Title: Rapid urbanisation: opportunities and challenges to improve the well-being of societies | Human Development Reports
Headings: Rapid urbanisation: opportunities and challenges to improve the well-being of societies
Rapid urbanisation: opportunities and challenges to improve the well-being of societies
Content: There has been some progress in narrowing the infrastructure deficit in recent decades, but much more needs to be done. Good planning and sound management is needed to manage this. National and local governments need to become more strategic in responding to the full range of challenges and opportunities posed by rapid urbanisation. This can be done by formulating a national urbanisation strategy as a first step to help to identify urban development priorities, shape plans and better coordinate actions by all the actors involved, including the private sector. There is, however, no one-size-fits-all urban strategy. Urban policy priorities and choices depend on a variety of factors - including the scale, speed and source of urbanisation, the size of cities and the stage of urban development. Intergovernmental relationships are also key to successful urbanisation. National, regional and city governments need to be connected and share a similar vision. Local governments will need technical and managerial skills, the ability to engage with the public and strong capacities to design, implement, monitor and evaluate local public policies and services. As cities grow, governments will need to cater to rapidly growing demands for public services and infrastructure.