Making cities work for Central America : urbanization review

Central America is undergoing an important transition, with urban populations increasing at accelerated speeds, bringing pressing challenges as well as opportunities to boost sustained, inclusive and resilient growth. current rates of urbanization, the region’s urban population will double in size by 2050, welcoming over 25 million new urban dwellers, calling for better infrastructure, higher coverage and quality of urban services and greater employment opportunities. As larger numbers of people concentrate in urban areas, Central American governments at the national and local levels face both opportunities and challenges to ensure the prosperity of their country’s present and future generations.The region’s main development challenges are linked to the lack of social inclusion, vulnerability to natural disasters, and the lack of economic opportunities and competitiveness.Due to rapid urbanization in the region, Central American cities increasingly concentrate these development challenges.The region’s development challenges can be addressed in cities by focusing on the economic opportunities they offer.The Central America Urbanization Review provides a better understanding of the trends and implications of urbanization, and the actions that central and local governments can take to reap the intended benefits of this transformation. The report makes recommendations on how urban policies can contribute to addressing the main identified development challenges—lack of social inclusion, high vulnerability to natural disasters, and lack of economic opportunities and competitiveness. Specifically, the report focuses on four priority areas for Central American cities—institutions for city management, access to adequate and well-located housing, resilience to natural disasters, and competitiveness through local economic development.This Executive Summary summarizes the main messages developed throughout the Urbanization Review, which includes one diagnostic chapter and four sectoral chapters: Chapter 1, How Urbanization is Transforming Central America offers a diagnostic of present and future urbanization trends, including an overview on the speed and spread of urbanization, the characteristics of the system of Central American cities, and the concentration of economic activity in cities. It also introduces economic and social challenges facing cities, which will be explored in more detail in the four remaining sectoral chapters.Chapter 2, Managing Cities and Agglomerations: Strengthening Institutions for Effective Planning and Service Delivery highlights the key role of local governments in effective city management to ensure quality service delivery, as well as coordinated planning with the national government for a coherent and sustainable development of urban areas. Chapter 3, Making Cities Inclusive by Improving Access to Adequate and Well-Located Housing discusses the constraints in the housing sector, which policymakers need to address in order to drive a more efficient, inclusive and sustainable model of housing, integrated with urban development. Chapter 4, Making Cities Resilient to Reduce Central America’s Vulnerability to Natural Disasters advocates building resilient cities to reduce the long-term impact of natural disasters on the population and economy.Chapter 5, Making Cities More Competitive to Create More and Better Jobs discusses the potential for LED in raising local and country-level competitiveness, contribute to fostering macroeconomic stability, and strengthening private sector development. It applies the World Bank’s global framework on competitive cities to the Central American context.