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Public Services in A Continent of Cities

Public Services in A Continent of Cities. Changes & Trends. Local Politics & Resource Allocation for Latin American Cities. Growth expected to continue – although at slowing rate Cities officials revealed a greater interest in addressing development issues

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Public Services in A Continent of Cities

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  1. Public Services in A Continent of Cities Changes & Trends

  2. Local Politics & Resource Allocation for Latin American Cities • Growth expected to continue – although at slowing rate • Cities officials revealed a greater interest in addressing development issues • Efficiency in cities must be improved if development potential to be realized • Cities more than ever can be engines of growth for national development

  3. However: Organization of cities still does not match up to with needs of urban areas • Coordination of city’s services lacking or ad hoc • Present focus • Damage control • Little fostering of creativity • Reform – slow pace • National Ministries often have autonomous regional offices in cities • Water • Electricity

  4. Institutional Shortcomings in Organization of urban services • Mayors and councils must deal with key urban issues as they interact • Institutional jealousies • Partisan rivalry • Few metropolitan institutions exist • Few neighborhood organizations exist

  5. Main areas for policies that offer alternative or complementary measures of productivity • Fiscal Federalism: Challenge of Management • Local Government Efficiency: greater Productivity • Good governance & accountability • Economic development: Cities as Engines of Growth • Shantytown: Cuzco, Peru (among most primitive)

  6. Fiscal Federalism & Urban Services Pathway to Reform • Stabilize flow transfers • Strengthen public accounting • Strengthen spending controls • Control or regulate borrowing • Reward good performance • Housing – Role of central government critical • Lima, Peru

  7. Increasing Local Government Efficiency I • Merit based civil service for local government personnel • Privatization • Assistance on contracting and cutting personnel costs

  8. Increasing Local Government Efficiency II • Competitiveness in management and production/contracting • Support local public choice (e.g., in preferences, decision-making budgeting

  9. Accountability in Urban Governance Pathway to Reform I • Anticorruption and transparency • Capacity strengthening through training • Strengthen external controls • Create internal reforms • Strengthen “intelligence inputs • Public policy education

  10. Accountability in Urban Governance Pathway to Reform II • Leadership programs • Strengthen branches of government • Electoral reform • Introduce competition among alternative spending proposals

  11. : Economic Growth and Service delivery capability • Action respond to crisis • Few long term strategies • Link city growth only tangentially linked to national economy • Imperative of focusing on and creating local comparative advantage

  12. Barriers to strengthening service delivery capabilities of local governments in Latin America • Problem of “trust” as factor limiting urban reform • National governments have not given local governments either political space or financial resources to discharge new functions • National governments –by and large – do not trust local governments to manage their affairs • Changing short terms of office critical if local governments to lead effectively

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