Cities Alliance and the city of São Paulo are pleased to present Slum Upgrading Up Close: Experiences of Six Cities. The publication captures some of the key knowledge and shared learning from an international policy dialogue on the “Challenges of Slum Upgrading: Sharing São Paulo’s Experience” held in São Paulo from March 10 to 14, 2008.
Co-sponsored by the Cities Alliance and the city of São Paulo, the five-day event facilitated a rich exchange of ideas among high-ranking city officials from six major cities of the south—Cairo, Ekurhuleni, Lagos, Manila, Mumbai, and São Paulo—on the issues and challenges of slum upgrading in their respective cities. To view slum upgrading from the field, participants spent a day visiting slum upgrading projects in the São Francisco, Manacias Iporanga, Vila Nilo, Paraisopolis, and Heliopolis areas of São Paulo.
Slum Upgrading Up Close: Experiences of Six Cities builds upon the international policy dialogue to showcase the different experiences of the six cities, including providing detailed city profiles, housing and land policies, overall slum upgrading efforts, methodologies, initial results, and innovations. It emphasises the importance of cities sharing and comparing similar experiences. Key messages emanating from the publication and international dialogue are the indispensability of local leadership, a shared vision, clear political leadership, flexible policy making, commitment over time, and the meaningful involvement of the affected communities.
