Urban agglomerations continue to be defined primarily by spatial and demographic criteria which signal their position within the domestic and international urban networks. We consider that these criteria are overly static, and lack indicators of both the potential inherent in medium-sized cities, and the risks they are prone to. On the occasion of a research action project conducted jointly with the Urban Management Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PGU-ALC/HABITAT), we attempted to gain a deeper understanding of medium-sized cities in order to see more clearly what varied relations they entertain with their immediate or more distant environment. There are different aspects to the integration of an urban community in a specific context. Territorial occupation and demographic expansion, as well as urban planning and development, socioeconomic , political, institutional, environmental, and cultural aspects, infrastructures and services. All these interact at different levels-local, regional, national and international. The interplay between these various aspects and their relative importance also determine intermediate cities, which act as an interface to the outside world. In doing so, they face constraints arising from ill-controlled urbanisation processes, but are also rich in possible strategies for new opportunities, exchange, and trade. Results from the local observatories set up by the PGU in four Latin American cities led us to conclude that urban players still lack an understanding of intermediate cities, and are thus incapable of effectively integrating the concept in their political development strategies. Most public, scientific or associative participants in such projects view the process of ''intermediation'' as a local marketing phenomenon that aims to ''sell the city'' in the globalised market. Economic deregulation and political decentralisation have eroded the importance of the central state and of the national territory it is meant to administer. These increasingly lose their reference value for urban players, who view their future in international terms. In contrast to the brilliant future promised to intermediate cities in the global free market, the real problems of the outside world that confront both authorities and inhabitants are completely obscured. They include such major issues as migratory movements and their impact on territorial planning and urban infrastructure, or the degradation of the urban environment, of natural resources and of the surrounding rural regions. To this day, the concept of intermediate cities is misused. In fact, it seems to cause more confusion than anything else when defining urban systems and understanding their dynamics. If it were better understood, its typological characteristics and appropriate indicators could turn it into a formidable instrument for analysing urban reality and managing the interaction between cities and their environment.

The slum is not only a manifestation of mismanaged urban planning in the countries of the South. The existence of slums worldwide is also a sign that the slum is a crucial element of contemporary urbanisation. This article will attempt to define this phenomenon and understand its causes. Adequate policy responses are then suggested. Without finding appropriate solutions to the housing problems of a majority of urban dwellers, public and private decision makers will not be able to meet the challenges of sustainable development.Le bidonville n'est pas seulement la manifestation d'une planification urbaine mal gérée dans les pays du Sud. Sa présence au plan mondial est également le signe que le bidonville représente une composante cruciale du phénomène contemporain d'urbanisation. L'article cherchera à définir ce phénomène et à en comprendre les causes, de manière à suggérer des réponses adéquates. Sans trouver de solutions à l'habitat de la majorité des citadins, les décideurs publics et privés ne seront pas en mesure de faire face aux enjeux du développement durable.

According to international statistics, nearly 50% of the world's urban population live nowadays in cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants. These small and medium-sized cities play a role of intermediation between rural regions, local economy and more extensed urban networks, with three spheres of influence: micro-regional, national and international. In many of these "intermediate cities", the main problem to reinforce them in their action is a lack of financial and human resources for managing the city in a comprehensive way, in order to tackle the demographic and spatial extension of these urban settlements, and avoid an increase of social segregation and fragmentation of territory. The example of Montes Claros, in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, helps us understand how a city of nearly 400,000 inhabitants, at the center of an economically prosperous region, tackles these issues through a current process of urban planning, having to take into account its historical, social and spatial context. Like most Brazilian and Latin American cities, Montes Claros-which acts as a transit hub at the State and national levels-is a rapidly growing intermediary city that has seen continued economic growth over the past two decades. However, this industrial and business growth has not resulted in a more inclusive distribution of the urban population. Considering the resulting growth from rural migration and new urban residents, the urban area of Montes Claros remains fragmented territorially, with neighborhoods more or less well equipped and served by public transport depending on the socioeconomic status of their inhabitants. The current process of urban planning raises many issues, among them three crucial elements to improve in order to reintroduce planning as appropriate approach and instruments able to guide the decision makers towards the future of a city and its region: a medium and long-term vision for Montes Claros, its hinterland and the Northern region of Minas Gerais; a biased perception of Montes Claros in which only the dense areas in the city center are taken into account, with suburban areas still disconnected from the rest of the city and poorly integrated; a participatory process of urban planning involving all stakeholder and population, from the diagnostic till the definition of priorities in terms of urban policies, strategies and investments.

SUMMARY: This paper describes two experiences with community-led upgrading programmes in precarious settlements in Ho Chi

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