Aid, Density, and Urban Form: Anticipating Dakar

Abstract

International aid to cities over the past 40 years has been based largely on a simple, demographically driven model of demand for and supply of housing and urban infrastructure services. The demographic projections have been generated by the United Nations Population Division, country demographic and statistical offices, housing and public works ministries, and, more recently, analyses by major research institutions such as the US National Academy of Sciences (2003). Governments and aid agencies have noted the projections of continued rapid urban population growth in developing countries, especially the conclusion that there will be an additional 2 billion urban residents in these countries by 2025. These projections have been taken as the starting point in assessing the demand for investment in housing and urban infrastructure such as water supply, sanitation, electricity, and solid waste management.