World Development Report 2009

Economic activity becomes increasingly concentrated with development. As this happens, substantial disparities in welfare can emerge between cities and their hinterland, between leading and lagging areas within countries and, perhaps most dramatically, between countries in different regions of the world. The objective of the World Development Report (WDR) 2009 is to identify and understand the interactions between geography, economic activities, and living standards, and to draw the implications of these interactions for public policy. 

WDR 2009 will chart the changes that accompany development in the three spatial dimensions: rising density, falling distance and persisting division. The report will identify the forces that influence the location of economic development. The report will then assess public policies that can facilitate the spatial transformations necessary to sustain economic growth and reduce geographic disparities in welfare. 

The WDR will attempt to reframe three important policy debates: on urbanization in developing countries; on territorial development policies; and on the pros and cons of regional integration. The report will propose that integration of markets should be the guiding principle for designing policies and institutions that help developing countries exploit the economic gains from concentration while ensuring convergence of social welfare. Drawing lessons from the experience of both developed and developing countries and recent advances in economic thinking, the WDR will discuss promising approaches and interventions.  

The report will have three parts which will, respectively:

	Summarize the salient features and evolution of spatial distribution of economic activities and social welfare in the developed and developing world, using three spatial scales that progressively widen to include density, distance, and division.
	Propose a framework for identifying the drivers of these spatial transformations, focussing on agglomeration economies, factor mobility, and trade costs.
	Assess the public policies through which governments have, intentionally or otherwise, shaped these disparities.

A discussion draft of the report will be posted on this site in June 2008.  The report will formally be launched in October 2008.