Rapid urban envrionmental assessment: a first step towards environmental management in cities of the developing world

This article describes the framework of a rapid urban environmental assessment approach as developed by the Urban Management and Environment Program. First, an urban environmental indicators questionnaire is designed. Then, an outline for an environmental profile is developed. Finally, environmental consultations and 'town meetings' are held - according to local custom - to discuss urban environmental problems, priorities and solutions. Overall, the process aims to provide an informational and consensual basis for preparing an urban environmental management strategy. Primarily uses questionnaire rather than PRA methods to gather information and ranks the information by combining it with that gathered from town meetings, using predetermined criteria to assess the relative importance of the problems.