Street Addressing and the Management of cities (Directions in Development) (Spanish Edition)

The most spectacular change in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last few decades has been the dramatic demographic shift from rural areas to cities. As a result, more than 50% of the city streets in the region have no names or addresses, and the problem is particularly acute in the poorest neighborhoods. With no system of coordinates and no baseline information, how do you find your way around a growing city? How do you dispatch ambulances, firefighters, and law enforcement personnel, send mail, or locate breakdowns in water, electricity, and telephone systems? This book reviews the role of addressing within the array of urban management tools and explores the links between addressing and civic identity, urban information systems, support to municipal services, tax systems, land management and tenure issues, slum upgrading, support to concessionary services, and economic development. It outlines current and future applications, highlights practices in many African countries, and offers a methodological guide for implementing street addressing initiatives which is widely applicable in other parts of the world. "As cities in developing countries have confronted demographic explosion, urban management has become all the more challenging amid the current trend toward decentralization. With little experience in urban management, local governments have often been unable to develop the resources they need to deal with urban growth. Against this backdrop, systems for identifying streets, buildings, and plots have simply been unable to keep up with the pace of urbanization. As a result, 50 percent or more of the city streets in these countries have no names or addresses. The problem is particularly acute in the poorest neighborhoods." "This creates a worrisome predicament for urban services. With no system of coordinates and no baseline information, how do you find your way around a constantly growing city? How do you dispatch ambulances, firefighters, and law enforcement personnel quickly? How do you send mail and messages to homes? How do you locate urban facilities and infrastructure and maintain them? How do you pinpoint breakdowns in water, electricity, and telephone systems? How do you improve on-site collection of water and electricity bills? How do you set up an efficient system for local taxes?" "The World Bank has actively contributed to the "thinking" on urban issues through specific urban strategies and the implementation of urban development projects. A 1997 World Bank publication, The Future of African Cities, mapped out the key issues raised by Africa's increasing

The most spectacular change in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last few decades has been the dramatic demographic shift from rural areas to cities. As a result, more than 50 percent of the city streets in the region have no names or addresses, and the problem is particularly acute in the poorest neighborhoods.

'Street Addressing and the Management of Cities' reviews the role of addressing within the array of urban management tools and explores the links between addressing and civic identity, urban information systems, support to municipal services, tax systems, land management and tenure issues, slum upgrading, support to concessionary services, and economic development. The book outlines current and future applications, highlights practices in many African countries, and offers a methodological guide for implementing street addressing initiatives that is widely applicable in other parts of the world.