Cities are a driving force of the 21st century. Through bringing large numbers of people into close proximity, they spark economic growth, foster innovation, and generate prosperity. But they face the pressing challenges of creating a livable environment for their residents, enabling economic activity that benefits all citizens, and fostering urban development that is environmentally sustainable, equitable, and resilient to disruptive forces.

融资城市住房提出了住房融资系统的第一次全球性的评估，将宏观经济政策的总体框架内住房和城市发展的挑战。该报告描述和分析了住房融资状况和发展趋势，在世界所有地区，包括正式的住房金融机构，小额贷款和社会资金，突出其相关贫民窟的升级。在住房金融领域近期政策变化是在国际和国家层面进行讨论。该报告还审查可以采取加强住房融资系统，特别是关于实现改善贫民窟居民生活的千年宣言目标的政策方向。

State budgets are vital tools for translating human rights obligations into practical reality. This booklet outlines how States can meet these obligations by allocating the maximum available resources for the realisation of all human rights, and, in this context, the human rights to water and sanitation.Specifically, this booklet outlines how the human rights to water and sanitation are integrated into the four stages of a State’s budget cycle: formulation, enactment, execution and oversight.

The publication is a toolkit specifically prepared to help local authorities raise internal and external resources to finance implementation of priority projects and programmes. It provides useful steps, skills and resources to aid the process of financing a City Development Strategy.

Small water utilities face unique challenges in delivering water and sanitation services to their customers. With a limited revenue base and few opportunities to benefit from economies of scale, they often suffer from severe skill shortages and a long legacy of under investment in infrastructure and capacity enhancement. To overcome these challenges, the small utilities need to maximize their operating efficiencies and ensure optimum utilization of their assets.

The guidelines outline the main principles underlying the democratic, constitutional/legal and administrative aspects of local governance and decentralization. At the same time they must be applied to specific conditions of State form (federal, regionalized or unitary), with different State traditions (for example, Napoleonic, Germanic or Anglo-Saxon, as well as traditions found in Asia, or in the Arab world).

The report sets the Thai economy as a background for examining the housing finance system. It looks at the real estate market and housing market; the evolution of housing development and housing market. It reviews the provision of low income housing in Thailand. It examines the housing finance mechanisms in Thailand. It describes the structure, patterns, trends, characteristics and evolution of housing finance. It reviews the main players of the housing finance system and driving forces for the change.

This publication is the abridged and Arabic language edition of Financing Urban Shelter: Global Report on Human Settlements 2005.

Financing Urban Shelter presents the first global assessment of housing finance systems, placing shelter and urban development challenges within the overall context of macroeconomic policies. The report describes and analyses housing finance conditions and trends in all regions of the world, including formal housing finance mechanisms, microfinance and community funding, highlighting their relevance to the upgrading of slums. Recent policy developments in the area of shelter finance are discussed at the international and national levels.