Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2010

From Master Plans to Stimulus Packages: Reflections on Urban Assistance to Rich and Poor Countries

Michael Cohen

November 2009

The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

Abstract

The intensive efforts of the World Bank and other urban lending programs focused on the immediate physical needs of housing and urban services rather than considering cities as sites of value creation, income generation, or productivity—an urbanization model of high urban population growth shaped this focus. Such urban planning and policy need to be considered in terms of its intention and how objectives implicitly and explicitly address the issue of context. Moreover, lessons of policy and program assistance practice should be reflected in urban lending program design; their evolution and use suggest the need for more attention to context.