Cities in the modern world are beginning to share some features with the city-states of millennia past. Now, as then, cities are important, even critical, to economic development. Unlike the walled cities that harbored flourishing trade in medieval Europe, today, cities by the thousands all...

This book is about inventing successes and good practices of governments that are "closer to the people." Numerous examples throughout Latin America indicate-often despite macroeconomic instability, high inflation, and strong top-down regulation-that subnational actors have repeatedly achieved...

América Latina se está descentralizando. Cada vez más recursos y un mayor poder de decisión están pasando desde los gobiernos centrales hacia el nivel local. Este naciente panorama político, administrativo y fiscal genera nuevos retos y oportunidades para los gobiernos subnacionales, y...

The City (or Council) Manager--a career professional who handles budget, personnel, and implementation, leaving political matters to elected officials--has been adopted in more than a score of cities in LAC. City managers are found in more than 2,000 U.S. cities, making it the most widely used...

Since 1989, the Bank has given increasing support to Mexico's National Solidarity Program (PRONASOL) in projects for education, health, transportation, and regional development. Despite the Bank's growing association with PRONASOL, given its magnitude and complexity, it is easy to underestimate...

This book is about inventing successes and good practices of governments that are "closer to the people." Numerous examples throughout Latin America indicate-often despite macroeconomic instability, high inflation, and strong top-down regulation-that subnational actors have repeatedly achieved...