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Depuis 1950, le nombre d'agglomérations urbaines en Afrique de l'Ouest est passé de 152 à près de 2 000.  Elles abritent aujourd'hui 41 % de la population totale de la région. Les villes et leurs habitants façonnent de plus en plus le paysage économique, politique et social de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Cependant, peu de données à jour harmonisées sont disponibles pour l’analyse et la formulation des politiques de développement aux niveaux  local, national et régional. Africapolis, base de données cohérente et homogène sur l'urbanisation, vise à combler ce manque. La mise à jour 2015 porte sur 17 pays ouest-africains sur  la période 1950-2010. L’apport méthodologique original est de combiner sources démographiques et images satellitaires et aériennes pour fournir des estimations de population et une géolocalisation de chacune des agglomérations urbaines. L’approche morphologique adoptée permet une meilleure compréhension des processus de transformation territoriale au cœur des dynamiques complexes d’urbanisation en Afrique de l’Ouest. Ces processus peuvent être observés à plusieurs échelles : métropoles, villes secondaires, coalescence de villages et conurbations. L'identification des villes de moins de 100 000 habitants est une contribution majeure d’Africapolis. Elle révèle que celles-ci représentent 90 % des villes ouest-africaines, soit une population totale de 45 millions de personnes – un chiffre qui souligne la place importante que les petites villes occupent dans le système urbain. Cette édition donne également de nouvelles estimations de l'urbanisation au Nigéria, pays le plus peuplé d'Afrique, constituant ainsi la base de données la plus complète sur les dynamiques d'urbanisation dans ce pays.

Urban, demographic and climate trends are increasingly exposing cities to risks of having too little, too much and too polluted water. Facing these challenges requires robust public policies and sound governance frameworks to co-ordinate across multiple scales, authorities, and policy domains. Building on a survey of 48 cities in OECD countries and emerging economies, the report analyses key factors affecting urban water governance, discusses trends in allocating roles and responsibilities across levels of government, and assesses multi-level governance gaps in urban water management. It provides a framework for mitigating territorial and institutional fragmentation and raising the profile of water in the broader sustainable development agenda, focusing in particular on the contribution of metropolitan governance, rural-urban partnerships and stakeholder engagement.

This report examines the Netherland’s new Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam-The Hague (MRDH), drawing on lessons from governance reforms in other OECD countries and identifying how the MRDH experience could benefit policy makers beyond Dutch borders. Long in search of ways to strengthen urban areas, the Dutch government has recently undertaken the development of a National Urban Agenda known as Agenda Stad, in parallel to a series of broad institutional reforms. This included abolishing the country’s traditional eight city-regions, which led Rotterdam, The Hague and 21 smaller neighbouring cities to form the Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam-The Hague (Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag, or MRDH). This report analyses the emergence of the MRDH both as a geographical area that spans 23 municipalities in the southern Randstad region and as a new metropolitan authority with transport and economic development responsibilities. One of the challenges the MRDH faces is how to bring the economies of Rotterdam and The Hague closer together while generating growth and well-being.  

The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the 'How’s Life in Your Region?' work produced by the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the behest of the Regional Development Policy Committee.

This review finds that while Mexico has taken important steps in addressing the urban challenges in the Valle de México, Mexico’s largest metropolitan area, there is a need for major metropolitan governance reform.  Serious urban governance failings are inhibiting adequate responses to critical urban development priorities - regeneration, access to adequate housing, reliable and safe public transport, and environmental protection. Several measures are currently being implemented. However, these tools and reforms will not produce the desired solutions to urban problems in the absence of metropolitan thinking, strategic regional planning, and improved co-ordination and collaboration across levels of government.

The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) struggle with environmental challenges related to the consumption and end-of-life management of many harmful products. This policy manual considers the potential use and implementation of four categories of product-related economic instruments to address some of these challenges: product taxes, tax differentiation based on environmental factors, deposit-refund systems and extended producer responsibility (EPR).

This publication is the first case study of the Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia project. The project explores how to promote green growth in fast-growing cities in Asia by examining policies and governance practices that encourage greening and competitiveness in a rapidly expanding economy. It is part of the OECD Green Growth Studies series, which will culminate in a synthesis report on Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia. This report analyses the economic and environmental performance and green growth policy practices of Thailand’s Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). As a dynamic and emerging market economy, Thailand has recorded strong growth over recent decades and is expected to continue to do so, but this growth has come at a high environmental cost. The challenge is therefore to improve environmental outcomes while supporting continued growth in output and living standards. Thailand's government and BMA have taken steps to encourage green growth in the BMR, but much untapped potential remains, particularly in the following areas: land use and transport, renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings, and water resources and solid waste management. Resilience to floods is also an urgent cross-cutting issue that requires further attention.