November 2001 Insights Issue
#38
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City politics: a voice for
the poor?
By 2020 the world's
urban population is set to rise by almost 1.5 billion. Cities and towns
house an increasing proportion of poor people, partly because of the
increased share of urban population of the total but also because economic
recession and adjustment policies often hit poorer urban residents the
worst. Cities are associated with economic growth and wealth generation
and yet inequality is high. Poor people generally live in substandard
conditions, may not benefit from job creation, and suffer high levels
of pollution, crime and violence. More...
Other articles in this issue:
Financing
cities
Probably the greatest constraint facing city governments as they seek
to address poverty is the inadequacy of financial resources. Not only
are city budgets in the poorest cities extremely small - under US$5
per person per year in Kumasi and US$14 in Bangalore - but they represent
a smaller proportion of GNP per capita than do city budgets in relatively
richer countries: one percent in Kumasi compared to five percent in
Recife, Brazil.
Pro-poor
democracy?
Does
representative democracy give poor people a voice? Do municipal decision
makers respond to poor people's needs and priorities? Can the poor lodge
complaints when services fail to operate adequately? Is a combination
of formal structures of representative democracy and mechanisms permitting
organised political engagement the answer?
Making
a difference:
what can municipal government do?
Poverty
reduction measures usually focus at the national level: primary health
care, education, trade and fiscal policy are wholly or partly central
government responsibilities. Should this be the whole story? Research
by the University of Birmingham shows that there is room for manoeuvre
at the local and municipal level to make a difference in reducing poverty.
Beyond
confrontation?
How do community
resources help promote engaged citizenship? How do Civil Society Organisations
(CSOs) help the poor access the resources they need to improve their
lives? How, if at all, do CSOs collaborate with local government institutions
or other state agencies? When they do collaborate what is achieved and
who benefits?
What
role for civil society?
There is growing
recognition that good local governance is key to poverty reduction and
that it requires effective civil society organizations. It is clear
that many aspects of poverty need addressing, not just low incomes:
poor quality and insecure housing, inadequate infrastructure, services,
and legal protection, the rights of poorer groups within political and
bureaucratic systems also need urgent attention.
Politics
by stealth?
Local democracy
is a key factor in pro-poor politics. A grassroots look at urban politics
in Bangalore - a globalising city of very rich and very poor - makes
this clear. Does the sheer complexity of local politics relating to
land and a cluster-based local economy aid or prevent access to democratic
processes by poorer groups?
Cebu
City: politics of engagement?
Can the
poor influence the agenda of urban governance institutions? In Cebu,
the Philippines, poor urban groups engage with the City Hall through
NGO and people's organisation (PO) networks. Informal settlers, sidewalk
vendors and trisikad (bicycle with a side car) drivers now realise that
advocacy and negotiation are more productive than evasion, retreat and
resistance.
Making
common ground?
How far
have public-private partnerships enabled poor people in cities to obtain
access to land, services and shelter? Have they enhanced efficiency
and equity of urban land markets ? Have PPPs created a more productive
relationship between public sectors and civil society? Or is a better
solution?
Cities
alliance: tackling urban poverty
The Cities
Alliance, initiated by the World Bank and UNCH, aims to co-ordinate
the urban activities of multinational, bilateral and local government
associations through long-term strategic participatory planning through
City Development Strategies (CDS) and concrete
investments through upgrading slums and the Cities Without Slums (CWS)
programme.
Sites
for sore eyes
Further web resources
on urban governance. |
