https://joom.ag/X5je policy brief-psia-uzbekistan-eng_3 | Page 28

Addressing Urban Poverty in Uzbekistan in the Context of the Economic Crisis system, could significantly improve the so-called ‘investment climate’ in Uzbekistan’s cities. 5) Undertake urban profiling for Uzbekistan, starting with several pilot cities and culminating with nationwide urban profiling. This exercise would use a participatory approach to identify bottlenecks to urbanization and ways to hasten its successful development. An institution such as the Centre for Economic Research could lead this effort. 6) Create a national platform, such as a National Urban Forum, for discussions related to urbanization. Such an organization could include representatives from central and local government, civil society, academia and the private sector and could make recommendations to municipal, regional and national authorities. It would be particularly useful to create a national Housing Country Profile. This has already been done in many other countries (such as Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Albania, Armenia, etc.) and has demonstrated the value of providing a comprehensive assessment of the housing sector’s performance and helping government make appropriate plans. 27