Finance & Development, A quarterly magazine of the IMF.

The Urban Revolution
David E. Bloom and Tarun Khanna

The year 2008 marks a watershed in the complex and ongoing urban revolution. For the first time, more than 50 percent of the world's people will live in urban areas. Rapid urbanization may prove a blessing, provided the world takes notice and plans accordingly.

Urban Poverty
Martin Ravallion

The poor are gravitating to towns and cities, but maybe not quickly enough. A faster pace of urbanization could induce more rapid poverty reduction. Development policymakers should facilitate this process, not hinder it.

Big, or Too Big?
Ehtisham Ahmad
Megacities create special issues of governance, funding, and provision of services. Both national governments and megacities can secure potential benefits by exploring the devolution of clearly defined responsibilities and revenue-raising capacity that provide incentives for good governance.

View Finance & Development Magazine, September 2007

Finance & Development's print editions are published quarterly in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish—and its World Wide Web edition is published quarterly in English, French, Russian and Spanish—by the International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20431, U.S.A.

Opinions expressed in articles and other materials are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect IMF policy

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The IMF is an international organization of 185 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment.

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