Collected on the occasion of Ad de Bruijne's farewell lecture, these essays explore the major shifts in the international development debate and how the state and the public and the private sectors have responded to that debate.

The question of re-alignment is considered from three main perspectives: governance and community organization issues at local level, urban areas as motors of economic development and their interface with globalization processes, and urban areas as the nodes of regional development. In each part of the book, one of these perspectives is taken. The contributions of the different authors are grouped around these complementary perspectives. Changing alignment patterns also have far-reaching implications. In the last section, the relation between research and policy around these issues is considered, based on reflections by policy makers and academics who have been influential both nationally and internationally.

Evolving views in urban and regional development debates in Africa, Asia and Latin America - introducing the key themes, Johan Post, Isa Baud. Part I Urban economies and the local-global interface: Firms, regions and resources in a globalizing economy - a relational view, Jan Lambooy
Embeddedness - the role of local factors in economic development, Guus van Westen
Urban cluster trajectories in developing countries - beyond the industrial district model, Peter Knorringa
Partnerships, meso-institutions, and learning - new local and regional economic development initiatives in Latin America, Bert Helmsing
earning more or less - income, micro-production, and women's status in Lima's poor neighbourhoods, Annelou Ypeij
Urban fringes in Asia - markets versus plans, Hans Schenk. Part II Local governance, partnerships and urban development: Healthy cities and urban governance, Ton van Naerssen
Popular participation and urban poverty alleviation in Bolivia, Aart Schalkwijk
Popular participation and the participatory planning practice in Latin America - some evidence from Bolivia and Brazil, Paul van Lindert, Gery Nijenhuis
Combining capitals - the assets of community-based organizations and local government for neighbourhood environmental management in Lima, Michaela Hordijk
New partnerships in urban solid waste management and their contribution to sustainable development - experiences in Accra (Ghana) and Chennai (India), Isa Baud, Johan Post. Part III Livelihoods, rural-urban linkages and regional development: About trade and trust - the question of livelihood and social capital in rural-urban interactions, Leo de Haan, Paul Quarles van Ufford
The provisioning of African cities, with Ouagadougou as a case study, Ton Dietz, Fred Zaal
Economic networks and the importance of rural-urban linkages, with the focus on sub-Saharan Africa, Sjoukje Volbeda
Resource flows and urban governance - approaching environmental transitions in cities and their Hinterland, Isa Baud, Michaela Hordijk
Regional development planning in Latin America - towards a more sustainable use of space, Annelies Zoomers. Part IV Urban poverty reduction - mapping the policy arena: Urban poverty reduction options at local level in a globalizing world, Emiel Wegelin
Reducing urban poverty - constraints on the effectiveness of aid agencies and development banks and some suggestions for change, David Satterthwaite
The rise and decline of an urban poverty unit in the Dutch ministry of development co-operation, Joop de Wit.