Urban Land and Development Management in a Challenged Developing World: An Overview of New Reflections

The urban development and management challenges of the developing world are well documented in the literature. However, the global built environment landscape is undergoing rapid changes. These changes are steeped in three fundamental imperatives, which have serious implications for the developing world. These imperatives are population growth and rising urbanisation; environmental challenges, particularly climate change and the quest to embrace sustainability as a panacea; and advances in technological development. This paper discusses these three imperatives with the view to teasing out their implications for urban development and management in the developing world. Consistent with the literature, the paper establishes that most of the population growth and rising urbanisation are occurring in the developing world, particularly Africa and Asia, and although these phenomena have the tendency to increase economic density and promote both private and public investment in urban development, especially construction/housing and related infrastructure activities, there are and will be several problems with them. These include land tenure insecurity, lack of access to decent affordable housing and the threat of destruction to heritage sites. Furthermore, environmental challenges such as poor waste management, and climate change are and will remain pressing issues requiring the adoption of sustainability credentials because of legislative requirements, moral suasion, and value addition. Despite the potential disruptive nature of technology with respect to some aspects of the built environment, it is recognised that advances in technology are essential to the achievement of optimal urban development and management outcomes in the developing world. The paper, therefore, recommends better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and political forces underlying urban growth in the developing world, factoring in technology and sustainability in urban development and management, and collaboration among relevant actors, particularly government and the private sector, for optimal outcomes.

Witchcraft and the Modern Roman Catholic Church

Witchcraft is rarely mentioned in official documents of the contemporary Roman Catholic church, but ideas about the dangers of witchcraft and other forms of occultism underpin the recent revival of interest in exorcism in the church. This Element examines hierarchical and clerical understandings of witchcraft within the contemporary Roman Catholic church. The Element considers the difficulties faced by clergy in parts of the developing world, where belief in witchcraft is so dominant it has the potential to undermine the church's doctrine and authority. The Element also considers the revival of interest in witchcraft and cursing among Catholic demonologists and exorcists in the developed world. The Element explores whether it is possible for a global church to adopt any kind of coherent approach to a phenomenon appraised so differently across different cultures that the church's responses to witchcraft in one context are likely to seem irrelevant in another.

Digital Transformation in the Nigerian Small Business Sector

Digital transformation is now impacting businesses in both the developed and developing worlds, and this chapter examines this phenomenon in the small business sector in Nigeria. Adopting an interpretivist philosophy, the methodology combines a survey of small business enterprises (SBEs) with in-depth case studies of three Nigerian companies. Ten critical influencing factors are identified, and a model (Engage-Deploy-Exploit-Transform – EDET) is developed and applied to the case studies to assess the status of digital transformation. The influencing factors provide a checklist for SBEs embarking on digital transformation projects, and the model can be used to assess progress and identify new opportunities for digital transformation at the business process level. The authors believe this to be a useful contribution to the growing literature in this field that can be used by both researchers and practitioners in similar developing-world contexts.

A Comparative Look at Social Housing in Developed and Developing Countries

Provision of housing is vital to all the members of any country, and even a fundamental right of every person in a society to be housed properly. While the state has a primary role to play in reallocation of resources to meet the needs of the majority and ensure ‘public good', the economic status of developing nations has made this a complex issue. The developing world has increasingly come to rely on voluntary action, especially the social enterprise movements. There are marked differences in the approaches to tackling the social housing issue in the developed and developing world, from the point of view of the role played by social enterprises in this area. This chapter takes a comparative look at the role played by social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in the area of social housing in the developing and developed world by looking at some specific examples and case studies and concludes that in the developing world the social enterprise movement has a stronger role to play.