Sus propuestas son valiosas para funcionarios de Gobierno, políticos, académicos, empresarios y organizaciones de la sociedad civil, comprometidos con sus territorios y que buscan respuestas concretas a cómo construir el futuro común, activando la "inteligencia colectiva de la ciudad" de manera participativa y consensuada. Pablo Manuel Chauca Malásquez Morelia, México y Lima, Perú - - - - - - - - - - - El libro que tienen entre manos no es un manual más. Es un instrumento a mi modo de ver insustituible para aquellos que quieren intervenir, desde diferentes ámbitos, en la planificación territorial participativa. Este es tal vez uno de los diferenciales más importantes del libro de Alain Jorda, que refleja "haberlo hecho" muchas veces, con aciertos, errores, aprendizajes, y ser capaz siempre de reinventar el concepto y las formas de planificación territorial. Lo que parece "sencillo" en este libro no lo es pero el autor lo hace fácil de leer con preguntas y respuestas comprensibles desde la práctica. Enrique Galiccio Montevideo, Uruguay - - - - - - - - - - - El libro efectivamente es una guía que emerge de la experiencia para guiar las prácticas con éxito hacia objetivos de desarrollo compartido. De los muchos temas a destacar, por razones de espacio, escojo uno con el que coincido especialmente con Alain: lo más importante de una estrategia es conseguir un sistema de alianzas entre los principales actores y amplios sectores de la ciudadanía para desarrollar proyectos y alcanzar objetivos a través de la cooperación o coproducción de los mismos. José María Pascual Esteve Barcelona, España

Territorial Development and Action Research examines the role of action research within fields such as territorial development and innovation. Most researchers analyse these fields from the outside, developing a theoretical understanding of what should be done, but not of how to do it. Based on their own experience of territorial development processes from the inside out, James Karlsen and Miren Larrea argue that filling the gap regarding social relations in the innovation process makes it possible for researchers to engage in the processes taking place in the territory, thereby revealing how to make things work. This book will help researchers face the pressure to engage and play a useful role in the development of their host regions. It will help policy makers to continuously learn and redefine policy approaches and bring about collaboration through networks, programs and projects where researchers and practitioners in regional, local and urban development work together to construct territorial development. Readers will acquire a better understanding of micro-territorial development processes and the roles played by individuals and coalitions in endogenous development processes.

This book examines the everyday functioning and impact of international law and the development project, particularly across cities in emergent nations.

The Future of the Past is a biennial conference generally carried out during the commemoration date of the incorporation of Santa Ana de Los Ríos de Cuenca Ecuador as a World Heritage Site (WHS). It initiated in 2014, organized by the City Preservation Management research project (CPM) of the University of Cuenca, to create a space for dialoguing among interested actors in the cultural heritage field. Since then, this space has served to exchange initiatives and to promote coordinated actions based on shared responsibility, in the local context. The third edition of this conference took place in the context of the 20th anniversary of being listed as WHS and a decade of CPM as the Southern host of the PRECOM3OS UNESCO Chair (Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and Monitoring of Monuments and Sites). For the very first time, and thanks to the collaboration with the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation of the University of Leuven (Belgium), the conference expanded its local scope. On this occasion, contributions reflected round a worldwide challenge in the cultural field: revealing the paths towards participatory governance of cultural heritage. Participatory governance is understood as institutional decision-making structures supported by shared responsibilities and rights among diverse actors.

'The world has entered the urban millennium. Nearly half the world's people are now city dwellers, and the rapid increase in urban population is expected to continue, mainly in developing countries. This historic transition is being further propelled by the powerful forces of globalization. The central challenge for the international community is clear: to make both urbanization and globalization work for all people, instead of leaving billions behind or on the margins. Cities in a Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements is a comprehensive review of conditions in the world's cities and the prospects for making them better, safer places to live in an age of globalization. I hope that it will provide all stakeholders - foremost among them the urban poor themselves - with reliable and timely information with which to set our policies right and get the machinery of urban life moving in a constructive direction.' From the Foreword by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations. Cities in a Globalizing World presents a comprehensive review of the world's cities and analyses the positive and negative impacts on human settlements of the global trends towards social and economic integration and the rapid changes in information and communication technologies. In this Global Report, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) draws on specially commissioned and contributed background papers from more than 80 leading international specialists. The report focuses on recent trends in human settlements and their implications for poverty, inequity and social polarization. It develops advance knowledge for urban planning and management policies in support and promotion of inclusive cities and good urban governance. This major and influential report is the most authoritative and up-to-date assessment of human settlements conditions and trends. Written in clear, non-technical language and supported by informative graphics, case studies and extensive statistical data, it should be an essential tool and reference for academics, researchers, planners, public authorities and civil society organizations around the world.