Like all recent World Development Reports of the World Bank, this is an impressive research and policy document. The particular strength of the Report is in recommending sound spatial policies for countries that are undergoing rapid economic development and industrialisation. It is weakest, however, in its treatment of poor agrarian economies that are neither industrialising nor developing. For those, the messages of last year's World Development Report on Agriculture remain more relevant. 

Stephan Klasen
Professor of Economics - University of Göttingen
Göttingen, Germany
sklasen@uni-goettingen.de