As the world is urbanizing, urban poverty and inequality remain two of the biggest and most difficult to address issues. In the midst of a challenging urbanization process, urban poor communities have transformed into central actors in the efforts to address the living conditions of the urban poor. An entirely new range of social movements, networks, and organizations has surfaced across the globe and within cities of the global South. The important rise of transnational advocacy coalitions coincided with a significant paradigm shift in urban governance. Ideologies of urban entrepreneurialism have led to critical shifts not only in terms of how cities are managed but also on how policy decisions are made. However, within this discussion there has been little consideration of the role of slum dweller organizations and their coalition networks in the co-production of urban entrepreneurialism. The course examines how transnational coalitions of the urban poor and their national and city-based social movements contribute in the formulation and co-production of urban policy. In what ways do communities of the urban poor contribute in the process of urban development? What are their most important contributions? What are the challenges that organized urban poor communities face? The objective of the course is two-fold: first, to present and analyze the theoretical aspects involved with community participation in urban development; second, to discuss the growing number of community-driven initiatives, which resulted in significant improvements in housing, and household services provision by the urban poor and for the urban poor.