This report examines the economic role of cities. It illustrates the important contributions of cities to national economic development and poverty reduction. It looks at the agglomeration economies, city clusters, city regions and mega city regions.

The objective of this tool is to inform and capacitate local government officials so as to assist them in initiating, developing and managing Clean Development Mechanism and Verified Emission Reduction projects within their cities, towns or regions. There are a number of key areas of local government competencies that city officials may want to target when implementing carbon trading projects; including town and urban planning, infrastructure development, service provision, waste management, energy provisioning and transportation.

The collection of municipal solid waste is a public service that has important impacts on public health and the appearance of towns and cities. Unfortunately many urban administrations seem to be losing the battle of coping with the ever-increasing quantities of waste. The challenge is made greater by the diversity of materials in the waste, which is no longer mainly food waste and ash, but includes more and more plastic packaging, paper and discarded electronic equipment.

This report examines how the public-private partnership (PPP) model can be applied to help promote sustainable housing and urban development for countries around the world. The report has two main parts. First, it identifies key opportunities and challenges faced by PPPs in general, and provides PPP best practices and guiding principles adopted by governments at various levels of economic development. Second, it describes global patterns in the most prominent urban PPP sectors followed by case studies that have been adopted and implemented by various governments around the globe.

Citizens, governments and the United Nations increasingly are embracing a new paradigm for development: the Green Economy. Proponents seek to develop their economies along pathways of higher, more equitable growth at lower carbon, energy and resource intensity. The Green Economy is pro-growth and pro-jobs, as well as pro-environment.

The UN-HABITAT developed this guide for city planners and other allied professionals to better understand, assess, and take action on climate change at the local level.

This new UN report focuses on the current issues and challenges which national and local governments, the business sector and organised civil society are facing. It highlights several critical issues – demographic and economic trends, poverty and inequality, the environment, climate change and urban governance and management.

This report is intended to assist those who influence public and private sector investments in solid waste collection systems in developing countries.

In a rapidly urbanizing global society, solid waste management will be a key challenge facing all the world's cities. This publication provides a fresh perspective and new data on one of the biggest issues in urban development. Using the framework of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management, the report presents unprecedented research from 22 cities across six continents.

The global observance of World Habitat Day this year will be held at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. Hosted by China