This document discusses tools to support transparency in local urban governance. It notes the global trend of urbanization and challenges of increasing poverty, unsustainable development patterns, and limited local government capacity. New approaches emphasize good governance, local authorities as enablers, partnerships, and inclusiveness. Promising innovations need scaling up. Key ingredients for inclusive cities are good urban governance and tools that support principles like sustainability, equity and civic engagement. These include participatory budgeting, decision making, and local dialogues. Expected outcomes are more equitable services, accountability, legitimacy, and resources.

1. Urban governance
Tools to Support Transparency in Local Governance
Urban governance
Tools to Support Transparency in Local Governance
Rajendra P Sharma, 1
Rajendra P Sharma
rpsharma@mailcity.com
Rajendra P Sharma
rpsharma@mailcity.com

2. 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

3. 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

4. “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.”

5. 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

7. Urban Governance ToolUrban Governance Tool
Participatory Urban Decision Making
Transparency in Urban Governance
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Participatory Budgeting
Local-to-Local Dialogues
Urban Governance approaches

8. Conflict Management
Participatory Budgeting
Local-to-Local Dialogues
Commercialization of Services
Local Government
Municipal Front Office
Independent Audit
Debt Management
Disclosure of Assets
Local 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

9. Participatory
Urban
Decision
IV: Follow Up and
Consolidation
•Monitoring Tools
•Programme Evaluation
•Institutionalisation
I: Preparatory and
Stakeholder
Mobilsation
•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 Prioritisation
and Stakeholder
Commitment
•Proposition Paper
•Facilitation
•City Consultation
•Stakeholder Working Group

10. 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

11. Transparency Tool: Intervention StrategiesTransparency Tool: Intervention Strategies
Assessment and Monitoring: understanding the degree of transparency
in local governance, while creating a base-line against which progress in
improving transparency can be measured;
Access to information: measures to improve stakeholders’ access to
information;
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information;
Ethics and integrity: tools for clarifying what is expected from
professionals and elected leaders;
Institutional reforms: including both administrative procedures and
structural innovations;
Targeting specific issues: using specific issues as an entry-point for
improving transparency.

12. 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

13. 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)

14. Institutional developmentInstitutional 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

15. Accountability and Participatory governanceAccountability 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

16. Governance models .Governance models .
Network
governance
Market governance Hierarchical
governance
Basic
principle
Reciprocity Commercial
Exchange
Political and
Administrative
Power
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Coordination
principle
Collaboration Price Rules
Roles of
government
Govt. as partner Govt. as enabler,
Setting standard
and contracting out
Central ruler
(different levels)
Key values Collaborative
decisions on
distribution issues
consumer choice Public goods

17. E-governanceE-governance
Assumptions: increase of
• Efficiency
• Revenues
• Accountability
• Transparency
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• Transparency
• Reduce corruptions
• Learning
But
Exclusionary or participatory?

18. 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

19. Lessons learnedLessons 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?

20. ConclusionsConclusions
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