Currents of Progress, Toy Store for Tourists: Nineteenth-Century Mexican Liberals View the Niagara Falls

The essay addresses the depiction of the Niagara Falls as an ambivalent symbol of progress in nineteenth-century Mexican travel accounts of the United States. At that time, various Mexican intellectuals spent some time in the USA. In diaries and travelogues, some of them articulated their views of their host country but also reflected on their own society through the contrast with their northern neighbor. The Mexican visitors expressed a particular fascination with signs of modernity in the United States. Interestingly, such signifiers included not only political and social institutions and economic and industrial advancements, but also the Niagara Falls as a site of both natural and technological wonders. Examining the depiction of the Falls in major nineteenth-century Mexican travelogues of the United States, the essay illuminates some of the metaphorical “uses of nature” for articulating socio-political ideas as well as experiences of mobility

Proceed with caution: South Sudan and the East African Monetary Union

South Sudan’s accession into the East African Community signals a strong commitment to regional integration. Greater stability after the conflict will however depend upon a renewed focus on stable macroeconomic policy and fiscal discipline

Decentralisation, revenue and the capital city: the case of Kampala, Uganda

This commentary examines the demise in 2010 of the Kampala City Council, and the factors that led to its replacement by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). It outlines some of the different institutional arrangements associated with the establishment of KCCA and resulting changes in the overall management of the city, the outcomes of those changes, and the implications for Uganda’s decentralisation processes, as analysed through the specific lens of the city’s revenues. Finally, it discusses how many of these reforms may be, perhaps necessarily, short-lived as a result of the tensions they created

Currents of Progress, Toy Store for Tourists: Nineteenth-Century Mexican Liberals View Niagara Falls

Haas A. Currents of Progress, Toy Store for Tourists: Nineteenth-Century Mexican Liberals View Niagara Falls. Journal of Transnational American Studies. 2019;10(2):165-185.The essay addresses the depiction of the Niagara Falls as an ambivalent symbol of progress in nineteenth-century Mexican travel accounts of the United States. At that time, various Mexican intellectuals spent some time in the USA. In diaries and travelogues, some of them articulated their views of their host country but also reflected on their own society through the contrast with their northern neighbor. The Mexican visitors expressed a particular fascination with signs of modernity in the United States. Interestingly, such signifiers included not only political and social institutions and economic and industrial advancements, but also the Niagara Falls as a site of both natural and technological wonders. Examining the depiction of the Falls in major nineteenth-century Mexican travelogues of the United States, the essay illuminates some of the metaphorical “uses of nature” for articulating socio-political ideas as well as experiences of mobility

Corruption in construction

The construction industry is the backbone of economic growth in many developing countries. Given the magnitude of funds that are funneled annually into infrastructure projects, scope for corruption and profiteering are high. Governments need greater tools to audit and monitor public spending and better manage public-private partnerships in the construction industry

Moving from a fixed to a floating exchange rate: the case of the South Sudanese Pound

The Government’s decision to peg its new currency, the South Sudan Pound (SSP) to the US dollar, was largely intended to protect against oil price volatility. Amidst falling oil prices and the outbreak of civil war, the Government rapidly depleted its USD reserves and spurred the emergence of a currency black market. This blog argues that the decision taken to float the exchange rate, by the Bank of South Sudan and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on 14th December 2015, was the best option to avoid collapse of the SSP and the dollarisation of the economy

Data for decision-making: how spatial data is shaping the African urbanisation story

Ahead of the 17th Urban Age Conference and the first to be held in Africa, Sebastian Kriticos and Astrid Haas discuss the need for better data to tackle some of Africa’s biggest urbanisation challenges

Considerations for land value capture reform in the Greater Amman Municipality

This report discusses several policy options for improving the calculation and collection of specific land value capture instruments. Namely: Land Value Increment Taxes; Betterment Levies; Development Impact Fees and Exactions. The report focuses on the city of Amman, however, several of the policy challenges and solutions that emerge are common to many developing cities. Specifically, the researchers detail potential avenues for reform to improve assessment and calculation, issuance, and collection of land value capture instruments. Improving clarity around different value capture tools used by cities – in terms of who pays, when they pay, and for what reason – is a first step for improved performance. Clarity must then be supported by greater transparency over how charges are calculated as well as clear communication to demonstrate how tax money is effectively used. The researchers detail several incremental steps that could improve land value capture, ultimately helping city governments to raise finances and support urban sustainable growth through targeted public investments

Kampala, where urbanisation is not synonymous with industrialisation

Many Sub-Saharan African cities have been growing at unprecedented rates. For example, according to the most recent census, in Kampala, the estimated resident night-time population currently lies at 1.5 million people. Some projections from the World Bank suggest that the city could expand to an estimated 9.1 million people by 2050. This figure does not include those people who travel to the city during the day to find jobs, which can lead to a doubling of the day time population

Where are Kampala's missing houses?

Kampala is facing a dearth of affordable formal housing. Rural-urban migration, limited access to mortgage finance, and a host of other factors are all straining its housing sector. It is imperative for planners to think of innovative and sustainable ways to address this issue, argue Astrid Haas and Thierry Hoza Ngoga