Book notes
Small towns are an essential but often-neglected element of rural landscapes and food systems. They perform a number of essential functions, from market nodes to providers of services, goods and non-farm employment to their own population, as well as that of the wider surrounding region.
The transfer of funds by migrants to their home countries (cash remittances) is at an all-time high. By 2017, it is predicted to rise to US$ 500 billion – and there is a growing policy consensus that cash remittances can be mainstreamed into development.
This paper examines community participation in housing projects for low-income communities in Thailand and how they have sought to “leave no one behind”. Baan Mankong, the government slum upgrading programme, is unique in how it has institutionalized participation.
This book examines urban transport in 12 countries (Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and Vietnam), each of which is allotted its own chapter.
Considering that over a sixth of the world’s population lives in slums or informal settlements, and that so much urban development is characterized by informality, this book is of primary importance to policymaking and development planning.
Investigation of the links between religion and cities has predominantly focused on Christianized countries in the West.
The size of this book is a testament to the significance of remittances, which totalled approx. US$ 583 billion in 2014. The editors explain the aims of this book thus:
Quality of Life in Cities is particularly useful for economists and statisticians, as it is interested more in ways to measure urban quality of life than in the theory or grounded reality of variations in quality of life.
The UK Department for International Development, which recently established a Frontier Technologies Livestreaming initiative, commissioned this report. It examines five categories, comprising two technologies each: