Partner Publications

2nd Edition: Finance for City Leaders Handbook – Improving Municipal Finance to Deliver Better Services


Cities are a driving force of the 21st century. Through bringing large numbers of people into close proximity, they spark economic growth, foster innovation, and generate prosperity. But they face the pressing challenges of creating a livable environment for their residents, enabling economic activity that benefits all citizens, and fostering urban development that is environmentally sustainable, equitable, and resilient to disruptive forces. Particularly urgent is the need to finance this development: To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, an estimated $3 trillion to $4 trillion is needed annually. In an increasingly urban world, cities play a pivotal role in closing this financial gap.

New Chapters in the 2nd Edition:

  • Sustainable Municipal Finance for Development: Subnational, Municipal and Metropolitan Finance for the New Urban Agenda by Michael Linfield (Asian Development Bank), Marco Kamiya (UN-Habitat), Huascar Eguino (Inter-American Development Bank)
  • Creditworthiness and City Finance by Joshua Gallo and John Probyn (World Bank)
  • Islamic Municipal Finance: Why Does it Matter? by Sirat Sait (University of East London), Rami AbdelKafi (Islamic Development Bank)

Publisher: UN-Habitat

Editors: Marco Kamiya, Le-Yin Zhang

External leading contributors: Lars Andersson, Dominic Burbidge, Greg Clark, Doug Carr, Nic Cheeseman, Skye d’Almeida, Lourdes
German, Pavel Kochanov, Leonardo Letelier, Tim Moonen, Armando Morales, Miquel Morell, Daniel Platz, Dmitry Pozhidaev, Yasuo Konishi,
Devashree Saha, Yoel Siegel, Lawrence Walters, Rami AbdelKaf, Michael Lindfeld, Siraj Sait, Huascar Eguino, John Probyn, Joshua Gallo

UN-Habitat Contributors: Katja Dietrich, Muhammad Farid, Elizabeth Glass, Liz Paterson Gauntner, Melissa Permezel, Douglas Ragan,
Kerstin Sommer, Younghoon Moon, Juan Luis Arango, Moges Beyene, Hazel Kuria, Gabriela Aguinaga

Project Coordinator: Elizabeth Glass, Moges Beyene

Partners: International City Leaders, Oxford University, University College London

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