Drawing from experience on researching rural–urban interactions in northern and southern Tanzania, this paper critically discusses the methodological approach adopted and the tools and methods used. These included a combination of participatory tools, questionnaire survey, and commodity chain analyses. The authors give a detailed account of the practical difficulties but also of the benefits of using participation in research which is not immediately linked to action.

This paper describes the progress and improved services and environment made in the city of Ilo over the last 15 years and discusses reasons for its success. It also includes a municipal programme that has ensured that land is available for housing that even low income households can afford, and that has avoided problems of illegal settlements – despite the city’s rapid population growth. It also describes some of the public works and how some 300 projects were financed and executed through partnerships between municipal governments and community level management committees. However the paper’s intention is to go beyond the description of achievements, to a consideration of the processes that underlie them and highlights the importance of a mode of government that helps encourage trust, that meets its commitments and that respects agreements developed with the communities.

This paper describes the pioneering experience of the city of Leicester (in the UK) over the last 10 years in developing its Local Agenda 21 and other aspects of its work towards environmental improvement and sustainable development. It includes details of measures to improve public transport and reduce congestion, traffic accidents, reduce car use and pollution. It also describes measures to improve housing quality for low income households. It describes in detail how this was done through participatory processes and specialist working groups.

In March 1996, representatives from several Peruvian cities, grassroots organizations and NGOs, together with scientists and staff from universities and local government authorities, decided to establish a national forum to promote the development and implementation of Agenda 21 in cities in Peru. This came to be called the “Cities for Life” Forum which, today, brings together representatives from 41 institutions in 18 cities. This paper describes the origin and early development of the Forum - and its vision, strategies and work to date. It seeks to show how this Forum developed beyond what was initially a conventional project which depended upon technical assistance and the initiatives of a local NGO into a network of many different actors from many urban centres in Peru who, together, form an autonomous and independent entity. The Forum has encouraged and supported its members in developing and implementing local environmental action plans and in learning from each other’s experiences. The paper also outlines the main environmental problems in Peru’s urban areas and the unsupportive national framework within which urban authorities and other urban actors strive to address environmental problems.

This paper describes the consultation processes in Rufisque that have laid the foundations for a local agenda 21. These consultations have helped to establish new relationships between municipal government, community organisations and the private sector and have encouraged a range of initiatives to address local economic and environmental problems. New community-level and district committees have developed to bring different stakeholders together to identify problems and develop responses. The paper also describes how decentralization in Senegal has encouraged this, although local authorities remain weak because the decentralization of responsibilities has not been accompanied by measures to ensure local financial capacity to meet them.

This paper presents the findings of research on the rural–urban interactions and linkages between the town of Himo and two rural settlements in the surrounding area. The authors describe how urban growth has affected the livelihoods of different groups: high, middle and low income; urban residents and rural dwellers. They also explore the impact of these transformations on intra-household relations, in particular between genders and between generations. The main issues addressed in the paper are: flows of people (migration and mobility); flows of goods (agricultural production and access to markets); income diversification in both rural and urban settlements; and institutional and policy aspects, with particular attention to decentralisation processes. A related briefing paper is available for free download on IIED’s rural-urban web page

This paper presents the findings of research on the rural–urban interactions and linkages between the town of Lindi and two rural settlements in the surrounding area. The authors describe how urban growth has affected the livelihoods of different groups: high, middle and low income; urban residents and rural dwellers. They also explore the impact of these transformations on intra-household relations, in particular between genders and between generations. The main issues addressed in the paper are: flows of people (migration and mobility); flows of goods (agricultural production and access to markets); income diversification in both rural and urban settlements; and institutional and policy aspects, with particular attention to decentralisation processes.

This report provides an overview of urban environmental planning and management issues in low income settings. It starts by defining a field of action for development assistance, and ends with a review of urban environmental strategies. In between, it examines a range of policy relevant issues, from how environmental improvements can reduce poverty to how local governments can work with private enterprises and civil society groups to address environmental problems.