Power, Politics and Urban Governance

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Power, Politics and Urban Governance
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Outline

• Local GovernmentAdministrative Structure
• Spatial Structures
• Revenue Sources
• Fragmentation and Re-integration
• Power, Participation and Governance

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Local Government

• Basic values
• Liberty from abuse of central power
• Popular participation
• Efficiency
• Basic activities
• Providing public services
• Agent of central government
• Formulating policies/plans
• Representing locality
• Resolving conflicts
• Regulating private-sector activities

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Limits on local government

• Economic and social conditions
• Tax base
• Dominant interests
• Local political culture
• Legal structure
• Fragmentation
• Internal structure
• Mayor-Council
• Council-Manager
• Tax/expenditure limitations
• Grant Aid
• Policy Guidance

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Spatial Structure of Local Government

• USA
• County
• Townships
• Municipalities
• Special Districts
• Separate legal entities
• Numerous
• Overlapping

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Counties and Municipalities

• System of counties required of all states
• Municipal government established only when
  population considered it necessary
• Annexation or Incorporation?
• Taxes
• Political dynamics
• Land-use planning (LULUs, NIMBYs, BANANAs)

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Revenue sources for local government

• Property Tax
• Sales Tax
• Other direct taxes
• State and Federal Transfers
• Service charges

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Fragmented Government

• Fiscal disparities
• Fiscal crisis of inner cities
• Increasing demand
• Ageing infrastructure
• Opposition to taxation
• Inability to tap resources of entire area
• Little voter influence over special districts
• Inability to plan around externalities
• Ineffectual leadership

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Metropolitan Government?

• Consolidate local authorities
• Revenue sharing
• Services through inter-municipal agreements
• Associations of governments

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Public participation

• Advocacy Planning
• Urban Social Movements
• Neighborhood urban management
• Decentralization of service delivery
• Closer to the people
• Is smaller better?

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Power in the City

• Formal--Voting
• Informal influence
• Party organizations (UK) or Interest groups (US)
• Patronage
• Corruption
• Economic interests
• What is power?

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Take-home Messages

• Local government provides a critical set of
  services, and is often the most visible and
  accessible level of government
• The fragmentation of local government, along with
  financial and economic constraints, limits the
  effectiveness of local government to address many
  urban development issues
• Power, exercises in both informal and formal
  ways, has a fundamental impact on local
  government functioning