Urban and Municipal Development in Europe and Central Asia

Cities and the policies that affect them play a major role in building a market economy and in achieving stable and equitable growth in Europe and Central Asia. Almost two thirds of the population in the region live in cities and towns which produce even greater share of GDP yet are home to half of the region's poor. Urbanization process in these countries has been driven for decades by planned industrial development rather than unstructured rural-urban migration that we see in other regions of the world. Local authorities across the region are challenged by the necessity to adjust to market conditions and take on expanded responsibilities associated with the process of decentralization.

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