This paper outlines a framework for adaptation to climate change for urban area in low- and middle-income nations that is pro-poor and that enhances the capacity of low-income households and community organizations to contribute to such adaptation.

The first in-depth examination of a broad range of urban security issues, focusing on three key aspects of urban safety and security: crime and violence; security of tenure and protection against forced eviction; and natural and human-made disasters • The UN Human Settlements Programme’s Global Report – the most authoritative source of information on the conditions and trends in the world’s cities • An essential tool and reference for researchers, academics, public authorities and civil society organizations around the world.

Only recently have world leaders paid attention to the crisis of slums. In 2000, one of the Millennium Development Goals called for ''improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers''. But the goal is far too modest. Already, since 2000, the population of slum dwellers has increased by the same figure. And it is estimated that 180,000 people are added to the urban population everyday.

This paper describes the dramatic changes in the size of the world’s urban population and of its largest cities over the last 100 years. This includes the almost tenfold increase in the average size of the world’s 100 largest cities between 1900 and 2000. It also describes the changing distribution of cities between regions.

The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of land disputes in Crimea. The report highlights the principal weaknesses and gaps in institutional capacities of the authorities in the region. It also makes recommendations for addressing deficiencies and ensuring equitable and transparent administration of housing, land and property in Crimea.

An expert group meeting was convened to discuss case studies of regulatory inform of the urban informal sector in six developing country cities.

This paper discusses the possibilities and constraints for adaptation to climate change in urban areas in low- and middle-income nations.

This timely and important Handbook takes stock of progress made in our understanding of what sustainable development actually is and how it can be achieved. Twenty years on from the publication of the seminal Brundtland Report, it has become clear that formidable challenges confront policy makers who have publicly stated their commitment to the goal of sustainable development.

In China, as in many other countries undergoing rapid economic growth, increasing socio-economic inequalities and environmental damage are the main threats to sustainable urbanization. Drawing on international experiences, this paper describes the key issues in urban change in China and identifies the types of policy approaches that could support more sustainable urbanization. Urbanization and urban growth in China are closely linked to economic growth strategies and their uneven spatial dimension. Hence, despite the fact that China is one of the few countries in the world implementing a household registration system with the explicit aim of directly managing population distribution, rural-urban migration, much of it temporary or unregistered, is currently the main factor contributing to urbanization. The paper presents a number of policy options, the first of which would bring economic benefits, the second environmental benefits and the last three equity benefits. None of these options involve prohibiting or promoting migration; rather, they aim to improve the quality of migration for the migrants themselves, their home areas, the environment and the economy.

This paper argues that the dimension of territory or space is indispensable to a development strategy and that regions, as the platform for human society rather than artificial division between rural and urban, should provide the unit of analysis in the development process. While macro-level reforms can provide a sound policy framework and effective incentives, it is at the regional level that appropriate interventions can be identified and implemented. This paper suggests a general framework for such an approach, and illustrates it through a case study of a district in Nepal where conscious efforts have been made to improve linkages between rural and urban areas through the Rural Urban Partnership Programme, RUPP.