Gearing Up for Competitiveness: The Role of Planning, Governance, and Finance in Small and Medium-sized Cities in South Asia

This book focuses on local government’s role in increasing city competitiveness through planning, governance, and finance, particularly in small to medium-sized cities in South Asia. Existing studies on city competitiveness tend to focus on megacities, and yet smaller cities house an increasingly large portion of South Asia’s population. This study seeks to initiate a more systematic thinking on the role of planning, governance, and finance to overcome the challenges of urbanization, improve the investment climate, and provide greater opportunities for more people, especially in small to medium-sized cities.

The study was funded through two ADB regional capacity development assistance programs: Strengthening Knowledge-Driven Development in South Asia and Support to Urban Infrastructure Development and Financing.