Exploring how urban professionals plan, manage and govern cities in emerging economies, this insightful book studies the actions and instruments they employ. It highlights how the paradigms of interventions and approaches to urban management are shifting, indicating that urban governance is becoming increasingly important in dealing with wicked issues, like climate change and social and economic inequalities in cities.

Economic and societal systems continually evolve as the needs and demands of society change. With the development of new technologies, research, and discoveries, various opportunities emerge for venture development and developing economies. Crowdfunding and Sustainable Urban Development in Emerging Economies provides innovative research on current issues in the rise of new platforms for digital activities, a collaborative economy, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and other activities that are shaping developing countries. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics, such as infrastructure finance, tertiary educational institutions, and urban sustainability, this book is an important resource for academicians, practitioners, researchers, and students.

The economic and social development that Bangladesh has achieved in the past two decades has made Bangladesh a development paradox. This book tries to explain this paradox through a political economy lens. The book explains the linkages between the state, changing society and emerging private sector, and examines whether the social transformation taking place in Bangladesh has the potential to live up to the expectations of a middle- income country. The early part of the book unravels the myriad relations between the state, society and market to project the aspirations of a newly independent nation. It analyzes how political turmoil, militarization of politics, politicization of institutions, reforms initiatives, industrial and social development policies, and the power nexus influenced the nature of the political economy of Bangladesh. The book goes on to examine how domestic appetite for capital and raw materials, the digital revolution, and the capacity of the local market to absorb expanded economic activities have created an environment that catalyzes innovation and entrepreneurship. The book also explains how the country has attempted to transform from an agrarian to a manufacturing- based economy, with rapid growth in the ready- made garment industry, pisciculture, pharmaceuticals and the ICT sector. Bangladesh’s journey from an emerging economy towards a developed country would interest those researching on development economics and those in policy making.

Along with globalization, urban transitions have been central in the southward shift in economic power towards the newly emerging economies. As this book shows, however, these transitions have not been painless, and it is important for the rest of the urbanizing world to learn from the mistakes. It examines the role of urbanization and urban growth in the emerging economies, taking the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as case studies. Their different approaches towards urbanization have shaped their historical development paths and assisted or constrained their futures. Several of the BRICS bear heavy burdens from past failures to accommodate urban growth inclusively and efficiently, and many other urbanizing countries in Asia and Africa are in danger of replicating their mistakes. The overriding lesson of the book is that cities and nations must anticipate urbanization, and accommodate urban growth pro-actively, so as not to be left with an enduring legacy of inequalities and lost opportunities. This book is aimed at students and researchers in urban studies and development studies. It will also be of interest to policy advisors concerned with urbanization and the role of cities in a country’s development

Plenty has been written on the competitiveness of megacities, capital cities, and regional hubs. Cities in developing countries have not yet received the same attention – this book fills that gap. An international team of expert academics have come together to present a comprehensive study of the competitiveness of cities in the developing world. Spanning Asia, Africa, and Latin America, this book homes in on specific city cases and examines how they relate to the rest of the global economy. The focus is on acknowledging their unique contexts, while drawing out commonalities, and ultimately identifying ways for them to enhance their competitiveness, wellbeing, and sustainability. This volume will be valuable reading to advanced students, researchers, and policymakers in urban and regional studies, economic geography, and economic development.

This comprehensive volume contributes to the existing and emerging body of literature on contemporary urbanization and the interactions between cities and the environment. The volume is contextualized against latest theories, debates and discussions on 'sustainable urbanization', the post‐2015 development agenda of the United Nations and India's official launching of the 'smart city' agenda. Reflecting on three major components of urban sustainability: investments and infrastructures, waste management, and urban ecologies and environmentalisms, it moves beyond the bi‐centric approach of only looking into the differences between the ‘developed’ and the ‘developing’ world and reflects on cities across India using polycentric methods and approaches. The Indian urban scenario is extremely complex and diverse, and solutions laid out in official and non‐official documents tend to miss these complexities. This volume includes innovative research across different parts of India, identifying city‐specific sources of unsustainability and challenges along with strategies and potentials that would make the process of urban transition both sustainable and equitable. Complex explorations of non‐linear, bottom‐up, multisectoral process‐based local urban contexts across north, south, east and west Indian cities in this volume critique a general acceptance of the universalized concept of ‘sustainable urbanization’ and suggest ways that might be important for transcending inclusive theories to form practical policy-based recommendations and actions.

The subnational dimension of infrastructure has emerged as one of the greatest challenges in contemporary public finance policy and management. Ensuring the efficient provision of infrastructure represents a challenge for all countries irrespective of their level of centralization or decentralization. This book proposes an innovative approach for the strengthening of decentralized public investment and infrastructure management. Decentralization and Infrastructure in the Global Economy: From Gaps to Solutions covers the most important aspects of infrastructure investment in a decentralized setting. It discusses infrastructure gaps and the quality of subnational spending; how functional responsibilities, financing and equalization can be designed; sector-specific arrangements in high expenditure areas, such as health, education and roads; key steps of the public investment cycle and management; and analyses the political economy and corruption challenges that typically accompany decentralized infrastructure projects. This book challenges some of the well-accepted principles of intergovernmental fiscal relations and will be useful to researchers and practitioners of public finance policy and management.

A Neoliberal Framework for Urban Housing Development in the Global South highlights the factors which predict urban housing development from developing countries’ perspective, providing a guide for countries in the sub-Sahara.

'Development' is what most people see as progress in the places where they live and in the ways they live. It has to do with public services, the ways to complain when these are not delivered properly, and the spaces to change power structures. It is related to the economy, the opportunities to access a secure job, a sustainable livelihood and increased welfare while caring for the planet and others. It is also linked to the institutions that allow people to live life well, using resources ethically and doing business responsibly in relation to other communities and future generations. This edited collection examines the interconnections between local governance, economic development and institutions, by focusing on what initiatives work and under what conditions they do so. Based on a variety of theories and empirical data, it presents evidence from current experiences around the world, revealed by researchers across different continents and several generations.