Author: Rana Amirtahmasebi
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464804745
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 572
Book Description
Regenerating Urban Land draws on the experience of eight case studies from around the world. The case studies outline various policy and financial instruments to attract private sector investment in urban regeneration of underutilized and unutilized areas and the requisite infrastructure improvements. In particular, each case study details the project cycle, from the scoping phase and determination of the initial amount of public sector investment, to implementation and subsequent leveraged private-sector funds. This manual analyzes rates of return on the investments and long-term financial sustainability. Regenerating Urban Land guides local governments to systematically identify the sequence of steps and tasks needed to develop a regeneration policy framework, with the participation of the private sector. The manual also formulates specific policies and instruments for expanding private sector participation; structuring effective administrative and legal frameworks; utilizing land readjustment/assembly methods; determining duration of contracts, adequate phasing, and timeline; and balancing the distribution of risk and sustainability measures.
Regenerating Urban Land
Financing Transit-Oriented Development with Land Values
Author: Hiroaki Suzuki
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464801509
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
This book provides cities with strategies and methodologies for applying land value capture financing schemes for capital-intensive transit and transit-related investments, based on the successful experiences of Mass Transit Railway Corporation in Hong Kong SAR, China, and Japanese railway companies in Tokyo metropolitan areas.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464801509
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
This book provides cities with strategies and methodologies for applying land value capture financing schemes for capital-intensive transit and transit-related investments, based on the successful experiences of Mass Transit Railway Corporation in Hong Kong SAR, China, and Japanese railway companies in Tokyo metropolitan areas.
Manual para el desarrollo de ferrocarriles urbanos
Author: Daniel Pulido
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464815976
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 814
Book Description
A nivel global, ciudades buscan desarrollar soluciones de transporte asequibles, ecológicas y socialmente responsables que puedan satisfacer las necesidades de conectividad de las crecientes poblaciones metropolitanas y respaldar el futuro desarrollo económico y urbano. Cuando los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos se planifican e implementan adecuadamente como parte de una red de transporte público más amplia, éstis pueden brindar vías rápidas de movilidad y acceso vital a los centros urbanos desde la periferias. Los servicios ferroviarios urbanos de alto rendimiento, cuando se abordan cuidadosamente en el contexto de un proyecto de desarrollo, pueden ayudar a mejorar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos brindándoles acceso a oportunidades laborales y servicios esenciales, tanto del entorno urbano inmediato como de comunidades vecinas. Este manual sintetiza y difunde conocimientos sobre planificación, implementación y operación de los proyectos ferroviarios urbanos para: i) destacar la necesidad de realizar estudios tempranos y planificar los proyectos, ii) contribuir a que los proyectos sean más sostenibles (desde el punto de vista económico, social y ambiental); iii) mejorar los beneficios socioeconómicos de los usuarios y el acceso de estos a distintas oportunidades; iv) maximizar el valor de la participación privada, cuando corresponda, y v) fortalecer la capacidad de las instituciones encargadas de la gestión e implementación de los proyectos. Se ofrece experiencia para lidiar con los desafíos técnicos, institucionales y financieros a los que se enfrentan los tomadores de decisiones de proyectos ferroviarios urbanos. Se reúnen los conocimientos especializados del personal del Banco Mundial y el aporte de numerosos especialistas para sintetizar buenas prácticas y recomendaciones basadas en experiencia global que no responden a intereses comerciales, financieros ni políticos, entre otros. El material presentado tiene como objetivo servir de guía imparcial para maximizar el impacto y afrontar los desafíos que conllevan los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos en las ciudades de países desarrollados y en desarrollo. No se brinda un enfoque único, sino que se reconocen las complejidades y los distintos contextos existentes cuando se aborda un proyecto de desarrollo ferroviario urbano; de ese modo, se apoya a las autoridades a prepararse para formular las preguntas adecuadas, analizar las cuestiones clave, llevar a cabo los estudios necesarios, aplicar las herramientas apropiadas y aprender de las buenas prácticas internacionales, todo ello en el oportuno momento del proceso de desarrollo del proyecto.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464815976
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 814
Book Description
A nivel global, ciudades buscan desarrollar soluciones de transporte asequibles, ecológicas y socialmente responsables que puedan satisfacer las necesidades de conectividad de las crecientes poblaciones metropolitanas y respaldar el futuro desarrollo económico y urbano. Cuando los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos se planifican e implementan adecuadamente como parte de una red de transporte público más amplia, éstis pueden brindar vías rápidas de movilidad y acceso vital a los centros urbanos desde la periferias. Los servicios ferroviarios urbanos de alto rendimiento, cuando se abordan cuidadosamente en el contexto de un proyecto de desarrollo, pueden ayudar a mejorar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos brindándoles acceso a oportunidades laborales y servicios esenciales, tanto del entorno urbano inmediato como de comunidades vecinas. Este manual sintetiza y difunde conocimientos sobre planificación, implementación y operación de los proyectos ferroviarios urbanos para: i) destacar la necesidad de realizar estudios tempranos y planificar los proyectos, ii) contribuir a que los proyectos sean más sostenibles (desde el punto de vista económico, social y ambiental); iii) mejorar los beneficios socioeconómicos de los usuarios y el acceso de estos a distintas oportunidades; iv) maximizar el valor de la participación privada, cuando corresponda, y v) fortalecer la capacidad de las instituciones encargadas de la gestión e implementación de los proyectos. Se ofrece experiencia para lidiar con los desafíos técnicos, institucionales y financieros a los que se enfrentan los tomadores de decisiones de proyectos ferroviarios urbanos. Se reúnen los conocimientos especializados del personal del Banco Mundial y el aporte de numerosos especialistas para sintetizar buenas prácticas y recomendaciones basadas en experiencia global que no responden a intereses comerciales, financieros ni políticos, entre otros. El material presentado tiene como objetivo servir de guía imparcial para maximizar el impacto y afrontar los desafíos que conllevan los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos en las ciudades de países desarrollados y en desarrollo. No se brinda un enfoque único, sino que se reconocen las complejidades y los distintos contextos existentes cuando se aborda un proyecto de desarrollo ferroviario urbano; de ese modo, se apoya a las autoridades a prepararse para formular las preguntas adecuadas, analizar las cuestiones clave, llevar a cabo los estudios necesarios, aplicar las herramientas apropiadas y aprender de las buenas prácticas internacionales, todo ello en el oportuno momento del proceso de desarrollo del proyecto.
Land Issues for Urban Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Robert Home
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303052504X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa faces many development challenges, such as its size and diversity, rapid urban population growth, history of colonial exploitation, fragile states and conflicts over land and natural resources. This collection, contributed from different academic disciplines and professions, seeks to support the UN Habitat New Urban Agenda passed at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. It will attract readers from urban specialisms in law, geography and other social sciences, and from professionals and policy-makers concerned with land use planning, surveying and governance. Among the topics addressed by the book are challenges to governance institutions: how international development is delivered, building land management capacity, funding for urban infrastructure, land-based finance, ineffective planning regulation, and the role of alternatives to courts in resolving boundary and other land disputes. Issues of rights and land titling are explored from perspectives of human rights law (the right to development, and women's rights of access to land), and land tenure regularization. Particular challenges of housing, planning and informality are addressed through contributions on international real estate investment, community participation in urban settlement upgrading, housing delivery as a partly failing project to remedy apartheid's legacy, and complex interactions between political power, money and land. Infrastructure challenges are approached in studies of food security and food systems, urban resilience against natural and man-made disasters, and informal public transport.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303052504X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa faces many development challenges, such as its size and diversity, rapid urban population growth, history of colonial exploitation, fragile states and conflicts over land and natural resources. This collection, contributed from different academic disciplines and professions, seeks to support the UN Habitat New Urban Agenda passed at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. It will attract readers from urban specialisms in law, geography and other social sciences, and from professionals and policy-makers concerned with land use planning, surveying and governance. Among the topics addressed by the book are challenges to governance institutions: how international development is delivered, building land management capacity, funding for urban infrastructure, land-based finance, ineffective planning regulation, and the role of alternatives to courts in resolving boundary and other land disputes. Issues of rights and land titling are explored from perspectives of human rights law (the right to development, and women's rights of access to land), and land tenure regularization. Particular challenges of housing, planning and informality are addressed through contributions on international real estate investment, community participation in urban settlement upgrading, housing delivery as a partly failing project to remedy apartheid's legacy, and complex interactions between political power, money and land. Infrastructure challenges are approached in studies of food security and food systems, urban resilience against natural and man-made disasters, and informal public transport.
Place, Productivity, and Prosperity
Author: Arti Grover
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464817944
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
Place matters for productivity and prosperity. Myriad factors support a successful place, including not only the hard infrastructure such as roads, but also the softer elements such as worker skills, entrepreneurial ability, and well-functioning institutions. History suggests that prosperous places tend to persist, while “left behind†? regions, or those hurt by climatic, technological, or commercial shocks, struggle to catch up. This division gives rise to demands to “do something†? about the subsequent spatial inequality. Such pressures often result in costly spatially targeted policies whose outcomes disappoint because of a lack of analysis of the underlying barriers to growth and structural transformation and a fair appraisal of the possibility of overcoming them. The latest volume of the World Bank Productivity Project series, Place, Productivity, and Prosperity: Revisiting Spatially Targeted Policies for Regional Development makes three broad contributions. First, it provides new analytical and empirical insights into the three drivers of economic geography—agglomeration economies, migration, and distance—and the way in which they interact. Second, it argues that these forces are playing out differently in developing countries than they have in advanced countries: urbanization is not accompanied by structural transformation, leaving cities simply crowded and accruing all the negative aspects of urbanization without being productively concentrated. Long-term amelioration of poverty in lagging regions requires advancing the overall national agenda of structural change and productivity growth. Third, the volume provides a heuristic framework with which to inform policy makers’ assessments of place-based policy proposals, enabling them to identify the regions in which policy is likely to have an impact and those that are nonviable; to clarify the implications of various policy options; to think critically about policy design priorities, including necessary complementary policies to, for instance, infrastructure investment; and to navigate implementation challenges.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464817944
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
Place matters for productivity and prosperity. Myriad factors support a successful place, including not only the hard infrastructure such as roads, but also the softer elements such as worker skills, entrepreneurial ability, and well-functioning institutions. History suggests that prosperous places tend to persist, while “left behind†? regions, or those hurt by climatic, technological, or commercial shocks, struggle to catch up. This division gives rise to demands to “do something†? about the subsequent spatial inequality. Such pressures often result in costly spatially targeted policies whose outcomes disappoint because of a lack of analysis of the underlying barriers to growth and structural transformation and a fair appraisal of the possibility of overcoming them. The latest volume of the World Bank Productivity Project series, Place, Productivity, and Prosperity: Revisiting Spatially Targeted Policies for Regional Development makes three broad contributions. First, it provides new analytical and empirical insights into the three drivers of economic geography—agglomeration economies, migration, and distance—and the way in which they interact. Second, it argues that these forces are playing out differently in developing countries than they have in advanced countries: urbanization is not accompanied by structural transformation, leaving cities simply crowded and accruing all the negative aspects of urbanization without being productively concentrated. Long-term amelioration of poverty in lagging regions requires advancing the overall national agenda of structural change and productivity growth. Third, the volume provides a heuristic framework with which to inform policy makers’ assessments of place-based policy proposals, enabling them to identify the regions in which policy is likely to have an impact and those that are nonviable; to clarify the implications of various policy options; to think critically about policy design priorities, including necessary complementary policies to, for instance, infrastructure investment; and to navigate implementation challenges.
The Urban Rail Development Handbook
Author: Daniel Pulido
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 146481273X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 845
Book Description
Cities across the globe are looking to develop affordable, environmentally friendly, and socially responsible transportation solutions that can meet the accessibility needs of expanding metropolitan populations and support future economic and urban development. When appropriately planned and properly implemented as part of a larger public transportation network, urban rail systems can provide rapid mobility and vital access to city centers from surrounding districts. High-performing urban rail services, when carefully approached as development projects, can help enhance quality of life by giving citizens access to employment opportunities, essential services, urban amenities, and neighboring communities. The purpose of this Handbook is to synthesize and disseminate knowledge to inform the planning, implementation, and operations of urban rail projects with a view towards: -- Emphasizing the need for early studies and project planning; -- Making projects more sustainable (economically, socially, and environmentally); -- Improving socioeconomic returns and access to opportunities for users; -- Maximizing the value of private participation, where appropriate; and -- Building capacity within project implementing and managing institutions This Handbook provides experiential advice to tackle the technical, institutional, and financial challenges faced by decision makers considering urban rail projects. It brings together the expertise of World Bank staff and the input of numerous specialists to synthesize international 'good practices' and recommendations that are independent of commercial, financial political, or other interests. The material presented is intended as an honest-broker guide to maximize the impact and manage the challenges of urban rail systems in cities in both developed and developing countries. Rather than identify a single approach, this Handbook acknowledges the complexities and context necessary when approaching an urban rail development by helping to prepare decision makers to ask the right questions, consider the key issues, perform the necessary studies, apply adequate tools, and learn from international good practice all at the right time in the project development process.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 146481273X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 845
Book Description
Cities across the globe are looking to develop affordable, environmentally friendly, and socially responsible transportation solutions that can meet the accessibility needs of expanding metropolitan populations and support future economic and urban development. When appropriately planned and properly implemented as part of a larger public transportation network, urban rail systems can provide rapid mobility and vital access to city centers from surrounding districts. High-performing urban rail services, when carefully approached as development projects, can help enhance quality of life by giving citizens access to employment opportunities, essential services, urban amenities, and neighboring communities. The purpose of this Handbook is to synthesize and disseminate knowledge to inform the planning, implementation, and operations of urban rail projects with a view towards: -- Emphasizing the need for early studies and project planning; -- Making projects more sustainable (economically, socially, and environmentally); -- Improving socioeconomic returns and access to opportunities for users; -- Maximizing the value of private participation, where appropriate; and -- Building capacity within project implementing and managing institutions This Handbook provides experiential advice to tackle the technical, institutional, and financial challenges faced by decision makers considering urban rail projects. It brings together the expertise of World Bank staff and the input of numerous specialists to synthesize international 'good practices' and recommendations that are independent of commercial, financial political, or other interests. The material presented is intended as an honest-broker guide to maximize the impact and manage the challenges of urban rail systems in cities in both developed and developing countries. Rather than identify a single approach, this Handbook acknowledges the complexities and context necessary when approaching an urban rail development by helping to prepare decision makers to ask the right questions, consider the key issues, perform the necessary studies, apply adequate tools, and learn from international good practice all at the right time in the project development process.
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Issues in Expropriation
Author: Frances Plimmer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317608267
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 641
Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Issues in Expropriation reviews the contemporary major issues involving expropriation (eminent domain/compulsory purchase) in an international context. Expropriation is a right reserved to all governments, and, thus, it has an impact on all societies. This book, the first of its kind, considers the essential issues from the point of view of both developing and developed countries, and their needs for major infrastructure projects. The content covers major issues, principles and policies and includes the experiences of and examples from different countries and regions, including Australia, Asia, China, Europe, India and the USA. Rather than providing an in-depth examination of individual countries’ legal systems, the book focuses on international issues, and also provides a reflection on how national experiences can be related to global needs. Key themes include: Nature and quantum of compensation • Land rights and the acquisition of traditional land rights • Issues surrounding ‘public interest’ •Alternatives to expropriation •The future: “good practice”, debate and reform. This handbook is an essential resource for students and researchers in the areas of land policy, land law, property law and rights, and international development.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317608267
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 641
Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Issues in Expropriation reviews the contemporary major issues involving expropriation (eminent domain/compulsory purchase) in an international context. Expropriation is a right reserved to all governments, and, thus, it has an impact on all societies. This book, the first of its kind, considers the essential issues from the point of view of both developing and developed countries, and their needs for major infrastructure projects. The content covers major issues, principles and policies and includes the experiences of and examples from different countries and regions, including Australia, Asia, China, Europe, India and the USA. Rather than providing an in-depth examination of individual countries’ legal systems, the book focuses on international issues, and also provides a reflection on how national experiences can be related to global needs. Key themes include: Nature and quantum of compensation • Land rights and the acquisition of traditional land rights • Issues surrounding ‘public interest’ •Alternatives to expropriation •The future: “good practice”, debate and reform. This handbook is an essential resource for students and researchers in the areas of land policy, land law, property law and rights, and international development.
Private Cities
Author: Yue Li
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464818460
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
Institutional constraints and weak capacity often hamper the ability of local governments in developing countries to steer urbanization. As a result, there are not enough cities to accommodate an unabated rural-urban migration and many of those that exist are messy, sprawling, and disconnected. The flipside is the emergence of entire cities--more than gated communities or industrial parks--led in whole or in part by private actors. To date, little systematic research has been conducted on the conditions that are necessary for such unusual entities to emerge, on the roles played by private actors, or on the consequences for efficiency and equity. 'Private Cities: Outstanding Examples from Developing Countries and Their Implications for Urban Policy' aims to fill this gap. Using an analytical framework that draws on urban economics and political science, it includes inventories of private cities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan and provides structured reviews of 14 outstanding examples across all developing regions. Nongovernment actors turn out to be diverse--they include not only major companies and large developers but also business associations, civil society organizations, and even foreign countries. The way local governments interact with these nongovernment actors varies as well, from deliberate neglect to joint ventures. Private actors take on some--but not all--local government functions, while at times embracing unconventional roles. And while private cities tend to be economically successful, they can lead to environmental degradation, social segregation, and even institutional secession. Increasing the capacity of local governments in developing countries will take time.Along the way, inefficient spatial development patterns may be locked in. There is a case for selectively tapping into the comparative advantage of significant private actors while actively using policy tools to avoid the potential shortcomings. In the spirit of a publicprivate partnership for urbanization, land value capture would be at the center of this approach.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464818460
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
Institutional constraints and weak capacity often hamper the ability of local governments in developing countries to steer urbanization. As a result, there are not enough cities to accommodate an unabated rural-urban migration and many of those that exist are messy, sprawling, and disconnected. The flipside is the emergence of entire cities--more than gated communities or industrial parks--led in whole or in part by private actors. To date, little systematic research has been conducted on the conditions that are necessary for such unusual entities to emerge, on the roles played by private actors, or on the consequences for efficiency and equity. 'Private Cities: Outstanding Examples from Developing Countries and Their Implications for Urban Policy' aims to fill this gap. Using an analytical framework that draws on urban economics and political science, it includes inventories of private cities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan and provides structured reviews of 14 outstanding examples across all developing regions. Nongovernment actors turn out to be diverse--they include not only major companies and large developers but also business associations, civil society organizations, and even foreign countries. The way local governments interact with these nongovernment actors varies as well, from deliberate neglect to joint ventures. Private actors take on some--but not all--local government functions, while at times embracing unconventional roles. And while private cities tend to be economically successful, they can lead to environmental degradation, social segregation, and even institutional secession. Increasing the capacity of local governments in developing countries will take time.Along the way, inefficient spatial development patterns may be locked in. There is a case for selectively tapping into the comparative advantage of significant private actors while actively using policy tools to avoid the potential shortcomings. In the spirit of a publicprivate partnership for urbanization, land value capture would be at the center of this approach.
Eminent Domain
Author: Iljoong Kim
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316828670
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
The taking of private property for development projects has caused controversy in many nations, where it has often been used to benefit powerful interests at the expense of the general public. This edited collection is the first to use a common framework to analyze the law and economics of eminent domain around the world. The authors show that seemingly disparate nations face a common set of problems in seeking to regulate the condemnation of private property by the state. They include the tendency to forcibly displace the poor and politically weak for the benefit of those with greater influence, disputes over compensation, and resort to condemnation in cases where it destroys more economic value than it creates. With contributions from leading scholars in the fields of property law and economics, the book offers a comparative perspective and considers a wide range of possible solutions to these problems.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316828670
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
The taking of private property for development projects has caused controversy in many nations, where it has often been used to benefit powerful interests at the expense of the general public. This edited collection is the first to use a common framework to analyze the law and economics of eminent domain around the world. The authors show that seemingly disparate nations face a common set of problems in seeking to regulate the condemnation of private property by the state. They include the tendency to forcibly displace the poor and politically weak for the benefit of those with greater influence, disputes over compensation, and resort to condemnation in cases where it destroys more economic value than it creates. With contributions from leading scholars in the fields of property law and economics, the book offers a comparative perspective and considers a wide range of possible solutions to these problems.
Africa's Cities
Author: Somik Vinay Lall
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464810451
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing rapid population growth. Yet their economic growth has not kept pace. Why? One factor might be low capital investment, due in part to Africa’s relative poverty: Other regions have reached similar stages of urbanization at higher per capita GDP. This study, however, identifies a deeper reason: African cities are closed to the world. Compared with other developing cities, cities in Africa produce few goods and services for trade on regional and international markets To grow economically as they are growing in size, Africa’s cities must open their doors to the world. They need to specialize in manufacturing, along with other regionally and globally tradable goods and services. And to attract global investment in tradables production, cities must develop scale economies, which are associated with successful urban economic development in other regions. Such scale economies can arise in Africa, and they will—if city and country leaders make concerted efforts to bring agglomeration effects to urban areas. Today, potential urban investors and entrepreneurs look at Africa and see crowded, disconnected, and costly cities. Such cities inspire low expectations for the scale of urban production and for returns on invested capital. How can these cities become economically dense—not merely crowded? How can they acquire efficient connections? And how can they draw firms and skilled workers with a more affordable, livable urban environment? From a policy standpoint, the answer must be to address the structural problems affecting African cities. Foremost among these problems are institutional and regulatory constraints that misallocate land and labor, fragment physical development, and limit productivity. As long as African cities lack functioning land markets and regulations and early, coordinated infrastructure investments, they will remain local cities: closed to regional and global markets, trapped into producing only locally traded goods and services, and limited in their economic growth.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464810451
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing rapid population growth. Yet their economic growth has not kept pace. Why? One factor might be low capital investment, due in part to Africa’s relative poverty: Other regions have reached similar stages of urbanization at higher per capita GDP. This study, however, identifies a deeper reason: African cities are closed to the world. Compared with other developing cities, cities in Africa produce few goods and services for trade on regional and international markets To grow economically as they are growing in size, Africa’s cities must open their doors to the world. They need to specialize in manufacturing, along with other regionally and globally tradable goods and services. And to attract global investment in tradables production, cities must develop scale economies, which are associated with successful urban economic development in other regions. Such scale economies can arise in Africa, and they will—if city and country leaders make concerted efforts to bring agglomeration effects to urban areas. Today, potential urban investors and entrepreneurs look at Africa and see crowded, disconnected, and costly cities. Such cities inspire low expectations for the scale of urban production and for returns on invested capital. How can these cities become economically dense—not merely crowded? How can they acquire efficient connections? And how can they draw firms and skilled workers with a more affordable, livable urban environment? From a policy standpoint, the answer must be to address the structural problems affecting African cities. Foremost among these problems are institutional and regulatory constraints that misallocate land and labor, fragment physical development, and limit productivity. As long as African cities lack functioning land markets and regulations and early, coordinated infrastructure investments, they will remain local cities: closed to regional and global markets, trapped into producing only locally traded goods and services, and limited in their economic growth.