The challenge of rapid urbanisation and its attendant demands for infrastructure and services confront every local government in the developing world. The weakness of that local government compounds the enormity of the challenge. The most recent literature on the topics of institutional development and third world city management does not offer a coherent set of interventions to deal with the institutional aspects of city growth.

This is despite some current work in multilateral development agencies and in academic circles. This book therefore reviews the theoretical perspectives on institutional development (ID) and third world city management. It also considers ID in city management practice. The book seeks to identify some general principles to guide the ID process in relation to third world city management.

These principles are designed to encourage both theorists and practitioners to discover solutions to the urban management challenge in their parts of the developing world.