The Policy Brief reviews information on urbanization trends, particularly trends in urban poverty, and documents the most recent economic trends in light of the global economic and financial crisis.

The analysis also includes some medium- and longer-term trends, such as underlying demographic changes and migration patterns, environmental factors such as the national water supply, and structural changes in agriculture and the economy as a whole.

The Policy Brief provides policy recommendations on urbanization in general and housing conditions in particular.

This Policy Brief was funded through a contribution from the Government of Norway. It is part of a series of crisis response the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) initiatives aimed at generating policy responses to protect human development gains in countries affected by the crisis and to stimulate a broader policy dialogue. The UNDP Poverty Group manages the PSIA initiative and provides technical guidance to country teams conducting the analysis.

The Policy Brief is the fruit of the efforts, contributions and support of many people and institutions. We would like to thank the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the UN Development Group (UNDG), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

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