Urban governanceTools to Support Transparency in Local Governance

Urban governanceTools to Support Transparency in Local Governance

Rajendra P Sharma, 1

Rajendra P Sharmarpsharma@mailcity.com

Rajendra P Sharmarpsharma@mailcity.com

The context and challengeThe context and challenge

� Global trend towards urbanisation

� Increasing poverty and insecurity

� Unsustainable urbanization patterns requiring preventive and adaptive approaches

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� Limited local government implementation capacity is main bottleneck

� New approach to ‘good governance’

� Local authorities as ‘enablers’

� Emphasis on partnership for service delivery

� Focus on inclusiveness of access to city benefits and decision making

� Promising innovations, but need to scale up

The missing linkThe missing link

“The key ingredient to realizing more inclusive

cities is neither money nor technology, nor even expertise or legislative change (although

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even expertise or legislative change (although all these are important), but good urban governance.”

The Global Campaign on Urban Governance, Concept Paper, 2nd Edition, March 2002

“Urban governance is the sum of the many ways

individuals and institutions, public and private,

plan and manage the common affairs of the city.

Local Government

Civil Society Private Sector

It is a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests

may be accommodated and cooperative action can be taken.

It includes formal institutions as well as informal arrangements and the

social capital of citizens.”

Principles of Good Urban GovernancePrinciples of Good Urban Governance

� Sustainability

� Subsidiary

� Equity

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� Equity

� Efficiency

� Transparency and Accountability

� Civic Engagement and Citizenship

� Security

Urban Governance Tool Urban Governance Tool

� Participatory Urban Decision Making

� Transparency in Urban Governance

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� Participatory Budgeting

� Local-to-Local Dialogues

� Urban Governance approaches

Conflict Management

Participatory Budgeting

Local-to-Local Dialogues

Commercialization of Services

Local Government

Municipal Front OfficeIndependent AuditDebt Management

Disclosure of AssetsLocal Leadership Training

Vulnerability Assessment

Building NGO/CBO Capacity

Civil Society

Code of Ethics

for Professional Associations

Private Sector

Urban Governance Index

Urban Poverty Profile

Urban Bribery Index

City Consultation

Urban Pact

Report Cards

Local-to-Local Dialogues

ParticipatoryUrban

Decision

IV: Follow Up andConsolidation

•Monitoring Tools•Programme Evaluation•Institutionalisation

I: Preparatory andStakeholderMobilsation

•Municipal Checklist•Stakeholder Analysis•Profiling•Vulnerability Assessment•Gender Responsive Tools

The Participatory Process and Tools

Feedback

Decision Making

III: Strategy Formulation and Implementation

•Action Planning•Programme Formulation•Demonstration Project•MIS•Conflict Resolution

II: Issue Prioritisationand StakeholderCommitment

•Proposition Paper•Facilitation•City Consultation•Stakeholder Working Group

Expected Development OutcomesExpected Development Outcomes

� More equitable and effective service delivery

� Increased accountability, civic engagement

� Enhanced legitimacy of local government

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� Enhanced legitimacy of local government

� Improved policy design and implementation

� Greater resources from stakeholders

� Increased urban investment

� Reduced corruption

Transparency Tool: Intervention StrategiesTransparency Tool: Intervention Strategies

� Assessment and Monitoring: understanding the degree of transparencyin local governance, while creating a base-line against which progress inimproving transparency can be measured;

� Access to information: measures to improve stakeholders’ access toinformation;

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information;

� Ethics and integrity: tools for clarifying what is expected fromprofessionals and elected leaders;

� Institutional reforms: including both administrative procedures andstructural innovations;

� Targeting specific issues: using specific issues as an entry-point forimproving transparency.

Tool on Transparency to include tools such as…Tool on Transparency to include tools such as…

� Municipal Checklist

� Transparent Procurement Procedures

� Codes of Conduct

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� Codes of Conduct

� Public Hearings

� Independent Audits

Can local government make a difference?Can local government make a difference?

� Some researchers suggest that local governments have to follow neo-liberal agenda and cannot adopt localized social policies in the face of global economic forces (Sassen, Hall)

� Others researchers contend that local government policies can make

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� Others researchers contend that local government policies can make a difference through a range of measures: institutional development, accountability, representation, reducing corruption (Cavill, Devas, Hasan et al.; Douglass)

� Local governments cannot go it alone: they have to work with other levels of government and international agencies to be effective –metropolitan governance (A. Scott)

Institutional development Institutional development

� Local governments need to make their policies transparent and available to citizens (using e-governance and ‘right to information’ measures)

� Local governments need to put their financial house in order:

� collecting taxes and other revenues effectively

� Building staff capacity

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� Building staff capacity

� Using accountancy methods that show capital investment as well as cash flows

� Local governments need to streamline their regulations and enforce them effectively (illegal building not confined to slums)

� Local governments need to provide services effectively

� Local governments need financing for investment in infrastructure

Accountability and Participatory governance Accountability and Participatory governance

� Local governments work with ward-level representatives within cities

� Local governments have privatized basic services, but often lose effective control over them in doing so; they need to be able to make private providers accountable to themselves and to citizens

� Local governments work more in ‘partnerships’ with citizen groups;

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� Local governments work more in ‘partnerships’ with citizen groups; ranging from participatory budgeting, implementation of services, monitoring activities; context is influential in determining which ‘citizens’ voices’ are heard

� middle-class citizens organize themselves strongly for their own agendas and confront government directly

� Poor households have little voice, and work through political ‘leaders’ to gain more voice; leaders may have their own agendas

Governance models . Governance models .

Network governance

Market governance Hierarchical governance

Basicprinciple

Reciprocity CommercialExchange

Political andAdministrative

Power

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Coordinationprinciple

Collaboration Price Rules

Roles ofgovernment

Govt. as partner Govt. as enabler,Setting standardand contracting out

Central ruler (different levels)

Key values Collaborativedecisions on distribution issues

consumer choice Public goods

E-governanceE-governance

� Assumptions: increase of • Efficiency

• Revenues

• Accountability

• Transparency

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• Transparency

• Reduce corruptions

• Learning

� But

� Exclusionary or participatory?

Untapped potentialUntapped potential

� Geographical information systems

� Matching thematic information to localities

� Visualization of spatial patterns and trends

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� Visualization of spatial patterns and trends

� Overlay of different sources of information

=> Knowledge integration and monitoring

Lessons learned Lessons learned � political context – tensions between executive and legislative wings of local

bodies? Private sector influences in the background

� Municipal finance and participatory budgeting; strong differences in budget allocated

� Effects – less tax avoidance, avoided costs through contributions in kind by citizens

method of participation – 2-7% of total population in direct participation;

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� method of participation – 2-7% of total population in direct participation; representative participation through CBOs/CSOs ; area-based participation

� priorities’: investment moves to excluded areas

� Role of professionals (researchers, NGOs, universities) – from ‘experts’ to ‘resource persons’

� Avoiding political bureacratization?

Conclusions Conclusions � Cities and their governments more important as ‘new state space’

� Urban poverty needs to be recognized as multi-dimensional deprivations

� City governments need to strengthen their own capacity and link up with other scale levels of government – metropolitan governance

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with other scale levels of government – metropolitan governance and city-to-city networks, and trans-national urban governance networks

� Diversity of citizens’ identities and interests made explicit, so that inequalities do not grow further

� Participatory models can support redistributive urban policies

� Urban research is necessary to analyze government – private links