Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 16 of 26 BACK | NEXT Executive Summary I. Introduction II. The Urban Sector III. The Bank's Involvement in the Urban Sector IV. Objectives and Policy Priorities A. Urban Development Objectives B. Policies for Promoting Urban Governance C. Policies for Mobilizing Financial Resources D. Policies for Improving Urban Management E. Policies for Reducing Urban Poverty F. Policies for Urban Subsectors V. The Bank's Urban Sector Strategy VI. Implications for Bank Operations VII. Conclusion

Urban Sector Strategy : IV. Objectives and Policy Priorities

---

D. Policies for Improving Urban Management

1. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building

88. Examples of the Bank’s increasing support for capacity building are the recently approved loans for the urban sector in India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka¹⁵,and for TAs for governance in Dhaka and Bangalore, India¹⁶. Across the Region, some of the priority areas to be addressed include training in management skills, especially in response to the increasing use of demand-led provision of services; development of expertise in performance monitoring; financing of investments; evaluation of development proposals; coordination of spatial planning and sector investments; and an increasing use of community resources. Key elements are as follows:

1. Define clear roles and functions. A fundamental component of improving urban management is the appropriate institutional structure for planning, financing, and delivering services and other functions of government. Responsibilities for delivery of a service should be assigned clearly to one level of government, the corporate private sector, or the community. An underlying problem is that policies for the urban sector are made in many parts of governments with poor cross-sectoral coordination of policy making. In addition, the growing importance of the private sector is placing new demands on the public sector, which is already short of skilled staff. It is important for city government to thoroughly review responsibilities for service delivery before inviting the private sector to participate.

2. Promote government as an enabler, not provider. The public sector needs to adopt an enabling role in support of the private sector. In an enabling role, the government sets policies and makes choices in sector priorities; monitors private sector operations in service delivery; supports the economic health of the city; and protects the community against threats to urban quality of life, including pollution, congestion, overcrowding, and damage to scarce resources. An important component of the new relationship is to encourage public-private partnerships in land and property development, and service delivery. In many urban areas capacity building is crucial to enable governments to fulfill their existing mandate, let alone take on the new skills required.

3. Support for skills training and other capacity-building initiatives. The lack of skilled human resources is a major constraint to developing the necessary structures for urban management, particularly at the local government level. The relatively low status and pay, and lack of incentives offered by most local governments is a principal cause. In some cases, as in India and Indonesia, the status of the local civil service could be elevated to be on par with the national civil service. In addition, public and private corporations can be created that often attract better-qualified staff than government.

4. Promote regional cooperation. The problems of managing urban growth and improving the competitiveness and livability of urban areas are common to many countries. Bringing DMCs together at various levels of interaction, including the local government level, is a powerful way to share best practices, cross-fertilize innovation, and promote new ways of problem solving. Networking and cooperation also allows one city to learn from and prepare for problems currently being encountered in another city, and for lessons learned to be shared and successes repeated.

89. Building appropriate institutional structures for urban management is an incremental process. It is better to have imperfect institutions that can adapt quickly to outside forces than to have rigid systems that cannot. Moreover, even in small and medium-sized towns with few resources, a small group of well-trained multidisciplinary staff willing to think innovatively and with strong community and political backing can have a significant impact on achieving city development objectives.

2. Urban Land Management

90. Policies to achieve adequate land for residential, industrial, and other uses to improve the economic efficiency of urban areas and to improve the quality of life for residents are as follows:

1. Improve the efficiency and transparency of land markets. The tools that can be used to improve the efficiency and transparency of land markets include improved mechanisms for land transfer (cadastral mapping, land titling, and registration); land information systems for the benefit of private and public interests; deregulation of unnecessary land-use controls; incremental forms of tenure designed to help residents in informal/squatter areas become part of the formal city; and institutional and legal reforms so that land can be used as collateral. Such policy and technical reforms can also contribute to improved property-based tax revenues.

2. Rationalize the institutional framework for land administration. The framework for land administration needs to be rationalized in the context of decentralizing responsibilities for urban management. An example would be merging land development public corporations that operate at the national level with local governments.

3. Accelerate the delivery of serviced land¹⁷. The Bank will support capacity-building actions to accelerate the delivery of land serviced with adequate access to roads, water, drainage, and electricity. For example, in cities in South Asia DMCs with remaining public land, the objective may be to treat land as an asset in an investment portfolio, i.e., to secure funding and provide security for private sector partners. In DMCs where land is predominantly privately owned, land pooling mechanisms can be tested and applied as part of public-private partnerships, using techniques such as joint ventures for commercial property development, land readjustment, and guided land development.

4. Improve spatial planning and urban planning systems. Improved systems for urban planning and regulation should continue to give strategic guidance on urban expansion and renewal policies, and to address the externalities arising from land development such as pollution. However, systems should consider the use of innovative approaches to planning and building standards, incremental in nature, that also increase affordability. Other approaches may include the use of flexible zoning, techniques whereby the private sector provides social/offsite infrastructure in exchange for fast-track planning/building approvals, permissive systems of development control, and innovative techniques such as land-use controls tied to environmental impact.

5. Establish procedures for public participation. More effective procedures are needed for public participation in decision-making on the use of land and location of infrastructure investments. Planning processes should incorporate specific components and resources for discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, CBOs, NGOs, business groups, environmental and other pressure groups, academia, etc., as well as other public sector agencies. There should be procedures for an iterative process of plan development and project implementation, using focus groups for example. Mechanisms should be developed and put in place to ensure public participation in the urban land management processes.

3. Urban Environmental Management

91. Policies for environmental management are designed to manage air, water, land, and soil resources to (i) maintain their qualities and quantities at levels that are not harmful to public health, (ii) support balanced ecosystems, (iii) contribute to the visual aspects of urban development, and (iv) provide sustainable urban areas. Priority strategies include the following:

1. Stimulate demand for investments and policy reform. The demand for urban environmental improvement can be pursued through (a) institutional strengthening, including the issues of low willingness to pay, weak institutional and technical capability, lack of supporting policy and legal frameworks, and the need to create a conducive setting for private sector financing; (b) pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits of urban environmental improvement; (c) strengthening of municipal financial capacity for environmental improvements; (d) increased resource utilization as a project objective; for example, the incorporation of a sewage treatment project within the overall water quality management framework; (e) campaigns to heighten public awareness of environmental issues; and (f) promotion of regional cooperation.

2. Address industrial waste management. Items covered should include hazardous and toxic wastes, medical waste, and other nondomestic waste from industrial processes. Emphasis should be placed on the development of economic instruments to minimize waste creation and enforce due care by waste generators. Where treatment systems are necessary, development of centralized systems should be encouraged.

3. Manage domestic waste. Particular attention should be paid to the collection, treatment, and disposal of domestic (solid and liquid) wastes in order to mitigate the health risk and environmental nuisance. Minimizing the creation of solid waste should be encouraged through a combination of economic instruments and public awareness.

4. Control air pollution. Large cities should focus particularly on air quality monitoring systems; vehicle maintenance; traffic management; and the introduction of unleaded gasoline, natural gas, and other benign fuel technologies for domestic and vehicle use. In addition, TA and institutional strengthening will be required to assist in developing appropriate legal instruments and incentive frameworks, and in legal enforcement.

5. Strengthen urban environmental management systems. Strengthening urban environmental management systems in DMCs will involve (a) promoting close coordination and cooperation between national environmental management agencies and municipal governments, (b) strengthening environmental impact assessment of urban development projects, (c) strengthening the process of environmental audit, and (d) strengthening capacity for integrating environmental dimensions into spatial planning and development projects in environmentally sensitive areas.

6. Provide for disaster mitigation. Government, local communities, and the private sector must take a proactive role in natural disaster mitigation, including preparedness programs to help people reduce personal and economic loss caused by earthquakes, floods, and severe weather disturbances. Reducing earthquake hazards, for instance, can include better forecasting; improved model building codes and land-use practices, development and improvement of seismic design and construction techniques, accelerated application of research results, and reduced risk through the use of post-earthquake investigations and education.

___________________

Back C. Policies for Mobilizing Financial Resources	Next E. Policies for Reducing Urban Poverty