Brazil’s Early Urban Transition: What Can it Teach Urbanizing Countries?

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have published a study based on Brazil’s experience with rapidly urbanising cities.

The authors – Dr. George Martine, the former President of the Brazilian Association of Population Studies and Dr. Gordon McGranahan of the IIED – warn that failure to plan ahead and acknowledge urban growth will result in increasing poverty and environmental degradation of cities worldwide. They offer examples and parallels from Brazil’s failed past policies as well as partially successful and innovative ones from the present. They also call on policymakers worldwide to recognise the rights of poor people to live in cities and enjoy the benefits of urban life.