No. 21: The State of Poverty and Food Insecurity in Maseru, Lesotho

This report on food insecurity in urban Lesotho is the latest in a series on Southern African cities issued by AFSUN. Like the previous reports, it focuses on one city (Maseru) and on poor neighbourhoods and households in that city. More than 60% of poor households surveyed in Maseru were severely food insecure. While food price increases worsen food insecurity for poor households, it is poverty that weakens the resilience of society to absorb these increases. This report argues that Maseru residents face specific and interrelated challenges with respect to food and nutrition insecurity. These are poverty; limited local livelihood opportunities; and dependence on food imports. Among AFSUN’s recommendations are improved infrastructure as a fundamental precondition for meaningful development; the creation of livelihood opportunities within the food system; social safety nets designed in ways that promote economic growth and equity; and free movement of labour between Lesotho and South Africa, which would dramatically improve the incomes of many poor households. The Government of Lesotho and the Maseru Municipality and District can direct both aid and investment into an integrated food security strategy that prioritizes urban infrastructure, livelihoods, welfare and mobility. This takes political will, but the development and implementation of such a food security strategy is well within the reach of the country’s leaders

The State of Poverty and Food Insecurity in Maseru, Lesotho

This report on food insecurity in urban Lesotho is the latest in a series on Southern African cities issued by AFSUN. Like the previous reports, it focuses on one city (Maseru) and on poor neighbourhoods and households in that city. More than 60% of poor households surveyed in Maseru were severely food insecure. While food price increases worsen food insecurity for poor households, it is poverty that weakens the resilience of society to absorb these increases. This report argues that Maseru residents face specific and interrelated challenges with respect to food and nutrition insecurity. These are poverty; limited local livelihood opportunities; and dependence on food imports. Among AFSUN’s recommendations are improved infrastructure as a fundamental precondition for meaningful development; the creation of livelihood opportunities within the food system; social safety nets designed in ways that promote economic growth and equity; and free movement of labour between Lesotho and South Africa, which would dramatically improve the incomes of many poor households. The Government of Lesotho and the Maseru Municipality and District can direct both aid and investment into an integrated food security strategy that prioritizes urban infrastructure, livelihoods, welfare and mobility. This takes political will, but the development and implementation of such a food security strategy is well within the reach of the country’s leaders

Railroads and micro-regional growth in Prussia

We study the effect of railroad access on urban population growth. Using GIS techniques, we match triennial population data for roughly 1000 cities in nineteenth-century Prussia to georeferenced maps of the German railroad network. We find positive short- and long-term effects of having a station on urban growth for different periods during 1840-1871. Causal effects of (potentially endogenous) railroad access on city growth are identified using instrumentalvariable and xed-effects estimation techniques. Our instrument identifies exogenous variation in railroad access by constructing straight-line corridors between terminal stations. Counterfactual models using pre-railroad growth yield no evidence in support of the hypothesis that railroads appeared as a consequence of a previous growth spurt

A Worldwide State-of-the-Art Analysis for Bus Rapid Transit: Looking for the Success Formula

This paper’s intended contribution, in terms of providing an additional angle in the existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) state-of-the-art knowledge spectrum, is a dual one. On the one hand, it provides a detailed description of the mode, re-defining BRT as an overall concept by identifying, discussing, and categorizing in a systematic way its strengths and its weaknesses in comparison with rail-based solutions and conventional bus services. On the other hand, it presents in detail a number of selected scheme-oriented applications from around the world, looking into some of the basic ingredients behind BRT’s success (or failure) stories. This is a scientific effort that could inform the reader about the current status of BRT internationally and about the challenges and opportunities that exist when trying to materialize BRT’s potential as an effective urban passenger solution that could challenge the merits of more conventional mass-transit options

No. 09: The State of Household Food Security in Nanjing, China

This report on the state of food security in Nanjing, China, is based on a 2015 city-wide survey conducted by Nanjing University and the Hungry Cities Partnership. The research found that most of the city’s residents are food secure, with access to desirable foods and high dietary diversity throughout the year. Nanjing has a high level of economic development, low unemployment, and spatially dense food supply networks. However, a high average level of food security obscures the finding that about one household in five is food insecure according to the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence indicator. Female-centred households, households that have no formal wage worker, and households with only one member tend to be the most food insecure. The proximity of wet markets and supermarkets to food retail and food procurement by households across Nanjing emerges clearly in this survey, and the relationship between wet markets and supermarkets appears to be more complementary than competitive. The survey found that three in four respondents feel exposed to threats of unsafe food from the production and processing stages of food supply chains, especially from the overuse of agrochemicals in the agriculture and livestock industry. There is a widespread perception that the ineffective enforcement of regulations by local governments is the major cause of food safety problems

Shanghai rising in a globalizing world

In a globalizing world, cities at or near the apex of the international urban hierarchy are among the favored few--New York, London, and Tokyo--that have acquired large economic, cultural, and symbolic roles. Among a handful of regions that aspire to such a role--such as Hong Kong, Miami, and Sao Paulo--Shanghai has reasonable long-term prospects. If the Chinese economy can sustain its growth rate, it will rival the United States in a few decades. And if Shanghai can sustain its preeminence in China, it is the Asian city most likely to become a global center. The authors explore the makings of a world city, identify ingredients essential for that status, indicate national and municipal policies that may set Shanghai on the path to being a global city, and show how such policies are being implemented. As urbanization continues, the authors say, and as information technology and finance-related service activities take on even more importance, the number of regional and global centers could increase, but only if they satisfy some exacting requirements. Shanghai's chances, for example, depend on the extent to which China opens up and on a host of municipal policies--policies that emphasize Shanghai's industrial strength, substantially enlarge its base of information technology and producer services, ensure an adequate supply of skills, expand available housing and infrastructure enough to meet demand, and improve the quality of life.Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management

Unintended effects of urbanization in China: Land use spillovers and soil carbon loss

This paper uses a national-level geographic information system database on land use, weather conditions, land quality, soil organic carbon (SOC), topographic features, and economic variables to analyze the major drivers of land use change and the resulting impact on soil carbon storage in China. The framework developed in this study includes two main components. One is a spatial panel multinomial logit land use model that takes into account the spatial and temporal dependence of land use choices explicitly. The other is a statistical causal evaluation model that estimates the effect of land use change on SOC density. Results indicate that local economic growth, as measured by county-level gross domestic product, was a major cause of urban development and grassland conversions. Rapid expansion of road networks, promoted by massive public investment, increased the conversion of forests, grassland, and unused land to crop production and urban development. Urbanization had significant secondary ripple effects in terms of both indirect land use change and soil carbon loss. Some of the soil carbon loss may be irreversible, at least in the short run.Land use, propensity score-matching, road density, soil organic carbon, spatial panel,

Migrant Entrepreneurs and Credit Constraints under Labour Market Discrimination

We use a unique data of representative migrants and urban local workers in 15 Chinese cities to investigate entrepreneurship and credit constraints under labour market discrimination. We divide self employed into prefer to be self-employed and prefer to have a salaried job but cannot find one; and divide salaried workers into want-to-be entrepreneurs and happy-to-be salaried workers. Over 40 percent of migrant workers are either currently or want-to-be entrepreneurs. Both groups are very similar in terms of risk taking preferences and network size. Want-to-be entrepreneurs however suffer from credit constraints identified by negative financial shocks in the year before. Our back-of-envelope calculation reveals that overcoming the current level of credit constraints may be worth 2% of GDP per year direct earnings increases.entrepreneurs, credit constraints, migration, China

The Diversity of Diversity: Implications of the Form and Process of Localised Urban Systems

This paper summarises research into localised urban systems which accounts for variations in styles of diversity within multi-cultural cities. New work builds on previous studies in London and Turin. The first produced an ideal type model of open:closed urban systems and evidence that the former have better capacity to incorporate incomers. The second revealed the need to adapt the model to account also for the process of diversity. This third phase combines ethnography with computer simulations to reveal emergent properties as well as present styles of urban systems, and to rank the variables driving change. The outcome will be a typology for users dealing with migrant settlement and urban regeneration.Typology of urban systems, Diversity, Relatedness, Process models, Ideal types