METROPOLITAN MANAGEMENT refers to the organizational arrangements in large cities spread over multiple jurisdictions covering urban, peri-urban and rural areas. The shift in demographics to urban areas, growth of mega-cities, burgeoning urban poverty, the inadequate services and resources coupled with trends like globalization and decentralization have raised concerns about the ability of city agencies to respond to the challenge while continuing to grow.

This web site is designed to provide information on the activities of the World Bank Group in metropolitan management and governance. It includes lending operations, publications, research papers, presentations, and links to other related Bank websites.

It also includes recent work done by other development organizations as well as academic literature on the range of cross-sectional and cross-sectoral subjects in metropolitan management.

RECENT PUBLICATION

Managing the Coordination of Service Delivery in Metropolitan Cities: The Role of Metropolitan Governance, by Enid Slack, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, July 2007.

This paper examines different models of governing structure found in metropolitan areas around the world. It evaluates how well these models achieve the coordination of service delivery over the entire metropolitan area as well as the extent to which they result in the equitable sharing of costs of services.

Annotated Bibliography for Managing the Coordination of Service Delivery in Metropolitan Cities" The Role of Metropolitan Governance.