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I. Themes for Future Issues II. Readers Preferences for Themes of Future Issues III. Other Recommendations from Readers IV. The World Bank Urban Research Symposium in December 2003 V. Environment &Urbanization Online VI. Downloadable Publications VII. Medio Ambiente Y Urbanizacin

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I. THEMES FOR FUTURE ISSUES October 2003: Water and sanitation in urban areas. We welcome in particular papers about provision for water and sanitation in smaller urban centres; also about initiatives or innovations that have improved provision for low-income urban dwellers. This issue will include interviews with a wide range of lowincome urban dwellers in Pune and Mumbai, currently being undertaken by SPARC, Mahila Milan and the National Slum Dwellers Federation, and a review of water and sanitation as they affect children. April 2004: Participatory governance. Governance is acknowledged to be of critical importance in the 21st century. The challenges of the environment and poverty cannot be addressed by either the market or by the state, acting individually or collectively. To fill the gaps that are evident to many requires a new and more active citizen involvement and participation in decision-making and action. In regard to the environment, the challenge has never been greater. The limitations of legal solutions are evident due to the lack of mechanisms for global governance. Without accepted authorities, alternatives have to be found based on negotiated agreements with some kind of enforcement. The paucity of Northern-based models of poverty reduction has resulted in billions of dollars being spent on welfare programmes with a notable lack of success. Governments recognize the need to involve local groups better, including the lowincome groups themselves, but it is not evident that inclusion alone can solve the problem. To date, much of the emphasis on participatory governance has been on state-led strategies to increase governments relevance and effectiveness through decentralization and devolution often accompanied by further measures to ensure greater representation and accountability. Many governments have sought to offer opportunities for greater citizen participation and involvement through mechanisms such as participatory budgeting. What has been achieved and is this sufficient? Or are more radical ideas required? There is much evidence to suggest that to address global challenges, governance cannot be restricted to measures taken by government, but must involve a more profound change that draws more equitably on all concerned parties to secure and enforce negotiated settlements by those involved in and affected by development issues, activities and processes. The purpose of the April 2004 issue of Environment & Urbanization is to document and disseminate new models for participatory governance. We welcome your papers on experiences of such new models and assessments of the strengths and weaknesses associated with new innovations. October 2004: Urban violence: documenting impacts, causes and responses of how it can be addressed We are also planning special issues on: Risk management: integrating risk reduction for disasters and for everyday hazards in urban environments; The Millennium Development Goals: Will the slum dwellers goal and the other Millennium Development Goals deliver for poor urban populations? Urban livelihoods. II. READERS PREFERENCES FOR THEMES OF FUTURE ISSUES BELOW ARE LISTED the themes that were listed in the questionnaire (which drew on readers suggestions in a previous questionnaire). These are listed by their overall score with an additional column giving the scores based on the favourite theme of each person who returned a questionnaire. (Readers were asked to choose their favourite theme among the ten themes listed below and to mark all other themes that they found interesting. In the overall score, the
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favourite theme was given three points, all other themes marked as interesting one point.) Note that issues are planned on the three top-scoring themes in the next two and a half years.
Theme 1. Urban violence: documenting impacts, causes and responses of how it can be addressed 2. Participatory urban governance 3. Urban livelihoods 4. Urbanization and spatial change 5. Environment and health in cities 6. New towns in low-and middle-income nations 7. Capital cities; problems and policy for the future 8. What constitutes good governance 9. Sustainable cities 10. Gender: a review of what has been achieved since the 1993 issue Overall Favourite score theme 20.3 17.0 15.5 8.9 8.1 7.7 7.7 5.9 5.2 2.7 24.5 17.0 13.2 7.5 7.5 11.3 9.4 5.7 0 3.8

Here is a summary of the themes suggested by readers for future issues of the journal: Building design in different climates Conflict management in urban areas Counter-urbanization Crime and violence in the city (planned for next year) Disaster mitigation in vulnerable cities (planned for 2005) Education, unemployment and environment Energy and cities Food, water and conservation Industrialization, port cities and urban health Information technology Landscape mosaics from rural to downtown ecotones Large cities versus small towns; pros and cons Medium size cities (In part covered in this issue) Monitoring of urban development projects Need for new themes to reflect urbanization trends in Africa New education for cities NGOs and the city Comparative studies between metropolitan areas in Latin America; themes ecological effects of privatization, growth in the last 20 years and environmental changes, rural poverty and urban migration, greening strategies for the last ten years Participatory urban planning Participatory urban poverty assessments Policies and prospects in an urbanizing world Preservation of ancient monuments in cities Problems of city transport and traffic regulation Rental housing in low-income countries Rural-urban interactions in different eco-regions Rural-urban migration Upgrading programmes and poverty reduction (to be covered by the special issue on the Millennium Development Goals) Urban agriculture; reintegrating agriculture in the city Urban infrastructure provision Urban planning and rehabilitation

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Urban planning in different climates Urban poverty reduction Urban segregation Urban water supply; privatization or private partnership (this will be covered in Vol 15 No 2, October 2003) Urbanization effects on land-use change Urbanization in villages and ruralization in cities (in part covered in this issue) Urban-rural interactions (covered in this issue) III. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS FROM READERS

a. Should we drop any sections?

ONE PART OF the questionnaire asked readers whether we should drop any of the sections. The only section that was widely recommended for dropping was the English summaries because these are already incorporated into the front of papers. However, librarians have told us that they find it useful to have the English, French and Spanish summaries in one place so we will not be dropping this. A few people recommended dropping some sections see below but the vast majority of returned questionnaires did not want any sections dropped.
Table 1: Number of recommendations to drop existing sections Editorials one (one other response suggested that the editorials were too long) NGO profile four Papers in feedback four Papers on participatory tools two Guide to the literature one Bulletin board two

b. How much do you use the web pages?

Responses to this were mostly either not at all or we use it a lot and find it invaluable with not much in the middle. In part, this split was between highincome nations and low-income nations (mainly sub-Saharan Africa) although several persons from low-income nations in Africa and Asia found the webpages very useful. One comment was I have copies of all eight back issues on the web but I had problems accessing them since I do not have an internet PC and I had to pay heavily for this although it was worth it. Others commented that using the internet to access the journal was expensive. Others pointed to the fact that their institution had no internet access; one respondent commented that at their school, a Federal Polytechnic, the department does not have an internet connection.

c. Other suggestions
We were very pleased to get a lot of very warm and kind compliments and some wonderful Christmas and New Year cards within which the questionnaire was enclosed; we are not going to summarize what these said but it was very nice to receive them. What many of the returned questionnaires make evident is how few journals are accessible to so many universities and training institutes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asian nations outside the larger universities. Here is a selection of questions that were included in the returned questionnaires with our responses; we chose questions that we thought would be of general interest to many readers. Question: Is it necessary to prevent people from downloading the two current issues from the web? Would it make sufficient difference to your level of subscriptions if you made these available free? Answer: Unfortunately, if we made the two current issues available free of charge on the web, we would lose most institutional subscriptions. We have to sell between 20,000 and 25,000 worth of subscriptions and back issues each
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year for the journal to remain afloat. We get additional funds from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the UK Department for International Development but these are to help cover the extra printing and postage costs incurred in the 1,700 free subscriptions for NGOs and teaching institutions in low- and middle-income nations. These funds also help cover the cost of putting the journal on the web and in preparing the EandU Briefs. Suggestion: Editorials should be replaced by introductions. Response: We do intend the editorials as introductions. Question: Why cant you send back issues free of charge to new subscribers from low and middle-income nations? Answer: Unfortunately, it is very expensive to send back issues, even using a cheap air-freight system. The cost of sending one back issue of the journal to an address outside Europe is around 3 sterling or US$ 5. We simply lack the funds to be able to do so. We are trying to get as many back issues on the web as possible, as a way of making these more easily accessible. During 2003, we will be adding all issues that were published during 1995 and 1996 to the website. Suggestion: Book Notes should contain material to allow the reader to assess their scholarly quality including what theories are used and if it is an empirical work and the data is original. Response: We will try to follow this suggestion in the future. Suggestion: The Book Notes section should include the full addresses of the publishers; the price should always be put there; and also the contact address of the author. Response: We try to include the full address of the publishers and the price for all the publications in Book Notes. Most publications do not give the contact address of the author. Suggestion: Add a section for conference news and other announcements. Response: There are so many conferences and seminars in this field that it would be difficult for us to accommodate all those who want to place details in the journal. We will look into setting up a bulletin board on our website which would allow for this. Suggestion: Replace the large issues published every six months with more frequent, smaller issues. Response: We simply lack the staff time to be able to do more issues. Sales of the journal are not sufficient to support much staff time and having one issue every six months is the most efficient in terms of making limited staff time go furthest. Having two issues with roughly 300 pages each is also much cheaper to print and mail out than four issues of 150 pages or six issues of 100 pages. IV. THE SECOND WORLD BANK SYMPOSIUM ON URBAN POVERTY

Urban Development for Poverty Reduction, Washington, DC December 15-17, 2003

Purpose and objectives: Following upon the inaugural event of December 2002, this second Urban Research Symposium on Urban Development for Poverty Reduction takes a long-term dynamic perspective on urban development as it relates to poverty within urban areas and contributes to poverty reduction at the sub-national or national level. The objectives of the Symposium will be: (i) to explore recent and ongoing urban research with policy and operational relevance to poverty in developing and transition economies, (ii) to devise a well-focused urban research agenda to guide future collaborative efforts

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in this area, and (iii) to continue to foster networking and partnerships among international researchers working on problems of urban poverty. Papers are sought addressing the themes and sub-themes outlined below. Poverty is viewed as multidimensional, encompassing both income and nonincome factors, and as a phenomenon deeply affected by institutions (formal and informal norms, values and rules determining relations in society including through markets, government and social capital). Research of particular interest to this symposium would examine factors affecting how urban development can drive change (for better or worse) in conditions of urban or subnational poverty for example, ways in which: (i) critical information is made available and used in public discourse; (ii) the interests and demands of the poor and deprived residents are expressed and represented; (iii) coalitions and constituencies are formed among groups to counter vested interests and advocate or negotiate pro-poor change; (iv) knowledge is translated into effective policies and actions to reduce poverty at a significant scale.
Theme I. Understanding the sources of, and solutions to, poverty in urban areas

Sub-topic A: Mechanisms driving urban poverty and deprivation or avoiding it including dynamics of chronic versus transitional poverty Comparison of some cities with worse/better poverty performance in major respects; Longitudinal research studies e.g. based on panel data showing how urban poor communities and households have fared over time; The basis of urban social advantage opportunities for women and evolution of gender roles; urban opportunities for learning (not just schooling, but literacy retention); exposure to positive social forces, attitude change, etc; Competing forces for urban social disadvantage (crime and violence). Sub-topic B: Assessment of urban poverty and its manifestations Assessment of income and non-income dimensions (including work measuring and monitoring "slums", "slum-dwellers" and their welfare); what can be learned from alternative welfare indicators, such as nutritional status; Use of indicators and measurement methods to bring hard information into decision-making, including mapping of service deficiencies, land uses, etc. How can baseline data permitting trends over time, to assess success/failure in poverty reduction, be developed and institutionalized into planning and policy making? Sub-topic C: Cost and institutional implications of operational responses to poverty in urban settlements In what respect are there urban cost advantages or "urban economies of scale" in providing services to urban populations? What are the underlying efficiencies of providing services to populations in urban settlements (of different types/sizes/layouts), and what are additional costs of not planning ahead, setting aside rights of way, etc? What are the institutional implications and requirements of providing the effective services to reduce poverty in urban settlements, through the public and/or private sector the organizational and governance "efficiencies" and challenges, including those of maintaining operational quality of infrastructure and services, and achieving or sustaining related welfare outcomes over time? How can political systems and decision-making over resources become more responsive and inclusive so that the poor can make their needs heard? Sub-topic D: Urban health issues in urban health outcomes and underlying causes Health profiles within urban populations, and associated factors driving morbidity/mortality and nutritional status; HIV/Aids and its implications for urban poverty and urban management.

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Theme II: Getting ahead of the demographic curve: urban planning and management of urban areas and their growth to prevent worsening poverty and future slums, as well as to meet the needs of today's poor
Sub-topic A: Experiences/case studies in good practice growth management, related especially to addressing poverty concerns City case studies where constituencies have been mobilized and policies pursued and sustained with a long term vision of preparing for urban growth (versus reacting ex post); Experiences with use of planning tools for proactive growth management; participatory and preventive approaches of strategic planning; making planning adaptable to reflect actual growth and market dynamics; ensuring implementation and enforcement. Sub-topic B: Managing cities and towns under conditions of high demographic growth Scenario analysis of growth of cities/city-regions under different institutional, policy conditions; Managing the smaller and secondary urban areas (towns and cities) where demographic growth is fastest, but with least capacity; Managing very large (though slower-growing) metropolitan areas.

Theme III: Housing and land access for low income residents
Sub-topic A: Urban land use patterns, land markets and distortions implications for access especially for low income residents Land institutions and policies (real estate property rights, land policy, regulations, information access, etc.); enforcement issues; Alternatives to increase the supply of affordable serviced land. Sub-topic B: Removing barriers to housing for low-income residents Housing supply and demand issues, e.g. regulations and rental market constraints that distort and limit access; Finance alternatives and innovations; Housing subsidies that work for the poor.

Theme IV: Urban livelihoods: how well are urban areas actually providing opportunity for the poor why and why not?
Sub-topic A: Urban labour markets constraints and issues preventing effective use of labor and limiting job creation, or limiting labour participation. Sub-topic B: Factors that drive the livelihoods of the urban poor linkages and interdependencies among urban and rural households, and between formal/informal sectors. Sub-topic C: Strategies, policies and programmes to promote effective propoor local economic development good practices and lessons. Subtopic D: Risks and vulnerabilities undermining livelihoods enhancing financial security; safety nets. Procedure for participation: Researchers from developing and transition countries will be given priority in the selection of papers for presentation among those meeting the criteria, and in allocation of funding for travel to Washington. Simultaneous translation into French and Spanish will be provided as necessary. A subset of the papers accepted for presentation will be published following the symposium, and all papers accepted will be posted on the World Banks website. Other publication outlets are encouraged, with attribution. Interested researchers are asked to submit a 1 to 2 page abstract of their proposed paper by June 30. Selections will be made and announced by the end of July. A draft of each paper to be presented should be sent to the Bank by the end of October.

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Abstracts should be submitted by email to: urbansymposium@ worldbank.org Further information, including on last years event, is available on the Website: http://www.worldbank.org/urban/symposium2002/ Comments and suggestions are also welcome and can be made at the Discussion Space: http://208.185.217.196/urs/contributions_welc.htm V. ENVIRONMENT&URBANIZATION ON-LINE A NEW PAGE has been added to the Environment&Urbanization web site, which gives news about forthcoming issues, and papers and feedback from readers, and also includes a facility to allow you to e-mail us with your comments and suggestions. See: http://www.iied.org/eandu/eandu_news.html. The complete texts of the last 14 issues of Environment&Urbanization are now available on-line at http://www.ingentaselect.com/titles/09562478.htm and during 2003, we will be adding to this all issues published in 1995 (two issues on urban poverty) and 1996 (one on The future city, one on city inequality). All but the two most recent issues can be accessed by anyone free of charge, and any paper can be printed from the web. The full text of the two most recent issues are only available free to those using libraries that subscribe to Environment&Urbanization and who have registered with www.ingentaselect.com. The contents list for the two most recent issues and abstracts for each paper can be viewed free of charge, but a US$ 6 fee has to be paid to obtain access to individual papers, or a fee of US$ 30 for access to the complete issue. VI. DOWNLOADABLE PUBLICATIONS A WEB SITE provides downloadable versions of many of the publications from IIEDs Human Settlements Programme. These can be found at http://www.iied.org/rural_urban/downloads.html and include: Urban Poverty Reduction Working Paper Series Local Agenda 21s and Urban Environmental Action Plans Working Paper Series RuralUrban Working Paper Series Environment&Urbanization Briefs RuralUrban Briefing Papers Urban Environment and Poverty Briefing Papers HiFi News recent issues of this newsletter on housing finance projects and programmes in the South VII. MEDIO AMBIENTE Y URBANIZACIN OUR SISTER JOURNAL Medio Ambiente y Urbanizacin, produced since 1983 by IIEDAmrica Latina in Buenos Aires, published a special issue in February 2002 on Ciudadana Presente! (A citizens cry of We are here! that would commonly be used in a demonstration). This included papers on the role of publicprivate partnerships, on supporting upgrading, the paper on Barra Mansa that is also in the last issue of E&U, the impact of decentralization on local development in Argentina, the experience with providing water and sanitation in four informal settlements in Buenos Aires and the management of vicuas for rural communities in Peru. The themes for the next two issues are decentralization, and reflections on the World Summit on Sustainable Development. An annual subscription (two issues) for those outside Latin America is US$ 28. Send a cheque drawn on a US bank account, made out to Ana N Hardoy, to IIEDAmrica Latina, Av General Paz 1180, 1429 Capital Federal, Argentina; e-mail: iied-al@iied-al.org.ar. For more details of the work of IIEDAmrica Latina, see: http://www.iied-al.org.ar/

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