INTERNATIONAL MUNICIPAL EXCHANGE AS A CAT ALYST FOR SOUTH-NORTH TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION-TRANSFER - A CASE-STUDY FROM THE AMERICA

As a relatively recent phenomenon, technology and information transfer s from developing to developed countries have to date attracted little scholarly attention among students of development. This paper offers a partial remedy to this deficiency, through an examination of the sou th-north transfer process as it occurs within the context of developed -developing world municipal cooperation and exchange. Using a case stu dy approach, the paper examines one very successful exchange programme operating between the municipalities of Toronto, Canada and Sao Paulo , Brazil, focusing on four specific examples of ''reverse'' technology and information flow. The paper concludes with some observations on t he scope and potential of these types of transfers, and their implicat ions for current understandings of the development process.