Jane Jacobs has no professional training in the field of city planning, nor does she hold the title of urban planner anywhere. However, she has used her own observations about cities to formulate her philosophy about them. Though some of her views go against the traditional views on planning, her work is well respected by practicing planners and planning students alike.Jacobs has written a variety of books over the years, including The Death and Life of Great American Cities(1961), her first published work, The Economy of Cities(1969), A Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle over Sovereignty(1980), Cities and the Wealth of Nations(1984), Systems of Survival(1992), and The Nature of Economics(2000), her most recent effort. (For more information)

Frannie A. Leautier, Vice President, World Bank Institute.

Frannie A. Leautier, a dual citizen of Tanzania and France, is the Bank's key spokesperson on infrastructure; she is recognized both within and outside the Bank as a leading expert in infrastructure strategy formulation in developing countries. Prior to her current position, she was the sector director for infrastructure in the South Asia region. She has worked on a number of change initiatives within the Bank, including building partnerships and coalitions for infrastructure delivery with multilateral development agencies, other development partners and the private sector. Since coming to the Bank in 1992, she has worked as a transport economist in the Latin America and South Asia regions, and as a research economist in the development economics department. Prior to this, Ms. Leautier taught at the Center for Construction Research and Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); she has also held teaching appointments with the Department of Urban Planning at MIT, and a visiting lectureship at the Infrastructure Department at Tokyo University. She is associate editor for the Journal of Infrastructure Systems and member of a number of international committees on infrastructure development.

John Flora, Director, Transport and Urban Development Department, The World Bank.

John Flora is Director of Transport and Urban Development in the World Bank’s central vice-presidency for Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure with over 35 year’s experience in policy planning, design, and operations. He has been with the World Bank for 18 years, most recently focusing on transport policy, private sector involvement in provision of infrastructure and transport services, urban transport pricing, financing, operations, and urban development. He began his career in municipal government responsible for transport planning and operations. He subsequently worked for 12 years as a consultant in transportation and urban development to public and private sector clients throughout the United States, Europe, East and South Asia, and Latin America. He has served as principal investigator on U.S. Department of Transportation research studies, and developed and taught urban transport/urban development training courses in the U.S. and other countries. He is an Urban Planner, Registered Professional Engineer by profession, and a carpenter/woodworker by avocation.

Nemat T. Shafik, Vice President, Private Sector Development, and Infrastructure, The World Bank.

Nemat T. Shafik oversees a network of specialists in energy, water, transport, urban development, privatization, oil and gas, mining, information and communication technologies, small and medium enterprises and guarantees. Prior to this position, she has held managerial jobs in the Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region and has worked in the Bank’s research department. She has also taught at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown University. Ms. Shafik chairs numerous consultative groups/boards involving international consortia on topics such as microfinance, information and development, water and sanitation, energy, urban development, private participation in infrastructure, and corporate governance. She also serves as a board member or associate for a number of non-governmental organizations in the areas of improving labor conditions in international supply chains, supporting former female inmates to rebuild their lives, and building economic research capacity in the Middle East and North Africa. Ms. Shafik is affiliated to numerous professional associations and has served as a referee for the Journal of Public Economics, the Oxford Economic Papers, the Journal of International Trade and Development, the Journal of African Economies, the World Bank Economic Review, to name just a few. She has written several books on the economies of the Middle East and North Africa and on private investment in developing countries. She has also published numerous articles in various journals and books, and speaks widely on behalf of the Bank on various topics.

David P. Ellerman, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor to the Chief Economist, The World Bank.

David P. Ellerman works in the fields of economics and political economy, social theory and philosophy, and in mathematics. He has worked in the World Bank since 1992 where he is currently Senior Economist and Economic Advisor to the Chief Economist. His undergraduate degree was in philosophy at M.I.T. ('65), and he has Masters degrees in Philosophy of Science ('67) and in Economics ('68), and a doctorate in Mathematics ('71) all from Boston University. He has been in and out of teaching in economics, mathematics, accounting, computer science, and administrative departments in various universities (1970-90) and founded and managed a consulting firm in East Europe (1990-92). He has published numerous articles in various fields and four books. (For more information)

Enrique Peñalosa is currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University. He is researching and writing a book on a new urban-development model for the Third World, which covers fields such as transportation, land use and housing for the poor, pollution abatement and public space. Mr. Peñalosa is an accomplished public official, economist and administrator who completed a term as Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia last December 31, 2000. He holds a bachelor degree in Economics and History from Duke University and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Management and Public Administration from the Institut International D’Administration Publique and the University of Paris II in Paris. He is fluent in English and French.(For more information)

Greg Clark, Executive Director, Strategy Development and Intelligence, London Development Agency (LDA).

Greg Clark joined the London Development Agency (LDA) in the new role of Executive Director, Strategy Development and Intelligence on June 1, 2001. The LDA is the Regional Economic Development Agency for Greater London, responsible to the new Mayor of London, and part of the new Greater London Authority established in July 2000. Prior to joining the LDA, he was Chief Executive of One London and Managing Director, Economic Development, Greater London Enterprise Ltd (GLE). Some of his recent work includes researching and writing the UK Local Government Association’s National Report on the Future Role of Local Government in Economic Development (March 2001), Project Director of the London/New York Comparative Economic Study (July 2000), and Project Director of the London’s Leverage Report on the role of Private Finance in Economic Development and Urban Regeneration in London (July 2000).

ROY T. GILBERT, Lead Evaluation Officer, Sector and Thematic Evaluation

Roy Gilbert is an economist/urban planner who, over thirty years has been providing advisory services to international organizations, firms and banks wishing to invest in cities in developing countries. For most of this period, he did this through IMPACT Analysis, a business collaborative with a global reach that he set up in Rio de Janeiro. From there, he worked on issues of city development for international clients in more than thirty countries worldwide, including assistance to more than 50 World Bank financed projects. In addition, he conducted research into urban economies and economic development, and participated in training on these themes both as receiver and provider. More recently, he joined the World Bank where he is currently the Urban Coordinator of the Operations Evaluation Department and is responsible for the ex-post of completed urban operations financed by the Bank. His academic education is UK based, where he received a PhD from the Development Planning Unit of University College, London, after earlier studies in economics and urban planning.

ANNA AMATO, Consultant, Sector and Thematic Evaluation

Anna Amato is a researcher on issues of public policy, land-use and city development, and has been providing advice on these matters to the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department for the past four years. Much of the focus of her recent work has been to research sources of information on development in various fields--city development, cultural heritage, rural water supply, forestry and the environment--and to assemble the data into relational databases. From this, she has conducted analyses of the performance of these sectors, which have fed directly into evaluation work for the Bank. Most of her previous work has been US-based and connected with issues of city development. This stemmed from her academic training which led to her receiving a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.