WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thorough research on the plight of the urban poor in Lusaka, Zambia, combined with practical policy recommendations have earned Danielle Resnick, a PhD. candidate in political science at Cornell University, a trip to the World Urban Forum.

Ms. Resnick won the grand prize in a competition for original research on topics related to the theme of the 2010 World Urban Forum, "The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide." She will travel March 22-26 to Brazil as a guest of the International Housing Coalition (IHC).

Ms. Resnick's winning entry entitled, "Failing to Capitalize? Urban Service Delivery in Opposition-Controlled African Cities," looks at why the urban poor in Lusaka are not accessing services. "Failing to Capitalize" was one of 165 entries submitted by graduate students from a wide variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, including urban planning, architecture, political science, geography, public policy and management, and anthropology. The World Bank plans to publish the top 14 papers in an online document this spring. The competition was sponsored by USAID, IHC, The World Bank, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Cities Alliance.

Ms. Resnick, originally from Pennsauken, New Jersey, holds a Master's degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics as well as a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Previously, she has worked as a Research Analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, D.C. as well as a consultant in the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group. Her research focuses on the political economy of development, comparative democratization, and decentralization, with a regional specialization in sub-Saharan Africa. She has conducted fieldwork in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Zambia and has published in journals such as Development Policy Review, World Development, and Social Movement Studies.

The World Urban Forum is a conference sponsored by the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT) that examines problems associated with rapid urbanization. Previous forums were held in Nairobi (2002), Barcelona (2004), Vancouver (2006), and Nanjing (2008).