This book provides an overview of the
World Bank's Eco2 cities : ecological cities as
economic cities initiative. The objective of the Eco2 cities
initiative is to help cities in developing countries achieve
a greater degree of ecological and economic sustainability.
The book is divided into three parts. Part one describes the
Eco2 cities initiative framework. It describes the approach,
beginning with the background and rationale. Key challenges

This document describes the training
course for lawyers and judges in the Palestinian
Territories, which was designed as an introduction to
residential mortgage lending, and the use of mortgage
collateral. These materials begin with a technical
description of mortgage lending and mortgage collateral, the
purposes and content of mortgage law, and the general
conditions for development and expansion of residential

The future development of the Tajik
economy will be shaped by its comparative advantage on world
markets. Exploiting comparative advantage enables an economy
to reap gains from trade. Tajikistan's most important
comparative advantage is its hydropower potential, which is
far larger than the economy's domestic requirements.
Yet, high capital costs of building hydropower plants and
the unstable geopolitical situation in the transit region to

The purpose of this report is to provide
an overview of the current situation of brownfield
management in China for World Bank staff and relevant
government officials in order to help raise awareness of
land contamination and help develop remediation activities.
After the introductory section, section two explores the
environmental and development pressures of land. Section
three reviews government plans, targets and actions. Section

The objective of this review of
resettlement policy and implementation in Brazil, is to
identify ongoing good practices, as well as areas for
further improvement. It draws upon an assessment of the
Brazilian legal and institutional framework related to land
acquisition for projects in the public interest, a rapid
evaluation of the resettlement programs in six projects
(three projects that received Bank financing and three

Using subnational historical data, this
paper establishes the within country persistence of economic
activity in the New World over the last half millennium. The
paper constructs a data set incorporating measures of
pre-colonial population density, new measures of present
regional per capita income and population, and a
comprehensive set of locational fundamentals. These
fundamentals are shown to have explanatory power: native

This paper analyzes the trends and
evolution of public spending in the agriculture sector in
Indonesia, as well as the impact of public spending on
agricultural growth. It finds that, in line with empirical
work undertaken in other countries, public spending on
agriculture and irrigation during the period 1976-2006 had a
positive impact on agricultural growth, while public
spending on fertilizer subsidies had the opposite effect.

Expert statements indicate that annually
approximately 20 billion dollars will be needed to prevent
90 percent deforestation in tropical countries. Development
practitioners are eager to see the benefits from REDD plus
initiatives shared with local partners. Equally important to
understanding how local partners might benefit are questions
such as, who should derive benefits from REDD plus
initiatives, and how to ensure these initiatives reach the

Following the cessation of hostilities
in May 2009, the Government of Sri Lanka has announced a
suitably ambitious macroeconomic vision to capitalize on the
peace dividend. Its goals include growing at 8 percent or
more per year and lowering government indebtedness from
around 80 to 60 percent of GDP by 2015. This paper's
main finding is that while some post-conflict bounce is only
to be expected, sustaining high growth presents significant

Over the last three decades,
China's product, labor, and capital markets have become
gradually more integrated within its borders, although
integration has been significantly slower for capital
markets. There remains a significant urban-rural divide, and
Chinese cities tend to be under-sized by international
standards. China has also integrated globally, initially
through the Special Economic Zones on the coast as launching

The report highlights the important links between good governance on a level legal and regulatory playing field, and the ability of investment to stimulate growth. Investment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been strong over the last two decades in comparison with Latin America and Eastern Europe. However, in the oil exporting countries, it has been primarily supported by large and expanding public investments. Oil importers, in contrast, have shown more strength in private investment, which has increased in recent years.

Signing the accession treaty with the
European Union (EU) and its forthcoming membership to the EU
are remarkable opportunities for Croatia to address a number
of economic challenges and join the EU as a competitive and
successful economy. The new Croatian government in its
program for 2011-2015 seeks higher standards of living for
its citizens through sustained economic growth and greater
social cohesion. Given the legacies from the past, these