Jean-Claude Bolay

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne + Center for Cooperation & Development

Métropolisation, crise écologique et développement durable sont trois enjeux fondamentaux du monde contemporain. La métropolisation est l'une des causes essentielles de la crise écologique mondiale. Le développement durable, quant à lui, est considéré comme une stratégie réaliste et efficace pour sortir de cette crise.Cette problématique est à l'or...

Durant trois ans, des équipes de chercheurs de l'EPFL se sont investis dans quatre projets de recherche en partenariat avec des institutions scientifiques du Sud. Forts de ces collaborations, ces chercheurs se sont efforcés de bâtir des ponts entre la recherche scientifique et le développement durable, dans des espaces géographiques très diversifié...

A cidade é um sistema complexo de indivíduos, objetos, ações, atividades e estrutura física. O planejamento urbano é um campo de grande complexidade quer seja como conceito, método, prática profissional ou discurso. Envolve, ainda, técnicas, processos, práticas, políticas e ideologias. Nessa direção, este artigo analisa a visão da população local s...

A majority of human beings live in cities, half of them in cities of less than 500.000 inhabitants, and around 1 billion of dwellers live today in slums (meaning 25% of urban residents in the global South). Having these numbers in mind, the main question for urban planners and decision makers is: why our forecasts of a sustainable urban development...

Today, the majority of the world’s population – roughly 54% – lives in urban areas. Though global, this trend nonetheless varies greatly depending on the country and continent. It appears that in Europe and the Americas (both North America and Latin America) the urban population has reached roughly 80%, versus less than 50% in Asia and Africa. Yet,...

With 92% of its population living in urban areas, Argentina is one of the most urbanized countries on the planet. The province of Buenos Aires, which is located on the outskirts of the national capital, is home to 16.65 million people, or 39% of the national population. Like in many South countries, the populations of the small and medium-sized cit...

In this chapter, we will dissect the salient elements of urban planning in terms of theoretical foundations and methodology, in order to demonstrate that in addition to criticism expressed by a certain number of authors regarding its transfer to cities of the South, urban planning does not focus on the key issues faced by local authorities and inha...

The book concludes with a synthesized analysis of urban planning in Southern cities, with a particular focus on medium sized cities that play a role of intermediation between their suburban and rural environments and the whole urban network. Starting from the literature on the topic, as presented mainly in Chaps. 2 and 3, we will compare the concep...

The efforts made to plan cities in emerging and developing countries are confronted to multiple issues, especially in small and middle sized cities which can be considered as poor through several criteria: socio-economic level of majority of population; low levels of public investments, weak quality of local administration, and large dependence of...

According to international statistics, nearly 50% of the world’s urban population now lives in cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants. These small and medium-sized cities act as intermediaries between rural regions, the local economy and more extensive urban networks and have three spheres of influence: regional, national and international. In man...

This open access book revisits the theoretical foundations of urban planning and the application of these concepts and methods in the context of Southern countries by examining several case studies from different regions of the world. For instance, the case of Koudougou, a medium-sized city in one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso...

In 2018, the world population is around 7.6 billion, 4.2 billion in urban settlements and 3.4 billion in rural areas. Of this total, according to UN-Habitat, 3.2 billion of urban inhabitants live in southern countries. Of them, one billion, or nearly a third, live in slums. Urban poverty is therefore an endemic problem that has not been solved desp...

This article discusses the concept and the practice of transdisciplinary research, including how it is conceived and implemented through the cooperation of different actors involved. With transdisciplinarity gaining recognition as an approach to addressing sustainable development challenges, the successful integration of various disciplines and act...

Cities are defined mainly based on spatial and demographic criteria. The criteria of intermediation helps in identifying current urban dynamics, in relation to surrounding suburban/rural areas or in national and international environments. Medium‐sized cities are emblematic of so‐called “intermediate cities.” According to international thresholds,...

With nearly 100 million inhabitants, Vietnam is at an historic crossroads of spatial and demographic change that will shape it for the decades to come. The country’s urban population has effectively reached 37%, with an annual growth rate of around 3%. This rapid urbanization process for a country that is still predominantly rural is mainly taking...

In 2018, the world population is around 7.6 billion, 4.2 billion in urban settlements and 3.4 billion in rural areas. Of this total, according to UN-Habitat, 3.2 billion of urban inhabitants live in southern countries. Of them, one billion, or nearly a third, live in slums. Urban poverty is therefore an endemic problem that has not been solved desp...

The efforts made to plan cities in emerging and developing countries are confronted to multiple issues, especially in small and middle-sized cities, which can be considered as poor through several criteria: socio-economic level of majority of population; low levels of public investments, weak quality of local administration, and large dependence of...

La planificación urbana representa una oportunidad para pensar en el futuro a partir de lo existente, teniendo en cuenta los recursos reales, financieros y humanos, con el objetivo de luchar contra la pobreza e invertir en equipos que tengan un impacto sostenible en las condiciones de vida de TODOS los habitantes

In recent decades (especially in the most developed parts of the world), researchers, urban decision makers, planning managers and politicians are devoting much greater attention to the opinion of the local population, as long-term experience has shown that meaningful, integrated, interactive and continuous public involvement in decision making wil...

This open access book presents 18 case studies that explore current scientific and technological efforts to address global development issues, such as poverty, from a holistic and interdisciplinary point of view, putting actual impacts at the centre of its analysis. It illustrates the use of technologies for development in various fields of researc...

With 92% of its population living in urban areas, Argentina is one of the most urbanized countries on the planet. Like in many South Countries, the populations of the small and medium-sized cities, which serve as intermediate centers between the countryside and the urban network, are growing steadily. Such cities in Argentina offer services and inf...

Due to growing social and physical transformations, contemporary cities reveal the profound necessity of proper scientific approaches that are adjusted to conditions of global complexity and dynamic patterns of development. Predominance of an overall market economy, sporadic deregulations of administrative powers and a lack of local investment or r...

The efforts made to plan cities in emerging and developing countries are confronted to multiple issues, especially in small and middle-sized cities, which can be considered as poor through several criteria: socio-economic level of majority of population; low levels of public investments, weak quality of local administration, and large dependence of...

This paper analyses the implications of participatory urban design in Belgrade, namely of the series of recent unsolicited activities that has contributed to setting up a specific micro environment in the neighbourhood of Savamala. Its main aim is to promote bottom-up urban development, surpass current profit-oriented trends, and benefit from socio...

To summarize, it appears, from the 15 cases studied, that a certain number of tell-tale traits can be distinguished beyond the specificities of each case. To begin, we must distinguish between slums located on the periphery – which critically lack basic equipment and connections – and those in central areas, where the residential environment is sev...

Slums may clash with a vision of a modern city. However, bearing in mind that on a global scale, around one billion dwellers live in such poor settlements, the slum is an emblematic issue of contemporary urbanization. We therefore need to review the causes and effects of this phenomenon. The problem of slum cannot be solved on its own, taken out of...

Regarding the critique of urbanism and sociology of the fragmented city, slum theory aims at understanding in what ways slums reflect the segregated city and dominant urban order, when its inhabitants generally have neither the opportunity nor the means to resist this order, other than by increasing the informality of their urban integration. In th...

This chapter proposes a typology of slums based on spatial indicators at two scales: the neighbourhood scale and the urban scale. By classifying, we are able to understand neighbourhoods based on their urban location (central, peripheral, etc.) and the built environment it generates. This typology breaks with conventional slum definitions, mainly i...

Today, urbanisation is a global process that characterises the rapid development of a majority of emerging and developing countries, giving rise to important social, spatial and economic changes. In such a context, urban issues systematically couple with rural migration phenomena and increasing numbers of poor people living in precarious conditions...

Based on the typology developed previously, this chapter will demonstrate how it is possible to create solutions that take into account differences between slums. Multiple possibilities exist for doing so. The typology serves to highlight similarities and differences between settlements, so as to distinguish the characteristics of each slum and its...

According to international statistics, nearly 50% of the world's urban population live nowadays in cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants. These small and medium-sized cities play a role of inter-mediation between rural regions, local economy and more extensed urban networks, with three spheres of influence: micro-regional, national and internatio...

Rental housing is increasingly becoming the key shelter option for the poor living in and moving into cities, including those living in informal settlements. The paper revisits the production of rental housing in informal settlements within the new contours of a neo-liberalism with stronger social agendas in Latin America drawing on the case of lan...

Abstract The efforts made to plan cities in emerging and developing countries are confronted to multiple issues, especially in small and middle sized cities which can be considered as poor through several criteria: socio-economic level of majority of population; low levels of public investments, weak quality of local administration, and large depen...

Over half of the world urban population (52 %) lives in cities or towns with fewer than half a million inhabitants. Until 2025, smaller settlements are expected to absorb nearly half of the forecast increase in urban population (UNDP 2007). There is a strong lack of definition of these cities, but a relevant necessity of concepts and methods as too...

The analysis of technologies implemented in the South reveals the level of appropriation by local stakeholders and users. Emerging in the context of trade globalization and economic competitiveness, the majority of technologies are there to solve specific issues, but also represent arms of an "economic war" between producers of goods and services,...

2003, submitted in: ETFRN News, European Tropical Forestry Research Network, Netherlands. Studying the local effects of global change has become increasingly relevant in a period, in which it is recognized that the world's socio-environmental problems are ever-increasing. Moreover, the necessity to adopt a multidisciplinary perspective has also bec...

Both the characteristics of Serbia’s urban land policy, the delay in reforms and land development management of the Belgrade Metropolitan Area (BMA) illustrate the complexities following the reshaping of institutional framework under the conditions of economic and other uncertainties of societal transition. The negative implications of the prolonge...

The book presents case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America addressing global development issues in the fields of health, energy, ICT and urbanism in an interdisciplinary way. The book illustrates key issues at the interface of technology, human, social, and economic development. Bringing together the best papers of the 2014 EPFL-UNESCO Conf...

Dryland irrigation is a major concern in arid and semiarid regions where agricultural output is low and water a scarce and vital resource. Irrigation efficiency and sustainability are, therefore, of paramount importance in these regions, where small farmers generally over-irrigate vegetables to avoid yield loss, resulting in excessive water consump...

The benefits that highly skilled migrants can bring to their home countries are increasingly regarded as being important for development, and consequently, many countries are now looking to take advantage of the experiences of their diasporas. The policies of home countries are usually given a position of prominence whenever diaspora engagement is...

Les citadins représentent un peu plus de la moitié de la population mondiale. Et la tendance va se poursuivre avec l’urbanisation massive des pays du Sud, prolongeant le lien fort entre le développement économique, le pouvoir politique et la centralité qu’offre les villes. Fort de cette analyse et de son expérience, Jean-Claude Bolay propose une vi...

This chapter looks at the opportunities and uncertainties of globalisation in terms of the production of world knowledge, with an emphasis on the factors that limit the distribution and fair use of this knowledge for the benefit of less advanced countries. We show how existing disparities between developed countries and emerging and developing coun...

Whilst scientific research can be crucial in guiding innovation and development throughout the world, it can be too detached from real world applications, particularly in developing and emerging countries. Technologies for Sustainable Development brings together the best 20 papers from the 2012 Conference of the EPFL-UNESCO Chair in Technologies fo...

Appropriate technologies are technologies that are socially, culturally, environmentally and economically accepted by the stakeholders. It is necessary, therefore, to develop appropriate technologies in partnership with researchers, government agencies, and industry. It is essential that this be done in a process of co-creation with the beneficiari...

In order to provide the first elements of a participatory process initiated and led by Chinese authorities, this paper will look at the citizen’s involvement in an urban planning project in China and discuss possible avenues to sustain the process in a specific local context over the long-term. Since the end of the 1980s, most community participati...

La coopération urbaine apparaît relativement modeste, la recherche urbaine en général plus encore, la recherche sur les questions urbaines dans le Sud notoirement discrète. Cela ne remet nullement en question à mes yeux la pertinence de notre travail, individuel ou collectif, dans son engagement, sa rigueur, sa qualité. Je cherche simplement et hon...

La coopération urbaine apparaît relativement modeste, la recherche urbaine en général plus encore, la recherche sur les questions urbaines dans le Sud notoirement discrète. Cela ne remet nullement en question à mes yeux la pertinence de notre travail, individuel ou collectif, dans son engagement, sa rigueur, sa qualité. Je cherche simplement et hon...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – proclaimed in the year 2000 and aimed at guiding the planet's management and its priorities for the next 15 years – were widely based on the concept of ‘sustainable development’. This concept will be once again broadly discussed in 2012 on the occasion of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit. It will be an oppo...

Technological innovation – combined with scientific research – has always constituted a driving force of transformation in our societies. From the moment it turns into an industrial and economic tool, any form of societal innovation involves change in production processes: the creation and development of new lines of business, increased marketing o...

The economic capital of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), and its near periphery – as well as the Mekong Delta region – rank amongst the areas which, on a global scale, will be the most exposed to climate change in the next 30 years. This is due to three major phenomena: sea level rise, growing flood levels and flood intensity, and the resurgence o...

The slum question is not marginal to urban planning and social development – it is at its very heart. All the more so now that urban growth takes place primarily in developing countries in which populations move from rural to urban regions at a very fast pace. And around one billion of people (with a perspective of 2 billion in 2030), the third of...

The world has been witnessing an incessant surge in urban growth in the industrialized countries, while those regions of the world that are still predominantly rural have also experienced an accelerated increase in urbanization. All of this has transformed societies that that are ever more vulnerable, but also increasingly integrated into globaliza...

This paper deals with technologies, catalysts for change, and their links to development. Indeed, particularly for developing and emerging countries, scientific and technological breakthroughs create wonderful opportunities, but they may also convey risks that should not be overlooked. This leads to crucial questions on the nature of technological...

Dans son récent rapport de 2010 sur l’état des villes, l’organisation ONU-HABITAT rappelle que l’urbanisation va se poursuivre au cours des décennies à venir. Et c’est ainsi qu’en 2050, une majorité de la population mondiale, 70%, vivra en milieu urbain. C’est déjà largement le cas en Suisse, en Europe comme en Amérique du Nord et en Amérique latin...

The slum question is not marginal to urban planning and social development – it is at its very heart. All the more so now that urban growth takes place primarily in developing countries in which populations move from rural to urban regions at a very fast pace. And around one billion of people (with a perspective of 2 billion in 2030), the third of...

La metodologia de evaluación de proyectos en el marco de la cooperación se ha difundido a través de los organismos de supervisión de actividades de apoyo para tener una idea mas clara de los resultados obtenidos a partir de sus inversiones. Hoy dia se esta extendiendo tambien a proyectos de formación y de investigación cientifica.

Le projet d’Electrification Rurale Décentralisée (ERD), réalisé sous forme de recherche-action, a fait l’objet d’un partenariat scientifique entre une université technologique suisse (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) et une ONG marocaine (Targa-Aide) rattachée à un institut marocain d’enseignement supérieur (Institut Vétérinaire Agronomiqu...

Developing cities are experiencing substantial gaps in urban planning. They are due to approaches and instruments that do not correspond to the realities of the developing city including the prevalence of informal sector and slums, urban governance problem, and few resources. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) now offer enormous poss...

• Jean-Claude Bolay, Varinia Taboada, “” in “”, , La Paz, Bolivia (to be published in 2011)

El libro contiene capítulos de diferentes autores que estudian los fenómenos urbanos desde diversas perspectivas disciplinarias. Aborda cuatro temáticas: Relfexiones teóricas sobre los estudios urbanos, los fenómenos de la migración, urbanización y pobreza, poder élites y construcción regional y clase etnicidad y ocupación espacial de la ciudad.

Potential scientific collaboration between Swiss and Colombian academic institutions, based on a bibliographic and visit of Colombian public institutions and universities, with recommendations toward decision makers in both countries

Depuis une vingtaine d’année, la pratique de l’évaluation s’est étendue à l’ensemble des projets de coopération au développement. C’est plus récemment qu’elle interpelle les milieux scientifiques dans leurs actions de formation et de recherche. Quel est l’intérêt d’une telle démarche évaluative et quels sont les écueils à éviter de manière à faire...

Researchers from Switzerland and Morocco undertook a joint project to develop a technique for producing electrical energy from renewable primary energy sources to supply small networks of isolated consumers. Specific attention was paid to sustainable development issues, namely, the integration of social, environmental, technical and economic compon...

Evaluation d'un programme de logement pour les plus pauvres à Nouakchott (Mauritanie) sous l'angle de la lutte contre la pauvreté.

The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, the Hassan II Institute of Agronomics and Veterinary Science (IAV), and Targa-Aid association undertook a joint project to develop a technique for producing electrical energy from renewable primary energy sources to supply small networks of isolated consumers. Specific attention was paid to sustainable...

The slum is not only a manifestation of mismanaged urban planning in the countries of the South. The existence of slums worldwide is also a sign that the slum is a crucial element of contemporary urbanisation. This article will attempt to define this phenomenon and understand its causes. Adequate policy responses are then suggested. Without finding...

L'Amérique du Sud compte un nombre imposant d'institutions académiques et de centres de recherche. Il existe donc pour la Suisse un potentiel important de renforcement de relations bilatérales de recherche, axée à. la fois sur la coopération, la science et le développement. Comme illustré par l'exemple de la Bolivie, dans les pays moins favorisés,...

To “review the urban question” in terms of sustainable development, the premise is formulated that improving infrastructures, equipment and services to preserve the natural and built urban environment is costly and generates expenses of all kinds—at economic and social levels. Without the introduction of equalisation mechanisms, these expenses will...

Report of evaluation on the potentialities of scientific cooperation between Chile and Switzerland, based on bibliographic reserach and visit of Chilean academic institutions and public bodies leading the sector. With applied recommendations aiming the implementation of a bilateral program of cooperation.

Urban agglomerations continue to be defined primarily by spatial and demographic criteria which signal their position within the domestic and international urban networks. We consider that these criteria are overly static, and lack indicators of both the potential inherent in medium-sized cities, and the risks they are prone to. On the occasion of...

Development-related questions have been raised periodically for over forty years. Development cooperation, in its turn, is also controversial, especially since its role is to make good intentions real, i.e. transform them into projects, programmes and other policy instruments generating investments that are much more pertinent than mere declaration...

This paper describes two experiences with community-led upgrading programmes in precarious settlements in Ho Chi Minh City and discusses how and why these are more effective and appropriate than the city's "redevelopment" and relocation programmes. Although rapid economic growth has meant improved material conditions for much of the city's populati...