ABSTRACT
The world has crossed the point at which 50 per cent of humanity lives in urban areas. By around 2020, more than half of the population of developing countries will be urban. Urbanisation opens up countless opportunities for economic development and welfare. During last century urban areas have outperformed rural areas on almost every dimension of economic development, whether the rate of innovation, speed of demographic transition, levels of education, health, life expectancy, infant mortality, or access to clean water and sanitation. However, many urban areas in the world are not functioning well, especially where cities are growing not because they are themselves economically dynamic, but because their rural hinterlands are in such distress. With the high densities of urban populations and assets and more than 80 per cent
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