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What Is the Urban Development Timeline?

The Urban Development Timeline is an urban knowledge management tool designed to share lessons learned from the past with the present and into the new century. This initiative was launched by PADCO in 2000 and, in partnership with HUD, USAID, the South African Ministry of Housing, and UN-HABITAT, showcased at the World Urban Forum III in June, 2006. Timelines displayed at WUF III include those for U.S., International, and South African experiences. As an interactive resource, the Timeline structure provides a logical framework to quickly evaluate urban development experience, while exploring various development subjects in greater depth through a hyperlinked database.

The Timeline examines the iterative relationship of development within a specific period and across time.

The Timeline framework fulfills the following important functions:

• Provides a framework for knowledge management
• Organizes information to stimulate and facilitate policy discussions
• Supports education, training, and international peer exchanges

Timelines are very flexible tools which can be prepared for a variety of subjects, including the experiences of particular countries, cities, broader regions, or specific sectors such as housing finance or upgrading of informal settlements.