This handbook serves as an introductory guide to geographic information system (GIS) technology for local government and other interested stakeholders. It suggests some common opportunities for GIS application, the benefits a GIS provides to users, and what is required to set up a GIS and sustain it.

The analysis of the linkages between degree of urbanization and economic development presented in this report suggests that there are huge and positive variations among continents with few exceptions.

Structural transformation is defined as the transition of an economy from low productivity and labour intensive economic activities to higher productivity and skill intensive activities. The driving force behind structural transformation is the change of productivity in the modern sector, which is
dominated by manufacturing and services.

Невозможно переоценить важность планирования.

With the number of slum dwellers expected to reach 889 million by 2020 it has been recognized that there is a need to move away from piecemeal project-based slum upgrading interventions. Instead, it is necessary to bring slum upgrading to a citywide scale and implement a twin-track approach that promotes both the upgrading of existing slums and simultaneously uses policy to prevent the multiplication of slums and urban informality.

This timely report comes at a decisive moment in history where we can reshape urban environments and health systems for the majority of the world’s population that live in cities. Enabling this transformation are the SDGs, which have reconfigured how governments and the international community need to plan and implement actions to eradicate poverty and inequality, create inclusive economic growth, preserve the planet and improve population health.

Final Report on the Global Experts Group Meeting ¨The Role of Metropolitan Development in Supporting the New Urban Agenda” held in Guadalajara, México, 3-4 December 2015