THE WORLD BANK W O R L D B A N K O P E R A T I O N S E V A L U A T I O N D E P A R T M E N T Improving the Lives of the Poor Through Investment in Cities An Update on the Performance of the World Bank’s Urban Portfolio THE WORLD BANK ™xHSKIMBy355404zv":&:;:%:+ ISBN 0-8213-5540-6 Improving the Lives of the Poor Through Investment in Cities THE WORLD BANK OPERATIONS EVALUATION DEPARTMENT OED PUBLICATIONS ENHANCING DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH EXCELLENCE AND INDEPENDENCE IN EVALUATION Study Series 2002 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness—Achieving Development Outcomes: The Millennium Challenge The Operations Evaluation Department (OED) is an independent unit within the World Bank; it reports directly Agricultural Extension: The Kenya Experience Agricultural Extension and Research: Achievements and Problems in National Systems to the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. 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Context and Methods 2 Developing-Country Cities and the Poor 3 Evaluation Method 5 2. Evolution of the Bank’s Urban Portfolio 5 The First Decade: 1972–82—Initial Focus on Poverty 6 The Second Decade: 1983–92—Rapid Expansion after the Debt Crisis 9 The Third Decade: 1993–2000—Managing Cities and Market Reforms 11 Into the Fourth Decade: 2001 and Beyond—Putting Cities in a Global Context 15 3. Better Projects in Cities, Better Lives for the Poor 15 Bank Support Makes a Difference 17 Rebound of Project Performance Ratings 18 Key Determinants of Project Performance 18 Project Factors of Success—Things that Managers Can Work On 21 Country Factors—Things that Managers Need to Take into Account 21 Factors Not Found to Be Correlated with Project Performance 22 Where to Focus Action? 23 4. Improving Lives in Cities by Implementing the Strategy 23 Livability—Decent Quality of Life and Opportunity for All, Especially the Poor 25 Good Governance—Inclusion and Accountability, Especially at the Local Level 27 Bankability—Financial Soundness and Creditworthiness 28 Competitiveness—Efficient Markets in Cities i i i I M P R O V I N G T H E L I V E S O F T H E P O O R T H R O U G H I N V E S T M E N T I N C I T I E S 31 5. Recommendations 33 Annexes 35 1: Urban Output and Outcome Indicators from the Urban Strategy Paper 37 2: Selected Performance Data—Urban Portfolio, 1993–2000 41 3: Urban Portfolio: Completed Projects, 1993–2000 45 4: Urban Portfolio: Ongoing Projects 49 5: Management Response 51 6: Chairman’s Summary: Committee on Development Effectiveness 55 Endnotes 59 Bibliography Box 26 4.1 City Development Strategy Figures 7 2.1 Timeline of Urban Portfolio Performance 9 2.2 Subsector Shares of Urban Projects and the Percent Satisfactory by Exit Year, 1993–2000 17 3.1 Ratings Have Rebounded Strongly since 1995 21 3.2 Completed Urban Projects: Bank and Borrower Performance Tables 2 1.1 More People—Including the Poor—Living in Developing-Country Cities 6 2.1 The Bank’s Urban Portfolio at a Glance 8 2.2 Urban Policy and Economic Development, UPP-91 10 2.3 OED’s Review of 20 Years of Lending for Urban Development, 1972–92 12 2.4 Cities in Transition: World Bank Urban and Local Government Strategy, USP 19 3.1 Results of Least-Squares Regression of Factors of Urban Project Performance i v Preface ities are home to 525 million poor people, and the World Bank makes substantial investments in developing-country cities every year. This Cstudy by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) reviews the per- formance of 99 urban development operations completed since 1993 to see, in particular, how these interventions have improved the living conditions of the urban poor, the primary goal of the livability pillar of the Bank’s current urban strategy. This is OED’s first review of the urban portfolio other data. These included country statistics from since its 1994 study of the first 20 years of Bank the Bank’s World Development Indicators and urban lending. Since that study was completed, city statistics from the U.N. Habitat Urban Indi- the Bank has invested US$6 billion more in as- cators Program, as well as data from older proj- sistance for urban development. ects covered by OED’s earlier 20-year review and From Regional and OED assessments of proj- newer operations ongoing during this review. ect performance and other sources, the present Designed primarily as a desk study, the present study compiled a database of more than 120 vari- review also included interviews of 45 borrower ables for each of the 99 urban operations com- managers of urban projects worldwide. Sup- pleted during 1993–2001. Although the porting all this effort was a review of academic and information in this database was the cornerstone professional literature relating to urban devel- of the review, the evaluation also made use of opment, especially from non-Bank sources. v Acknowledgments he core team for this work was made up managers in our client countries for their col- of Roy Gilbert, Anna Amato, and Romayne laboration in our telephone interview, and also TPereira. Roy Gilbert, lead evaluation offi- to Bank urban task managers for facilitating these cer of the Operations Evaluation Department contacts. Written comments were gratefully re- (OED), wrote the report. The telephone survey ceived from Robert Buckley, Tim Campbell, of project managers was designed jointly with William Cobbett, Elizabeth Campbell-Page, Vic- OED and conducted by the Gallup Organization toria Elliot, James Fitz Ford, Nils Fostvedt, under the supervision of Ajay Bhardwaj, with Jonathan Kamkwalala, Christine Kessides, Omar the assistance of Chris McComb, David Osborne, Razzaz, Gwen Swinburn, Gene Tidrick, and Tom and Anna Maria Salih. For the extensive data Zearley. Christine Kessides was a peer reviewer analysis conducted, the study benefited from of the report. the help of OED colleagues Sohail Malik and The study was published in OED’s Partner- Anju Gupta Kapoor. The core team also benefited ships and Knowledge Group, under the direction from advice and inputs at various stages of this of Osvaldo Feinstein, by the Outreach and Dis- work from fellow OED Urban Cluster members semination staff of the Knowledge Management Soniya Carvalho and Ron Parker. Bill Hurlbut Unit, including Patrick Grasso, lead knowledge and Caroline McEuen edited the report. Finally, management officer, Caroline McEuen, editor; the team’s special thanks go to urban project and Juicy Qureishi-Huq, program assistant. Director-General, Operations Evaluation: Gregory K. Ingram Director, Operations Evaluation Department: (Acting): Nils Fostvedt Manager, Sector and Thematic Evaluation: Alain Barbu Task Manager: Roy Gilbert v i i