Primer Encuentro para un Gobierno Metropolitano. Ciudad de México, Palacio de Minería. 1 y 2 de julio de 2014. CONAMM

1. GETTING CITIES RIGHT:
WHAT ROLE FOR METROPOLITAN
GOVERNANCE?
Marissa Plouin
Urban Policy Analyst, OECD

2. 1. “Getting cities right”: what can
governments do?
2. Why metropolitan governance?
3. What does metropolitan governance look like?
How can it be sustained?
2
Getting cities right:
What role for metropolitan governance?

3. 3
Most people across the OECD live in
cities of varying sizes.
…Mexico is no exception.

4. 4
Cities generate important benefits
… and costs.

5. 5
What does it mean to get cities right?
An administrative logic: cities
as administrative entities
Problem-driven, with a focus
on issues cities as
administrative entities
A narrowly defined urban
agenda
A silo approach, with sectoral,
fragmented responses to
specific challenges
A functional logic: cities as
functional economic areas
Strategic, with a focus on
opportunities
A holistic approach
Integrated approaches to
cross-cutting urban challenges

6. • By getting cities right, governments can
serve a greater share of the population and
the economy…
• …yet national governments need to think
more strategically about cities.
6
Why is it so important to get cities right?

7. 7
An OECD framework to assess national
policies, as they affect urban outcomes

8. • Take a broader view of cities and urban
policy
• Improve co-ordination of sectoral policies
at national level (e.g. housing, transport,
tax, environment, energy, water)
• Empower cities to transition toward more
efficient urban governance
8
What can governments do?

9. 1. Getting cities right: what can governments do?
2. Why metropolitan governance?
3. What does metropolitan governance look like?
How can it be sustained?
9
Getting cities right:
What role for metropolitan governance?

10. 10
Metro governance can help match
public policies to today’s urban realities.
London

11. Local government fragmentation
hinders economic growth.
11

12. 12
A doubling of fragmentation is associated
with 5-6% drop in productivity.
OECD estimates that a doubling
of the number of municipalities
per 100 000 inhabitants is
associated with 5-6% decrease
in productivity levels.

13. 13
Metro governance helps manage the costs of
cities and leads to higher quality of life.
Metro-wide planning leads to less urban sprawl and greater
satisfaction with public transport

14. • Improving co-ordination should be a
means to an end, rather than an end in
itself.
• What objectives for a metro governance
body?
– Improved public service delivery
– More coherent, strategic urban planning
– Improved environmental management
14
Better co-ordination should not be the
end goal.

15. 1. “Getting cities right”: what can governments
do?
2. Why metropolitan governance?
3. What does metropolitan governance look
like? How can it be sustained?
15
Getting cities right:
What role for metropolitan governance?

16. 16
Metro governance bodies are
increasingly common across the OECD.
Average number of metro governance bodies created or
reformed in OECD countries per decade

17. 17
What do metro governance bodies do?
Regional development, transport and spatial planning are
the core responsibilities of metro governance bodies

18. 18
Four common approaches to metro
governance
Informal/soft co-ordination Inter-municipal authorities
Supra-municipal authorities Special status of
“metropolitan cities”

19. 19
When a metro body exists, it is often
informal/soft co-ordination.
Breakdown of metropolitan areas
by type of governance arrangement

20. 20
Budgets of metro governance bodies
can vary significantly.
Median budget per capita (USD, PPP)

21. 21
Different factors can guide the choice
of a metro governance model
• What works in one metro area may not be
easily replicable in another.
• Identifying the most relevant form of
metro governance remains a matter of
political and social choice.
• However, OECD experience suggests a
number of guidelines for the process of
effective metropolitan governance reform.

22. 22
Key issues for metropolitan governance reforms
Framework conditions for the reform
Economic context
Political context
Social context
Building the reform
Rationale of reform
Demand for reform
Design of reform
Sustaining the reform
Leadership
Communication
Monitoring and
evaluation
The process of reforming metro governance
is as important as the choice of the model.

23. 23
Key steps for metro governance
reforms
• Identify a clear cause for collaboration and
communicate on successful collaboration outcomes.
• Develop metropolitan leadership and/or
ownership.
• Empower and engage stakeholders at an early
stage, and ensure accountability and
transparency.
• Strengthen the evidence base and track progress.
• Provide (or secure) sources of financing.
• Balance clear time frames and flexibility.

24. • The presence of a metropolitan authority
does not guarantee policy co-ordination
• Budgets and staff of metropolitan
governance bodies reflect variation in their
powers
• Large metropolitan governance authorities
are not always understood by residents
24
Anticipating challenges to metro
governance bodies

25. Gracias

26. 26

27. 27
…and can facilitate potential positive
spillover effects.
Yearly growth rates of GDP per capita in TL3 regions
(1995-2010) and driving time to the closest large
metropolitan area of 2 million or more inhabitants
Proximity to cities
has a positive
impact on
economic growth.