Conventional approaches to solid waste management have often proven unaffordable and ineffective. This paper analyses the lessons from Ahmedabad, India. It finds that clear national leadership that supports municipal authorities to integrate unionised informal waste pickers into formal municipal waste management can deliver competitive recycling rates at lower costs, whilst also improving the income, health, job security and inclusion of marginalised groups, reducing urban poverty and enhancing climate resilience. 

National governments across Africa can enhance the effectiveness and accountability of multi-level governance by legally clarifying the roles and responsibilities of different international, national, and local actors. National governments are typically best placed to oversee matters such as the coordination of policy and regulatory frameworks; the efficiency and appropriateness of municipal boundaries; water basins; regional power grids; and intercity transport routes. In contrast, housing, sanitation, waste management, and urban transport benefit from local negotiation and coordination. 

In this paper, we conclusively demonstrate that there are many synergies between aspirations for urban development and the imperative for climate action. We draw on over 700 papers, focusing on the literature on low-carbon measures in the buildings, transport, and waste sectors. This systematic review clearly shows that low-carbon measures can help to achieve a range of development priorities, such as job creation, improved public health, social inclusion, and improved accessibility. 

This paper describes the relatively new phenomenon of publicly-capitalized green investment banks and examines why they are being created and how they are mobilizing private investment. 

China’s recent policy reforms reveal China’s ambitious plan to green its financial system and finance sustainable infrastructure. This paper reviews this ambitious green finance package, highlights remaining uncertainties, and provides recommendations for success. 

This paper identifies different potential pathways to decarbonization of Indian Railways by 2030 and examines their cost-effectiveness and feasibility. 

This paper is a background review representing part of the initial phase of the Financing the Urban Transition work programme. The review builds on a growing body of research that highlights both the importance of national sustainable infrastructure and the need to develop more effective and efficient financing mechanisms for delivering compact, connected cities that meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While progress has been made in both these areas over the last five years, there remains a policy gap between the international/national level and the municipal level.

This report explores the ways in which urban policy sectors are integrated (or fragmented) in ten case study countries: China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis is based on the most recent and authoritative national-level policy documents. 

Urbanisation is one of the most important potential drivers of productivity and growth in the global economy. But if countries and cities are to capture the productivity benefits of urban growth while minimising the costs, cities will need to shift to a more economically and environmentally sustainable growth pattern. This policy brief focuses on the role of national governments in mobilising and directing urban finance, with the aim of supporting policymakers and practitioners to think systematically about financing compact, connected, and coordinated urban development. 

Tanzania has the sixth highest rate of urban population growth in the world, but so far it has been largely informal and unmanaged. This paper offers recommendations for managing Tanzania’s urban growth at the country level.