Filling data, knowledge and diagnostics gaps to redefine urban form as a driver of productivity

The Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Urban Development (MDTF) is managed by the World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience Global Practice (GPSURR), and is a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway (MFA), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the World Bank. The MDTF supports research, policy development, and project design to strengthen the link between urbanization and economic growth.

The evaluation aimed to determine whether the MDTF has achieved its objectives and how it can be improved in the future.

The evaluation was based on a review of documentation, analysis of key deliverables, stakeholder interviews, and a detailed examination of six selected countries. These countries were chosen to document the MDTF’s impact on national urban policies and programs while considering the scope of its activities, regional balance, and engagement across different pillars. Conducted in two phases, the evaluation first examined the MDTF’s overarching objectives and structure before analyzing its country-level influence in greater depth. Additionally, it considered three possible options for a successor MDTF: termination, continuation, or scaling up, assessing the implications of each scenario.

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