provides an important contribution to help cities and project managers working with development agencies to implement this last priority by offering a new resource to assess building and land use regulatory systems, and facilitate the collection of critical information about the building regulatory framework in any given city or country. The building regulatory capacity assessment is comprised of the level 1 - initial screening, designed for government officials and project managers undertaking rapid preliminary assessments. It provides an opportunity to initiate conversations with clients and relevant parties on strategies for achieving relevant development objectives. Level 1 is complemented by a level 2 - detailed exploration, which provides a set of guidelines for team members and contractors who are tasked with gathering and analyzing data and information about the building regulatory capacity of the target country, region, or municipality. Overall, the assessment identifies critical gaps, it provides the necessary information to develop a baseline for formulating technical assistance to clients, as well as drawing findings that can be used to determine areas for improvement and investment. As part of the building regulation for resilience program supported by the global facility for disaster reduction and recovery, the author hope that this assessment tool will offer an effective resource for interventions within a wide range of urban development initiatives in cities of low and middle-income countries.
See Less -
Ratings for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project - 2A for India were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome was moderate, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: The Bank should enable and encourage teams to use convening power and the flexibility offered by project restructurings to tackle incremental issues during implementation. given the complexities of large urban transport systems and the inevitable presence of exogenous factors, teams should be conservative in selecting indicators that are strongly attributable to a project intervention. If the realities of implementation prove otherwise, teams should also act to restructure indicators towards measures that provide credible attribution. A key lesson for future urban rail projects is to treat the risk of developing a new rolling stock configuration very differently than the risks associated with procuring rolling stock that follows a design that is already in operation on an urban rail system. Shaping an implementing agency’s capabilities with a view to tackling longer term sustainability challenges can offer an effective first step in an environment that otherwise enables no immediate practical solutions for a major restructuring of institutions.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4109 JUN 27, 2017
Ratings for the Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation (EMUS) Project for Liberia were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was significant, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: i) Engaging the private sector in delivery is not a panacea in fragile and conflict affected contexts; ii) Achieving financial sustainability for SWM services in fragile and capacity-constrained contexts requires an incremental, long-term approach; iii) Integrating the PIU with the local implementing agent has the potential to greatly enhance local capacity. However, clear roles need to be defined to avoid split responsibilities; iv) independent monitoring of waste transactions is important to minimize the risk of fraud.The simplicity of the project design is key to achieving the development objective in fragile countries.Engaging the private sector to deliver SWM services is not a panacea in fragile and conflict affected contexts.Achieving financial sustainability for SWM services in fragile and capacity constrained contexts requires an incremental, long-term approach. Integrating the PIU with the local government has the potential to greatly enhance local capacity. However, this creates a gap during the preparation of future projects, unless resources are provided and clear roles are defined to avoid split responsibilities.Solid waste data collection through weigh bridge associated with an Independent third party monitoring of solid waste data is important to minimize the risk of fraud.Constant, deep and thorough consultation/engagement of local communities around landfill sites (even at post-closing periods) is a necessity for successful operation.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4138 JUN 20, 2017
