On the scrap heap? Better livelihoods for Bangladeshi waste pickers http://www.id21.org/society/s3bjr1g1.html This research report on the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) looks at Dhaka's waste pickers, most of them seven to fourteen year old boys, who collect and sell paper, plastics, glass, bones and metals from landfill sites, skips and street dumps. Most live on the streets or in slums where they have little access to infrastructure, a low status in society and an uncertain future. They work in the morning when pickings are best and as a result few attend school. The slum areas in which they live are at risk from fire, flooding and demolition. Seasonality charts prepared during focus groups indicated that life is particularly hard in the wet season and better after festivals when the quantity and quality of waste increases. In line with the holistic approach of the SLA model used by the UK Department for International Development, the study looked at the pickers' livelihoods from four related concepts: vulnerability (including trends, shocks and seasonality), livelihood assets (human, social, natural, physical and financial capitals), transforming structures (institutions and legislation which impacts their lives) and livelihood strategies and outcomes. Contact Information: Jonathan Rouse WEDC Loughborough University Leicestershire LE11 3TU UK Telephone: +44 (0)1509 222885   Fax: +44 (0)1509 211079 Email: J.R.Rouse@lboro.ac.uk Radical plans for waste could herald a big clean-up - by Joanna Collins http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4462435-105909,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/ This July 2002 Guardian article profiles national, local, and multinational corporate initiatives to effect zero-waste and other innovative policies aimed at stemming the urgent (and growing) problem of household waste. The thrust of the new approaches is to regard waste as an engine of local development, job creation, small business opportunity, and overall economic benefit. Rediscovering Inner-City Markets http://www.federalreserve.gov/dcca/newsletter/2001/fall01/innercity.htm http://www.federalreserve.gov/dcca/newsletter/2001/fall01/resources.htm The search for new, untapped markets has led private industries back to the urban core of metropolitan areas—the inner city. Once seen as densely populated areas plagued by blight, crime, and other ills, inner cities and their surrounding communities are experiencing an economic rebirth. The market potential of urban communities is often miscalculated. The transformation of an inner city from a neglected and underinvested area of town into a robust center of housing development and commercial activity requires a radically different approach to economic development. In light of this, the Community Affairs Offices have engaged in efforts to support the development of new economic indicators that portray central cities as sources for new market opportunities. Research on the value of inner city revitalization conducted by Harvard Business Professor Michael Porter, the nonprofit group Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and the business leaders coalition Social Compact has revealed that untapped business opportunities exist in urban neighborhoods. Using such studies as a springboard, the Federal Reserve has developed research and resources that promote the benefits of doing business in urban markets. Notable Feature(s): Additional resources and contact information. Street Level - June 2000 theme issue of FEED http://www.feedmag.com/streetlevel/ http://www.feedmag.com/ This is the tenth special issue of FEED, and it marks a departure on a number of significant fronts. While the content of this issue will be familiar to longtime FEED readers -- a group of essays and conversations organized loosely around a theme, in this case the theme of the city -- the editors decided to experiment more with the design and the technology of the special issue format, which means tinkering with the "user experience" of the issue. They wanted to make Street Level as much fun to explore as to read (not unlike a city itself) -- and to make it a launching point for other urban explorations. Notable Feature(s): Cities included: Beijing, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Warsaw, Singapore; Interview with "green" architect William McDonough [whose philosophy is futuristic, as well as pragmatic and organic, with his designs growing, at once, both out of and (literally) into the earth itself. It's like he's thousands of feet in the sky, all the while etching rigorously away at a detailed topographical map of the landscape below]; Maps Without End: a vision of the technology that permits sophisticated computer simulation and mapping to know a city or other area down to the square foot. Maps will integrate aerial photos with data gathered from city agencies, utilities, and developers, and can be continuously updated. Contact Information: Steven Johnson, Editor-in-Chief Telephone: 212.627.8098   Email: stevenj@feedmag.com editor@feedmag.com A Call to Art - by John Villani, Urban Land Magazine, July 1999 http://www.artspaceprojects.org/news/call_to_art.htm http://www.artspaceprojects.org/ This article profiles the work of Minneapolis-based Artspace, Inc., which demonstrates to local and national constituencies the broad range of benefits that communities can derive from supporting the arts, by including the essentially mundane tasks of providing studio space for the creation of art or live/work spaces for artists and their families. Contact Information: L. Kelley Lindquist, President Artspace, Inc. 528 Hennepin Avenue S. Suite 404 Minneapolis, MN   55403 USA Email: kelley@artspaceprojects.org Around the Globe, Cities Have Growing Pains - by Eric Pianin http://www.changemakers.net/library//temp/washpost061101.cfm http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/m15/m15boxes.stm This June 2001 article from The Washington Post addresses the profound issues surrounding urban growth in the 21st century: "Within the next five years -- for the first time -- there will be more people living in cities than in rural areas throughout the world, and most population growth will occur in teeming cities in Asia, Africa and South America. Just 50 years ago, 18 percent of the population of developing countries resided in cities. Last year the figure jumped to 40 percent, and by 2030 an estimated 56 percent of the developing world will be urban dwellers. At the same time, the number of "megacities," with populations of 10 million to 20 million, is skyrocketing, and most of those metropolitan areas are located in developing countries. Within the next 15 years, there will be 23 such cities, including Tokyo, Bombay, Lagos, Buenos Aires, Karachi and Bangkok. While these demographic milestones have received little notice, a new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests these changes have profound implications for the long-term health and living standards of much of civilization." The findings appear in a report from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health: Measuring Population's Impact. Contact Information: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health 111 Market Place Suite 310 Baltimore, MD   21202 USA Telephone: 410.659.6300   Fax: 410.659.6266 Email: Poprepts@jhuccp.org Artist colonizing, American-style - by Ray Conlogue http://www.geocities.com/newsgrist/newsgrist1-32.html http://www.artspaceprojects.org/ This report details an innovative practice designed to bring sustainable development to blighted urban areas. A typical scenario: Artists move into a derelict section of town because it's cheap. They fix it up, the area becomes cool and rents skyrocket as those with money move in to soak up the atmosphere. "In a number of U.S. cities, they are actually now implanting artists (much the way greenery is replanted on polluted soil), knowing that a funky demimonde will attract business even to disaster areas. To keep the artists there, they have evolved non-profit holding companies on 15- to 30-year horizons." Toronto Globe and Mail 06/21/00. Notable Feature(s): Projects in progress across the country; news. Contact Information: Artspace Projects, Inc 528 Hennepin Avenue, S. Suite 401 Minneapolis, MN   55403 USA Telephone: 612.333.9012   Fax: 612.333.9089 Email: artspace@artspaceprojects.org Cities at the Forefront http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/urbanpre.stm Cities in the developing world are at the forefront of the global struggle to achieve better living standards. How urban residents and their governments meet the challenges of rapid population growth and development will largely determine the kind of world that lies ahead. Contact Information: Population Information Program Center for Communications Programs Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Public Health 111 Market Place, Suite 310 Baltimore, MD   21202 usa Telephone: 410.659.6300   Fax: 410.659.6266 Email: Poprepts@jhuccp.org Dark Days: Nightmare Society of Wrecked Urban Lives by Stephen Holden http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/083000dark-film.html?fl0831 http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/082700homeless-film.html?fl0831 "Most of this unforgettable movie was filmed below the streets of Midtown Manhattan in a dank Amtrak railway tunnel where a colony of around 75 homeless put down roots, some for as long as 25 years, among the rats and the garbage." One distinguishing feature of this film and its potential impact on social change is that the tunnel dwellers themselves served as film crew as well as film subjects. And, as Mr. Singer points out, "Dark Days" manages the tricky feat of humanizing its subjects without overly sentimentalizing them. Notable Feature(s): A companion New York Times article by Peter Applebome, "Home Was a Tunnel and Neighbors Were His Cast," tells more of the actual process of making the film and its lessons about people living on the street. Contact Information: Marc Singer c/o Film Forum 209 West Houston Street South Village New York, NY   10014 USA Telephone: 212.727.8110   Email: filmforum@filmforum.com Eye-opening visit to the neighborhood by Stephanie Salter, San Francisco Examiner Columnist http://www.pewtrusts.com/News/DocDisplay.cfm?DocID=374&Source=HHS http://www.projecthome.net/ This August 3, 2000 newspaper article describes the various ingredients of success at alleviating homelessness and poverty that resulted from the efforts of Project H.O.M.E. begun in 1989 by a Roman Catholic nun, Sister Mary Scullion, and a tax accountant whom she met by chance in the subway. The mission of Project H.O.M.E. is to empower persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty, to address structural causes of poverty, and to enable all people to attain their fullest potential as individuals and as members of the broader society. Project H.O.M.E. achieves this mission through the provision of a continuum of care, comprised of street outreach, a range of supportive housing facilities and comprehensive supportive services including health care, education and employment. The effort also addresses the root causes of homelessness through neighborhood-based revitalization programs, including affordable housing, employment, educational programs for children and adults, and of a continuum of care, comprised of street outreach, a range of supportive housing facilities and comprehensive support services including health care, education and employment. Contact Information: Jennine Miller, Associate Director of Education and Advocacy Project H.O.M.E. Telephone: 215.232.7272 x.3042   Email: jenninemiller@projecthome.net Little Solar Houses for You and Me - by Amanda Griscom http://www.gristmagazine.com/powers/powers100703.asp?source=daily A feature article in Grist examines the larger implications of a new prototype affordable zero-energy home in Tennessee. Habitat for Humanity collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the region's public electricity supplier, to build the experimental home. The house includes a rooftop solar installation; high-quality insulation; energy-efficient appliances, lighting and ducting; and state-of-the-art systems for heating, cooling and hot water. The vision of a net-zero energy use home is important not only for addressing America's growing energy demand, but also will be important for developing countries poised to see dramatic building growth in coming decades. According to Jeff Christian, director of the Buildings Technology Center at Oak Ridge, "Right now, all too frequently, the typical solar home is something akin to a customized Cadillac. What we're trying to do is come up with the Volkswagen of net-zero-energy homes." Contact Information: Email: webmaster@gristmagazine.com Planting the SEED of Education - by Curtis Sittenfeld http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/70/socialcapital.html http://www.seedfoundation.com/ The students are all neatly dressed in uniforms. The average classroom has 14 kids, and each of them is prepared, engaged, and eager to learn. Outside of class, students get regular exposure to professionals in a variety of fields. In other words, this place boasts many of the advantages that you would find at any good private school. That's what makes the SEED Public Charter School of Washington, DC such a bold step in educational reform. Opened in 1998 as the country's first urban public boarding school, SEED (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development) currently has an enrollment of 230 disadvantaged DC students who are all preparing to go to college. The school is creating a new educational model that founders Eric Adler and Rajiv Vinnakota plan to replicate nationwide. Contact Information: Rajiv Vinnakota The SEED Foundation 1712 Eye Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC   20006 USA Telephone: 202.785.4123   Fax: 202.785.4124 Email: rajiv@seedfoundation.com Something is Working - Edited by Basil J. Whiting http://www.livingcities.org/new_look/Images/pdf/something_is_working.pdf This report profiles the progress that has flowed from initiatives taken to improve the health of American cities in the 1990s. The widespread effort and success has been called an "institutional revolution." Contact Information: Living Cities: NCDI 330 West 108th Street, Suite 1 New York, NY   10025 USA Telephone: 212.663.2078   STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES REPORT 2001 http://www.unchs.org/istanbul+5/statereport.htm http://www.unchs.org/ Published by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Nairobi, 2001, this inaugural report takes the reader through Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, the highly industrialized countries, Latin America and the Caribbean and countries with economies in transition to understand better how shelter, society, environment, economy, and, above all, systems of governance can contribute to urban vibrancy and viability in a globalizing world. Contact Information: UNCHS Ali Shabou, Chief, Information, Communication and Advocacy P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi Kenya Telephone: 254 2 623141   Fax: 254 2 624265 Email: Ali.Shabou@unchs.org Ten Steps to a Living Downtown - by Jennifer Moulton, FAIA http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/ES/urban/moulton.pdf Ten Steps to a Living Downtown is a discussion paper about urban development in Denver, Colorado, prepared in October 1999 for the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy. Many American cities are enjoying a downtown housing boom. While a strong economy and market demand are necessary for a residential downtown to thrive, city governments can facilitate, rather than impede, the working of these forces. Each of the “Ten Steps" outlines ways that local public policy can strengthen two threshold conditions – a strong quality of life and favorable market conditions – that are necessary to attract residents to American central business areas. Even though one step may be aimed at neighborhood building, and another at creating economic value, all steps contribute to both goals. Contact Information: Jennifer T. Moulton Director of Community Planning and Development Agency Telephone: 303.640.7486   Email: moultjt@ci.denver.co.us Urban Agriculture and Community Food Security in the United States: Farming from the City Center to the Urban Fringe http://www.foodsecurity.org/PrimerCFSCUAC.pdf This primer begins with an overview of the variety of forms that urban agriculture is taking in the United States and the range of farmers found there. It also addresses some of the positive impacts – current and potential – of urban agriculture on community food security. It lists some of the challenges facing urban agriculture and suggests ways that these might be addressed. Also, it outlines key policy changes that can further expand the effectiveness of urban agriculture. The final section provides additional contacts and resources for those who are promoting sustainable and just urban food systems. Contact Information: Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences University of Massachusetts 210 Bowditch Hall, Amherst,, MA   01003. Telephone: 413.545.5216   Email: akcarter@pssci.umass.edu Urban Evolution: HBS Research on the Inner City - by Deborah Blagg and Susan Young http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2002/april/urban.html This April 2002 edition of the Harvard Business School Bulletin looks at the urban condition in the United States. After decades of decline, despair, and neglect, the last ten years have brought some preliminary signs of revitalization to a number of inner-city neighborhoods. Blighted areas such as Chicago's North Side, New York's South Bronx, South Central Los Angeles, and Houston's Fifth Ward — once synonymous with out-of-control crime rates, gang warfare, antiquated public housing, crumbling schools, and degrading poverty — have begun to show indications that there may be a way out of the hopeless downward spiral. "Many approaches to revitalizing the inner city have focused on the social problems, but the more fundamental issues are often economic," notes HBS professor Michael E. Porter, a world-renowned strategy and competitiveness scholar who began to apply his expertise to help improve inner cities a decade ago. In the early 1990s, with support from then HBS Dean John H. McArthur, Porter oversaw a series of field studies that looked at potential solutions to the problems facing America's inner cities. This research inspired Porter to publish a number of articles on the topic and, in 1994, to found the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a nonprofit organization that aims to catalyze innercity business development across the United States. "Many approaches to revitalizing the inner city have focused on the social problems, but the more fundamental issues are often economic," notes HBS professor Michael E. Porter, a world-renowned strategy and competitiveness scholar who began to apply his expertise to help improve inner cities a decade ago. In the early 1990s, with support from then HBS Dean John H. McArthur, Porter oversaw a series of field studies that looked at potential solutions to the problems facing America's inner cities. This research inspired Porter to publish a number of articles on the topic and, in 1994, to found the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a nonprofit organization that aims to catalyze innercity business development across the United States. Two examples of successful investment in the inner city that Porter has written about are Sprint and Walgreens. In Missouri, Sprint decided to locate a new call center in a struggling section of downtown Kansas City and provide job training for nearby residents. The new urban facility was pleasantly overwhelmed with applications and now employs local residents, many of whom walk to work, with much less turnover than Sprint's suburban call centers. "They took a risk, but it paid off — they now have a solid pool of workers who are very happy to have good jobs in their own neighborhood," says Porter. Walgreens has made a concerted effort to locate more stores in urban areas where residents do not have access to large drugstores, recognizing a considerable, underserved market that has been documented in ICIC research. City dwellers are now taking advantage of the chain's employment opportunities as well as its discount prices and large selection of merchandise. Contact Information: Harvard Business School Bulletin Soldiers Field Boston, MA   02163 USA Telephone: 617.495.6554   Fax: 617.495.7558 Email: dblagg@hbs.edu syoung@hbs.edu Achieving Sustainable Communities: Science and Solutions: A Report from the second National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment, December 2001 http://www.cnie.org/NCSEconference/2001conference/report/page.cfm?FID=1692 http://www.cnie.org/NCSEconference/2001conference/report/2001_conf_report.pdf Keynote speaker Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine and former President of Stanford University, challenged participants to turn around the familiar axiom "Think Globally, Act Locally" to "Think Locally, Act Globally." He emphasized the need "for a kind of science that can help with both tasks — that is, can inform and guide good work at the meters-to-kilometers scale, and at the same time can help nations develop and implement policies that ensure sustainability." Notable Feature(s): Complete proceedings, case studies, and list of conference participants is available at the site and in a 72-page PDF document. Contact Information: National Council for Science and the Environment 1725 K Street, Suite 212 Washington, DC   20006 USA Telephone: 202.530.5810   Email: info@NCSEonline.org Agriculture http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/magazine/default.htm The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization provides a wealth of information and news for both rural and urban communities in its on-line magazine Agriculture. Contact Information: FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla Rome   00100 Italy Email: ag21@fao.org Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) http://www.achr.net/ http://www.achr.net/networks.htm The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights is a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGOs and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities. Before the emergence of ACHR there was no common forum or regular organizing for NGOs, professionals and grassroots groups working in Asian cities, despite an expressed need to share experiences, tackle the large problem of forced evictions in the regions cities, develop opportunities for organizations of the poor and consider their place in city planning. It was with these intentions that ACHR was formed in 1988. Since then, the links between coalition members have matured, regional programmes have been formalised and ACHR has become recognized as one of the most important players in urban poor development in the region by international agencies and urban actors. Notable Feature(s): Magazine Face to Face; country reports, news, best practices, programs, and strategies; Thai Urban Poor Networks by Somsook Boonyabancha, Ashoka Fellow, Secretary General of ACHR, and leader in UN's effort to secure adequate housing for the world's urban poor. Contact Information: Maurice Leonhardt ACHR Secretariat 73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4 Ladprao 110, Ladprao Rd Bangkok   10310 THAILAND Telephone: 662 538 0919   Fax: 662 539 9950 Email: achrsec@email.ksc.net Bayview Hunters Point Center for the Arts and Technology (BAYCAT) http://www.skollfoundation.org/community/baycat/index.asp http://www.herbiehancock.com/foundations/baycats.html Along with Mayor Willie Brown and jazz legend Herbie Hancock, social entrepreneur Bill Strickland launched the nonprofit Bayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology (BAYCAT) in a southwest neighborhood of San Francisco. BAYCAT is a school that will conduct arts and technology education programs with the aim of inspiring inner-city youth to become productive and business-savvy citizens. Villy Wang, BAYCAT's Director of Education, created a ten-day photography workshop that provided an opportunity for young students in the Hunter's Point Community to explore the art of landscape photography through the use of state-of-art digital cameras and technology donated by HP. Inspired by the photographs of the Ansel Adams at 100 Exhibition in SFMOMA, students were encouraged to invent their own definition of landscapes. The workshop provided a forum for them to record, reflect and discuss their unique perspectives of the world. The Skoll Foundation has made a long-term commitment to partner with BAYCAT. The BAYCAT center will be modeled after Strickland's headquarters in Pittsburgh -- a 62,000-square-foot, honey-colored brick building designed by a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright that houses a staff of more than 110 trainers, teachers, and mentors. BAYCAT's 80,000-square-foot campus will stand on five acres of previously contaminated shipyard land leased by the city, and it will cost about $30 million to build. In short, it is a huge project with one driving goal: to drastically change the economic and social landscape of one of the Bay Area's most underserved neighborhoods. Notable Feature(s): Fast Company article on BAYCAT; Hidden Heroes, the video documentary made by nine middle school youth from the BayView neighborhood in San Fransisco. Contact Information: Villy Wang, Executive Director BAYCAT Telephone: 415.701.8CAT   Boundary Crossers - Community Leadership for a Global Age by Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson http://academy.umd.edu/Publications/Boundary/contents.htm "This pioneering report by Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson gives a vivid sense of what is happening in metropolitan America and provides hope for the future of our communities. The Peirce-Johnson report is a valuable learning tool for community builders designed to help sharpen the skills of citizen leaders in every sector. Peirce and Johnson draw from their extensive knowledge of the cities of this country, as well as from the in-depth case studies compiled for this project, to give us ten important lessons for community builders and to suggest ways to develop new strategies for dealing with the challenges that face our communities." - John W. Gardner Center for Community Change (CCC) http://www.communitychange.org/ The Center for Community Change is a national nonprofit organization that provides technical assistance, training and policy support to low-income community groups. For more than 30 years CCC has worked to help communities solve problems. The Center is committed to reducing poverty and rebuilding low income communities. To do this, CCC helps people to develop the skills and resources they need to improve their communities as well as change policies and institutions that adversely affect their lives. CCC believes that poor people themselves — through organizations they control — need to lead efforts to eliminate poverty. The heart of CCC's work is helping grassroots leaders build strong organizations that bring people together to become a force for change in their communities. Notable Feature(s): Stories of Community Change; policy/planning papers on relevant topics, including transportation, jobs, welfare reform, economic development, rural development; back issues of newsletter Organizing. Contact Information: Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director Center for Community Change 1000 Wisconsin Ave., NW Washington, DC   20007 Telephone: 202.342.0519   Email: info@communitychange.org Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) http://www.cnt.org/ The Center for Neighborhood Technology has a unique mission: To invent and implement new tools and methods that create livable urban communities for everyone. For CNT there is an emerging consensus about how to achieve this fundamental change. Under the rubric of "sustainable development," more and more citizens, governments, non-profits, and businesses agree that the challenge is to achieve a steady improvement in quality of life, while simultaneously improving environmental conditions. Notable Feature(s): Models of successful projects and programs that have worked in the Chicago area; online document archive. Contact Information: Center for Neighborhood Technology 2125 W North Avenue Chicago, IL   60647 United States Telephone: 773.278.4800   Fax: 773.278.3840 Email: info@cnt.org Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) http://www.cnt.org Center for Neighborhood Technology is a non-profit organization that helps build prosperous, sustainable communities by linking economic and community development with ecological improvement. The Center's work in public policy, market development and community planning is grounded in the Chicago region and national in scope. CNT's mission is to invent and implement new tools and methods that create livable urban communities for everyone. Notable Feature(s): Place Matters CNT's newsletter; publications and profiles of successful projects in transportation, energy, and urban sustainability and livability. Contact Information: Center for Neighborhood Technology 2125 W. North Ave. Chicago, Illinois   60647 USA Telephone: 773.278.4800   Fax: 773.278.3840 Email: info@cnt.org Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) http://www.cohre.org/ COHRE was established in 1992, committed to ensuring the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, with a particular focus on the human right to adequate housing and preventing forced evictions. COHRE has set itself a challenge: to promote and protect the right to housing for everyone, everywhere. To achieve this, COHRE has carefully developed a varied work programme, guided by international human rights law, and designed to reach as many people as possible. COHRE often works together with other organisations on many of its programmes, adding their skills and knowledge to COHRE's work. To ensure COHRE activities reach every corner of the world COHRE maintains three regional programmes: COHRE Asia & Pacific, COHRE Africa and COHRE Americas. Notable Feature(s): News and culture; excellent set of links; well established program led by recognised international experts who have held training sessions in countries throughout the world, including Brazil, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Malaysia, Nepal, Solomon Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland and Thailand. Contact Information: Scott Leckie, Executive Director COHRE International Secretariat 83 rue de Montbrillant 1202 Geneva Switzerland Telephone: + 41 22 734 1028   Fax: + 41 22 734 1028 Email: sleckie@attglobal.net cohre@yahoo.com Cities Alliance http://www.citiesalliance.org/citiesalliancehomepage.nsf The Cities Alliance was created to foster new tools, practical approaches and knowledge sharing to promote local economic development and a direct attack on urban poverty. Its activities support the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. The Cities Alliance was launched in 1999 with initial support from the World Bank and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat), the political heads of the four leading global associations of local authorities and 10 governments—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US. The Asian Development Bank joined the Cities Alliance in March 2002. The Cities Without Slums action plan sets an agenda and clear targets for improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. It focuses on upgrading the most squalid, unhealthy and unserved urban slums and squatter settlements in the world. The Alliance was formed to realise the vision of Cities Without Slums. The Cities Without Slums action plan, a product of the Alliance, has been endorsed at the highest political level internationally—by 150 heads of state and government— at the September 2000 UN Millennium Summit. Notable Feature(s): 2001 Annual Report of facts and figures on urban poverty and policy challenges and opportunities; valuable and practical newsletter Civis with details on shelter finance programs in India and Peru and other programs for securing tenure for urban poor; city and country portals for information on various city development strategies underway around the world. Contact Information: The Cities Alliance Mailstop F-4P-400 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC   20433 USA Telephone: 202.473.9233   Fax: 202.522.3224 Email: info@citiesalliance.org CITIES IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD: GLOBAL REPORT ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 2001 - by United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) http://www.earthscan.co.uk/cities/home.htm CITIES OF THE SOUTH: SUSTAINABLE FOR WHOM? http://esf.naerus.org/ http://www.naerus.org A complete collection of workship papers on international cooperation in pursuit of sustainable cities. Participants attended an ESF/N-AERUS International Workshop in May 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland. Contact Information: Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South City Year http://www.cityyear.org/ Partnering with citizens of the community, City Year corps members work on the front lines of society to tackle our communities' most pressing needs. Providing over 1 million hours of service a year in our classrooms, community centers and public housing developments, City Year's young leaders change lives, transform communities, and build a stronger future. As an innovative school for civic skills, City Year requires corps members to register to vote, learn to file tax forms, be certified in First Aid/CPR, and obtain library cards. Spending 40 hours a week in diverse teams of ten, corps members achieve computer literacy, practice public speaking and effective communication, conflict resolution, decision making, evaluation and teamwork. Contact Information: City Year City Year National Headquarters 285 Columbus Avenue, 5th Floor Boston, MA   02116 USA Telephone: 617.927.2500   Fax: 617.927.2510 Email: info@cityyear.org Cohousing: examples & resources http://www.cohousing.org/ Community Greens: Green Infrastructure and Community Revitalization - by Kate Herrod http://www.changemakers.net/library/collections/CommunityGreens.pdf Community Greens offers practical and visionary guidance for restoring natural balance to urban areas. This article is a blueprint for getting started. The Community Greens organization can help communities go further. Contact Information: Kate Herrrod, director Community Greens 1700 North Moore Street, Suite 2000 Arlington, Virginia   22209 U.S.A. Telephone: 703.527.8300   Email: kherrod@communitygreens.org Community Greens: Shared Parks in Urban Blocks http://www.communitygreens.org Community Greens promotes the development of shared green spaces inside urban blocks in cities across the United States. The organization was formed through a partnership between Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Notable Feature(s): Current projects; a survey of Existing Greens; an Atlantic Monthly article Secret Gardens by William Drayton on the history of community greens. Contact Information: Rob Inerfeld, Director Community Greens 1700 N. Moore Street Suite 2000 Arlington, VA   22209 USA Telephone: 703.527.8300 x255   Email: communitygreens@ashoka.org Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC) http://www.culturaldc.org/ The mission of the Cultural Development Corporation is to engage artists and cultural organizations in community development and revitalization efforts throughout the District of Columbia. CuDC creates partnerships between the arts and business communities that will stimulate economic activity and improve quality of life. The group explores the conceptual viability of arts-use alternatives and/or mixed-use combinations for rehabilitation of existing buildings and new construction. Contact Information: CuDC 1250 H Street NW Suite 1000 Washington, DC   20005 USA Telephone: 202.661.7582   Fax: 202.661.7599 Email: CulturalDevCorp@culturaldc.org Eco-Village & Community Housing http://www.SustainableABC.Com/ Contact Information: Roy Prince P.O.Box 30085 Santa Barbara, CA   91310 U.S.A. Fax: (805) 898 9199 Enterprise Foundation http://www.enterprisefoundation.org/ http://www.horizonmag.com/ The Enterprise Foundation is dedicated to bringing lasting improvements to distressed communities. Enterprise is a national, nonprofit housing and community development organization. It was launched in 1982 by Jim and Patty Rouse. Since then, Enterprise and its related organizations have raised and leveraged $3.4 billion and helped to create more than 107,000 homes affordable to low-income Americans and to place more than 31,000 people in jobs. The Foundation's mission is to see that all low-income people in the United States have the opportunity for fit and affordable housing and to move up and out of poverty into the mainstream of American life. As the nation's leader in community development, Enterprise cultivates, collects, and disseminates expertise and resources to help communities across the United States successfully improve the quality of life for low-income people. Through its online resources, the Enterprise Foundation provides replicable, programmatic models and information to help nonprofit and others interested in community development save money and work more successfully. Notable Feature(s): Online Enterprise Resource Database to access downloadable resources on housing, financing, economic development, safety, childcare and more; Funding programs for information on funding sources for community development and related work; MoneyNet; a host of materials and contact information on Enterprise Foundation programs in the U.S., including The Enterprise Social Investment Corporation(ESIC), an Enterprise Foundation subsidiary, that works with partners to finance, develop and acquire affordable housing and other community development initiatives in underserved neighborhoods across the country. Contact Information: The Enterprise Foundation 10227 Wincopin Circle Suite 500 Columbia, MD   21044 USA Telephone: 410.964.1230   Fax: 410.964.1918 Email: mail@enterprisefoundation.org Exnora International http://www.exnora.indiaa.com/ Exnora was founded in 1989 by M.B. Nirmal, who, during travels abroad, had seen efforts in Hong Kong, towards maintaining a clean environment, and wanted to achieve the same when he went home. Exnora stands for EXcellent NOvel and RAdical ideas and its main emphasis has been on the generation of innovative ideas and implementing them, so as to help transform the society. Over the years Exnora has grown from an anti-garbage campaign to a full-fledged peoples' movement for environmental protection and management. Its members have grown from a mere twenty to about three hundred thousand. The movement has grown by leaps and bounds and now encompasses several cities, towns and villages in the country. Indian Express has aptly quoted: "Exnora must be the fastest growing service organisation in the world." There are about 5,000 branches, 2,00,000 members and a 25,000 member youth force - all this in a period of 10 years. Developing countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Mauritius are keen on adopting several of Exnora's strategies for developing a clean, healthy living environment for their citizens. Notable Feature(s): Community initiatives; solid waste management; programs for young people; nature camps; waterways program; newsletter. Contact Information: M.B. Nirmal EXNORA INTERNATIONAL 42, Giriappa Road T. Nagar Chennai 600017 India Telephone: +91-44-8283366   Fax: +91-44-824 1688 Email: exnora@vsnl.com Farming in the City: The Rise of Urban Agriculture - Eileen Conway, Editor-in-Chief http://www.idrc.ca/books/reports/V213/index.html Contact Information: IDRC 250 Albert Street Ottowa, ON   K1P 6M1 Canada Telephone: +1 (613) 236 6163   Email: info@idrc.ca Fighting disaster: reducing risk in cities http://www.id21.org/society/S3ads1g1.html How can links between disaster mitigation and urban planning be strengthened? Can urban livelihood strategies reduce poor city dwellers' vulnerability to disaster? Scant attention is currently paid by relief organisations to urban planning and disaster mitigation, according to a recent Care International report. Contact Information: David Sanderson CARE International UK Tower House 8-14 Southampton Street London WC2E 7HA UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 7379 5247   Fax: +44 (0)20 7379 0543 Email: SANDERSON@CIUK.ORG Food into Cities Network http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/ags/AGSM/SADA/SADAE-7_.HTM Contact Information: The Coordinator Food into Cities Network B 618. AGSM. FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome   00100 Italy Fax: (+39 6) 5705 6850 Email: sadanet@fao.net Food Standards and International Trade http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/fna21web/fna21-e/resume-e.htm Geoffrey Payne & Associates (GPA) http://www.gpa.org.uk/ GPA has been involved during recent years with land management, housing and urban development in developing countries, securing land tenure for the urban poor, regulatory guidelines, public-private partnerships in land and housing, and many other issues. Established in 1995, GPA has undertaken consultancy, training and research assignments throughout the world. Clients include national governments, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UN-HABITAT, the World Bank and various NGOs and universities. Through its research and analysis a range of materials, books, articles, media packs, and documentary films have been produced. Contact Information: Geoffrey Payne, director of GPA 34 Inglis Road Ealing Common London W5 3RL U.K. Telephone: +44(020) 8992 2683   Fax: +44(020) 8992 2683 Email: gkpayne@gpa.org.uk Global Campaign for Secure Tenure: Implementing the Habitat Agenda - Adequate Shelter for All http://www.habitat-lac.org/habitat-lac/secure_tenur.htm The Global Campaign for Secure Tenure has the potential to make a significant impact on the shelter and living conditions of the world's urban poor. The Campaign will also signal the emergence of a revitalised Habitat in a new, strategic role, acting as an advocacy agency and mobilising the active support of a host of global, regional, national and local partners. Using the moral authority and global standing of the United Nations, the Campaign will provide profile, support and a voice to hundreds of millions of poor, homeless and inadequately housed people trying to break out of a cycle of poverty. The complex and intractable nature of this problem requires a medium to long term perspective, and the initial duration of the Campaign will not be less than ten years. Contact Information: Mr. Ali Shabou, Information Manager Global Campaign for Secure Tenure United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi Kenya Telephone: (254 2) 62-31-41   Fax: (254) 62-42-65 Email: Ali.Shabou@unchs.org Shabou@unchs-mena.org Habitat for Humanity International http://www.habitat.org/ http://www.habitat.org/hw/ Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization. Habitat welcomes all people to participate in its programs building simple, decent, affordable, houses in partnership with those in need of adequate shelter. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 100,000 houses in more than 80 countries, including some 30,000 houses across the United States. Habitat for Humanity houses are purchased by the homeowner families. Three factors make Habitat houses affordable to low-income people worldwide: Houses are sold at no profit, with no interest charged on the mortgage. Homeowners and volunteers build the houses under trained supervision. Individuals, corporations, faith groups and others provide financial support. Notable Feature(s): True Stories of Habitat for Humanity experiences; Habitat World magazine, including a complete archive of back issues; directory of offices around the world, including Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Canada. Contact Information: Habitat for Humanity 1010 Vermont Ave. NW Suite 900 Washington, DC   20005 USA Telephone: 202.628.9171   Email: publicinfo@hfhi.org Human Rights for Workers http://www.senser.com/biii-11.htm Contact Information: Robert A. Senser, Editor N/A Email: hrfw@senser.com id21 Urban Poverty http://www.id21.org/urban/ From the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), comes id21 and its resources focused on urban poverty and the host of challenges, management and otherwise, that the world's cities face. id21 is a fast-track research reporting service. It aims to make policymakers and on-the-ground development managers aware of the latest and best in British development research findings. Notable Feature(s): Useful database of documents and research on cities around the world, including contact information and networks for additional inquiry; an email digest of the latest id21 Urban Poverty Research Highlights, id21UrbanNews is available (free of charge) by sending an email to: lyris@lyris.ids.ac.uk and put in the subject field only these words: subscribe id21UrbanNews Contact Information: id21 The Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9RE UK Telephone: +44 (0) 1273 678787   Fax: +44 (0) 1273 877335 Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (ISC) http://www.isc.hbs.edu/ http://www.isc.hbs.edu/society.htm Based at the Harvard Business School, the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (ISC) is dedicated to the study of competition and its implications for company strategy; the competitiveness of nations, regions, and cities; and the relationship between competition and society. The Institute seeks to develop new theory, assemble bodies of data to test and apply the theory, and disseminate its ideas widely to scholars and practitioners in business, government, and non-governmental organizations such as universities, economic development organizations, and foundations. Notable Feature(s): Profile of Michael Porter; links to organizations affiliated with the Institute including the Center for International Development; the Center for Middle East Competitive Strategy; the Council on Competitiveness; the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University; the Institute for International Business at Stockholm School of Economics; the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City; and the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development; collection of research and other materials on competition and society, social enterprise and innovation, progress, and philanthropy and the environment; Harvard Business School research on the inner city. Contact Information: Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness Ludcke House Harvard Business School Soldiers Field Road Boston, MA   02163 USA Fax: 617.547.8543 Email: isc@hbs.edu Introduction: Homelessness and Housing in South Africa http://www.dialogue.org.za/pd/new_internationalist.htm Making Cities Work http://www.makingcitieswork.org/ The Making Cities Work Web site is designed to inform USAID staff, counterparts and other partners in their efforts to integrate an urban focus into their work. More and more, the fate of cities determines the fate of nations and regions…. With ever-increasing global integration, problems that arise in one city can quickly spread throughout the region and even worldwide… The developed world ignores at its peril the problems of Third World cities. Eugene Linden, The Exploding Cities of the Developing World Notable Feature(s): Project descriptions of field work in Peru, Ghana, Nepal; links and other tools and resources. Contact Information: Office of Environment and Urban Programs U.S. Agency for International Development 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 3rd Floor Washington, DC   20523 USA Fax: 202.216.3174 Email: mcw@genv.org Manhattan Institute for Policy Research http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ http://www.city-journal.org/ For 25 years, the Manhattan Institute (MI) has been an important force in shaping American political culture. It has supported and publicized research on the most challenging public policy issues: taxes, welfare, crime, the legal system, urban life, race, education, and many other topics. MI has won respect for market-oriented policies and helped make reform a reality. Combining intellectual seriousness and practical wisdom with intelligent marketing and focused advocacy, the Manhattan Institute has achieved a reputation for effectiveness far out of proportion to its resources. Notable Feature(s): City Journal, described as the nation's premier urban-policy magazine, "the Bible of the new urbanism," as London's Daily Telegraph put it; the Manhattan Institute Award for Social Entrepreneurship, including documents detailing each year's winners and their programs. Contact Information: Manhattan Institute for Policy Research 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, NY   10017 U.S.A. Telephone: 212.599.7000   Fax: 212.599.3494 Email: mi@manhattan-institute.org Organization of World Heritage Cities http://www.ovpm.org/rio2.html Perspective on Scavengers and Their Social Change Initiatives http://www.changemakers.net/library/fieldlink.cfm?field=Rights+and+Opportunities+for+Scavengers Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) http://www.sdinet.org/ http://www.dialogue.org.za/ In May 1996, People's Dialogue (South Africa), SPARC (India) and urban poor community groups in Asia, Africa and South America met in South Africa to initiate a people's process for strengthening grassroots savings and credit schemes. Collective savings and credit was recognized by all participating organizations as a critical tool for the urban poor in their worldwide struggle against poverty and socio-economic injustice. The participating groups agreed to come together as a network called Shack Dwellers International in Africa and Slum Dwellers International in Asia. Notable Feature(s): Many reports, documents, and news updates on land struggles, housing opportunities, and more, in Asia and Africa. Contact Information: Email: joelb@dialogue.org.za Sustainable Architecture, Building & Culture - Ecomaterials http://www.SustainableABC.com/ecobuild.html Contact Information: Roy Prince (Architect) Sustainable ABC P.O.Box 30085 Santa Barbara, CA   93130 U.S.A. Telephone: (805) 898 9660   Fax: (805) 898 9199 Email: prince@west.net Sustainable Architecture, Building & Culture - Natural Materials http://www.SustainableABC.com/naturalbuild.html Contact Information: Roy Prince (Architect) Sustainable ABC P.O.Box 30085 Santa Barbara, CA   93130 U.S.A. Telephone: (805) 898 9660   Fax: (805) 898 9199 Email: prince@west.net The Citizens at Risk: From Urban Sanitation to Sustainable Cities - by Gordon McGranahan, Pedro Jacobi, Jacob Songsore, Charles Surjadi and Marianne Kjellén Local environments such as cities and neighbourhoods are becoming a focal point for those concerned with environmental justice and sustainability. Taking a comparative look at cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the book examines: the changing nature of urban environmental risks; the rules governing the distribution of such risks and their differential impact; how the risks arise and who is responsible. The authors describe the most pressing urban environmental challenges, such as improving health conditions in deprived urban settlements, ensuring sustainable urban development in a globalizing world, and achieving environmental justice along with the greening of development. They argue that current debates on sustainable development fail to come to terms with these challenges, and call for a more politically and ethically explicit approach. Contact Information: Earthscan Publications Ltd. 120 Pentonville Road London N1 9JN UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 7278 0433   Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 1142 Email: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk The Urban Institute (UI) http://www.urban.org/ The Urban Institute is a nonprofit economic and social policy research organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1968. The Institute's goals are to sharpen thinking about society's problems and efforts to solve them, improve government decisions and their implementation, and increase citizens' awareness about important public choices. Notable Feature(s): Many reports and analyses on every conceivable issue of urban relevance; UI's in brief monthly newsletter designed to provide a quick update on current Urban Institute events and activities. Contact Information: The Urban Institute 2100 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC   20037 U.S.A. Telephone: 202.833.7200   Email: webmaster@ui.urban.org Toxics Link http://www.toxicslink.org/ Toxics Link was formally set up in March 1996 by a group of like-minded NGOs, voluntary organizations, and individuals concerned about toxic pollution in India. The goal is to develop an information exchange mechanism that will strengthen campaigns against toxics pollution, help push industries towards cleaner production, and link groups working on toxics issues into a National Toxics Movement in India. The work has generated an informal network of over 350 members, individuals and organizations that subscribe to the mission: We are a group of people working together for environmental justice and freedom from toxics. We have taken it upon ourselves to collect and share both information about the sources and dangers of poisons in our environment and bodies, and information about clean and sustainable alternatives for India and rest of the world. Toxics Link has information outreach nodes in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. Notable Feature(s): Success Stories; information request service on toxics related issues; newsletters, reports, and many useful fact sheets on relevant topics. Contact Information: Ravi Agarwal H-2 Jungpura Extension New Delhi 110 014 India Telephone: +91 11 4328006/071   Email: tldelhi@vsnl.com United States Department of Housing and Urban Development http://www.hud.gov The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been on a mission for the past several years to identify the best projects, management tools, techniques, and innovations that communities across the country have to offer. The idea is to make these "Blue Ribbon Practices" into management tools by finding the best in the field, and having them serve as models, consultants, leaders and teachers to those that need help making their project work. Notable Feature(s): Information on HUD's 'Best Practices' program at: http://www.hud.gov/bestpractices.html Contact Information: Email: webmanager@hud.gov Urban Development and Civil Society: The Role of Communities in Sustainable Cities - Edited by Harry Smith, Michael Carley and Paul Jenkins http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3320 Urban Poverty - a World Bank collection of resources and tools http://www.worldbank.org/urban/poverty/ http://www.worldbank.org/urban/agenda.htm A global portal site to World Bank (and other) initiatives aimed at alleviating urban problems and planning for sustainable futures. Notable Feature(s): Articles and program information on urban waste management, upgrading communities, disaster management, land & real estate, municipal finance, and local economic development; links to World Bank and external organizations working on urban issues. Contact Information: Email: urbanhelp@worldbank.org