From Recommendation to Action: A contribution of the Policy Unit Experts and International Development Agencies from Latin America and the Caribbean to the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda

Given the magnitude of the problem, it is unlikely that traditional topdown development programs will be singularly effective, especially since such approaches often fail to incorporate and utilize the knowledge and priorities of the urban poor. Over the last few years three developments have arisen that create a novel class of approaches that can succeed at creating equitable development at the necessary speed and scale . These are i) the power of peer-topeer community organization to create methods and collaborations for participatory neighborhood development, ii) an immense technological revolution that allows neighborhood residents to map their neighborhoods and leverage assets relative to objective needs and future priorities, iii) a major shift in our understanding of cities that now emphasizes how their networked and interdependent character impacts the relationships between social, economic, environmental and technical development processes.