Thursday, October 9, 2008
2:00-5:30 pm
International Monetary Fund

With the majority of the world’s population now residing in cities, new approaches and greater focus are needed in thinking about the ways cities are set up and managed.  In the developing world alone, it is projected that 2 billion new inhabitants will take residence in cities and towns in the coming twenty years.  This demographic transformation has ignited a global policy debate among economists, urban planners, financiers, national-level policy makers and city officials that is giving force to a paradigm shift in the way we think about cities.  Recognizing that urbanization is inevitable, policy makers must now focus on how to harness its potential while ensuring the sustainability of cities and the provision of services to their inhabitants into the future.

 

The Urban Anchor within the Sustainable Development Network hosted this event with a number of leading thinkers who are grappling with this challenge in different countries and contexts around the world. 

 

Introduction & Workshop Organization

Abha Joshi-Ghani, Sector Manager, Urban Development (FEU), World Bank

 

Opening Remarks

Katherine Sierra, Vice President and Network Head, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank

 

An Introduction to the World Development Report 2009: Economic Geography in an Urbanizing World

Indermit Gill, Director of the World Development Report 2009, World Bank

 

Session 1:  Smart Growth:  Policy Tools and Fiscal Instruments that Promote Balanced Growth and Economic Regeneration in the City Core

Dermot Finch, Director, Centre for Cities, London

 

Session 2:  Which are the Largest City Economies in the World and How Might This Change by 2020?

Thomas Hoehn, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Visiting Professor, Imperial College Business School, London

 

Session 3:  The Health World Cities Initiative:  City Leadership for Health and Sustainability

Michael Gusmano, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center and Co-Director of the World Cities Project (based at International Longevity Center, USA)

 

Session 4:  Financing Cities: The Role of Banks in Supporting Urban Development

Marie-Alice Lallemand-Flucher, Head of International Relations, DEXIA, Paris

 

Session 5:  Industrial Life Cycle Transition Factors Constraining Sustainable Growth:  Emerging Evidence in Three East Asian Cities

Shahid Yusuf, Economic Advisor, Development Economic Research Group, World Bank

 

Wrap-Up & Concluding Remarks

Mila Freire, Sr. Advisor, Finance, Economic and Urban Development Department, World Bank

Contact: urbanhelp@worldbank.org