Features Focus Cities Videos Watch videos from the field "Achieving the MDGs one neighbourhood at a time" Access pdf file Cochabamba Focus City organizes International Symposium on Solid Waste Management 2009-10-20 The First International Symposium on Successful Municipal Environmental Policies for Solid Waste Management in Latin America, will take place on October 22 and 23, 2009, in the City of Cochabamba, ... Cochabamba Focus City Project – Update September 2009 2009-09-01 Going out to the media and achieving results! Participatory planning process in Dakar and Jakarta: two great stories! 2009-10-19 How this approach allows the urban poor to decide for themselves how their problems should be addressed.

Floods in Kampala (Photo: Sarah McCans)

To promote in-depth research and allow time to successfully monitor outcomes, UPE takes a “Focus Cities” approach, strategically selecting eight cities where multistakeholder City Teams working in partnership over four years, research and test innovative solutions to alleviate poverty.

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Cochabamba Focus City organizes International Symposium on Solid Waste Management 2009-10-20

Participatory planning process in Dakar and Jakarta: two great stories! 2009-10-19

Salvaging Hope 2008-10
In an impoverished suburb of Dakar, Senegal, a team from Laval University’s school of architecture embarked on an urban planning experiment to help residents rethink the future of their neighbourhood.

Breaking the Cycle of Urban Poverty 2008-09
Team members from the Focus Cities Research Initiative spent five days sharing their challenges and successes in tackling urban poverty and environmental decay in eight cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Dakar's Mbeubeuss Landfill: More Than Meets the Eye 2008-06
A source of curiosity and the subject of much research, the Mbeubeuss landfill in Dakar, Senegal receives more than 1 300 tonnes of garbage per day. It is also home — and a source of income — for hundreds of people.

Improving Neighborhood Quality of Slums 2007-06-15
This post is to applaud the program Healthy Places, Prosperous People (HP3)initiated by Mercy Corps Indonesia that aims at improving the neighborhood quality of slums in North Jakarta. Article available in English only. 

Slum Dwellers Capture Reality to Change it 2007-06-14
From The Jakarta Post: Residents of North Jakarta's Penjaringan slum exhibit photos of the garbage in their community as a reminder for them to improve the state of their neighboorhood. This exhibition was part of the Focus City Project activities. Article available in English only.

Focus City Reaches Milestone 2007-06
The first of IDRC’s eight Focus Cities has reached a critical milestone in local efforts to improve the quality of life in poor neighbourhoods by redefining the relationship between local governments and the city's poorest residents.

First Five Focus Cities Selected to Lead Research Projects on Urban Poverty and the Environment 2006-01-11
City Teams in Kampala, Uganda; Dakar, Senegal; Jakarta, Indonesia; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Moreno, Argentina have been awarded funding of up to CA $1.2 million by IDRC's Urban Poverty and Environment program for innovative projects linking urban poverty alleviation, environmental management, and natural resource use for food, water, and income security.