What Has Happened to Urban Reform in the Island Pacific? Some Lessons from Kiribati and Samoa

Abstract

Introduction The importance of towns and cities in the future development of Pacific island states is inescapable. Researchers have underlined many key features of the urbanization process, ranging from the high population growth rates found in Melanesian towns,1 the importance of urbanization as a key driver of national economic growth,2 the effects of high rural-urban migration3 and the increasing urban crime and poverty,4 to problems of urban management throughout the region.5 The national experience has not been uniform, raising the question why urban reform in some limited parts of the region appears to have been relatively successful whereas elsewhere it emphatically has not. The measure of what constitutes success or failure in Pacific island