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Table of contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................9
David Gmez-lvarez (Transversal), Robin Rajack (Inter-American Development
Bank), Eduardo Lpez-Moreno (UN-Habitat), and Gabriel Lanfranchi (CIPPEC)
Foreword ................................................................................................................11
Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-Habitat 11
Juan Pablo Bonilla, Sector Manager, Climate Change and Sustainable 12
Development, Inter-American Development Bank
Prologue ................................................................................................................16
Bruce Katz, Brookings Institution 16
Introduction ...........................................................................................................20
David Gmez-lvarez (Transversal), Robin Rajack (Inter-American Development
Bank), and Eduardo Lpez-Moreno (UN-Habitat)
3
1.5 Political Economy in the Global North and South: Connecting,
Financing, Ruling ..........................................................................98
Pedro B. Ortiz (World Bank), and Marco Kamiya (UN-Habitat)
3.8 Governing the Metropolis: New York and the Metropolitan Region...308
Thomas K. Wright (Regional Plan Association)
5
3.12 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei: Regional Governance Under a Highly
Centralized Political System .........................................................341
Yan Tang (Tsinghua University), Dong Yang (Tsinghua University), Kai Chen
(Tsinghua University), and He Zhu (Tsinghua University)
This publication, like many of its kind, is the result of Director; Elkin Velzquez, UN-Habitat representative
a long process and the collaboration of many people. for Latin America; Erik Vitrup, former UN-Habitat
It is important for us to take a moment to recognize representative in Mexico; and Efrn Osorio, UN-
each and every contributors effort and talent. Habitat officialkey to promoting both the Forum
The Steering the Metropolis project was born out and the bookdeserve special recognition.
of the preparations for the International Metropolitan We also want to thank CAF, the Development
Governance Forum that took place in November 2015 Bank of Latin America, particularly Emil Rodriguez
in Guadalajara, Mexico. The event brought together Garabot, Executive to the Institutional Development
over a hundred renowned specialists, and remains a Office. Our gratitude goes to CIPPEC, the Argentinian
reference for metropolitan discussions worldwide. At think tank that supports and makes the online open
the time, many panelists agreed to write a chapter for a book project possible, and to International City
joint publication. Those became the first steps for the Leaders from Canada for their contribution to final-
book project. Though it is not possible to name each izing the publication. We also want to thank SPURS,
of the 64 book authors here, we want to acknowledge the Special Program on Urban and Regional Studies at
the quality of their work and their patience with the MIT, for the interest in this project, particularly Bish
editorial processes as a whole. Sanyal, SPURSs director.
The Inter-American Development Bank con- The peer review process was carried out by Victor
tributed greatly to this book. Firstly, we would Vergara, World Bank specialist in urban and metropol-
like to acknowledge the Special Program for itan studies, whom until recently led the World Banks
Institutional Development (SPID), managed by Metropolitan Governance program. We thank him for
the IADB, which provided significant financial his exceptional contribution revising the manuscript.
support for the editorial process. Helpful guidance In addition, we want to thank CONACYT, the
was provided by Tatiana Gallego Lizon, Division National Science and Technology Council, for making
Chief for Housing and Urban Development, Allen the International Forum possible in the first place,
Blackman, Economics Principal Advisor, Climate and in particular Enrique Cabrero. Also the Jalisco
Change and Sustainable Development, and Rita State Government, in Mexico, for their support in
Funaro, Publications Senior Specialist, in the Banks organizing the Forum. We are particularly grateful
Research group. Constructive feedback on various to UdeG, University of Guadalajara, for supporting
parts of this publication was also provided by Osmel the final steps and printing the book. We appreciate
Enrique Manzano, Fabiano Rodrigues Bastos, Marta Tonatiuh Bravo Padilla, UdeGs President, as well as
Ruiz Arranz, Michael Donovan and Nora Libertun to Ernesto Villaruel Alvarado, UdeGs advisor to the
de Duren. On the production side, Emilia Aragn President, for their valuable support and commitment.
Rocha, Cristina Caldern Restrepo and Mildred We also want to thank Policy Lab Mexico, particularly
Rivera also played important roles. Ana Cecilia de Alba Gonzalez, Executive Director,
We also want to show our appreciation to UN- and Gerardo Farah, Adjunct Director, for their insti-
Habitat for supporting the Forum and for believing tutional and financial support. Our gratitude goes to
in the book and its potential to become a global refer- Transversal think tank in Mexico as well, particularly
ence on the subject. Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive to the Executive Director, Alberto Sandoval Uribe
9
and Research Director, Oliver Meza Canales, for facil-
itating the International Conference on Metropolitan
Governance, as well as in reviewing the design and
contents of the book.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge the good work of
the editorial team. First, we want to thank Deborah
Gonzalez Canada, assistant editor to Steering the
Metropolis, who coordinated the last stages of the
editorial work and greatly contributed to writing the
introduction and final remarks. Her dedication and
professional capacity as editor have been critical to
the book quality. We also want to express our grati-
tude to our proofreaders, Alexis Arthur and Sheila M.
Mahoney, for their thorough review of the book chap-
ters. Likewise, we are thankful to Melissa Amezcua,
managing editor responsible for the first stages of the
book and for acting as a liaison with the numerous
authors. We wish to acknowledge Alfonso Avalos as
well, our graphic editorial designer, for his creative
and detailed-oriented work that allowed us to publish
a book in line with international standards. One final
expression of gratitude goes to Karina Blanco Ochoa
and Luis Ramirez Barreda, for their contribution to
reviewing and translating parts of the book.
Foreword
Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-Habitat
Steering the Metropolis is an enriching in-depth com- needs of the people and to solve the political architec-
parative analysis of metropolitan governance ture for effective metropolitan governance.
worldwide that comes at a crucial moment of the The book presents a rigorous analysis of the most
implementation process of the New Urban Agenda, pressing challenges of metropolitan governance and
the outcome document of Habitat III, adopted in policy measures to address them, constituting an in-
Quito (Ecuador). valuable and innovative tool for subnational (regional/
Habitat III consolidated the vision of urbaniza- provincial) and local governments in their efforts in
tion as a strategic issue for sustainable development. achieving sustainable urban development.
This new vision builds on the transformative power of By examining these complex issues surrounding
urbanization as an endogenous source of prosperity metropolitan governance, Steering the Metropolis serves
and growth and of how urbanization contributes to as an authoritative study on urban governance devel-
the national economy and to generating employment. oped by senior renowned experts on the science and
Indeed, metropolises have become key actors in this art of urbanization.
process as true engines of innovation, economic
growth and development.
However, urbanization is taking place at a very
rapid speed and many national, metropolitan and
local governments can no longer control the process.
In many cases, metropolitan and local governments
have not been given the means to address these chal-
lenges, paving the way for dysfunctional problems of
the metropolis. If the challenges of our metropolises
are not steered and governed properly, urbanization
could become in a serious strategic risk for humanity,
deepening the existing social inequalities, poverty, in-
security, and lack of efficient transport systems among
other problems.
In fact, metropolitan governance tends to be a
politically contested issue that intrudes into existing
governance models, between the layer of subnational
and local levels. As cities are growing and metropoli-
tan areas are getting more complex, there is an emerg-
ing need to find a specific solution to the governance
of that reality.
This process tends to conflict with the existing
government structures. In many places of the world it
ends in lack of action, postponement and protracted
political negotiations between the different levels of
power. Attention is therefore required to serve the
11
Foreword
Juan Pablo Bonilla, Sector Manager, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Inter-American Development Bank
While metropolitan development is expanding the size governance and degree of subsidiarity; the stage of
of labor and consumer markets in many cities, it is urbanization; and the sector in question.
creating new demands for the effective management This book, developed in conjunction with several
of basic services, mobility, investment, social interac- of our partners and sister institutions, complements
tion and a shared environment. In Latin America and our ongoing efforts to provide guidance to our
the Caribbean these challenges are especially acute government counterparts in the region. To catalyze
because of the rapidly increasing urbanization levels innovation and change, our new Housing and Urban
in the latter half of the twentieth century and weak Development Division, under the Climate Change
productivity growth. and Sustainable Development Sector, has recently
Coming shortly after the formal launch of the launched the Cities Lab which, together with the
Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Network of Cities and our policy research teams,
Agenda, and amid a growing understanding of the will support metropolitan leaders experimentation
critical role that urban centers will need to play if they and exchange of experiences and best practices. We
are to be achieved, the book Steering the Metropolis: expect this book to be a key ingredient in such lateral
Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban exchanges and help these leaders improve the quality
Development offers an organized set of reflections of life in our cities.
of many of the worlds leading urban scholars and
practitioners on urban governance. The book adds
significant value to the existing literature by organiz-
ing reflections on three distinct but interconnected
aspects of metropolitan governance: elaboration of
core concepts and rationales; dedicated discourses
on sectoral applications of those core concepts; and
case study illustrations of actual attempts to bring
those concepts and sectoral applications to bear on
the metropolitan space taking into account complex
political, administrative and demographic factors.
Since the turn of the century, we at the Inter-
American Development Bank have been helping
governments in the Latin America and Caribbean re-
gion confront the implications of this new reality. We
have been doing so through innovative urban lending
operations that incentivize coordinated metropolitan
planning and implementation, technical cooperation
and research. While some progress has been achieved,
much remains to be done, particularly in devising
and implementing the appropriate governance ar-
rangements, which may vary according to contextual
factors. Such factors include the prevailing form of
The transformations of productive structures that are, more than a financial institution, an instrument
took place after the so-called post-Fordist period have of regional integration present in 17 countries of
exerted a determining influence on the morphology Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal.
of the territory on a global scale. New urban agglom- Most of the projects we support from our different
eration models respond to logics differently from pre- departments and vice-presidencies have direct impact
vious configurations. Current processes of territorial on a metropolitan scale (real estate development proj-
metropolization are much more complex in terms of ects, transportation and environmental infrastructures,
heterogeneity than the polarity between center and etc.); however, we promote through them a model of
periphery that existed in previous decades. sustainable development that seeks to improve the
These new metropolitan configurations introduce quality of life of Latin Americans.
us to an undefined governmental modality that is From the institutional point of view, CAFs
moving political power away from traditional sources, Corporate Direction of Institutional Development
and fitting together diverse urban centers, landscapes works together with local, subnational and national
of dispersion, infrastructures, equipment, and terri- governments to improve of their capacities to deal
torial discontinuities, chained by the interaction be- with territorial and administrative decentralization
tween economic, environmental, and cultural policies. processes, paying special attention to training their
The organization of these intermediate-scale pieces human capital through our capacity building programs,
represents an important legal and administrative chal- designed to build stronger inter-institutional coordina-
lenge for tackling the negative effects of externalities tion, shared leadership, and multi-sector governance.
on a global system that, until now, has been promoting Over the last 16 years, we have created a potential net-
competitiveness over collaboration. work of more than 60,000 participants composed of
It is well known that the states of emerging econo- young high-level executives from business and inno-
mies find it difficult to effectively participate as part of vation sectors, public officials, leaders of civil society
a network of global competitiveness as they struggle organizations and senior officials from Latin America.
to sustain effective national policies; at the same time, Steering the Metropolis comes in time to further re-
local governments of these countriesin spite of spond to this urgent call. It is compelling information
the advances in the decentralization processesdo that will help us to better understand the logic behind
not have the state capacities to coordinate integral this contemporary phenomenon, providing us a com-
urban development, particularly in Latin America prehensive theoretical approach and a set of good
which, according to the UN-Habitat report, registers practices required to better manage technical, social
the highest rates of urbanization and simultaneously and political aspects of Metropolitan Governance.
the highest levels of social inequality and violence in Without a doubt, it is a great opportunity to democ-
the world. This paradox raises two questions: How to ratize dispersed knowledge worldwide, as it gathers
govern this territorial complexity from an inclusive together most relevant documentation from global
local perspective? Is the scope of metropolitan areas experts and international practitioners; and particu-
the new space of opportunity to promote sustainable larly for us, it is a reminder of our commitment to
development of emerging economies? the cohesion of the systems of cities of our Member
We at CAF-Development Bank of Latin America States, as the main drivers of shared human and eco-
are interested in the answers to these questions as we nomic development.
13
Foreword
Itzcatl Tonatiuh Bravo Padilla, M.A., President of the University of Guadalajara
Cities have been transformed into key economic el- require collaboration schemes that warranty long-term
ements of global networks. They are no longer seen actions, involvement of different stakeholders and
as human settlements that only provide basic needs decentralization of processes.
to their inhabitants. Instead, urbanization, as seen in Despite urbanization externalities of overcrowd-
the second half of 20th century, has created a com- ing, congestion, pollution and crime, cities and
plex network of economic functions, societies and metropolises nowadays are increasingly seen as the
territories. In this context, the need for metropolitan national economic power generators and the places
governance is emerging. However, there is still little for social interaction, innovation and development.
experience in the development of this field of theory The dilemma is how to make the city a catalyst for
and practice, as some authors have stated. innovation and economic development, and, at the
The International Metropolitan Governance same time, how to guarantee sustainable growth.
Forum held in the City of Guadalajara in 2015 The University of Guadalajara, whose mandate
brought together a large number of specialists inter- and mission is to support innovation and knowledge
ested in a new way of governing big cities. It is an creation for the betterment of society, is pleased to
interest that has also guided the discussion at other support this relevant work, which explores new di-
international forums, such as the recent third World rections to organize and govern the metropolis in a
Forum on Human Settlements and Habitat III, which sustainable way for the generations to come.
gave rise to the New Urban Agenda.
The present work, Steering the Metropolis, pro-
vides a deep insight into metropolitan governance,
coordination and planning approaches in order to
better understand the political constraints of tradi-
tional governance structures along with the challenges
involving different government functions and levels.
It encompasses an enriched discussion in over thirty
essays regarding this new discipline, provided by top
scholars and practitioners worldwide.
This international perspective provides a set of
tools particularly relevant for developing countries,
which experience greater difficulties due to the current
conditions of rapid urbanization, population growth
and inequality; conditions that are reproduced in
most Latin American metropolises. In Mexico, the
metropolitan approach is often analyzed by describing
the constraints and limitations to create multilevel
governance or new local structures. The metropolis
can no longer be understood simply as an aggregate
of spatially continuous territories as seen in the past
four decades; metropolises are complex areas that
Sustainable urban development is a key and funda- of development, understand them, and to take steps
mental concept that will be realized in interaction to fulfill those plans considering the real resources
with other cities experiences, cities that have dif- of the cities.
ferent dimensions, performances, and approaches. The New Urban Agenda is a basic document of
Different parts of this fact are formed as a result of the United Nations Human Settlements Program
successes and failures of urban management systems. (UN-Habitat) and has been specially formulated by
Various methods that exist for solving urban this organization. This is an applied program which
issues and have been developed by urban man- can be realized in metropolises if the managers of
agers as a result of their efforts combined with those cities can formulate exact executive plans for
global knowledge of urban management must be performing it. It is essential that an interactive re-
exchanged and shared between urban authorities. lation should be formed between the book Steering
Understanding complex dimensions of urban is- the Metropolis and The New Urban Agenda so that
sues does not become possible without focusing this document can be used as a basis for designing
on existing solutions. The uniformity of lifestyles action plans for metropolises. Besides, from a stra-
in the world that is the consequence of uniform tegic point of view it will be required to develop
and consistent use of technologies and tools and the structured network of researchers associated
is further enhanced by being addressed by the with Steering the Metropolis so that they can build
virtual networks, the media, and the global village capacities to define metropolitan issues within the
have caused the metropolitan issues to be mainly frameworks of a structured plan with the support
common across the cities. of UN-Habitat.
Problems associated with infrastructures, public On the other hand, the global foundation
transportation networks, quality of air and other International City Leaders, as the international sec-
biological resources among other major problems retariat of City Prosperity Initiative for Metropolitan
of metropolises have nearly the same structures Cities (CPI-MC), developed and transformed into a
and patterns in different cities. Therefore, in order study platform for urban managers.
to reduce urban issues, save costs, and improve the The World Assembly of Islamic Cities acknowl-
quality of life, fundamental research about managing edges this valuable scientific endeavor and express-
and steering the metropolises is required. Steering the es its readiness to convey the scientific content
Metropolis is one of the most significant attempts to of this research to Middle East metropolises. It
gain support from other metropolises. is necessary to translate this set of research and
It is assumed that the pace of urbanization based submit them to urban managers and researchers
on the circumstances of the contemporary world on urban issues, and to undertake similar measures
and the advancement of technology has been be- with a special focus on diverse civil sphere of the
yond all expectations. Developing urbanization is an Islamic cities. It is hoped that such international
introduction to the formation of metropolises and interactions can pave the way for the improvement
megapolises. Managing the quality of life of these of content and functions of urban managerial
large populations needs special planning. Such plan- methods and to increase the quality of residence
ning should take into account all diverse dimensions in cities significantly.
15
Prologue
Bruce Katz, Brookings Institution
It may be overstated that our current moment feels and delivered in rapidly urbanizing metropolitan ar-
like one of great change, but todays economic and eas where governance is dispersed and divided while
political dynamics seem to be ushering in a transition incentives for sustainable practices are opaque at best.
from an era of nation-states to one of city-statesan Without improved governance structures and better
era in which globally connected metropolitan areas coordination across municipal boundaries, growing
are the key unit of the economy. At the same time megacities are liable to repeat many mistakes of the
that city power is rising, so too are a suite of super- recent past and, as a global community, we will fail to
sized challengesfrom climate change, to industrial realize a lower-carbon future.
transition, to economic inequalitywhich demand Any study of metropolitan governance and devel-
new models of local governance and a fundamental opment benefits from the perspective of the United
reframing and re-focusing of the leadership class in Statesperhaps the first modern metropolitan
cities. We need to better understand what local and nation. By the 1950s, from east coast to west, devel-
metropolitan governance is and what powers those opment patterns and governance in the country varied
leaders have. This collection of essays, the product of wildlyfrom older, European-style cities surround-
more than two years of work by dozens of the worlds ed by small, fragmented municipal fiefdoms in the
top scholars, provides a roadmap for understanding Northeast, to sprawling Sun Belt cities in the south
these big questions. whose municipal boundaries expanded along with
It could not come at a better time. Local gover- their population. Through the second half of the 20th
nance and problem-solving is being reinvented in century, the urban form continued to evolve, with the
real time, creating what I call a New Localism, in building of the Federal Highway System, an accelera-
places that not only deploy the formal and informal tion of suburban sprawl fueled by white flight, and a
powers of government but also create and steward continued fragmentation of regional governance and
new multi-sector networks to advance inclusive, identity. For a long time, the only constant in regional
sustainable, and innovative growth. The practice of governance was strife and distrust between cities and
networked regional governance has run far ahead of their suburbs.
the scholarship, but many of the benefits are clear: Today, at the beginning of a truly urban century,
merging public accountability with private sector city and metropolitan leaders in the United States are
expertise; breaking down silos between traditional working to disentangle themselves from this legacy.
government bureaucracies and across municipal Population and employment is beginning to collapse
boundaries, and creating a leadership constituency back into the urban core, leading to hot downtown
that is focused on long-term outcomes, rather than real estate markets and chilling demand for exurban
election-cycle victories. office parks and housing developments. Small sub-
Todays great challenges require this type of urban municipalities who relied on buoyant housing
governance. Take, for example, climate change, one markets for tax revenue are scaling back services and
of the most existential issues facing major cities. facing hard facts about the fiscal sustainability of these
Sustainable physical development is a critical tool micro-governments. At the same time, transformative
for both decelerating and mitigating the impact of infrastructure projects and policies critical to regional
a changing climate and rising seas. Yet, most major competitiveness stretch across artificial municipal
infrastructure and development projects are designed boundaries, requiring coordination and cooperation
17
innovations outside of the public sector will be nec-
essary toonew institutions that coordinate develop-
ment goals across sectors and municipal boundaries;
and new intermediaries that bridge the capacity gap
within government to implement new development
technologies or techniques.
Finally, these models must be replicated and scaled
throughout the world. While formal political struc-
tures differ across countries, many solutions can be
scaled, such as new financial instruments that allow
cities to fund sustainable projects with limited resourc-
es or new institutional designs that offer metropolitan
coordination without formal consolidation.
As I have stated, much of the practice of metropol-
itan governance has run far ahead of its scholarship.
Most local leaders I meet are pragmatic and motivated
problem solvers, who are constantly experimenting
with new ways of getting things done. This volume
offers an opportunity to reflect on what works and
what does not. The papers within contain our best un-
derstanding of the why and the how of metropolitan
governance. As a series of case studies from across the
world, they should be viewed not just a list of static
best-practice but rather as a set of solutions that can
be adapted and tailored to individual metropolitan sys-
tems. Metropolitan governance is an iterative, messy,
and practical exercise, not an academic one. My great-
est hope for any work of scholarship such as this one
is that it inspires and informs action on the ground
and remains, as the editors wisely encourage, a living
document that catalogs the never-ending invention of
evolution of local governance systems.
There is a growing (and exciting) debate around how Urbanization is environmentally sustainable when its
to govern metropolitan areas. Metropolitan issues are growth is based in responsible consumerism, when it does
complex, since they refer to themes of sustainability, not degrade the environment or deplete the natural re-
prosperity, equity, and quality of life, and in many cases sources, when surrounding ecosystems are preserved, and
they involve issues of both domestic and transnational when green areas and biodiversity corridors are planned
development. Discussing a metropolitan area can involve for and included in the urban mesh. In order to reach
national, regional, and local scales, as well as urban and higher sustainability levels, cities and their governments
rural spaces (EU, 2013). Metropolitan governance can be need to become aware of how much they depend on
strongly conditioned by com- the natural environment and
petition, conflict, and fragmen- the resources it provides, of
tation, and at the same time be Metropolitan governance the externalities that urban
a testimony of cooperation, lifestyle produces, and of the
is determined by the nature of the
collaboration, and concerted collective responsibility that
arrangements (Feiock, 2004). governance structures with relation urban settlers have toward the
Such complexity is one of the preservation and enhancement
to the levels of fragmentation or
factors that led to the crafting of the natural environment.
of Steering the Metropolis, a proj- consolidation, the degree and level The following pages
ect that commenced in 2015, summarize the main topics
of control over urban functions,
and a debate that remains and arguments in the book
open. The other is the mo- and the degree of formality in order to help the reader
mentum that the Sustainable navigate the material, which
or informality in the coordination
Development Goals and the consists of 37 chapters. We
New Urban Agenda created for of metropolitan area units. hope this introduction offers
discussing urban and metro- you a glimpse of the books
politan issues. richness, allowing you to ap-
The Sustainable Development Goals explicitly preciate the many layers to be uncovered. The book
acknowledge the importance of subnational gov- is structured in three sections followed by a chapter
ernments in achieving the 2030 Agenda. One of the with final remarks. Section 1 contains foundational
17 SDGs, Global Goal number 11, seeks to make contributions on the transversal topic of metropolitan
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, governance, mainly the underlying rationales for met-
and sustainable. Global sustainable development ropolitan coordination and the challenges to achieving
requires urban sustainable development, particular- it. Section 2 deepens the discussion by addressing sec-
ly now that the majority of the human population toral themes such as mobility, land planning, environ-
lives in urban areas. The book Steering the Metropolis mental concerns, and economic production, as well
has been written with the SDGs in mind, under as cross-cutting topics of metropolitan governance
the premise that metropolitan governance is key to finance, and monitoring and evaluation. If Section
achieving Goal 11 and others. 1 offers an entry point to the topic of metropolitan
* We thank Deborah Gonzalez Canada, who provided insight and assistance in reviewing this chapter.
21
UN-Habitat City Prosperity Initiative analysis, which At the same time, Ahrend et al. acknowledge
shows a moderate correlation between productivity that no specific model of metropolitan governance
and city size in Colombia and Mexico, with larger is necessarily better or more efficient than another.
agglomerations being more productive than smaller They suggest an incremental experimentation with
ones (Lpez-Moreno, and Orvaanos, Chapter 2.5). a selection of a few pilot experiences, as opposed to
In general, metropolises are engines of innovation, a one-shot uniform model. These authors highlight
economic growth, and development, and magnets for that many metropolitan governance arrangements
immigration and social and economic diversity (EU, will not be easily transferable and must be tailored to
2011). Still, Xu and Yeh (Chapter 1.8) argue that more local contexts.
theoretical and practical work is needed to explain the According to Birch (Chapter 1.2), however, there is
performance of regions and metropolises and the a need for what some have labeled a new global bar-
form they articulate with other levels of government gain and a new social contract to define the details of
for better results. these new arrangements for managing metropolitan
Metropolitan areas are both affected by the urbanization forms. Birch points out that, in order to
phenomenon of global transformation, while at the make urban places productive, a political, multi-tier,
same time they strongly influence it. Xu and Yeh de- multi-stakeholder governance mechanism must be
velop this idea, stressing that mega-city regions are built. According to Xu and Yeh (Chapter 1.8), this
not only competitive nodes of global capitalism but mechanism is essential to reconstruct the regulatory
they also contribute to reconstituting state spaces. power of the state. Xu and Yeh believe that metro-
Metropolitan areas are not only the interface be- politan governance structures are reinterpreting the
tween the global space and cities, but in many cases geographies of state space under transition, creating
they are also the interface between nation-states and new spatial strategies that are more democratic, open,
regions, as Ortiz and Kamiya point out in Chapter and selective, and responding to dynamic processes
1.5. Ortiz and Kamiya note that the galvanizing of co-production.
power of proximity, density, economies of scale, In Chapter 1.4, Subirats picks up on the notion
and agglomeration of metropolises contributes to of co-production and suggests that there is a need to
major national decision-making on infrastructure accept and promote the politicization of metropolitan
provision and economic development, playing a governance in order to advance from hierarchical,
fundamental political role in the governance of logical, segmented, technocratic, and traditional or-
cities and nations. ganizations to structures and reticular (networked)
Section 1 authors conceptualize metropolitan relations. Andersson (Chapter 1.3) notes that regional
areas and metropolitan governance, with each po- and metropolitan development is a new normal that
sition enriching the next. requires common issues to create a need for cooper-
According to Ahrend et al. (Chapter 1.1), many ation among local governments. Finally, Lanfranchi
attempts to reduce administrative fragmentation and Contin (Chapter 1.6) pursue this idea, calling
have fallen short of creating administrative cohe- for a new metropolitan discipline that can handle
sion and territorial coherence, with a large number the metropolitan phenomenon differently based on
of local governments having the power to veto an integrated vision of the various disciplines at the
metropolitan projects. Governance, in the conven- territorial scale.
tional sense, is sometimes reduced to governance The diversity of practices and examples of
bodies that are not able to make binding decisions metropolitan governance models and the complex-
and depend on the political willingness of actors. ity of issues are still a challenge for clear taxonomy.
Large metropolitan areas call for a mechanism to Operative terms such as management, collaboration,
govern them in a coherent fashion. and smart growth are often presented as substitutes
23
the reducing urban sprawl and a concomitant increase vision with the appropriate supra-municipal structures
in densities. The empirical evidence provided by their can enhance agglomeration economies and produce
study is supported by other successful examples, higher multiplier effects over the economy and the
such as Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto, which productivity of the region.
prove that, despite inherent tensions involved in the Metropolitan governments have a crucial role
governance of these metropolises, it is still possible in promoting equity and social cohesion. Metro
to translate metropolitan visions into local imple- areas are more efficient and productive than admin-
mentation with better coordination at different scales istratively defined cities, but they are not necessarily
(Gwyndaf, 1999). more equitable. Many metropolises perform below the
Metropolitan governance can better integrate national average in sectors such as income, productiv-
the entire public transport system in conjunction ity, skills, and employment (Ortiz, 2016). Many others
with planning and land uses. In Chapter 1.8, Xu exhibit significant intra-metropolitan inequalities that
and Yeh cite transportation as the most salient task are reflected in access to public goods, services, and
for metropolitan governance, representing up to 70 opportunities, as documented by the UN-Habitat City
percent of work of OECD metro governance bodies, Prosperity Initiative (Lpez-Moreno and Orvaanos,
as reported in a recent study (OECD, 2015). The effi- Chapter 2.5). Most studies on the performance of
cient integration of metropolitan public transport can metropolitan areas place emphasize the ability of
increase connectivity at the sub-city level, enhance co- metro structures to achieve economies of scale and
herence across transit modes, improve infrastructure agglomeration and to reduce negative externalities, but
provisioninducing new urban developmentsand in general, fewer references are made to their ability to
influence the operation of the system. Frankfurt, reduce inequality and cope with tensions and conflict.
Copenhagen, Berlin, and Hong Kong are some of the In Chapter 1.5, Ortiz and Kamiya note that economic
successful multimodal metro transport solutions that efficiency and social equity are in permanent struggle,
have adequately adapted to the urban form of the city and the role of metro governance is to address and
and contributed to the regions economic buoyancy. reduce this dichotomy, although this does not always
The urban economy and access to jobs are strongly happen. For Ortiz and Kamiya, metropolitan manage-
connected to efficient forms of metro governance ment must therefore steer between unacceptable social
and efficient transport systems, as the UN-Habitat inequity and unsustainable economic inefficiency.
report on sustainable urban mobility demonstrated Metropolitan governance can improve the finan-
(UN-Habitat, 2013). cial base and render a more efficient tax system.
Effective metropolitan governance has direct In most cases, municipalities belonging to the same
effects on productivity. Ahrend et al. provide com- metropolitan area exhibit differences in the structure
pelling evidence that the increase in population is of revenue and expenditures, fiscal disparities, degree
associated with productivity gains to a certain limit. of financial autonomy, difficulties in planning and
However, an OECD study (2015) showed that an financing important investments, and serious impedi-
increase in the number of municipalities is negatively ments in terms of revenue and tax-base sharing. Ortiz
correlated with productivity. Effective metropolitan and Kamiya underscore the fact that certain areas
structures are said to be key in amplifying productivity of knowledge, such as metropolitan finance, are still
and/or limiting productivity loss due to municipality exploratory fields. The lack of metropolitan finance
fragmentation. This opinion is shared by Andersson arrangements among different layers of government
(Chapter 1.3), who points to a need to broaden and makes it difficult to mobilize adequate investments for
deepen the understanding of productivity of the urban metropolitan infrastructure development and public
economy in order to address economic development goods. For Ortiz and Kamiya, it is clear that finan-
on the metropolitan scale. A forceful metropolitan cial constraints and fiscal crisis perpetuate poverty,
25
center of power, point out Ahrend et al. in Chapter is necessary to better articulate the will of different
1.1, particularly in cases where metropolitan authori- actors, looking for scenarios with greater capacity for
ties were created by the central government. effective decision-making and governance in order to
In addition, several studies have shown that local address the challenges of coordination and problems
governments tend to compete more than cooperate of management. Lanfranchi and Contin (Chapter
among themselves, particularly those with fragmented 1.6) call for more effective forms of negotiation and
metropolitan structures (Shirley, 2002; UN-Habitat, participation techniques that require a metropolitanist,
2008). Although competition among cities is common, a different kind of professional profile, to deal with
proponents of collaborative metropolitan governance conflict and disagreement through new mediation
argue that such competition is inefficient. techniques.
Territorial mismatch and sectoral fragmentation. Funding problems and structural financial limita-
Institutions, territory, and administrative demarcations tions.Metropolitan areas lack stable revenue sources
do not coincide in most metropolitan areas. Usually not only to meet day-to-day demands and needs, but
metro governments do not cover the whole agglom- also to address long-term problems. With lack of
eration, leaving out municipalities that are the fastest fiscal powers, structural problems in raising financial
growing areas or those facing serious development resources, and legal and institutional difficulties in
challenges. Data and information about the metropolis making good use of their assets, metropolitan govern-
are often produced at a lower or higher administrative ments are chronically poor. This is a common theme
level, making it difficult to produce policies and plans throughout this section. Ahrend et al. (Chapter 1.1)
based on evidence for the entire metro area. A study note that internal differences in revenues, expenditure
on metropolitan governance in Europe, for instance, needs, and investment capacities are further aggravat-
found that with the increasing metropolitanization of ed by legal and institutional constraints to dealing with
the territory, any created structure quickly becomes ob- territorial disparities.
solete and few metropolitan governments possess the Birch (Chapter 1.2) believes that metropolises have
mechanisms to expand the perimeter of action (Toms, not yet developed a set of principles and governance
2015). The mismatch between economic integration institutions responsive to the pace and trajectory of
and political fragmentation is highlighted by Andersson 21st century urbanization. In relation to that, the next
(Chapter 1.3) and Xu and Yeh (Chapter 1.8), with the paragraphs indicate some ideas for efficient metropol-
latter authors calling for strategic visioning that encom- itan governance.
passes entire regions.
Absent or limited public participation. Social and Elements of Success for Efficient
political participation is often poor at the metropolitan Metropolitan Governance
level. In Chapter 1.4, Subirats notes the remarkable
obsolescence of the mechanisms of representation The constitution of an efficient metro government
and decision-making that have been used in govern- is not only a technical decision, it is, fundamentally, a
ing big cities. In the same vein, Birch (Chapter 1.2) political one. Without political legitimacy, decisions and
observes that many stakeholders have self-referential actions would not be accepted, particularly by local au-
histories, lack experience (and/or perhaps interest) in thorities. Everyone involved in the process needs to see
participation, and experience difficulties in agreeing clear advantages in bringing together the institutional
on the priorities or urgency of the work that emerges system with the economic and social development of
in collective discussions. The lack of public partici- cities in a territory. Lefebvres (2011) critical review of
pation is exacerbated by the fact that most metropol- metropolitan governments and governance in Western
itan governance bodies do not comprise members countries concludes that effective metro governance
directly elected by the people. Subirats argues that it entails the modernization of the institutional structure
27
These and other approaches are further analyzed in
Serviced Land and Housing, Including
Section 2 and summarized in the next subsection of
Transportation Infrastructure
this introduction. In this section of the book, the theme of serviced land
and housing, including transportation infrastructure,
Section 2. Sectoral Approaches to is primarily covered in the two chapters by Goytia
(Chapter 2.2) and Zegras (Chapter 2.8), as well as par-
Metropolitan Governance tially in the chapter by Lpez-Moreno and Orvaanos
(Chapter 2.5). The common thread is emphasis on the
Governing the metropolis embodies some of our potential gains from metropolitan-wide coordination
greatest societal challenges: cooperation, coordina- of land use regulation and the linkage between the
tion, financial mobilization and prioritization, strate- location of built development, especially housing, and
gic planning, and redistribution. While these are fa- connective infrastructure. Implicit in the perspective
miliar conceptual tasks at the national and state level of most contributing authors on this theme is advo-
in federal countries, at the metropolitan level there cacy for compact urban form and/or for improved
is a need to reconcile these pursuits with a discrete accessibility (see Zegras, Chapter 2.8).
and contiguous physical territory. In the metropolitan Goytia argues from several distinct perspectives.
territory, this reconcilia- First, and perhaps most
tion is primarily pursued fundamentally, like Lpez-
not at the conceptual level Getting their governance right Moreno and Orvaanos,
but by producing and pro- she contends that a failure
viding tangible goods and is of critical importance given that to coordinate land use reg-
services in three areas: cities and metropolitan areas are ulation in the metropolitan
serviced land and housing, area runs the risk of un-
including transportation responsible for approximately three- dermining the formation
infrastructure; economic quarters of global greenhouse gas of agglomeration econo-
production; and environ- mies associated with the
mental services and exter- emissions from final energy use. co-location and interaction
nalities. Section 2 of this of firms (Glaeser, 1998).
book includes chapters Indeed, as Cohen points
that examine each of these three sets of goods and out in Chapter 2.1, urban density is a proxy for a set of
services on the metropolitan scale. It also addresses necessary urban services and interactions that make cit-
the cross-cutting dimensions of finance and moni- ies attractive places to live and work (Buckley, Kallergis,
toring and evaluation. and Wainer, 2015) and therefore leveraging land use
In looking at each of these sets of public goods regulation and planning to achieve optimal density
and services, the emphasis is on the specific rationale while maximizing productivity and employment ought
and to some extent on existing mechanisms for coor- to be a metropolitan policy priority.
dination and management. Among the rationales or Given that such benefits are at the heart of our
incentives for a cooperative approach are economies understanding of what makes cities the productive
of scale; competitive advantage of one part of a engines of growth and magnets for population and
metropolitan area over another to produce particular innovation, this is a critically important line of analysis.
goods and services; reducing negative externalities; At its essence is the notion that within a metropolis,
maximizing the welfare of those who live or work in inter-jurisdictional competition to attract investments
the metropolitan area; and bolstering of fiscal strength can create perverse incentives associated with a race to
and autonomy. the bottom whereby, in pursuit of an advantage over
29
dependence on private vehicle usage for transportation, planning infrastructure and services for public and
which exacerbates production of greenhouse gases. private transport, roads and rails, passengers, and
In Chapter 2.8, Zegras picks up on this latter freight;
theme of sustainable metropolitan mobility, which he managing and regulating infrastructure and services,
had previously defined as maintaining the capability including parking, traffic, operating, and infrastruc-
to provide non-declining accessibility in time (Zegras, ture concessions, and licensing;
2011). Referencing the classic urban economy theo- designing, financing, investing in, and sometimes
ries of von Thnen and Heinrich (1966) and Alonso constructing and operating infrastructure and ser-
(1964), he reminds readers that within a metropolis, vices; and
people, firms, and other institutions interact with their collaborating with relevant authorities in related sec-
land use and mobility sub-systems, creating accessibil- tors, including land use planning and development,
ity to the daily requirements to survive and thrive. He environmental protection, public health, and safety.
argues that the generalized transport costs (e.g., time
and money) dictate the shape of the curve (willingness He notes that while technical barriers in these aspects
to pay for proximity) and the end of the built-up of metropolitan transportation governance have largely
zone (e.g., urban area boundary). For a monocentric been overcome, political barriers remain.
city, a mobility improvement vis--vis the central busi-
ness district will lower the land value of the district,
flatten the slope of the bid-rent curve, and extend Economic Production
the built-up area boundarya significant feature of
metropolitan management as earlier discussed. Zegras The theme of metropolitan governance and eco-
contends that mobility is actually a key functional nomic production is primarily covered in Chapter
metric to define the boundaries of a metropolis. In 2.1 by Cohen and partially by Lpez-Moreno and
support, he cites evidence from the European Union Orvaanos (Chapter 2.5), although other contributors
where, metropolitan areas (functional urban areas) are to this section inevitably touch on this important
defined based on the extent of a commuting zone, topic. For example, in Chapter 2.4, McCarney points
and from the United States, where the spatial scope out that metropolises represent the coincidence of
of metropolitan statistical areas is determined by the major markets, including those for labor, real estate,
degree of local jurisdictions social and economic finance and business, and services. She makes the
integration as measured by commuting ties based on point that such economic clout demands sound gover-
an employment interchange measure. nance arrangements to facilitate their roles as sites for
Zegras also addresses the governance dimension of economic production, agglomeration, and proximity,
urban mobility, identifying four salient factors: the scale and as staging grounds for connections to the global
and scope of the mobility problem, the nature of the economy. Indeed, the aforementioned OECD study
infrastructure and services, disciplinary and technocratic found that for a given population size, a metropolitan
differences, and the need to balance potential scale-relat- area with twice the number of municipalities is associ-
ed benefits versus localized preferences related to juris- ated with around 6 percent lower productivity (OECD,
dictional sorting. Using evidence from the United States, 2015). However, this effect is mitigated by almost half
Portugal, the European Union, Mexico, and Canada, he if a governance body exists at the metropolitan level.
draws attention to the influence of a nations historical This global economy is dynamic. In Chapter 2.1,
and political approach to decentralization in determining Cohen emphasizes that potential and comparative
metropolitan governance capabilities and realistic models. advantage are only realized in such an environment
He identifies the constituent elements of metropolitan if metropolises are able to adapt. He notes that the
transportation governance as: industrial structure of a metropolitan area produces
31
responsible for approximately three-quarters of global Bulkeley and Luque-Ayala note that the transnation-
greenhouse gas emissions from final energy use (IPCC, al organization of cities is creating a horizontal form of
2014) and are disproportionately vulnerable to climate climate governance with internationally standardized
impacts due to their concentration of risks in terms reporting on progress that is helping cities gain room
of lives, cultural heritage, infrastructure, built envi- for political maneuvering in pursuit of domestic targets.
ronment, and the economy. As Bulkeley and Luque- They also recognize that partnerships with the private
Ayala point out, the urban scale focuses attention on sector and civil society both within and outside of
large- and small-scale metropolitan infrastructure the city are likewise emboldening city responses to
systems, positioning urban networks of energy, water, climate change even when national momentum may
waste, transport, information and communications be slower than desired. However, they are careful to
technology, and others as potential sites of interven- warn that metropolitan governance via partnerships
tion for effective climate responses, even if most of can be exclusive and omit direct participation of the
those efforts to date have been measures to support poor and other marginalized groups, raising questions
a reduction in greenhouse gases primarily through of legitimacy and transparency in decision-making, as
enhanced energy efficiency. discussed in Section 1. In a similar vein, in Chapter
As tempting as it may be to view climate change and 2.7, Dinshaw et al. contend that resilience planning
managing environmental risks in predominantly techno- at the metropolitan level needs to be the result of the
logical and hazard terms, both Bulkeley and Luque-Ayala scaling up local level planning. They note that the typ-
and Dinshaw et al. stress the importance of political, ical practice of scaling down to the local level. Plans
socioeconomic, equity, and governance lenses. As the conceived at a higher level often overlook community
former note, policy development such as decarboniza- participation, community-driven data or assets, capac-
tion or resilience action plans needs to be fully cognizant ities, and present vulnerabilities (Von Aalst, Cannon,
of how such policies are limited by prevailing social and and Burton, 2008). They describe Quito, Ecuador, with
material realities of the city (Lovell, Bulkeley, and Owens, its Panel on Climate Change and the Climate Change
2009). Among those realities are the perceived fairness of Metropolitan Committee, as a model of this kind of
how specific risks, vulnerabilities, and mitigation targets intra- and inter-institutional articulation.
are distributed across the metropolitan space. Dinshaw More generally, Dinshaw et al. acknowledge the
et al. illustrate this point through the story of the rede- challenge of determining who has the authority and
velopment of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. In the incentive to implement metropolitan resilience
that case, an initial plan to convert badly flooded neigh- plans and ensure their effectiveness. In citing the
borhoods into parks and green spaces for ecological relatively positive experience with PlaNYC in New
functions and storm water management had to be aban- York City, they note that most metropolitan areas
doned due the disproportionate displacement it would do not have a powerful coordinating agency such as
have created for predominantly black and lower-income that citys Mayors Office of Long-Term Planning
familiesthe reality and implications of which were not and Sustainability and, therefore, to effectively co-
immediately apparent due to participation defects in the ordinate resilience may need to develop a consor-
planning process. tium or create such an agencynot a simple task
In terms of the political dimension of metropolitan in resource and capacity-constrained environments
climate management, Bulkeley and Luque-Ayala note of the global south.
that metropolitan authorities are not responding to cli- Appropriately governing environmental issues and
mate change in isolation or solely through internal pres- the two other thematic areasserviced land and hous-
sures. They observe that instead transnational networks, ing and economic productionalso requires adequate
partnerships, and innovation and experimentation are the finance mechanisms and the constructive feedback
hallmarks of their responses to climate change. that strong monitoring and evaluation systems allow.
33
with the premise of performance-based transfers, (Chapter 2.8) and Cohen (Chapter 2.1) also express
in Chapter 2.1, Cohen advocates for urban finance some views on the topic.
to embrace a regulatory function in its structure to McCarney (Chapter 2.4) lays the foundation by
incentivize firms to produce positive externalities noting the heightened contemporary relevance of
and multipliers while minimizing negative ones. data-driven management and evidence-based policy-
While in Chapter 2.3 Smoke focuses primarily on making in todays large urban infrastructure deficits,
concepts and principles, in his contribution, Zegras fiscal space limitations, and climate-related challenges,
(Chapter 2.8) critiques some specific metropolitan which are occurring in a governance environment
finance arrangements in the field of transportation, where accountability and transparency is increasingly
citing examples primarily from Europe and the United demanded. She navigates readers through the chal-
States. In particular, he notes the fate of Metropolitan lenges of scarce and uneven data, often collected
Transportation Authorities in Portugal, which lacked through different methodologies and under different
adequate administrative and financial authority and definitions of what constitutes the physical extent of
were dominated by central government influence, and a metropolis. This is a point that Zegras also laments
whose responsibilities were eventually subsumed into in Chapter 2.8 in relation to concepts and indicators
the respective metropolitan governments (Assembleia such as sustainable mobility and congestion.
da Repblica, 2015). With regard to the experience McCarney then asserts that the International
of the United States, he briefly surveys the role of Standard on City Indicators, ISO 37120, that was
incentives from state and/ developed using the Global
or national government, in- Citizen engagement and City Indicators Facility, rep-
cluding through federal con- resents a fundamental shift
participation is important for
ditional grants-in-aid and the when it comes to city data as
emergence of Metropolitan metropolitan governance, not only the indicators allow cities and
Special Districts, which were citizens to evaluate municipal
as an ethical commitment but also
created to address specific performance and progress
area-wide service problems for economic reasons. in standardized terms. ISO
related to the cross-bound- 37120 comprises 100 indica-
ary benefits associated with highways or public tors of a citys social, economic, and environmental
transportation and often given special financing ca- performance with published definitions and meth-
pabilities (Zimmer, 1974). He also traces the birth of odologies. As these data points are then analyzed and
Metropolitan Planning Organizations primarily for reported in the same way, comparative lessons can be
metropolitan transportation planning, the scope of drawn from other local and global cities. Municipal
which has expanded over the years but whose per- indicators can be aggregated to formulate metropol-
formance has depended on the design and practical itan-scale indicators. McCarney cites examples from
implementation of governance structures. cities across multiple continents that were among the
20 cities that formed part of the first-year pilot, where
Metropolitan Monitoring and Evaluation results have been incorporated into city planning and
policymaking and have facilitated collaboration be-
Metropolitan monitoring and evaluation is a common tween levels of government and different departments.
theme in this section of the book. While Chapter 2.4 Since the ISO indicators are hosted on an online
by McCarney is entirely devoted to the topic, various open data platform, an argument is also made that it
monitoring instruments are explicitly discussed in the is serving to improve transparency, reduce corruption,
chapters by Lpez-Moreno and Orvaanos (Chapter and enhance public services through more effective
2.5) and Dinshaw et al. (Chapter 2.7). Both Zegras oversight (Janssen, Charalabidis, and Zuiderwijk, 2012)
35
Main Takeaways from Metropolitan
occurs with most large compilations of cases, those
Case Studies
included in this volume are the result of both selection
and accessibility based on the criteria of representa- The first realization is that we do not have a unique
tiveness and diversity. All 19 metropolitan cities have working definition of metropolis, let alone of met-
both unique and similar features that, from an ag- ropolitan governance for the nineteen 19 cases. In
gregated perspective, contribute to a better empirical fact, most chapters in Section 3 do not provide a
understanding of metropolitan governance. working definition of their own metropolis nor do
Despite the fact that the metropolitan cities includ- they explicitly specify their ideal form of metropolitan
ed are not in-depth case studies, they are structurally governance. That is something to be mindful of when
consistent. All cases focus on the metropolitan gover- making comparisons. Despite the common usage of
nance framework, processes, and outcomes, but from the term metropolitan, the nature of the metropoli-
different angles and entry points. They share common tan cases varies significantly. Shanghai, for instance,
content: general diagnostics, local context, map of is a single municipality, while Greater New York
stakeholders, and identification of key challenges. This comprises three states (New York, New Jersey, and
consistency makes some comparative analysis feasible. Connecticut) and more than 700 towns and counties.
The broader question is whether we can extrap- The 2.4 million inhabitants of Portlands Metropolitan
olate from one case to another. We believe we can, Area in the United States seem like a small village next
as long as we take metropolises as complex systems to the approximately 100 million people living in the
and avoid simplistic, formulaic thinking. If we do use Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region. Some
the complexity paradigm, then our focus must be metropolitan areas or regions are solely urban built-up
on structures, interactions of those structures, and areas (that is, urbanized), while others are territories
innovative arrangements that create new forms of that include peri-urban, suburban, and rural areas,
metropolitan governance. What are the interactions such as Lagos, eThekwini-Durban, Mumbai, or Delhi.
between, say, local authorities with decentralized re- Not all metropolitan areas result from the aggrega-
sponsibilities and metropolitan authorities? In what tion of local governments polygons. Some conurbations
way do structures change when national legislation can be seen and studied as integrated labor markets,
enables subnational governments to collaborate and, like Greater London, or as functional urban areas, like
at the same time, when incentives make them compete Greater New York, while others lack the infrastructure
for resources? How do vertical, top-down decisions to be considered properly integrated. Furthermore, in
from upper levels of government co-exist with more some cases, significant sectors of their populations are
horizontal, bottom-up initiatives and participation in severely marginalized and the practice of integration is
metropolitan contexts? The cases tackle such ques- highly questionable. Thus, the idea of the metropolis has
tions and in so doing analyze the intersection between significantly different connotations from one context to
metropolitan governance schemes, their challenges, another, even within the same country.
and good practices. The second takeaway is that there are common facili-
What can we learn from the innovative metropol- tators for metropolitan coordination and governance and
itan governance of Portland, Oregon, in the United their absence tends to be highlighted as an obstacle or
States (Chapter 3.9)? How about the lessons from barrier. Some of these facilitators are: legal recognition
the massive, vertical relocation processes in Shanghai of metropolitan governance in national legislation, the
(China) detailed in Chapter 3.16? By engaging with project-to-policy approach, shared partisanship among
the chapters in Section 3, we hope our readers will governments and key stakeholders, and the existence of
learn from the experiences of others. The following a culture of publicprivate partnership, among others.
paragraphs present some of our main takeaways, and The recognition of metropolitan governance in
later we introduce each metropolitan case. the national constitution is highlighted as a positive
37
The third lesson is how important citizen engage- conflicts (Buenos Aires, Lagos, So Paulo, Bogot, and
ment and participation is in metropolitan governance, Seoul) or the apartheid struggle in South Africa (Durban-
not only as an ethical commitment but also for eThekwini). Some metropolises suffered particularly
economic reasons. In cities like Portland, Toronto, during the Second World War (Tokyo, Paris, London, and
London, and Stuttgart, participation of citizens and Stuttgart), while others are in countries that went through
civil organizations are central, but the chapters about independence processes in the 20th century (Mumbai,
Shanghai and Seoul show that they are stronger cases Delhi, and Lagos). Although the historical perspective is
in favor of participation as an efficient way to deal not the focus of this book, and metropolitan governance
with metropolitan issues. However, in other cases in is a relatively new phenomenon, the political trajectories
Section 3, this aspect of governance is not addressed of countries explain the institutional framework that
at all. From an open government perspective, civic shapes metropolitan regimes, as mentioned in Section 1.
collaboration is a key dimension of governance, par- An interesting observation, however, is the non-linearity
ticularly at the local level where citizens involvement of the metro governance maturity process, with some
is motivated by proximity and the potential for direct cases making steady progress and others losing momen-
impact (Open Government Partnership, 2016). tum and capacity to evolve.
It is worth noting that not all the cases are similar
in terms of democratic culture, a key variable in gover- Brief Introduction to the Metropolitan
nance schemes. If we look at the past 100 years, only a Case Studies
few cities in Section 3 had a context of uninterrupted
democracies while they became the metropolises they are The cases in Section 3 are organized by continent
today (Toronto, New York, Portland, Mexico City, and (Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, in that order)
Guadalajara). Some cases are relatively new democracies, and alphabetically within each subgroup by the main
as the democratic processes in some countries have citys short name (not by the name of the metropolitan
been severely disrupted by dictatorships and/or armed area), which is the most common reference.
Greater London
Greater Toronto Area UK Verband Region Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei
Greater Portland Canada Stuttgart Metro Region
USA Germany China
Mtropole du National Capital
Grand Paris Territory of Delhi Seoul Capital Area
New York Metro Area France India Korea
USA
Guadalajara Metro Area Greater Cairo
Mexico Valley of Mexico Metro Area Egypt Shanghai Municipality
Mexico China
Mumbai Metro Region
India
Greater Bogot Lagos Metro Area
Colombia Nigeria
Greater So Paulo
Brazil eThekwini Metro Municipality
South AFrica
Buenos Aires Metro Area
Argentina
39
role of multi-stakeholder partnerships and strategic experience with other metropolitan areas in Argentina,
investments, such as a bus rapid transit scheme and she proposes a projects-to-policy approach to create
light rails, and the improvement of waste management legitimate metropolitan coordination. According to
and canopy cover. Rojas, the political conjuncture is encouraging as
Chapter 3.4 is the first on the American continent. the national government, the capital (Buenos Aires
Crdoba and Gonzlez analyze territorial planning Autonomous City), the adjacent province of Buenos
in Colombia in terms of current dichotomies and Aires, and a third of the metropolitan municipalities in
tensions, with a focus on Bogot. The first tension the province are now governed by the same political
is centralization versus devolution. Colombia has a coalition. She argues that two critical issues stand out
highly centralized government scheme that reduces for their potential to be addressed through a proj-
the capacity for autonomous decisions in territorial ect-to-policy approach: transit and parks. In addition
entities such as Bogot. The second tension is agency. to that, Rojas mentions other sectors for which met-
Should local territorial planning be carried out by the ropolitan coordination is progressing but still facing
32 Colombian departments or should it be a respon- several challenges, such as waste management, health
sibility of the 1,101 municipalities? At present, territo- services, risk management, and socio-environmental
rial planning is carried out by departments or ad hoc issues regarding heavily polluted watersheds.
zoning. If the departments continue to be in charge, The following two cases are concerned with
their capacity to plan must be strengthened, including Mexican metropolises: Guadalajara and Mexico
funding. The other option is to follow a planning City (Chapters 3.6 and 3.7). The two conurbations
model of a system of cities, which distinguishes two have differences worth mentioning. While the
types of urban areas: urban agglomerations (with Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico includes
several local governments) and uni-nodal cities. The over 20 million people and 79 different jurisdictions,
system of cities model would also consider the flows belonging to three different state governments,
within urban agglomerations, between urban and Guadalajara has only 5 million inhabitants in nine
rural areas, and among cities. It would imply that, in- municipalities of the same state. Despite the differ-
stead of managing six disconnected agglomerations, ences in scale, the two chapters share a concern for
for example, policies would address an urban-region- the lack of a national metropolitan legal framework
al continuum and take advantage of the proximity in Mexico, and the authors agree that the faculties of
economies. The authors found that in Colombia association and collaboration among the municipali-
living conditions in agglomerations are better than ties and the state governments, recognized in Article
in uni-nodal cities and far better than in rural areas. 115 of the constitution, have not been sufficient
They also found that there are several inequalities to to guarantee adequate metropolitan governance in
be addressed within the different sub-regions of a Mexico. However, national urban legislation was
single urban agglomeration like Bogot, a phenom- passed in 2016, opening the door for improved met-
enon they refer to as lack of convergence. Thus, ropolitan coordination mechanisms and modalities.
they conclude that public policy should enhance In Chapter 3.6, Blanco, Osorio, and Gmez-lvarez
the intrinsic benefits of agglomerations and should present a plausible path to manage conurbations in
explicitly target convergence. Mexico. Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, the second
Chapter 3.5 on the Buenos Aires Metropolitan largest city in Mexico, has a tripartite system of metro-
Area (BAMA) sheds light on both the multidimen- politan coordination formed by three main metropolitan
sional complexities of BAMA and the current op- coordination entities: the Metropolitan Coordination
portunities for advancing metropolitan governance. Commission (integrated by the State Governor and the
In the chapter, Rojas presents an overview of ex- nine mayors), the Metropolitan Planning Institute, and the
isting metropolitan arrangements and, based on her Citizen Metropolitan Council. The metropolitanization
41
land use planning system and both the state legislation is a prerequisite to achieve state and municipal coor-
and metropolitan government focus on sustainability. dination, at least in current political scenarios.
As a consequence, [the] Metro has been effective In Chapter 3.11, Eidelman, Horak, and Stren
in reshaping regional growth patterns in ways that refer to Toronto, a city within the Greater Golden
vary dramatically from the standard pattern of de- Horseshoe, the largest and most economically im-
velopment for urban areas in the United States, that portant city-region in Canada. It is a significant case
is, reducing sprawl and promoting compact growth. for this book for two reasons: it was the first urban
Another important aspect is that Metrothe authority area in North America to adopt a two-tier metro-
of Metropolitan Portlandis governed by an elected politan system, and it is one of the most ethno-cul-
president representing the entire metropolitan area turally diverse city-regions in the world, with nearly
and a council of six members elected from districts half of the population in the Greater Toronto Area
of equal population. Those district boundaries do not being foreign-born. This case is particularly inter-
correspond to local government boundaries, which esting from the perspective of under-representation
gives the council a metropolitan perspective, not a of groups and minority dynamics in metropolitan
political one. In addition, the Metro representatives governance, a key dimension in multicultural so-
are non-partisan positions, and the staff has been rec- cieties. The chapter focuses on the three main so-
ognized nationwide for its competency in addressing cio-environmental challenges of Greater Toronto:
metropolitan issues. dealing with social polarization and integrating new
Chapter 3.10 reflects on immigrants and low-income
recent changes in Brazilian residents into the fabric of
metropolitan governance, Grand Paris owes its success city life, controlling urban
paying close attention to the sprawl in the outer suburbs,
to continuous conflicting
case of Greater So Paulo. and effectively planning
Klink critically reviews the cooperation. and funding regional transit.
governance heritage of the Additional, overarching chal-
dictatorship era, fiscal crisis, lenges relate to metropolitan
and the 1990s restructuring reforms. The last of governance constraints: strong provincial control,
these, particularly in So Paulo, led to publicprivate high dependence on local revenues, and weak inter-
partnerships, innovative bottom-up experimentation, governmental political integration. According to the
and participatory governance among municipali- authors, improving governance requires creating or
ties. Klink later analyzes the current expectations modifying incentive structures for intergovernmen-
regarding the Federal Statute of the Metropolis, which tal relations rather than changing the metropolitan
was approved in January 2015. The author considers government architecture.
that strengthening institutions and building technical In Chapter 3.12, Tang, Yang, Chen, et al. present
capacity are necessary but insufficient conditions to the complexities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei
improve metropolitan governance: leadership and Metropolitan Region (BTH region), which com-
political will are required to improve the city. After a prises 10 local governments and a population greater
description of recent planning processes in Greater than 100 million inhabitants, the most populated
So Paulo, Klink highlights that further efforts need mega-city region in the world. As a city-region, this
to be made to achieve political consensus among case is one of only a few in Section 3 in which the
different government levels and civil society, and focus is on a series of economically linked metrop-
to devise clear sources of finance for metropolitan olises rather than a single metropolis. In other words,
planning and management. The case of So Paulo the BTH region is a hybrid example of regional and
seems to reinforce the notion that political alignment metropolitan governance.
43
not free of conflict. The author argues that, rather residents, a door-to-door household survey, a com-
than avoiding tension, metropolitan governance pensation and resettlement plan crafted with resi-
should ensure open communication and include dents feedback, and a pre-established consensus rate,
the conflicts in constructive discussions about which means that the redevelopment project could
processes and procedures. The detailed examples only proceed after receiving 90 percent approval
of waste and water management in the chapter from the affected residents. Going through these
provide several good examples of how to identi- processes allowed the planners to obtain a majority
fy conflict and address it in a way that facilitates consensus with less money drained by conflicts be-
sustainable development. The research on water fore the relocation plans moved on. An important
quality improvement in the Paldang Reservoir, for question is whether relocation processes would work
instance, suggests that conservation, restoration, similarly in socio-cultural contexts different than
and economic growth can co-exist. China. In other words, we must consider how repli-
Unlike Chapter 3.12 on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cable is the Shanghai experience in other countries?
Metropolitan Region, in Chapter 3.16, the focus is on Metropolitan change in Europe is represented in
a single Chinese municipality: Shanghai, one of the the book by three cases: Greater London, Grand
largest single-jurisdiction cities in the world. Leaving Paris, and Verband Region Stuttgart. The history
aside the metropolitan coordination of Yangtze River of Greater Londons governance is the main topic
Delta Metropolitan Region, the Shanghai chapter will of Chapter 3.17, by Clark, Moonen, and Couturier.
probably amaze readers due of the scale of change The chapter provides an interesting example of the
to which it refers: a transformation directly linked to search for a power balance among the boroughs,
massive urban redevelopment. The data analysis car- Londons mayor, and the central government. It
ried out by authors Chen and Xu implies that roughly narrates four cycles in London governance that have
one in four (permanent) households in Shanghai consolidated the citys nascent system of negotiated
experienced forced relocation. The relocation pro- consensus. The first cycle began with the abolition
cess, thoroughly described in their chapter, led to an of the Greater London Council, followed by no
improvement in the average quality of residential citywide government. In the second cycle, a nation-
housing stock. In the past three decades, the share al office was created to govern London. The third
of modern-style housing (villa, condo, and apartment) cycle consisted of the creation of the GLA-Mayor
has increased from 33 percent in 1978 to 94 percent model and the organization Transport for London.
in 2014, while the share of low-quality old housing In this era, it became possible to achieve unity: the
(lanes and shanties) dropped from 65 percent in 1978 GLA and the mayor negotiated on Londons behalf
to under 3 percent in 2014. These changes took with all tiers of government and businesses to se-
place in a context of socioeconomic transformation. cure the resources to manage Londons continued
The chapter highlights that, from 1980 to 2010, the growth. The final cycle is seen by Clark, Moonen,
per capita income of the registered population in and Couturier as a mature two-tier system, in which
Shanghai Municipality increased over 44-fold. the local governments show austerity.
The Shanghai case argues that large-scale reloca- The GLA-Mayor model has been successful in
tion processes are more efficient in terms of time at least five areas: securing central governments
and money when they are participative. It is import- backing of Londons global roles, improving edu-
ant to note that more participation in Shanghai was cation and transport, creating and implementing a
possible after to the adoption of a 2011 Chinese strategy of strategies regarding space management
regulation for to improve the urban redevelopment to improve housing density and transport-oriented
processes in the country. Being participative, in this development, and contributing to the growth of
context, included a consultation stage with affected London by improving its global reputation. Despite
45
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47
Section 1
Theoretical perspectives on metropolitan governance
1.1 Why Metropolitan Governance Matters and
How to Achieve It
Rudiger Ahrend (OECD), Soo Jin Kim (OECD), Alexander C. Lembcke (OECD),
and Abel Schumann (OECD)
Abstract
When thinking about bustling metropolitan areas like Berlin, London, New York, Paris, or Tokyo,
governance is unlikely to be the first issue that comes to mind. But metropolitan governance mat-
ters a great deal more than most of us might think. Put simply, a lack of effective metropolitan gov-
ernance structures has large economic costs and strong negative effects on the quality of life in cities.
In this chapter, we explain why governance matters and quantify its impact. In doing so, we introduce
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) Metropolitan Governance Survey, which pro-
vides a representative overview of different governance approaches across 275 OECD metropolitan
areas. We argue that most countries prospects for wellbeing and economic prosperity are in large part
determined by their metro areas, implying that effective metropolitan governance has country-wide
importance. Understanding what constitutes good governance arrangements for metropolitan areas
is only the first step. It is equally important to know how to get there or, in other words, how to ini-
tiate and carry through a successful reform process that is supported by all stakeholders. We identify
key factors to overcome gridlock and implement reforms that are long lasting and effective. Among
them are leadership by the national government, buy-in by municipal governments, and support from
the business sector and civil society.
When urban dwellers take stock of what matters in of a multi-year research project on trends in urban
their daily lives, metropolitan governance is unlikely to areas and urban governance (OECD, 2015a, 2015b).
appear high on anyones list. Metropolitan governance is The reports build on the OECD Metropolitan
not flashy and it rarely makes for front-page news (and Governance Survey, a new dataset that quantifies
when it does, it is usually for the wrong reasons) but governance arrangements across OECD metropol-
nonetheless it contributes significantly to the success itan areas, empirical research that links economic
and attractiveness of urban areas. outcomes to governance arrangements, and in-depth
This chapter argues that metropolitan gover- case studies that allow for greater insight into the ex-
nance matters for the daily lives of urban dwellers periences and practices of governing cities (Ahrend,
and has measurable effects on their productivity and Gamper, and Schumann, 2014).
wellbeing. The chapter then continues to answer the
natural follow-up question: If metropolitan gover- Why Metropolitan Governance
nance matters, how can it be introduced? Both parts
of the chapter build on a substantial body of work
Matters
that the Regional Development Policy Division of
the OECD has assembled in the past. It builds on Governance greatly affects how well metropolitan
Territorial and Metropolitan Reviews that focus on areas function. How do we know? Even if differenc-
particular regions and cities and on the final reports es in human capital levels, economic structure, and
0.2
local governmentsis associated with a greater set
0.1
of choices over public service provisions and their
0
costs. Increased choice and competitive pressure
-0.1
among local governments improves the quality of
-0.2
local public services, which in turn may increase
-0.3
productivity in municipalities and ultimately the -0.4
metropolitan area. But Tiebouts argument fails in -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Local governments per inhabitant (standardised)
respect of policies that require coherence across
the whole metro area and generate externalities Source: Ahrend, Farchy, Kaplanis, et al. (2014).
across administrative boundaries. For example,
the planning of infrastructure provision is more In their quantitative analysis, Ahrend et al. (2014)
complex if a large number of local governments find that the descriptive evidence understates the
have the power to veto individual projects. Which true penalty of fragmentation. Why? Metropolitan
of the two forcesthe positive impact from com- authorities have the potential to alleviate the cost
petition among local administrations or the need of administrative fragmentation. Focusing on the
finds significant potential to improve governance 50,000 200,000 800,000 3,200,000 12,800,000
ing
on
e p re
on
ism
y
sa
en
erg
tio
u
isi
isi
po
pm
nn
eis
ur
rta
En
ov
rov
dis
To
pla
dl
po
elo
pr
The process of designing, implementing, and
an
ste
ns
al
ev
ter
rag
ati
Tra
re
Wa
ld
Wa
ltu
Sp
we
na
sustaining a metropolitan governance reform matters
Cu
gio
Se
Re
at least as much as the choice of the model itself.
Five key steps can help guide effective metropolitan Source: OECD (2015b).
Table 1. Five Key Steps that Guide Effective Metropolitan Governance Reform
Identifying Concrete Metropolitan Projects planning, starting from the core city and gradually
enlarging it to the metropolitan scale through the
Tangible projects on key public services can help rally involvement of sectoral inter-municipal authorities.
forces at the initial stage and progressively lead to setting The process was sustained after the Olympics and
a bigger picture. Examples of metropolitan projects can culminated in the creation of a new metropolitan
typically be found in large-scale infrastructure invest- authority in 2011.
ment initiatives that exceed the financial and managerial Another example is France. The nominations of
capacity of individual municipalities (such as high-speed Lille and Marseille as the European Capital of Culture
rail projects) or major flagship events (including a bid for in 2004 and 2013, respectively, helped foster new
the Olympic Games). This spark for a new metropolitan forms of cooperation among municipalities and with
dynamic, however, needs to be sustained over time in civil society, which laid the groundwork for broader
order for a greater level of metropolitan integration to metropolitan integration.
materialize. For example, both Athens and Barcelona
hosted the Olympic Games but they underwent diver-
gent patterns of metropolitan governance. Build Sense of Metropolitan Ownership
In Athens, a spatial plan with an explicit met- among Key Stakeholders
ropolitan scale was adopted in 1985 together with
the creation of the Organisation for the Planning Metropolitan governance reforms need one (or more)
and Environmental Protection of Athens. The strong advocate(s) as the engine of the process. A rele-
selection of Athens in 1997 as the host city of the vant personality or institution often plays a pivotal role
2004 Olympics led to an unprecedented wave of in steering change and creating or maintaining momen-
infrastructure and urban investments across the en- tum for reform. For example, the strong political will of
tire metropolitan area. However, the metropolitan mayors was a key determinant of successful reform in
spatial plan was soon bypassed to accommodate and Barcelona, London, and Lyon. Beyond municipalities,
accelerate Olympic projects and, 10 years later, the the national government, intermediate levels of gov-
debate on the metropolitan governance of Athens ernment, the private sector, civil society, and universities
has not led to any substantial results. need to actively engage in the reform process. Central
In contrast, Barcelona accompanied Olympic governments can play a decisive role in launching or
preparations with an iterative process of strategic facilitating metropolitan reforms.
Abstract
In the past two years, United Nations Member States making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
have forged several agreements related to disaster risk, resilient, and sustainable (Goal 11) as well as delivering
development financing, sustainable development, cli- results on 16 other goals, including eradicating poverty,
mate change, and urbanization. They generally agree on hunger, ill health, polluted water and water bodies,
major three goals, stated specifically in the New Urban ineffective sanitation, inadequate infrastructure, and
Agenda, which was approved by the General Assembly unemployment. These feats can only be achieved if
on December 16, 2016. These goals are to leave no one the physical places are well governed, as called for in
behind, ensure inclusive economies, and support envi- the New Urban Agenda. The authoritative Maruxa
ronmental sustainability. As Member States translate Cardama (2015) captured this point, writing: With
these agreements aspirations into tangible projects, the inclusion of SDG11 in the 2030 Agenda for
many observers advise them to focus their efforts on Sustainable Development, the international commu-
urban areas, arguing that a good portion of the eco- nity is recognizing that urban development, with its
nomic, social, and environmental issues in question are power to trigger transformative change, can and must
rooted in local conditions (Global Task Force, 2016). be at the forefront of human development. Moreover,
Moreover, a stance of employing cities as the since the 17SDGs constitute an indivisible and inte-
common link has strong logic as the first three grated framework, the international community is also
global agreements (risk, sustainability, and climate) acknowledging that the achievement of SDG11 can
offer goals and targets toward the objectives of the accelerate the pace for achieving the other SDGs
agreements, while the New Urban Agenda, through and vice-versa.
its detailed implementation plan provides means and This chapter explores such an approach, concen-
opportunities to achieve them. The 2030 Agenda trating on metropolitan governance, a key institutional
for Sustainable Development, for example, calls for advance, as an implementation vehicle. First it explores
boundaries.
Source: Chandan Dueskar, World Bank.
Abstract
With continued urbanization around the world and settlements becoming more interdependent, metro-
politan areas are becoming The New Normal. This chapter highlights common issues creating a need
for cooperation among local governments and what the benefits of joint initiatives in a metropolitan
area can be. Approaches are described for how to define an appropriate boundary of a metropolitan
area. Metropolitan governance arrangements that are applied around the world are then classified,
and their advantages and disadvantages detailed. The chapter concludes by outlining key factors that
contribute to effective metropolitan governance.
A significant question is What is the problem? any formal or informal governance arrangements at
Many cities have over time become more interde- the metropolitan level tends to create fragmentation
pendent with their surrounding settlements and of service delivery (inefficiencies), free ridership by
rural areas, constituting a single economy and labor some jurisdictions (due to spillovers), environmental
market, a community with common interests, a sub-optimization, and underutilization of land that
metropolitan (metro) area or region. Transport and potentially has higher value from a regional perspec-
communications advances tend to extend functional tive. Properly functioning metro areas are important
economic areas over time. The economic and other around the world, including in developing countries
links between the core and the periphery can become where urban growth is most rapid and institutional
so close that one part cannot succeed without the structures are often weaker.
other. Urban growth changes the character of an area, Urban governance is critical in shaping both the
while political boundaries tend to be fairly stable. This physical and social character of a metropolitan area.
mismatch of socioeconomic integration and political The planning, finance, and management of a city
fragmentation creates a need for collaboration among has an impact on the quantity and quality of local
local governments to, for example, facilitate com- public services and the efficiency with which they
merce, seize opportunities for efficiency, and prevent are delivered. It determines whether costs are shared
wasteful competition. throughout the metropolitan area in a fair way or
Many people live in one local jurisdiction and work not. Governance also affects the ability of residents
in another, requiring coordinated transit. Clogged to access their local government and engage in its
storm drains in one area may cause health risks or decision-making, and the extent to which local gov-
flooding in another. Large differences may exist in ernments are accountable to citizens and responsive to
the tax base among the local jurisdictions, creating their needs. Good urban governance structures ensure
significant differences in service provision. Therefore, that policymakers have the necessary information,
inter-municipal arrangements are necessary to address powers, and incentives to make good decisions.
some developments at the metropolitan level, mean- Demarcation of a metropolitan area is usually done
ing local governments need to act jointly to most by determining:
effectively meet some of their local needs. Lack of a contiguous built-up area;
Many cities in Latin America have inter-municipal coop- Examples of a metropolitan or regional authority in-
eration arrangements and the framework is very com- clude Vancouver, So Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Manila.
mon in the United States. These arrangements may take This structure is also common in France and the United
the form of, for example, committees, working groups, States. A regional authority is an independent legal entity;
or consultative platforms, or more permanent associ- conceptually a voluntary organization established by the
ations, mancomunidad, consortiums, or metropolitan member local governments for planning and/or service
councils. They can be focused on a specific issue, topic, delivery to make better use of their public resources. Two
or investment project, or on more broad-based and or more local governments may associate in this way to
ongoing collaboration. A local government would join achieve economies of scale. For example, for a transport
such an arrangement if it benefits their constituents network or to jointly operate a waste disposal facility.
compared with acting independently. Such city-to-city arrangements are called special purpose
Brazil has a separate legal framework for consor- associations or districts in the United States. France has
tiums. This framework (enshrined by law in 2005) various legal provisions and incentives encouraging in-
encourages the formation of consortiums, which in ter-municipal cooperation. Separate legal frameworks for
some cases can become entities similar to regional au- such arrangements exist in other countries as well (e.g.,
thorities. The Metropolitan Council of Governments Poland and Italy). The approach serves as an administra-
(COG) represents a bottom-up, voluntary approach, tive integration, with member governments represented
common in the United States that is usually a council on a governing board or council. Metropolitan author-
with limited independent decision-making authority ities, sometimes established as utility companies, can
so as not to undermine the accountability of each usually levy user charges for the services provided or are
individual member local government. It is so fre- funded by the member local governments. Some regional
quently applied that a few national associations of authorities have been given more extensive taxing pow-
COG exist.1 While COG policies are set by the local ers (e.g., the multi-sector authority in Vancouver). The
governments through a board of directors, most Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is under
COG decisions tend to require endorsement by the the supervision of the president of the country, who
respective local government councils. The common appoints its chairman. Metropolitan authorities can be
goals of the member local governments are usually distinguished in terms why they were created:
reflected in the name of the committees that are es- For planning purposes only or for planning as well
tablished. Targets and indicators are set to measure as service delivery
progress and to judge the region as a whole rather For a single sector (e.g., public transport or water
than assess individual jurisdictions. supply) or for multiple sectors
Advantages: A flexible approach where limited With advisory authority only or with full deci-
inter-dependencies exist among local jurisdictions or sion-making powers for the sector(s) (or making
stronger arrangements are constrained by politics. decisions that need to be ratified by each local
Disadvantages: Sometimes limited in scope and government council)
commitment for longer term needs. Often with With a council being appointed or indirectly elect-
an advisory role only and rarely with much own- ed by the member local governments or directly
source revenue. elected by the residents of the area.
1 For example, the National Association of Regional Councils and Advantages: Permanent focal point for metropol-
the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. See
www.abag.ca.gov/abag/other_gov/rcg.html, which includes
itan level planning and/or service delivery. Specialized,
links to all COGs in the United States.
References
Andersson, M. (2014). Metropolitan governance and
finance. In C. Farvaque and M. Kopanyi (eds).
Washington, DC: World Bank.
. (2015). (Discussion Paper). Eschborn: Deutsche
Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Abstract
Major transformations are currently affecting expanding metropolitan areas, from social and techno-
logical changes to reformulations of government systems. As Peter Hall has argued, economic, cul-
tural, and informational globalization seemingly flattens the world. Yet, at the same time, we are
seeing the emergence of particular configurations, such as large cities and metropolitan areas, that are
concentrating resources and creating opportunities while also giving rise to new problems. This chap-
ter seeks to respond to the challenges these transformations pose in terms of governance structures,
emphasizing a horizontal framework of shared and distributed knowledge, and network governance
linking different actors by common interests and relationships in contemporary metropolises, leading
to schemes of co-production and development of public policy.
The metropolitan debate surrounding Habitat III in this time of change (Slack, 2007). On the other
the United Nations Conference on Housing and hand, a large number of city inhabitants do not have
Sustainable Urban Developmentshould consider access to allegedly established participation channels
the profound transformation that affects all vital in their respective political systems. In several studies,
spheres of citizens worldwide. In this changing sce- strong connections have been found between low-in-
nario, the bigger cities are assuming a new prominent come levels and deficiencies in education or in life
role. There are discussions around the urban revolu- expectancy (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010; Marmott,
tion (Katz-Bradley, 2013) or the need for mayors to 2005). In addition, those same sectors tend to have
intervene more directly in global governance (Barber, significantly lower voter abstention rates (Wood,
2013). The significance of metropolises is growing, 2002). Furthermore, recently it has been demonstrated
both as nodes of innovation and as coordination cen- that internet use and coverage are also lower in these
ters for different capacities and resources. neighborhoods or urban enclaves (Mobile World
As stated in the Issue Papers on Urban Governance Capital Barcelona, 2016).
(UN-Habitat, 2015), which served as a guideline for There is a growing contradiction between spaces
the October 2016 debate in Quito, we are witnessing that concentrate the greatest capacity for innovation,
the combination of rapid urbanization and a rise in creativity, and value generation, and the remarkable
the significance of cities, while at the same time, rep- inequality that exists both in the territory and in the
resentation and decision-making mechanisms used in opportunities to participate in decision-making and
large cities are becoming obsolete. On one hand, it democratic representation systems. The aforemen-
is assumed that we need to better articulate the will tioned issue paper (UN-Habitat, 2015) argues that
of different actors (public, private, and third sector) governing without the citizens has become nearly im-
in order to achieve greater governance capacity and possible (p. 19), something that would be demanded
decision-making efficiency and to address coordina- by an urban agenda capable of facing the challenges of
tion challenges and shortfalls, as well as management this disruptive time of change. For political decisions,
fragmentation problems that metropolises encounter we need new participation and citizen engagement
Abstract
The metropolis is an unprecedented phenomenon of global transformation, yet we still have no dis-
cipline of practice to deal with it. Areas of knowledge such as metropolitan finance, supply chains,
transport integration, land management, and infrastructure provision are still exploratory fields. Na-
tional governments must focus and adapt the new political economy that the metropolis demands.
This paper defines and analyzes the complexity of metropolitan structures, describing the differenc-
es between metropolises in developed and developing countries, and the connectivity and production
links that integrate them. It looks at metropolitan political management and governance as a frame-
work for economics, planning, and financing, both in formal and informal contexts, and discusses this
new approach in relation to states and cities at the international and national levels.
Metropolises today are the predominant connection York, and London as the ultimate metropolises where
between cities and the global economy. Supply chains, finance and production hubs integrated. Later, Pedro
economic hubs, and production platforms are linked Ortiz (2013) described the need to plan for the me-
globally through cities. Metropolises are also the ma- tropolis and its limits within nation-states marked by
jor axes that connect cities, countries, and rural areas. the tension between productivity and equity. Today,
They influence major national decisions concerning academic output on metropolises and megacities is
infrastructure deployment and economic develop- deeper and more analytical in a moment in which
ment and play a fundamental political and economic metropolises are the norm rather than the exception.
role in the governance of cities and nations. The The world is clearly moving toward metropolitan
worlds roughly 20 metropolises are also a base for economies (see Table 1), but nation-states are still in
multinational corporations and providers of finance, control and will be the predominant force for the next
business environments, and the infrastructure that few decades in a world that requires trade, urbanrural
connects them. policies, social mandates, and nationwide planning.
As early as 1995, Kenichi Ohmae (1995), a McK- This chapter focuses on the major axes that define the
insey & Corp. partner, predicted the end of nation political economy of the metropolisconnections,
states and the emergence of mega-economies or finance, and economicsand the new rules that
regions. More recently, Parag Khana (2016) described govern them.
a world in which connectivity led by supply chains A well-known quote from Bismarck says, Politics
was the rule rather than the exception, configuring an is the art of the possible. Political economy tries to
almost stateless world. address the dichotomy between economic and social
The realities and politics of the so-called met- objectives to make them as compatible as possible and
ro-optimists, however, are more complex. Saskia Sas- avoid the breaking down of the system. Disruptions
sen (1995) defined the emergence of the metropolis, could result from the failure to coordinate efficiency
focusing on three global cities in her classic study. and equity. Metropolitan management must there-
The Global City (Sassen, 1995) analyzed Tokyo, New fore steer between unacceptable social inequity and
Rank Country or Metro Area GDP Total Population GDP per Capita
(PPP, US$B) (PPP, US$)
1 China $18,017.1 1,364,270,000 $13,206.4
2 United States $17,419.0 318,857,056 $54,629.5
3 India $7,384.1 1,295,291,543 $5,700.7
4 Japan $4,655.5 127,131,800 $36,619.4
5 Germany $3,757.1 80,970,732 $46,400.6
6 Russian Federation $3,358.6 143,819,569 $23,352.6
7 Brazil $3,275.2 206,077,898 $15,893.2
8 Indonesia $2,676.1 254,454,778 $10,517.0
9 France $2,604.2 66,217,509 $39,327.9
10 United Kingdom $2,597.4 64,559,135 $40,233.2
11 Mexico $2,171.0 125,385,833 $17,314.7
12 Italy $2,155.8 60,789,140 $35,462.8
13 Korea, Rep. $1,683.9 50,423,955 $33,394.8
14 Tokyo (Japan) $1,616.8 37,027,800 $43,664.3
15 Saudi Arabia $1,606.4 30,886,545 $52,010.2
16 Canada $1,601.8 35,543,658 $45,065.7
17 Spain $1,562.9 46,476,032 $33,628.9
18 Turkey $1,502.5 75,932,348 $19,787.7
19 New York (USA) $1,403.5 20,073,930 $69,914.7
20 Iran, Islamic Rep. $1,352.1 78,143,644 $17,302.6
Source: Prepared with data from Brookings Institution (Cities) and the World Bank (GDP). Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/01/22-global-metro-monitor, http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators
Note: Many cities are located among the 100 largest economies of the world. Because of this, cities such as Tokyo, New York, and Seoul are considered nation-states.
Physical Strata Helps Well managed, the physical realm can mitigate
socioeconomic frictions. One example is breaking
A key component is at play in this dichotomy be- the center-periphery antagonism, which fosters the
tween growth and equity: the physical substrata, a marginalization of peripheral social groups. Adopt-
substantial component when dealing with territorial ing a polycentric approach to metropolises allows
structures, as with metropolises. The physical sub- demand to control the land market and provides
strata includes both the natural environment and a plurality of locations for social access to public
the urban construct and layout (UN-Habitat, 2015). facilities.
100 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
The metropolis is an aggregate of cities and neigh- impossible. Political economy balances those con-
borhoods. The territorial build-up of a metropolis flicting private interests and tries to come out with
therefore depends on an efficient layout of the con- a feasible proposal for land allocation decisions and
nections among them. This point was described by Ja- provision of infrastructure.
cobs in her classic, The Death and Life of Great American The economy of the metropolis is an essential
Cities (1961), in which she described the conditions for component. The forces that shape the efficiency of
vibrant and productive cities as available public space, a metropolitan economy (e.g., labor, capital, entrepre-
mixed communities, a number of intersections, and so neurship, and productivity) are now global, not local.
on. Recently, De Nadai (2016) quantified these condi- They must be dealt with in a way quite similar to a
tions in Italy using cell phone data, while UN-Habitat, national economic policy rather than a localized urban
the Lincoln Institute, and New York University (2016) economic policy.
have been working on a global sample of 200 cities
to create a dataset using quantitative and qualitative Metropolitan Governance
aspects of urban expansion from 1990 to 2015.
Zooming out, the efficiency of the metropolis is The economic power and the social complexity of
based on two components: relative location and in- metropolises align themselves rather more with the
frastructure investments. Relative location concerns management of nation-states than of cities. Metrop-
territorial components, since the functions and uses olises follow this rule even if they do not have an
of land must be efficiently located to minimize costs established government.
and provide fluid mobility and accessibility through- In all cultures, city government is a (formal or
out the metropolis. Infrastructure investments must informal) unitary system. This has been true in
be of an appropriate level and adequacy. Urban and Europe since Roman times. In complex hierarchical
metropolitan space is created by the infrastructure that systems such as the Roman Empire or the indige-
provides potential for its use. As noted by Lefebvre nous Germanic and Anglo-Saxon tribal systems, the
(1974), Space does not exist; it is created. basic unit of territorial coexistence was the village,
A good location is the one that is related to this the town, and the city. A single institution deals
infrastructure. It is reflected in the value of the land with the issues that require joint or cooperative
and the added value generated by the impact of the management.
infrastructure on the potential uses of that land. A metropolitan governance system is much more
Added value is mostly a condensation of the positive complex. It involves many municipalities, tiers, min-
externalities of the public (or private) investment in istries, and departments of the national government
infrastructure on the potential (economic) use of (e.g., transport, housing, finance, public administra-
that land. The infrastructure provides the locations tion, health, and education). It also typically involves
effectiveness. Time is also relevant. If the availability multiple utility agencies, either public, private, both,
of the infrastructure is not timed well (typically due to or mixed. Each of these organizations has their own
financial concerns), a good location is useless. Politics framework of purposes and competences provided
therefore enters the timing game. by the law, and none of those involved in metropol-
The metropolitan physical structure, location, itan management can impose on any other beyond
and infrastructurein other words, land use and the limits established by the law.
transportare the base. This is what a metropolitan The management of a metropolis is not based on
government must provide. The interests of land orders provided from the upper tier of a unitary sys-
and inherited inefficient locations, historically based tem, it is based on a peer dialogue among all the insti-
in shortsighted land policy approaches, often make tutions and organizations within the limits established.
the pursuit of this objective very difficult, if not The law outlines the distribution of responsibilities
102 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3. Common Projects: Once confidence has been
and the Vatican) often presented as metropolitan
developed over many years of stages 1 and 2,
successes, the unitary system is mainly used at the
some of the administrations may decide to under-
national level.
take common projects. Planning is done together
There are many ways to achieve national unity.
but implementation is still run independent-
Usually violence is involved, with the unitary system
ly. Some economy-of-scale benefits could be
at some moment in history being imposed by either
achieved by such common initiatives.
war or revolution. It is therefore to some extent an im-
4. Management Agency: When the complexity
posed system. Even when legitimized by a democratic
of a project requires strong technical skills
constitution, it nevertheless has a top-down approach
and continuous maintenance management,
and is sometimes contested when it fails to respond
a common project might be provided with a
to bottom-up community concerns.
management agency. Cross-boundary transport
National unitary systems can be deaf to metro-
projects, such as in Washington, D.C., are an
politan needs. They tend to focus on national issues
example of this stage.
and take a limited interest in metropolitan ones. These
issues are difficult, conflictive, and expensive to solve
These stages of confederation building take time: (e.g., Bogot transport). This is so even when the
five to ten years each at least. Some arrangements nev- capital metropolis produces more than 60 percent of
er go beyond a certain stage when the confidence has the national GDP (e.g., Manila, Cairo, and Buenos
not been built to allow for further development. Most Aires) and the whole country is at stake if the capital
important, it must be understood that the process of metropolis does not work.
confederation has a limit: where none of the adminis- On some occasions, metropolises benefit from a
trations involved, or the politicians in charge of these decentralization framework. A local agency is insti-
administrations, is willing to transfer sovereignty from tuted and a CEO appointed by the central govern-
their administration to the agency. ment, such as in Madrid during the 1970s. Decentral-
Confederations do not readily develop into feder- ization is as democratic as the central government.
ations or unitary systems. The Hanseatic League im- Even a legitimately democratic government does
ploded when confronted from the outside. The Hel- not necessarily represent the specific inhabitants of
lenic League was taken over by the Athenian Empire the metropolis. It represents the inhabitants of the
and the Confederate States of America terminated unitary state (e.g., the role of Minister for Kampala,
with the end of the U.S. Civil War. Europe, as it is, is Uganda). Eventually, the metropolitan population
a confederation. A unitary monetary system requires will require accountability of these appointees. They
a federal fiscal and economic policy. The absence of will be summoned to be accountable to the metro-
such has created many of the troubles Europe is ex- politan population, not to the national president.
periencing. A constitutional attempt was made a few Devolution would then be the next step in establish-
years ago, but it failed. Europe in 2016 is struggling ing real metropolitan governance.
with centrifugal forces such as England and Greece. Decentralization must not be mistaken with
devolution. In a metropolitan devolution process,
A National Unitary System, the accountability of the metropolitan appointees
is transferred from the central government to the
Decentralization, and Devolution citizens of the metropolis. The head of the met-
ropolitan agency is accountable to the electorate.
At the other extreme of governmental mechanisms, Once their offices have devolved, metropolitan
we have the unitary system. With the exception executives become elected governmental officials.
of Singapore and some other cities (e.g., Monaco The central government cannot remove them
104 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
who deal with physical policies. If there is no metropol- the socioeconomic priorities for the future of a spe-
itan institution to foster collaboration, coordination, and cific metropolis. It does so based on the metropoliss
dialogue, isolation becomes chronic and coordination problems, risks, weaknesses, and potential. The trans-
takes place only, if ever, at the academic level. versal approach to metropolitan strategic planning
Physical planners approach location in terms of a could result in identifying priority projects. Trans-
separation of conflictive functions (e.g. polluting industry versal projects that require a physical dimension and
and residential areas) and as driven by traffic patterns of promote a strategic vision for the metropolis beyond
accessibility or congestion. Very little attention is typical- the tactical.
ly given to economic needs because planners lack such The socioeconomic strategic plan then feeds a
skills and information, and the system, either academic or physical structural plan. Note that a structural plan
administrative, rarely provides for it. Urban economists that addresses the overall general physical strategies of
will, on the other hand, bypass physical management the metropolis should not be confused with a detailed
and address their arguments to top politicians and deci- municipal regulatory plan. The structural plan must
sion-makers. They will encourage policies and projects be designed at the metropolitan level, which requires
unrelated to a physical context that is difficult to grasp instruments different from those used at the municipal
and appreciate. Governance specialists, focus on institu- level. Such a misunderstanding is the most common
tional settings. They rarely understand the physical needs mistake made by professionals who deal with metro-
of the metropolis and so produce proposals based on politan planning, most of whom come from an urban
benchmarking approaches that replicate well-functioning planning background. They create so-called metropol-
institutions. This approach, providing a tool unrelated to itan plans that are impossible to implement because
the task, might leave you with the institutional dilemma they misunderstand the biology of the metropolis.
of a screw in one hand and a hammer in the other. Such plans eventually become decorative elements in
Unfortunately, institutions from places that have administrative offices.
problems in socioeconomic contexts unrelated to the A structural plan deals with the main projects that
metropolis in question are hardly going to perform as have a transversal metropolitan implication. Such
they did in the native city. If officials from Kampala projects are meant to affect the overall structure of
are urged to adopt a governance mechanism during a the metropolis to increase both the efficiency and
field trip to see the transport system of Stockholm, equity of the metropolitan system. Sustainability is
that mechanism must be contextualized or else this obviously the substrata of the physical policies that
becomes an exercise of science fiction. Governance must integrate the five previously mentioned metro-
is the tool to implement a proposal or a project. If politan components: green and gray infrastructure
the project was not selected and developed by the city (i.e., environment and transport), housing, productive
leader, the tool chosen will probably be inefficient or activities, and social facilities.
redundant for the purpose.
Metropolitan Urban Economy
Political Economy: Strategic and
Urban economy emphasizes city layout to improve
Structural Planning productivity. Components are rooted into supply
chains, activities, and procedures that facilitate integra-
Integrating economic, social, and physical approaches tion of production with time and efficiency. Several
into the metropolis can be done through strategic factors contribute to this, including fixed capital and
planning. The physical environment is the backdrop spatial layout.
against which economic and social planning take place. Fixed capital is essential because metropolises
Strategic planning is the instrument that establishes must accumulate fixed capital as a multiplier of labor
106 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
being the factor to limit, congestion should be The essential economic question is: Would the
targeted. The limit on a metropoliss size is the investment (fixed capital or management) neces-
capacity of its collective intelligence to manage sary to raise the congestion threshold compensate
congestion. The components of collective intelli- for the benefits of increased capacity? If not, the
gence are not only the capacity of the governance investment should not be undertaken. This is as
system to respond (i.e., social capital and accumu- simple and as complex as a costbenefit analysis.
lated social and human resources integrated into If the project is intelligent enough and has under-
institutional frameworks), it is also the economic stood the metropoliss DNA, the outcome will be
capacity to enable and facilitate the necessary in- positive. The issue will then be how to accommo-
vestments (see Figure 2). date the discrepancy between those who pay for the
On the other side, and as mentioned before, the investment and those who benefit from it. Should
attributes of the layout of urban expansions are the investment be public, private, both, or neither?
a significant determinant of congestion in cities.
UN-Habitat, New York University, and the Lin- Metropolitan Finance: A Key
coln Institute (2016) found that, especially in less
developed countries, the cause of congestion is un-
Condition
planned and disorderly growth taking place in defi-
ance of municipal plans or regulations. Congestion Metropolitan financing in the context of devolution
is strictly correlated with the share of land that is and fiscal arrangements often involves various levels
allocated to streets, main streets, and arterial roads. of government and comprises two classes: (i) reve-
If not enough land is allocated for this purpose, a nues, expenditures, and services, and (ii) infrastructure.
serious number of bottlenecks is created, and the Concerning revenues, expenditures, and services,
economies of scale cannot be achieved as desired, the funding responsibilities and the inter-govern-
and described before. An optimum value for street mental fiscal arrangements should be coordinated,
allocation should be 30 percent, but in Dhaka, clear, and efficient. Three levels are generally in-
Bangladesh, for example, the share of built-up area volved. The state/province level typically provides
allocated to streets is just 12 percent. major health and education facilities, inter-urban
trains, and roads. The cross-local level (e.g., boards
Figure 2. Metropolitan Psychology, Infrastructure,
and authorities) typically provides large health and
and Management
education facilities, metro public transport, water
Infrastructure investment (the right ones!) and management supply and waste water, solid waste disposal, and
Efciency metro ring roads and freeways. The local level typ-
Efciency improvement ically provides local health and education facilities,
solid waste collection, and local roads. Table 2
positive affect
Govt Level Sectors Revenue Sources for Collection Systems** Systems to Maximize
Capex Opex Yield* Net Revenue***
State/ Health, General User Rarely Health Transparent bidding for
province/ inter-urban trains, taxes (e.g., fees, fully cost cards, smart concessions, suppliers,
regions bulk electricity income and taxes recoverable, grid, water and use rights
generation, water VAT, bonds, but relatively auctions
management, project loans) easy to police
etc. payment
Metro-level Education, Shares of User With the Integrated GIS-based property tax
cross lg (city metro rail, general taxes, charges, exception of ticketing, monitoring, automated
regions, water supply and property tax CSO water supply, smart billing, and other IT
boards, etc.) sanitation, etc. levies, bonds, transfer rarely cost metering systems to maximize
project loans revenue recoverable, yield. Crowd sourcing
but more of service issues and
difficult to responses.
police access
Development Area or corridor Property User Commercial Eminent Land banking and
area or transport and taxes, project charges, basis: domain, performance-based bids
corridor urban renewal loans CSO corporation area-
authorities transfer should be in based tax
revenue surplus surcharges
Local Solid waste Property User Rarely cost Cost GIS-based property
local roads, taxes, project charges, recoverable, recovery tax monitoring,
parks, loans, limited CSO but more pricing automated billing, and
etc. bonds, transfer difficult to other IT systems to
transfers revenue police access maximize yield. Crowd
sourcing of service
issues and responses.
Land banking and
performance-based
bids.
The point is that investment serves everybody and As a result, the necessary investments are not imple-
becomes a public good, contributing to the general mented and the metropolis reaches a point of ineffi-
population and economy, not just the individuals who ciency as saturation and congestion limit its output.
are directly affected. Benefits are thus indivisible. The Diseconomies of scale occur as a result of management
public sector pays, but there are three tiers to the me- inefficiency. If the benefits of the investment are divis-
tropolis: ible (e.g., a toll bridge), the private sector can take care
1. The local (confederate) that does not have the re- of it. The requirement is that demand must be able
sources to pay. to respond to the supply cost. If an equilibrium point
2. The national (unitary) that lacks the political will between supply and demand can be reached, there is
and resists as much as possible until metropolitan no problem for private involvement. This assumes that
congestion becomes a national issue with negative the public sector has the skills and the will to set up the
political impacts. main lines for the projects (complex terms of reference)
3. The metropolitan (federal) that either does not ex- and the concessionary rights in the correct way. This is
ist or lacks the financial capacity (not devolved yet) not, however, always the case. Spurious interests in the
to address these needs. political economy may be playing in the shadows.
108 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 3. Infrastructure Growth Model: The Steel/ make good use of all their assets, controlled or
Concrete Age uncontrolled, and harness them to use in the de-
velopment struggle.
The problem with taxation is that you cannot
Paris
Singapore tax uncontrolled activities. The controlled sector in
Madrid many of these developing metropolises is as little as
Tananarive
Bogot 20 percent. It is difficult to pay for infrastructure by
Kabul
taxing just that 20 percent of all those who would
benefit from it. The informal sector must be taxed
to produce full-fledged development. This can be
Need Build Trame
implemented only through indirect taxation, but
1850 1990 Paris
1950 2020? Madrid
that would jeopardize fiscal equity policies. The
1870 ........ Prague equilibrium must be balanced with expenditure
INTA 33th Congress Conclusions 2009 policies, targeting insolvent demand, and social col-
lective consumptionsocial alternatives to unleash
Note: Presented at the International Urban Development Association (INTA) market mechanisms.
33rd Congress, 2009.
Informal metropolitan economies must develop
In terms of investment, and in the theoretical indirect taxation systems on public goods to accu-
framework of a liberal free-market environment, if mulate their required fixed capital, but such taxation
an investment produces benefits, it does not need does not necessarily relate to the direct usage of
to be undertaken by the public sector. The public the required good. In such cases, the private sector
sector should concentrate on investments that have could undertake the investment. In other cases, the
a general interest (social or economic) and that must taxation should involve divisible private goods and
be made at a lossan indivisible loss. The way to provide for the financing of indivisible public goods
finance an indivisible good that must be financed (e.g. taxing petrol to build and service a public
by the public sector is through taxation. transport line).
There is a major difference between the me- Another source of financing is land value capture,
tropolises of developed and developing countries. which has the effect of public investments on the value
Developed metropolises do all right. They reside in of land. Value capture allows for further public invest-
99 percent formal economies that developed mostly ments and starts a spin-off effect, providing additional
in the 19th century. They have reached a level of revenue for further investment. There are two possible
infrastructure provision and finance capacity where approaches to land value capture: ex-post and ex-ante.
the challenge is taming the system rather than fur- Either the added value is recuperated after (post) it has
thering hardware development. been produced or before (ante) it is produced. Ex-post
Developing metropolises have a different retrieval works through taxation, direct or indirect.
problem. In emerging metropolises, most of the Such is the case in consolidated urban areas (e.g., a
economy is informal (as much as 80 percent), and new underground station). The owners already have
these shadow economies affect urban develop- development rights, with only the increased value of
ment (uncontrolled and slums), social provision development rights available to be taxed, and only after
(informal networks and families), and even gov- the development occurs. It could be 30 years until the
ernance (mafias). owner decides to redevelop; therefore, ex-post is long
The four uncontrolled elements are economic, and has limited potential. Ex-ante retrieval requires the
urban, social, and governance. These metropolises capacity to negotiation and alternative projects and can
cannot grow to their full potential as they cannot be monetized as soon as an agreement is reached.
110 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
required than just legislative paperwork. A legal accountability to avoid opaque deviations, and the
framework, approving laws and regulations, is rel- ethics. When this capacity is in place in developing
atively cheap and easy; the hard part is implemen- economies, the size of the metropolis can drive the
tation. The stick requires civil servants in numbers development of more complex financial instru-
and with skills sufficient to meet the challenge. ments, such as bonds and loans from commercial
Then it requires autoritas to implement; potestas is not banks and international markets. Development
enough. Credibility and spotless behavior grants the banks are also working on lending and financial
legitimacy for implementation. This set of require- instruments for metropolises and subnational gov-
ments is not easy to achieve, and administrators ernments in developing contexts.
can be overrun by circumstances and overruled by National urban policies and regional and national
judiciary decisions. plans must be integrated to increase their efficiency.
The carrot has two types of incentives: exemp- When national urban policies achieve sufficient
tions and subsidies. Administrative exemptions sophistication, in which urban form and layout is
and direct subsidies, when managed in an informal shown with direct effects on productivity and eco-
framework and inefficient administration, can be- nomic growth, then central governments and devel-
come an inducement to inconsistent implementa- opment banks will pay more attention.
tion, favoritism, and corruption. Indirect subsidies
are the remaining solution. There are many ways The Next Years
to influence the economy through complementary
targeted services, facilities, and infrastructure (e.g., Metropolitan economies will expand and multiply.
free infrastructure provision, accessibility and pub- Global connectivity will progressively link mega-cit-
lic transport, provision of serviced land, productive ies to the global economy. This process requires
facilities as logistic centers, outsourced services and appropriate governance and sufficient technical
advisory services, export facilities, and commercial capacity of governments and citizens. Metropolitan
support). The options are unlimited, but they re- leaders will face stronger demand in a world where
quire money. more is required from metropolitan and global cit-
To produce any kind of indirect subsidy, fi- ies. But as the world marches toward the New Urban
nance is required for fixed capital investment and Agenda with global sustainable development goals
running costs alike. Finance comes via indirect (Goal 9 is related to infrastructure and Goal 11 to
taxation or national transfers. Land value capture urbanization), the entry points for finance, planning,
can play an important role. Ex-ante catchment governance are open.
value initiatives can be developed to grow capital. Metropolises are at square one. Governance,
Up to 67 percent of added value generated can social and human resources, and collective in-
be recuperated. Ex-post options can reach only telligence are imperatives. Most of all, what is
40 percent at most. Returns can be reinvested in unavoidable is the strategic capacity to generate
social and economic projects. Since this is using the metropolitan project with enough leadership
metropolitan wealth and endogenous sources of to achieve the convergence of all these forces,
revenue, land value capture can create a virtuous which are dispersed in the actual scenario of the
circle for the political economy. metropolitan political economy. Two models are
To spur finance, more governance instru- possible, the federalist nation-state oriented as
ments are required. These include an adequate a financial and productive hub, and the national
legal framework to enforce planning decisions, a champions supported by the central states, in
legal economic framework for a privatepublic which relative autonomy is traded for more in-
collaboration setting, skills to implement it all, vestment.
112 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
1.6 The Rise of a New Discipline to Manage
Metropolitan Urban Systems
Gabriel Lanfranchi (CIPPEC) and Antonella Contin (University of Politecnico di Milano)
Abstract
Todays cities are facing a moment of both maximum growth and maximum vulnerability at the same
time as increasing inequality and climate change. At this pace, many cities will become metropolises
by the end of the century. Governance mechanisms need to be created that ensure integral solutions
for the quality of life of future generations. However, decision-makers are organized in a sectoral
way and territories are subdivided into multiple jurisdictions and levels of government. In order to
migrate toward good metropolitan governance, it is necessary to train a new generation of leaders in
understanding metropolitan issues and create a sense of belonging for people in a metropolis. A new
metropolitan discipline able to synthesize the knowledge required to operate in this environment
is imperative.
Most people know that the world has recently become the metropolitan territory is fragmented and in
urban, but few of us are aware that in the next 15 years many jurisdictions is linked to different levels of
we will build as much urbanized area as in the entire government. Metropolitan governance has several
history of humanity. Cities have become the most makers and in most cases cities suffer a deficit
prolific centers of innovation and wealth creation, in appropriate institutions or instruments, which
but also highly productive in terms of greenhouse gas causes unbalanced growth, with consequences for
emissions and very vulnerable due to climate change. efficiency, equality, and environmental sustainability.
The great challenges for the cities of this century will The metropolitan dimension poses significant
be inequality and climate resilience. In large cities, it challenges in terms of strategic visions, governance,
is difficult to solve these problems at the local level and management.
without improving metropolitan governance, as Planning at the metropolitan level requires dealing
neither flood nor migration respects jurisdictional with some of the values at the local level and being
boundaries between municipalities. able to work with different contexts like the compact
city, agricultural areas, infrastructure, watersheds, and
The Crisis of Previous Metropolitan open spaces. It also requires that actors acknowledge
and use an innovative, design-oriented perspective and
Approaches a wide array of urban tools. The metropolitan scale also
challenges traditional urban governance, as it questions
In large urban agglomerations the system city not only the right scale for dealing with increasingly
is fragmented and the metropolitan area is built complex metropolitan issues (e.g., the environment,
by many actors. Sectoral visions prevail instead of mobility, mass housing, and food chains), but also
integral development approaches. Water and sanitation the sense and appropriateness of any given spatial
management, transport, waste management, and domain, rethinking and making flexible institutional
housing policies are just examples of institutional arrangements. Metropolitan actions, governance, and
fragmentation in urban development. Besides, management should implicate different stakeholders,
114 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
on the pressing need to create a new disciplinary Some basic differences are worth mentioning. What
corpus, organizing a body of knowledge that would appears at first sight is the matter of scale. As Pedro
allow the development of a specific practice that is Ortiz (2014) clearly shows, the architect develops
increasingly necessary. his capabilities in a scale of 1:50, dealing with the
There is growing demand for professionals human scale. The urban designer works at a scale
capable of understanding the complexity of of 1:500, defining the spaces of man in relation to
metropolitan dynamics. But it is still unclear what his neighborhood, the scale of the public space.
kind of knowledge is needed or where and how While the urban planner works at a scale of 1:5,000,
these professionals should be trained. Metropolitan the municipality, where master plans are defined,
management requires a body of knowledge that those that have the capability of being approved
might be considered generalist, because it includes by a municipal council and carried out by the
aspects of other disciplines, but at the same time is executive power. In the metropolis, the natural scale
specific because action is focused on the best possible is 1:50,000, where huge infrastructures and flows
management of metropolitan urban systems. define the systems, where power is fragmented
An analogy that can help us understand the in multiple public and private actors, and the
reason for the search of a discipline in metropolitan municipal boundaries lose sense, but there is still a
governance is what happened in architecture or powerful bond with the territory, its shape, and its
urbanism in European countries. Architecture was culture. The regional planner, with a bias toward
a branch of fine arts that included knowledge of the economic sciences, has a better understanding
engineering. The rising demand for large-scale of the economic flows than an urban planner, but
architectural services coming from the industrial does not necessarily consider the spatial and cultural
middle class shaped it into an academic discipline features of the territory.
that included knowledge of humanities and exact Metropolitan management implies governance
sciences. The university validated its professional of the territory on a greater scale than the local one,
competence for construction and, in some cases, for but mostly it demands the capacity to understand
urban planning. the metropolitan complexity related to the need
Urban planning was also the result of a social for scale integration, the management of many
demand during the industrial revolution. Mass variables, and/or actors, as well as the integration
migration from the country to the cities caused the of sectors. Lack of integration between the
collapse of the system with regards to hygiene and administrative boundaries of municipalities must
health, and generated a movement that understood be assumed, since most of them were conceived
the need to modernize water and sanitation systems. before the 20th century and later overgrown
This systemic viewpoint on urban matters coincided by the urban system during the mid-1950s and
with the increasing interest in urban management 1960s with the proliferation of urban freeways.
and the emergence of urban instruments capable The fragmentation of public power in multiple
of governing the growth process. Later on, through municipalities and in diverse levels of administration,
interchange in international workshops and seminars, in addition to the lobbying capacity of the large
a new kind of specialist appeareda generalist in private sector companies and the activism of
management and city planning: the urban planner. the social organizations that lack proper juridical
A similar process is taking place with the need administrative tools, demand development strategies
to manage great metropolitan areas. But there is for governance of the metropolitan territory. It is in
a difference between the knowledge of an urban this field where knowledge interconnects: ecology,
planner or those of a regional planner from those geography, architecture, urbanism, engineering,
required of an expert in metropolitan management. economic development, sociology, anthropology,
116 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
improved. In an iterative way, the three levels of the the workforce are also knowledge gaps that arise at
matrixdimensions, components, and metro gaps the metropolitan level.
were defined with the participants. Dimensions were The approaches that take into consideration the
initially organized in a sectoral way (economy, society, institutional dimension commonly used to analyze
physical, and institutional) and, with debate, they the municipality are insufficient to understand
evolved toward another type of classification that the metropolis. It is the concept of metropolitan
allowed for interaction between social, economic, governance and not government that should be used
morphological, and organizational issues and all of in this case. There are legitimacy gaps in many cases
their components. The main components of each as the metropolitan matter is not always accounted
dimension led us to the metro gaps, where a flaw or for in national constitutions. The legal framework, the
knowledge gap became apparent when an intervention institutional framework, and metropolitan management
was made on the metropolitan scale. systems, such as planning and tax revenue, do not
We examined the object-metropolis by analyzing its have the level of transparency or innovation required
dimensions. The metropolitan environment includes to give the answers that would allow the sustainable
not only the morphology of the territory or its natural development of the territory.
systems, or the green infrastructure system (parks, Finally, the cultural aspect shows the lack of an
rivers, wetlands) and the gray infrastructure system appropriate theory that would allow for an adequate
(freeways, trains, ports, centralist) that define the explanation of the phenomenon. At the academic-
urban artifact, or the urban metabolism that analyzes operative level there is also a lack of a discipline to
the resource flows, but also the interpretation the summarize the required knowledge to improve the
metropolitan inhabitant makes of the environment: management of the metropolis. From the standpoint
the metroscape, which is the mental construction of of the practice, we found gaps in the methods that are
the territory. In this way, disciplines such as geography, usually borrowed from other disciplines, as well as in the
ecology, engineering, landscape architecture, and experience of professionals dedicated to metropolitan
anthropology, among others, come together at the management. The history and tradition of a metropolis
same level of analysis, changing the traditional silos- were also identified as gaps and, as it is a relatively new
oriented approach. phenomenon, there are few who identify as inhabitants
Community life that takes place within the of a metropolis, the historic-emotional tie with the
metropolis should be studied at the level of social neighborhood or the reference city.
cohesion with reference to respect for diversity and The five dimensions of the matrix (Table 1)
tolerance. The generated social capital, measured in allow us to outline the type of knowledge required,
terms of empowerment and agency capacity, which linked to environmental management, community
the metropolitan community has been able to develop, strengthening, wealth generation, governance of
is key. The matter of metropolitan citizenship is complex systems, and the cultural dimension,
another significant issue to be taken in consideration which includes as a gap the same discipline that
as, with some exceptions, the metropolis is a territory we are proposing. These dimensions are trans-
that lacks representatives chosen by its inhabitants in disciplinary and contribute to the comprehensive
terms of a system city. analysis of the territory. The 15 components
The third analytical dimension considers the promote the understanding of the focus and
capacity of the metropolitan object to create wealth. type of discipline that can serve as a knowledge
Understood as a system, issues related to efficiency source. The list of metro gaps helps us grasp what
and competitiveness become evident. Nevertheless, kind of know-how a metropolitanist requires in
other matters such as access to urban land, the managing the metropolis. There is no need to
strength of its firms, or the skills and education of train an expert in all subjects, but they must be a
Source: Created by the participants of MIT Metro Lab initiative courses 201617.
There are two types of skills that a metropo- assessment, urban metabolism, complex systems
litanist must develop. Hard skills related to the management, transportation and mobility modelling
knowledge of methods of environmental impact techniques, urban and ter ritorial planning,
118 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
economic development, human development, Theories and Models
law, metropolitan architecture, and data science.
Deep understanding of these skills will remain Every discipline should create its own history of theory
the field of specialists, yet the metropolitan expert as well as its models. Not so much to self-legitimize but
should be able to grasp the basics in order to because the history of a discipline is where answers to
enable constructive interactions with a wide range its deepest questions can be found, it is where original
of specialists in each of these matters and guide hypotheses emerge giving sense to the theory. Expanding
them toward an integral approach. In a field where on this concept, the origin of the metropolitan discipline
government is not imposed, but governance is could be found during the beginning of the industrial
needed, soft skills such as negotiation, leadership, city. Nowadays, new matters related to the speed and
participation techniques, capacity to build alliances, the impact of changes should be considered. Migration
capacity for innovation and communication, and and climate change have made traditional planning tools
conflict resolution mechanisms are essential for a obsolete. If the worldwide urban territory is to double in
metropolitanist. 15 years, we cannot manage growth in the same way as we
The paths that will lead to constructing the did before. We are facing great challenges related to food
discipline are still uncertain, although we are production, the logistics of natural resources regarding
convinced that the gap is evident and it will only be urban consumption, air pollution, and waterways that,
a matter of time and maturation for it to take the because of their magnitude, are nothing like those of the
corresponding form. It is clear, however, that the Industrial Revolution.
theory needs to be developed, which in the words New tools must be created, tools that can promote
of MIT Professor Lawrence Susskind is a theory a new understanding of the territory, allowing for
of practice, a theory that comes from looking at integration that could contribute to the creation
practice and learning from it. As is the case of the of mind maps to define the problem and find an
discipline of negotiation, metropolitan management appropriate solution. The Metro-Matrix (Ortiz,
must learn from the trade, casuistry, and gaps that 2014) or the Urban DNA (Lanfranchi, 2016) are just
must be overcome in everyday management. Co- two examples of using interpretative maps as tools
creation is surely the way to address this challenge, to read metropolises, that are able to analyze the
and peer learning methods would be the best channels impact of metropolitan projects on the territory. The
for academics and practitioners to collaboratively interpretative maps of impact scenarios are a cultural
develop this new chapter of knowledge on natural project. They are interpretative maps of scenarios
resource and human settlement management. In that work on all scales (Pollak, 2006) and they reveal
order to perform a different function from sectoral the meaning and role of each element of the territory
approaches, metropolitan planners must learn to in relation to any scale. These maps identify the
provide evidence of the benefits of new approaches. structural quality of the metropolitan field of action
Scenario planning is key. The sum of sectoral (its settlement principles) that will also structure its
solutions would not equal the impact of holistic images (which the same maps represent).
interventions on the metropolitan scale. Governance This is why the role of a trained metropolitan
models as we know them today need to evolve in expert as a crosscutting coordinator is crucial. The
order to produce an impact. The task of training new figure in the field would have access to more
and increasing awareness of decision-makers is than a single disciplinary competence. Their role
challenging but not unattainable if the appropriate would be to generate consensus that today is linked
methods and evidence are brought into play. All the to sustainability issues. The metropolitan expert would
above-mentioned tasks should be constructed under obtain a better understanding of the complexity of
the framework on the new discipline. metropolitan cities and their main task would be to
120 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
the process through which we advance knowledge, Our field of action, therefore, is the metropolitan
shed light on unknown phenomena, imagine new scale of the city. Large metropolises are growing.
worlds, invent new technologies, and discover Sometimes the old heart of the city is disregarded
new laws or principles. Innovation is the process and transformed into a symbolical mediatora
through which we apply our knowledge to improve physical object able to bridge between different times
the quality of life, enhance the competitiveness and cultures, dealing with the symbolical level and
of companies and economic institutions, and cultural values. New settlements have become grand
create new opportunities for citizens promoting in scale and filled with neglected spaces where the
and enriching their social experiences. According informal sector is growing, and we should produce
to Fuggettas arguments, research and innovation a new interpretative educational project for the
are intrinsically distinct processes and therefore development of a metropolitan architecture. The
require different methods, skills, and funding fast urban growth that occurs mainly in developing
mechanisms. Innovation needs the knowledge, countries with high levels of informality and
breakthroughs, and ideas developed by research. At growing demands for an improved quality of
the same time, innovation produces experiences, life from its inhabitants make the fields of urban
feedback, and challenges that enrich the research design, metropolitan architecture, and metropolitan
process. management a place of huge potential for job
Higher education should be at the center of prospects. The need for professionals in this sector
the debate when we discuss metropolitan training will be growing in both the public and private sectors.
programs. A new form of transnational education Although specific degrees, such as architecture,
driven by academia is needed to promote a new infrastructure, energy, economy, sociology, and law,
teaching method based on learning by sharing. among others, provide specializations in their own
Academia has a very important role to play, having field of knowledge, it is insufficient training for
become vital in educating future policy- and an integrated, interdisciplinary approach that new
decision-makers. dimension of the city requires.
In all disciplines, the relationship between The proposed interdisciplinary approach aims
parameters and variables blends and is urged by a to establish:
series of operations: synthesis, understanding, and a technique;
mediation. Nowadays, a researcher-professor is an interdisciplinary project;
much more than a facilitator or a mediator in the an international culture; and
learning process. They are more of an academic a shared ethics.
figure that connects their ideas and beliefs with
those of the other participants in a hermeneutical This is an intensive interdisciplinary project
way. The problem of un-translatetability between made possible through collaborative environments,
disciplines will continue to exist and shows the aimed toward university teachers in partnership
limits within which we are used to moving because with public administrations, and open to the public.
of our belonging to other hermetic disciplines. It is both a cultural and a practical interdisciplinary
Metropolitan narrative tends to synthesize the training process about development issues of the
experience of diverse disciplines because they meet metropolitan city that takes advantage of new
in the metropolitan object of study contributing technologies and is reinforced by the inter-scale,
to the creation of a shared vision. The design shared relationship between economic, social,
of methods and tools come together with the ecological, and institutional issues. History will tell if
construction of an art of giving shape and at the it is only a matter of time, though we already know
same time of reforming the metropolis. there is no time to lose.
122 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
1.7 Collaborative Governance: Improving
Sustainability of Development in Metropolises
Brian Roberts (University of Canberra) and John Abbott (John Abbott Planning)
Abstract
The development of metropolitan regions is an highest population density at 44,100 people per
evolutionary process starting with the spillover of square kilometer (Demographia 2016). By 2025,
population growth from a historic central city into the number of metropolitan regions is projected
adjacent local government areas and beyond. As a to reach more than 570 (United Nations, 2014);
result, the dominant, global metropolitan development approximately 450 of which will have populations
pattern and administration process are one of mass between 1 million and 5 million.
and disjointed urban sprawl, with metropolitan The population growth rates and proportion of
governance arrangements sometimes comprising people living in urban regions are growing rapidly. In
dozens of separately administered but loosely 2015, around 1.6 billion people, almost 38 percent of
federated systems of cities and municipalities. Local the worlds urban population, lived in metropolitan
governments often have different political orientations regions (UCLG, 2016). By 2025, this is expected to
and policies, as each competes fiercely for investment, rise to 2.2 billion, or 48 percent of the global urban
jobs, political influence, and economic dominance. population. The population of metropolitan regions
There is little regional cohesion in terms of urban between 1 million and 5 million is projected to grow
governance, and cooperation between them occurs almost 3 percent annually between 2015 and 2025,
on an as-needed basis. with the fastest growth rates occurring in Asian
Globally, there are over 500 urban regions metropolitan regions. This expansion will continue
with populations of more than 1 million people to put enormous pressure on the development of
(Demographia 2016). Some of these are very large. metropolitan regions, especially on local governments
Tokyo/Yokohama is the worlds largest metropolitan in their efforts to provide basic infrastructure, shelter,
region, with a population of 37.75 million, while New and community services.
York is the largest in area at 11,642 square kilometers. The challenges facing the development and
The median density of the New York metropolis is management of metropolitan regions, globally, are
1,800 people per square kilometer. Dhaka has the significant but they also offer opportunities for
124 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
regions. The principles include establishing and and uncertainty and has been described as a com-
resourcing forums for collaboration to address plex adaptive system (Innes and Booher, 1999).
complex problems and opportunities; developing Governments and other organizations are challenged
collaborative capital and a culture of collaboration by increasingly complex tasks and problems that
across sectors and at all levels within a metropolitan involve unfamiliar organizations and actors that they
region; and cities engaging in city-to-city partnerships cannot control and whose behavior they cant predict
and alliances to improve their management, com- (Koppenjan and Klijn, 2004). This creates uncertainty
petitiveness, and sustainable development. for governments, organizations, and actors and has to
be addressed.
What Is Collaborative Governance? Interdependence of roles: We live in a world
in which governments and other organizations share
Government is the formal system of administration power and have overlapping roles and responsibilities
and laws by which a country or urban community to act on public challenges (Bryson, Crosby, and Stone,
is managed. Governance is a broader concept that 2006). This interdependence requires organizations to
has emerged in recent decades. It incorporates the collaborate.
roles played by governments but also includes the Efficiency and effectiveness: When gover-
roles played by the private/business sector and the nments have acted unilaterally to try to solve complex
community in initiating and managing change in problems, they have often been inefficient and
society (Pierre and Peters, 2000; Rhodes, 1996). ineffective. In modern societies like the United
Governance involves formal and informal States, there has been long-standing criticism of the
institutions and groups in society and networks of effectiveness of government when it acts on its own
actors rather than hierarchies. However, it may not that has been based on facts and ideologies about the
be well coordinated, and government structures and need for small government (Bryson, et al., 2006).
decision-making may still play a major role in ratifying Responsiveness to community views: Gover-
the outputs of governance processes. nments are often accused of being unaware of
The word collaboration first came into use in or unresponsive to local community needs and
the 1800s following industrialization and as more views, which leads to calls for more community
complex organizations emerged in society (Wanna, consultation and engagement, particularly in urban
2008). In the 1900s, some governments collaborated planning. Wanna (2008) argues that governments
in service delivery or infrastructure projects, but have a political obligation to be responsive to
many jurisdictions were reluctant to collaborate with community needs. Many governments, particularly
each other or with the community, believing that local governments, are becoming more proactive
they had been elected to govern and being unwilling and are trying to develop shared goals and under-
to share information, plans, or power with others. standing of problems across the community and to
By the turn of the 2000s, in developed countries build coalitions of support for particular actions
like Australia, governments were becoming more (Wanna, 2008).
active collaborators and had redefined themselves Globalization: Globalization reflects the increa-
as facilitators who relied on a host of other actors to sing networks and connections between countries,
deliver effective outcomes (Wanna, 2008). organizations, and individuals around the globe
There are many reasons why governments and arising from trade and economic links, travel,
other organizations collaborate with each other and information technology, and environmental issues and
with the community. problems. This has required governments to engage
Social complexity and uncertainty: The in international dialogue and action to manage these
network society is characterized by complexity issues (Wanna, 2008).
126 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 1. An Integrative Framework for Governance and communications consultants
Collaborative Governance Twyfords see collaborative governance as a way of
System Context working with diverse stakeholders to create enduring
solutions to our most complex issues, problems, and
Collaborative Governance Regime
dilemmas (Twyford, Waters, Hardy, et al., 2012, p.27).
Collaborative Dynamics They view it as a problem-solving process with a
Drivers Actions Outcomes
Capacity for Joint Action
Principied Engagement
and series of stages, each involving forms of collaboration
Outputs
Shared Motivation (Figure 2). This collaborative process aims to build
relationships and trust among stakeholders and to build
institutional capacity for actions and implementation
leading to enduring solutions.
Source: Based on Emerson et al., 2012.
SOLUTION
Co-deliver
actions
Co-create
solution
INCREASING CAPACITY
INCREASING TRUST
Co-desing
process
Co-dene
dilemma
Appreciative mindsets
Deliberative processes
Commit to
collaboration Check point
DILEMA
128 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Collaborative governance offers a new theoretical of the most important results was the establishment
framework and model for successful governance and of the Regional Development Agency (RDA) in 1998
for governments to work with each other and with the (Andersson, 2015). Rojas, et al. (2008) argued that the
private sector and community. As will be discussed in ABC Region represents an incipient metropolitan
the next sections, collaborative governance has been governance model involving public and private agents,
successfully applied at the regional and metropolitan characterized by flexibility, pragmatism, and solid
level, and many further opportunities exist to apply problem-solving orientation (p.53).
these approaches in transforming governance and
managing metropolitan regions for sustainable
development. Planning for Liveability in Metro Vancouver
Collaborative Governance for The Greater Vancouver area in Canada has a long
history of regional planning and governance going
Metropolitan Regions back to the 1940s. Local municipalities began working
together as a region to address widespread flooding and
Metropolitan regions are diverse and complex rapid urban growth in the Fraser River delta. As regional
and commonly lack government and governance planning evolved, its focus changed to understanding
structures and institutions at the metropolitan level. and promoting the liveability of the metropolitan region
This creates challenges and opportunities in apply- (Abbott and DeMarco, 2017). The Greater Vancouver
ing collaborative governance approaches. However, Regional District is the legal entity responsible for
such approaches have been used successfully in regional planning and governance and, since 2007, it
a range of problem and policy areas in different has been known as Metro Vancouver. It includes as
metropolitan regions and countries, as discussed in members 21 municipalities, one electoral area, and one
the following examples. treaty First Nation. Abbott and DeMarco (2017) noted
that the consensus-based, federation of municipalities
governance model of Greater Vancouverprovides an
Economic Development in So Paulo ongoing collaborative framework for municipalities to
have conversations about regional growth management
The South Eastern part of So Paulo, Brazil, metro- and liveability and to agree on visions and legally
politan agglomeration comprises the ABC Region enforceable regional actions (p.272).
of seven municipalities and about 2.5 million people
(Andersson, 2015). In the early 1990s, the ABC
Region lost industries as a result of globalization and Climate Change Adaptation Planning in
technological change, and unemployment and poverty Santiago de Chile
grew. In 1996, regional leaders joined to address
these issues and created the Chamber of the Greater Climate change will impact on many physical, social,
ABC Region, a forum to discuss and act on regional economic, and environmental aspects of metropolitan
economic development that would involve local regions and requires an integrated response. The
governments, private enterprises, trade unions, and current and future impacts of climate change have been
civil society groups (Rojas, Cuadrado-Roura, and Gell, addressed in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de
2008). The work of the Chamber and its collaborative Chile (MRS) by preparing a Regional Climate Change
processes has led to the signing of more than 20 Adaptation Plan. Barton, Krellenberg, and Harris
agreements on actions to promote the economic, (2015) reviewed the collaborative and participatory
social, and territorial development of the region. One processes used from 2010 to 2012 as one aspect of
130 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Trying to tackle too many complex urban interest groups directly in policy committees as in
problems: Trying to solve the complex, interdependent Santiago de Chile and SEQ may be a good approach.
problems of cities separately can be counterproductive Quality data collection, analysis, and technical
and futile. However, trying to tackle too many complex support: Obtaining good metropolitan data, analysis,
problems at once can overwhelm a collaborative and technical support is a challenge but is essential in
process with too many issues, too many stakeholders, collaborative processes to facilitate good collaborative
and too few resources. dynamics and engagement, and to achieve effective
Accountability, legitimacy, and transparency: outcomes (Figure 1).
Bryson, et al. (2006) argued that accountability is a Resourcing the collaborative process: Colla-
particularly complex issue for collaborations because borative processes require resources, both financial
accountability may not be clear. There are also issues and time, for participants to interact and build
of democratic legitimacy when the private sector trust. Having a collaborative process resourced and
and community groups, with their interests, become mandated by a higher level of government, as in
involved in public policy processes (Benz and urban transportation planning in the United States,
Papadopoulos, 2006). One way to address this issue greatly facilitates the involvement of stakeholders and
is to ensure the transparency of public governance agreement on outputs.
processes (Margerum, 2011).
One dominant local government: Where there Collaborative Governance and
is one powerful local government or core city in a
metropolitan region, the challenge for collaborative
Sustainable Development
governance may be to get them actively involved
and to find elements and initiatives for cooperation Sustainable development is a multi-faceted concept
that would benefit the dominant local government involving economic, social, environmental, physical,
(Andersson, 2015, p. 53). and governance aspects of the present and fu-ture
Getting the outputs of collaborative processes of society. Consideration of all of these multi-
accepted by governments and implemented: ple dimensions is required when planning for
Having governments engaged in collaborative the sustainable development of urban areas and
processesparticularly at the political level metropolitan regions (UN-Habitat, 2009). Wheeler
is important in order to achieve acceptance and (2000) argued that improved governance is particularly
implementation of the process outputs by important in planning for metropolitan sustainability
independent governments. Having clear lines and planners should includevoluntary and non-
of political accountability from the process to profit organizations and private firms as participants
government is also important. in metropolitan problem-solving processes (p.144).
Sustaining a collaborative process over an The development and prosperity of countries and
extended period: Margerum (2011) noted the urban regions have often been defined narrowly in
challenge sustaining collaborative political networks economic growth and gross domestic product or gross
over the long term. It may be better to define the regional product terms. However, UN-Habitat, in the
collaborative process as a project with a beginning State of the Worlds Cities 2012/2013: Prosperity of Cities
and an end. report (2012), developed a broader concept of pros-
Involving the community in the collaborative perity and sustainable development in large urban and
process: Individuals and community groups, metropolitan regions that includes economic, social,
generally, are more concerned with local issues, environmental, physical, and governance aspects. The
making it difficult to engage them in affairs at the report identifies five key dimensions of urban areas
metropolitan level. Involvement of community that underpin their prosperity: (i) economic productivity,
132 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Collaborative Governance and local community involvement can assist in ensuring
Strengthening the Wheel of Urban that infrastructure is appropriate to the needs of
Prosperity local people. Co-funding arrangements between
governments, or levels of government such as for
Metropolitan regions throughout the world face urban transportation in the developed economies, are
many development challenges and opportunities also relevant (Charbit, 2011).
that vary between continents and between advanced Quality of life: Quality of life is a broad co-
and developing countries. The UN-Habitat State of ncept that reflects peoples access to housing,
the Worlds Cities 2012/2013 report highlights that in employment, a safe environment, recreation, and
advanced countries, urban population growth is next opportunities to enjoy life. To improve the quality
to stagnant, whereas in the developing countries it is of life of residents, metropolitan regions need to
growing at an average 1.2 million people per week facilitate access to all of these amenities. Efficient
(2012, pp.269). Challenges, complex problems, and and affordable public transport is critical in giving
opportunities in particular metropolitan regions can be people access to employment, open space, and social
identified using the CPI and other political and social opportunities. Collaborative processes with a high
processes. Collaborative governance approaches can level of involvement of civil society organizations and
be used to strengthen all five dimensions of the Wheel a degree of autonomy can assist in understanding what
of Urban Prosperity and the hub of government quality of life means for a community and advocating,
institutions, laws, and urban planning. upholding, and fighting for everyones rights (UN-
Economic productivity: The economic pro- Habitat, 2013).
ductivity of metropolitan regions can be improved Equity and social inclusion: Equity and social
by focusing on developing urban infrastructure, inclusion are challenging issues. A prosperous city
strengthening financial markets, identifying eco- has the reduction of inequality as its fundamental
nomic futures and preparing strategies to achieve objective (UN-Habitat, 2013, p.83). To improve
these, encouraging research and development by equity and social inclusion, metropolitan regions
the private sector and universities, and generally by need to improve access to employment and housing,
facilitating the business and social environment to public facilities and services such as public transport
encourage innovation and the exchange of ideas and open space, and civil society. Social inclusion
(UN-Habitat, 2013). Collaborative metropolitan means an urban environment where individuals and
forums, with a high level of private sector and social groups feel they belong to the larger whole
research group involvement, such as those in the moreover, are free fully to engage in collective
ABC Region of So Paulo, can help facilitate this affairs (UN-Habitat, 2013, p.89). When inequality
environment of innovation. and social exclusion exist, it is difficult for individuals
Urban infrastructure: Infrastructure is the and community groups to participate in collaborative
bedrock of prosperity and sustainable development processes or to affect change through them. It
(UN-Habitat, 2012). To improve urban infrastructure, requires regional leadership to create opportunities for
metropolitan regions need to provide safe water inclusion, such as the chamber or forum in the ABC
supply and sanitation, a reliable power supply, a region of So Paulo.
network of roads and efficient public transport, and Environmental sustainability: Collaborative
communications systems. Governments provide governance approaches were pioneered in addressing
urban infrastructure but UN-Habitat (2012) noted that issues of environmental sustainability, such as
beneficiary communities must be fully involved in the sustainable forest management and administering
design, provision, and maintenance of infrastructure water catchment areas. To improve environmental
(p.69). Collaborative processes with a high level of sustainability in metropolitan regions, governments
134 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
and higher-level governments, and other involved collaborative capital in relation to organizations,
organizations, for their consideration, endorsement, meaning the assets of an organization that enable
and implementation. Collaborative processes can be people to work together well. This concept of
viewed as projects with beginnings and ends but may collaborative capital can be applied to metropolitan
result in ongoing changes to collaborative governance regions to reflect the culture of collaboration that
arrangements and legislation. exists and the leadership and capacity to adopt and
Principle 8: The metropolitan solutions and successfully implement collaborative approaches.
actions endorsed by collaborative processes should Developing higher levels of collaborative capital
be considered by accountable governments and means that the region can apply collaborative
other stakeholders and, if possible, endorsed and approaches to broader and more complex problems
implemented. covering more dimensions of sustainability.
Principle 9: Metropolitan collaborative processes
should be managed as projects with beginnings and
ends. However, they may result in new ongoing Framework for Collaborative Governance to
collaborative governance arrangements to address the Create Collaborative Capital
initial problem, such as committees, authorities, and
statutory plans and policies. A framework for developing collaborative capital at
The outputs and actions of collaborative a metropolitan level using collaborative governance
processes will likely produce longer-term outcomes is shown in Figure 4. This framework may be
and changes to the metropolitan system context. useful when two or more local governments agree
This metropolitan context will likely also chan- to collaborate on standardizing, sharing, and
ge because of internal social, economic, and integrating data and information on infrastructure
environmental factors and because of external services, planning, land use, and building approvals
national and global forces. along common administrative boundaries using
Principle 10: As the metropolitan system context compatible management information and GIS
changes, new complex urban problems will arise systems. Much of this occurs by agreement at
along with new imperatives and opportunities a technical level with safeguards on access to
for governments and other sectors to collaborate information. The next step is to expand this to
to address these. Collaborative governance for sharing the same data with other local governments,
metropolitan regions is an ongoing process of social central and state governments, and public cor-
learning and adaptation. porations. The idea is to develop a metadata set
of information at local and metropolitan levels
A Collaborative Governance (Figure 4, Initiative A). The data may all be held
by a publicly owned entity, with the shareholders
Framework for Sustainable being the different levels of government and public
Development corporations. If desirable, city-wide metadata
involving co-ownership could be expanded to
Moving toward a collaborative governance model institutions and other entities.
for sustainable development of metropolitan The next step in the process could be the
regions begins with the premise that it must be integration of planning functions by agreement
based on a process of trust building through between planning agencies. The intent would
collaboration to enable a wider range of entities be to develop common standards, policies, and
to become engaged in decision-making. Beyerlein, practices to streamline planning and development
Beyerlin, and Kennedy (2005) used the ter m control, and to share resources and expertise using
Source: Authors.
136 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Strategy for Building Collaborative Capital and educational institutions in building publicly
in Metropolitan Regions available metadata sets. Successful collaborations
build collaborative capital in a region and allow more
The framework in Figure 4 supports a progressive complex problems, involving more dimensions of
development, spread, and application of collaborative sustainability, as shown in Figure 5.
governance initiatives covering the five dimen-sions As the examples discussed earlier show, me-
of prosperity and sustainable development shown tropolitan collaboration can be initiated bottom-up
in the Wheel of Prosperity (Figure 3). A strategy for by a local authority or the community, or top-
building and applying higher levels of collaborative down from a higher level of government, and can
capital is illustrated in Figure 5. It begins with address a range of complex urban problems and
low-level areas of collaboration involving only dimensions of sustainable development. In all
one dimension of sustainable development. A cases, collaboration will require political leadership
catchment management for um that involves and development of collaborative capital in the
interest groups and governments who agree to metropolitan region, allowing for broader problems
share knowledge, data, and information might and opportunities to be addressed, and resulting
be the first step in the process. The forum could in higher levels of engagement or commitment,
be expanded to include corporations, business, investment, and risk sharing.
Figure 5. Strategy for Developing Collaborative Capital
Higher levels of collaborative capital are Metropolitan Co-Investment Strategy with goals covering
needed to address complex problems covering all ve Dimensions of Sustainable Development
more dimensions of sustainable development
1 2 3 4 5
Number of added dimensions of sustainable development (from wheel of Prosperity)
Source: Authors.
Many metropolitan regions have already engaged managing, and developing metropolitan regions in
in some of the lower order collaborative governance both developed and developing economies. The key
arrangements outlined in the model. However, there to the success of applying collaborative governance
is need to go forward, as the higher order levels of to metropolitan planning and development is to
collaborative capital have the potential to create a start to build trust and ensure a willingness to
pathway to more sustainable approaches to planning, change.
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Abstract
As a result of the large-scale urbanization and urban agglomeration over the past few decades,
mega-city regions have come to represent distinctive regional spatial formations undergoing major
transformation led by globalization. Mega-city regions in various parts of the world exhibit differences
in terms of rationale, development patterns, fiscal capacities, managerial abilities, and experiences in
regional governance and planning. This chapter examines mega-city regions in different circumstances,
treating them not only as functional and competitive nodes of global capitalism, but also as products
of diverse processes and contextually reconstituted state spaces. With cases from a variety of
theoretical and political perspectives, the chapter analyzes the experience of mega-city governance
across a range of geographical locations in Europe, North America, Australia, and China to enhance
our understanding of mega-city regions and consider how different approaches in governance and
planning are reshaping mega-city regions in divergent contexts.
Cities are increasingly at the center of global pro- 450 (mega) city regions with over 1 million residents,
duction and consumption as well as social and political at least 20 of which have populations of more than
transformation. Their role as important nodes of 10 million (Scott, 2001; UN, 2004). Although housing
global networks of commercial, social, and cultural a growing population, these regions are located in a
transactions has expanded, creating new types of relatively small land area. Their development poses
sprawling, often multi-centered urban agglomeration a direct impact on environmental change, land use
over the past decades. Various labels have been patterns, and spatial transformation, as well as on the
employed to describe this phenomenon of large-scale lives of existing and new city dwellers alike.
urbanization, such as the metropolis, the conurbation, Mega-city regions in various parts of the world,
megalopolis, and global city region. This chapter is while all undergoing rapid transformation in an era
focused on one type of large urban agglomeration of globalization, have many differences in terms of
the mega-city region. Hall and Pain (2006) defined a rationales, development patterns, fiscal capacities,
mega-city region as a cluster of contiguous cities or managerial abilities, and experiences in regional
metropolitan areas that are administratively separate governance and planning (Vogel, 2010). In addition,
but intensively networked, and clustered around one they are evolving in diverse political contexts and
or more larger central cities. These places exist both as economic landscapes. The roles of their public and
separate jurisdictional entities, in which most residents private sectors in regional formation vary in form
work locally, and as part of a wider functional urban and sophistication. Although much work on mega-
region connected by dense flows of people and city regions now exists (e.g., Simmonds and Hack,
information. 2000; Hall, 2001; Scott, 2001; Herrschel and Newman
Mega-city regions represent distinctive regional 2002; Salet, Thornley, and Kreukels, 2003; Laquian,
spatial formations under dramatic transformation 2005; Hall and Pain, 2006; Kidokoro, et al., 2008),
(Xu and Yeh, 2011a). Globally, there are more than none are devoted to exploring experiences and broad
140 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
questions related to governance and planning in development of mega-city regions around the world,
mega-city regions from an international comparative we observe that both top-down state-led projects and
perspective. Moreover, despite the fact that super- bottom-up initiatives are important shaping forces of
agglomeration, or city-regions, in the global south have mega-city regional (re)structuring. While bottom-up
attracted substantial attention (e.g., Scott, 2001; Stren, initiatives play key roles, even in the freest market
2001; Douglass, 2001, 2002; Laquian, 2005; Wu and economies, there are calls for and different degrees of
Zhang, 2007; Xu, 2008), we still know far less about strategic intervention at the mega-city regional level.
how regions have evolved in developing countries
compared to the regions of advanced capitalist states Regional Renaissances:
even though the largest and fastest-growing urbanized
locations are situated in this part of the world.
Region as Scale
This chapter examines different mega-city regions
in different circumstances by not only treating In the capitalist state, the region was first proposed
them as functional and competitive nodes of global as a platform to tackle the spatial mismatch between
capitalism, but also as products of diverse processes fragmented administrative boundaries and functional
and contextually reconstituted state spaces. With cases economic territory in metropolitan areas. During
from a variety of theoretical and political perspectives, the Fordist-Keynesian period, the main concern was
this chapter explores the experience of mega-city to create a form of regional regulation to achieve
region governance in a range of geographical locations administrative equalization and the efficient delivery
in Europe, North America, Australia, and China. Such of public services. However, the new notion of the
a comparative approach has at least two benefits to region as a scale for capital accumulation is in part a
enhance our understanding of mega-city regions. consequence of the collapse of Fordist-Keynesian
First, it provides a series of situated accounts to capitalism and the rise of post-Fordism regimes in
inform specificity and varieties of the reconstituted many Western countries. Jessop (2002) examined
state spaces, politics, and functionality around and the reconstitution of the national territorial space
across regions. Second, it can unravel generative where the capitalist state is transformed from a
conditions and circumstances through which new Keynesian welfare state to a post-Fordist accumulation
approaches to governance and planning are reshaping regime. The new regulatory system supports supply-
mega-city regions in divergent contexts. In this sense, side policies to develop the capacity of structural
the findings will offer an informed understanding competitiveness and facilitate labor market flexibility
of any common concerns and emerging trends and mobility. This defines a reworking of national
underpinning these purported regional renaissances. territorial space, in which state functions are re-
The remainder of the chapter is organized as articulated upwards, downwards, and outwards so that
follows. The next section begins with the background place- and territory-specific strategies of economic
of mega-city regions governance and planning, development can be mobilized and achieved. To map
describing the regional renaissances, as well as the this restructuring of modern capitalism, Scott (1998)
debates of regional institutions in recent years. The demonstrated how such profound reshufflings gave
main purpose is to answer why mega-city regions rise to a spatial hierarchy spanning four levels: the
matter. We then discuss various problems of mega- global scale, multinational blocs, sovereign states,
city regions in different countries and regions, and and regions. The single, hegemonic national space
how different regions deal with these problems. Next, has been reworked into deeply heterogeneous and
we concludes how those cases in various contexts can contested spaces at the supranational and subnational
yield beneficial lessons and implications for mega-city levels (Swyngedouw, 2000). In contrast to the Fordist
regional governance in the future. By exploring the era, we have witnessed that no privileged level
142 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
local states a wide range of economic responsibilities. regional states were understood as merely instruments
Many socioeconomic risks originally internalized of central state policies (Brenner, 1997). The reform-
and meditated at the national level are now being consolidation approach is, however, under ideological
externalized to local governments. Second, market attack for lacking political legitimacy and operating in
revolution has had a tremendous effect on Chinese an authoritarian manner.
society. David Harvey (2005) argued that Chinas The second is the market-oriented approach in the
neoliberalism is growing rapidly, even as it festers public choice tradition. It looks at the individuality
and stagnates in capitalist economies. It is in this and multiplicity of fragmented regions as the most
context that we witness a systematic reworking of desirable way to better regulation (Tiebout, 1956;
state spaces and function, and the rise of regions Boyne, 1996). One important consequence of this
as an important scale of regulation and economic tradition is the emerging neoliberal localism of the
development. One goal in China is to reassert the 1980s to promote zero-sum politics of territorial
functional importance of state guidance and control competition (Peck and Tickell, 1994) and a growing
in the growing complexity of the powerful neoliberal trend toward greater urban entrepreneurialism
wave and the intensified economic competition. in the post-Fordist regime (Harvey, 1989). Many
region-wide institutions were dismantled in Western
Regional Institution for Economic Europe and North America. This heralded a retreat
of state intervention from spatial formation, instead
Governance substituting a more deregulated approach to en-
courage the unfettered operation of the market.
Along with regional renaissances goes the debate Spatial planning was thus in limbo and perceived to
on how to establish regional institutions. Broadly exert negative impact on wealth creation (Thornley,
speaking, three main typologies of regional instituti- 1993). As a result, an ad hoc, project-based planning
ons underscore divergent philosophies and objectives. approach was widely practiced to support private
The first is the so-called reform-consolidation sector development. However, the market public
approach. Under the influence of Keynesian capitalism, choice approach is also subject to criticism, as it is
this approach centered on creating a territorial form deeply rooted in a neoliberal political environment and
of regulation to achieve administrative equalization can produce external diseconomies (Briffault, 2000).
and efficient delivery of public services. The main The debate between the reform-consolidation
strategy in this tradition favored political consolidation and market public choice approaches resulted in
and strong institutionalization as the most effective the evolution of a reactive interest in a third form
means of achieving good governance (Bollens and of regional governance. Some advocate this new
Schmandt, 1982; Lowery, 2000). State intervention was regionalism approach as a shift of institutional
actively pursued in order to establish a consolidated focus from government to governance to address an
regulatory framework to guide outward urban interactive process through publicprivate partner-
expansion, to achieve planned decentralization ships, joint ventures, and cross-sectoral alliances
and regional balance, and to reach efficiency in (Jones, 2001; Macleod, 2001). The fascination with
infrastructural provision through the commanding regional governance has led to experimentation in
actions of planning to control spatial organization territorial formations, such as inter-government
and the location of development at the national level organizations, informal government partnerships,
(Healey, Khakee, Motte, et al., 1997). A range of and functional consolidation (Rusk, 1995). This
region-wide institutions were set up under a central political construction of institutional thickness
auspice. Spatial development was organized primarily prompts a systematic reworking of hierarchical and
around the national territorial scale, while the local and functional planning toward more horizontal and
144 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
that planning in Europe is moving toward a more the country (Yaro, 2011). Moreover, America has a
desirable scenario with the mobilization of a plurality tradition of local control. In large metropolitan areas,
of actors with different and even competing interests, the sheer number of local governments, each making
goals, and strategies. By critiquing the stereotypical decisions in their own self-interests, makes developing
planning approach, Albrechts (2011) proposed a new regional solutions or regional institutions very difficult
spatial planning strategy, which is conceived of as (Orfield and Juce, 2009). This results in inadequate
a democratic, open, selective, and dynamic process regional planning capacity. For a long time, regional
of coproduction. It produces a vision that leads to a planning in the United States has primarily looked at
framework within which problems and challenges can the functional relationship between core cities and
be understood, and provides justification for short- their surrounding small jurisdictions in a metropolitan
term actions within a revised democratic tradition. This context. There are no strategic interventions at the
account further illustrates the construction of regional level of mega-city regions, barring a few historical
governance ensembles by mobilizing a social support exceptions such as the Tennessee Valley Authority in
base to resolve conflicts between particular interests. the 1930s (Dewar and Epstein, 2006).
The above-mentioned studies sketch an institu-tional Harvey and Cheers (2011) examined the problems
approach that could prove instructive in comprehending affecting regions. First, administrative centers have
the wider politically and socially constructed arena around often been geographically distant, and therefore out
which regions are confi-gured, governed, and planned. of touch with the needs of diverse local regions. This
poses the difficulty of regulation at the regional level
and leads to demand for localized decision-making.
Mega-city Regions in Federalist Countries Second, many regions have struggled to qualitatively
configure new political and economic spaces to
Similar to European countries, the United States and prevent their erosion in national and global economies.
Australia, two federalist countries, have experienced a The inadequacy of regional planning capacity has
dramatic regional renaissance (Brenner, 2002; Eversole resulted in many obstacles that impede cooperation in
and Martin, 2005). However, even though numerous smaller metropolitan regions. For instance, appointed
parallels exist between the European pattern and economic development officials must justify their
those in the United States and Australia, the context existence by competing on behalf of their own
of the latter is distinguished by a legacy of extreme jurisdiction, rather than pursing tangible benefits
jurisdictional fragmentation within its major city from metropolitan cooperation; the short time frame
regions (Brenner, 2002). of elected officials encourages a preference for
A federal structure, by nature, has the seeds of visible accomplishments such as groundbreaking and
public policy fragmentation built in. Blatter (2003) ribbon-cutting in their own jurisdiction (McCarthy,
called it the multi-polity system. In the American 2011). Moreover, cooperation to achieve endogenous
context, particularly following the imposition of development (e.g., infrastructure) is more evident, while
Reagans New Federalism, the policy domain is attracting cooperation for exogenous development
fragmented vertically into state and local governments, (e.g., a new companys investment) is more difficult
and horizontally to special purpose agencies and private as the costs and benefits are not easy to establish for
capital (Brenner, 2003). Current planning capacity in each jurisdiction (McCarthy, 2011).
the United States is found to over privilege state and In short, the context of the United States is
local governments, as well as private investment, and distinguished by a legacy of jurisdictional fragmentation
thereby neglect the strategic priorities of the federal within major city regions (Brenner, 2002). The history
level to guide another generation of growth that can of federalism resulted in extreme local control over
be shared by every community and region across economic development and a bottom-up approach
146 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
This implies that the linkages to the private sector and Similarly, the fragmented and unstable nature of
to Commonwealth Government need to be improved, regional institutions in Australia makes it impossible to
and that the linkages to the private sector and to the develop a strategically coherent framework for regions
community on a regional basis (rather than a project (Eversole and Martin, 2005). While the practice
or local basis) also need to be enhanced. of regional planning faces dynamic conditions of
complexity and uncertainty due to inadequate inter-
Table 1. Eighteen Principles for Effective
scalar linkages (Abbott, 2011), strategic vision and
Intra-regional Cooperation
planning capacity have to be built up by an organized
1 Recognize the complexity and interrelatedness of connectivity between key stakeholders in order to
regional economic and social development issues. provide relevant technical, political, organizational,
2 Focus on issues of investment and production, as and economic information to deal with the complexity
well as the social networks and relations in which
these are embedded. and uncertainties (Salet and Thornley, 2007). In this
3 Involve stakeholders across sectors within the region. process, the state governments need to be more open,
4 Involve all tiers of government. innovative, and flexible in involving other stakeholders.
5 Engage intra-regional, extra-regional, and
This implies that the linkages to the private sector and
government stakeholders with each other. to Commonwealth Government need to be improved,
6 Promote communication and interchange between and that the linkages to the private sector and to the
diverse sectors to create links between the community on a regional basis (rather than a project
development of ideas and initiatives originating
from stakeholders. or local basis) also need to be enhanced.
7 Relate top-down leadership to bottom-up
These studies raise a number of fundamental ques-
participation. tions about emerging forms of spatial organization in
8 Develop a broad and stable political base to offset federalist countries where traditionally there has been
domination by particular interest groups. little scope for strategic planning intervention. Taken
9 Develop cooperation between local authorities as together, they suggest that while bottom-up initiatives
members of dedicated coalitions, rather than as continue to play a role in regional structuring, state
the prime movers of regional development.
strategies and state-led projects must be formed to
10 Emphasize regionally based development.
bring strategic coherence to the regional path to pros-
11 Differentiate and rationalize interaction between
regional and community layers in development. perity. The net outcome of this political structure will
12 Ensure that central governments act as partners, reinforce the regional scale as an important site for
not as a dominating presence. accumulation and regulation.
13 Ensure that adequate and predictable funding is
provided, independent of electoral cycles, which
provides for stability and effective planning.
Mega-city Regions in China as a
14 Provide multi-track dialogue and feedback
between the cooperative regional development Transitioning Society
organization and industry, community partners,
and government. Regional restructuring is a historically embedded
15 Insulate cooperative regional development process. China is no exception as a transitional society
organizations from excessive bureaucracy.
that carries strong legacies of its socialist history.
16 Employ realistic appraisals of regional capabilities,
technology cycles, and competition. Under state socialism, horizontal relationships among
jurisdictions were not considered important, with
17 Provide access to expert advisors and best practice
knowledge. hierarchical linkage dominating spatial formation
18 Help local communities to identify and secure (Xu, 2008). This resulted in regions depending on
investment and funding for promising projects. the center. This dependency reduced regional policy
to sectoral policy (Gorzelak 1996) and within this
Source: Harvey and Cheers, 2011 (pp.2001).
148 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
may appear to be little more than a cosmetic makeover It does not easily lend itself to conceptualization
that hides the intensifying inter-scalar competition or interpretation. In all contexts, the enormous
within mega-city regions in China. This is further challenges have not yet been resolved through the
illustrated by Xu (2016), who used the planning construction of a new governance pattern and
process of the intercity railway system in the PRD as planning capacity. In Western Europe, there is a still a
a case study on intensive inter-scalar competition. She general lack of adequate policy instruments to manage
discovered how agents at different geographical scale functional flow within mega-city regions. Within
are engaged in long-lasting bargaining over the design existing administrative structures, some policymakers
and delivery of intercity railroads, and how established think they have power, when in fact they are lacking it,
hierarchies and bureaucracies use the region as a while some have power but do not realize it, and thus
discourse to reassert their functional importance and there are both direct and indirect influences that can
avoid takeover by others. have unintentional consequences (Hall, 2011). Current
Gu et al. (2011) raised closely related issues European spatial policies may not be able to address
by focu-sing on the spatial planning for urban these issues. This is deeply problematic and hinders
agglomerations in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one the development of capacity in strategic planning.
important dimension of which is the further depiction For the federalist systems, mega-city regions are
of the central state as a powerful regional player in featured by a high degree of fragmentation and local
shaping territorial growth through large infrastructure control. Previously, few believed that federal states
projects and top-down state spatial regulation. For needed regional strategies to promote territorial growth
instance, clarifying the spatial structure and urban and infrastructure investment. There are no longer
functions of YRD as well as its various sub-regions doubters. However, the problem is that neither the
solved the structural difficulties in forging coordinated United States nor Australia have developed adequate
growth in the region. institutions for governance and planning to address
The above-mentioned studies provide an initial either the explosive growth or dramatic decline of their
set of conceptual tools through which to reinterpret mega regions in the global capital circuit. There is also
the geographies of state space under transition. They much to be debated about how the mega-city region
denaturalize established assumptions associated with approach mediates between regional connectivity and
the decentralization of statehood and downward scalar political fragmentation, interdependence and autonomy,
shift of the states function in capital accumulation and and system-wide thinking and confinement to particular
regulation. They explore the emergent character of jurisdictions (Ross, 2009).
state reconsolidation through state-led planning and its In contrast to Europe, the United States, and
hidden and strategic agenda. This opens entirely new Australia, China has witnessed the rise of regional
ways of looking at spatial planning as a tool to overturn strategic planning as a powerful tool for spatial
established inter-scalar orders, in addition to its claimed regulation. This is understandable in that China has
rhetoric of sustainability and competitiveness. a strong state tradition and an enduring hierarchical
state system. Nonetheless, the institutional capacity
Conclusion for strategic intervention is problematic because the
function of regional planning is highly fragmented
This chapter has addressed the theme of governance among different ministries and departments. Matters
and planning of mega-city regions in different are further complicated by the top-down nature of
contexts, with special reference to Europe, the United strategic planning, which undoubtedly bred tension,
States, Australia, and China. The picture of the mega- particularly with the hyper-competitive political
city region in all these contexts is unstable, fragmented, environment tending to predominate, with local
context-specific, contested, and politically charged. interests being undermined to various degrees, and with
150 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
resurgence of regional planning in part as a state
is attempting to regain control under powerful forces
project. However, there remains a need to explore
of globalization, neoliberal decentralization, and market
how the state power is forged into the regional
reform. Nonetheless, the institutional capacity for such
matrix within which state intervention is to occur.
strategic intervention is still quite problematic. Matters are
further complicated by the top-down nature of strategic
planning, which undoubtedly bred tension, particularly Future Direction
with the hyper-competitive political environment tending
to predominate, and local interests being undermined to Following the 2008 financial crisis, we see the promise
various degrees, as well as cities being accorded different of major policy and development initiatives, long
bargaining power and political representation. advocated by regional scientists and planners, finally
As a transitional society, China does not lack moving ahead in many countries. Good governance
experience in cross-scalar interaction within the state and strategic planning are unlikely to wane, even
system itself. Intensive cross-scalar negotiations and though powerful neoliberalisms market revolution
bargaining are frequently observed when capital has persisted for decades in many contexts. Further
allocation and large infrastructure projects are decided. exploring the direction of governance and planning,
However, there is a lack of mechanisms to build up both in theory and practice, is one of the most urgent
capacity for cross-sectoral interaction and public intellectual and political tasks.
engagement. The difficulty in doing this is related
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Abstract
The study of metropolitan governance has normally focused on the challenges of managing multiple
jurisdictions within a broader urban institutional framework that can address issues such as spillover
and cross-jurisdictional problems. Much of this literature and the policy debates on metropolitan
government have ignored the need for effective management of the urban economy on the metro-
politan and regional scale. This is surprising because the revenue base of municipalities depends on
the buoyancy of municipal revenue. Too often, urban economic management has focused on firms
and sectors through the lens of competitiveness rather than from a broader understanding of urban
productivity. A more comprehensive understanding of productivity would necessarily involve assess-
ments of the interactions of the metropolitan economy with urban form, the urban environment,
and sustainable development.
This chapter considers the metropolitan question This process was more evident as the urban-
from an economic perspective and examines the ization of developing countries grew far beyond
economic under-achievement of metropolitan areas. the historical and/or colonial boundaries of urban
It argues for much more focus on the needs of the ur- areas. What became known as the dispersion of
ban economy on the metropolitan scale and suggests the urban population and the generation of new
that the metropolitan imperative brings with it the centralities were the results of urban sprawl (Rojas,
requirement to broaden and deepen the understanding Cuadro-Roura, and Fernandez Guell, 2008). These
of the productivity of the urban economy. Indeed, processes, now confirmed as well through the lens
the meaning of productivity itself must be redefined of the de-densification of cities (Angel, 2011),
when the range of externalities of urban economic appeared to call for new forms of metropolitan
activity is fully taken into account. management. The 1990s marked the appearance of
The study of metropolitan governance in de- a metropolitan imperative, or the argument that the
veloping countries over the past 20 years grew out increasing scale of urban areas and the possible ben-
of the awareness that the spatial and demographic efits from agglomeration economies inevitably led to
growth of cities had exceeded the original municipal the consideration and/or adoption of metropolitan
boundaries of many large urban areas. Metropolitan frameworks (Cohen, 1998). This imperative seemed
studies tended to focus on what were known as to appear regardless of the income level of countries
spillover effects, when the economic, financial, and or their colonial heritages. The United States adopted
physical dimensions of cities extended beyond the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, as the
their jurisdictions and created challenges for policy, unit for metropolitan data collection for its hundreds
service delivery, and urban finance. Areas such as of metropolitan areas. The former French colonies
transportation management, security, public health, quickly followed, in adopting, and only sometimes
and waste management could rarely be kept within adapting, the metropolitan institutions found in
municipal areas. France to cities such as Abidjan or Dakar.
158 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
been transformed, with almost 20,000 start-up firms, 60 Public Finance and Public Goods
percent of which have fewer than five employees, many
of whom work in the technology and service sectors. The generation of productive employment, therefore,
The metropolitan area has reinvented itself. also depends on the existence of public goods such as
Yet even among urban specialists, housing and infrastructure, a clean environment, public space, and
infrastructure continue to dominate most urban dis- an institutional framework to regulate economic and
cussions, including in the preparations for Habitat III. social activities. These public goods are essential for
But without employment there are no incomes and no both employment and productivity. All of the above
possibility for households or firms to invest and im- depend on a third foundational element in the urban
prove their conditions. If employment is at a low level economy: the capacity to generate public revenue.
of productivity, it does not matter how much human Public goods require financial resources for invest-
energy is devoted to work, the results will not be suffi- ment and maintenance. The lack of reliable sources
cient to meet the needs of growing urban populations. of public revenue and a financial system to permit
Increasing both employment and productivity are thus long-term finance are major constraints to investment
essential foundational challenges for urban policy and in needed assets, whether for public infrastructure, pri-
macroeconomic development. vate firms, or housing for urban families. Local taxes
At the same time, it is also evident that neither employ- account for only 2.3 percent of GDP in developing
ment nor productivity can grow by itself. Employment countries compared to 6.4 percent in industrialized
requires the demand for goods and services from the countries (Bird and Bahl, 2008).
population, infrastructure, investment capital, labor This situation, however, is made further compli-
markets, and rules governing work and compensation. cated by the fact that there are also tradeoffs between
Productivity requires that these inputscapital, labor, employment and productivity. Street cleaning vehicles
land, and technologyare available in appropriate quan- are more productive than people cleaning the streets,
tities, qualities, and forms, as well as markets for goods for example, but the latter provides more employment.
and services and prices for these outputs. In addition, Labor saving technologies are heralded as being more
policy and institutional support for small and medium productive, as in agriculture where much higher levels
start-up enterprises, and the process of innovation, are of productivity have been achieved through mechani-
necessary enabling conditions to allow sufficient profits zation, but employment is reduced.
to promote the sustainability of firms. While the avail-
ability and expansion of capital and labor are important A New Definition of Productivity at
to increase production and create employment, the type
and nature of technology and the way in which capital
the Metropolitan Level
and labor are combined in the production process deter-
mines the level of productivity. When key inputs are not When considered at the metropolitan level, concerns
available, productivity of capital and labor suffer, with about increasing productivity imply that the definition
firms unable to generate profits and thus unable to create of productivity itself must change, going beyond the
more jobs (Anas and Lee, 1989). narrow definitions of productivity and competitive-
These macroeconomic processes drive produc- ness of the firm and the city toward a broader evalua-
tivity at the national level, generating both GDP per tion of the impacts of firms and sectors on the urban
capita and value-added specific goods and services. area in which they operate. This is the intersection of
Their location and interaction with urban areas is a the urban economy and metropolitan thinking.
major contributor to the profits and growth of enter- This call for a wider metropolitan definition of pro-
prises and thus to the generation of public revenue at ductivity also needs to include the positive and negative
the local level. externalities that firms and sectors generate at the city
160 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
issue of import substitution from the 1950s has been While lip service is given in fiscal policy debates to
shown to have specific effects on patterns of urban- increasing local public revenue, this issue has not re-
ization, helping to spatially concentrate economic ceived the priority it deserves even though more than
activities and populations in the pursuit of agglomera- a quarter of public revenue is typically generated at
tion and economies of scale. Macroeconomic policies the local level in industrialized countries (Bahl and
therefore have direct effects on the formation and lev- Linn, 1992). Urbanization should be acknowledged
el of income and productivity of metropolitan areas. as a driver of development. At the moment, urban is
These issues should be central to our under- largely missing from the global development policy
standing of urbanization as a form of structural debate and national development discourse, while
change in metropolitan demographic distribution the economy is missing from urban discussions and
and concentration, and as the differentiation of this also needs to change.
economic opportunities within specific metropol- An essential step in this recognition process is
itan areas. This wider perspective is also essential integrating the metropolitan economy into global,
to the argument that metropolitanization is part national, and local systems of diagnostics, assess-
of these structural changes, both in terms of pro- ments, and monitoring. In general, neither the met-
duction and distribution. As noted by Cimoli, Dosi, ropolitan level nor the metropolitan economy has
and Stiglitz (2009), the structure of industries is received much attention in the diagnostic tools used
reflected in the distribution of income through by governments and multilateral institutions. More
remuneration policies. The production of goods recent analytic efforts by multilateral institutions at
and services and the distribution of salaries and the metropolitan level are very welcome, but data
benefits are closely related and interdependent. The sets are only partial and often unreliable. In some
industrial structure of a metropolitan area produces cases they ignore the full range of factors, whether
a specific level and distribution of salaries that is in exogenous or endogenous. And most importantly,
turn reflected in the pattern of social stratification. there does not appear to be much attention paid
The question for metropolitan areas in developing to their outcomes for individuals, households, and
countries is whether this industrial structure is communities at the urban level.
dynamic enough to evolve and grow fast. Another It should be understood that 12 of the 17
question is whether the required quality of labor is Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the
available to integrate increasing urban populations United Nations in September 2015 are to be imple-
or whether these population increments can only mented in urban areas. This calls for a much higher
find jobs in the informal sector. level of integrated conceptual and operational
thinking: across space, institutional jurisdictions,
Conclusion disciplines, and sectors. Indeed, we should consider
what effective metropolitan practice is. While policy
While these issues have long been debated in devel- is important, in the end, practices on the ground
opment policy circles, they are relatively new in the are a far more determining factor of development
world of international urban policy where there has outcomes. This is even more evident considering
been greater focus on housing and infrastructure, the metropolitan economy. All of the above sug-
and a reluctance to regard urban areas as sites of gests that while we certainly need to address the
value creation and employment generation. Value question of what to do at the metropolitan level, it
creation includes goods, services, and investments, as will be more important to focus attention on the
well as less tangible forms such as culture and infor- how: how building metropolitan frameworks can
mation, which now account for a growing share of contribute to material improvements in the lives
urban economies (Center for an Urban Future, 2011). of urban dwellers.
162 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2.2 Metropolitan Governance for Land Use:
Current Practices and Alternative Approaches
Cynthia Goytia (Torcuato Di Tella University)
Abstract
The centrality of land use to many decisions that affect metropolitan urban development is often
underestimated. Yet there are limits to economic, social, and environmental sustainability that can be
prolonged by poor governance of land use. Rapid urbanization is often accompanied by short-term,
uncoordinated sprawling land development, leading to inefficient and inequitable socioeconomic out-
comes and affecting the spatial distribution of public urban infrastructure and services. A prime role
for land use norms and regulations is to facilitate synergies from different land uses while preventing
negative externalities. Yet, there are unintended effects. This chapter analyzes the effects of uncoor-
dinated land use on economic, social, and environmental sustainability. It specifies urban policy tools
used to improve the governance of land use in metropolises, discusses alternative policies and their
implementation, and presents some institutional framework options to support a changing approach.
Particularly, it highlights the role of national governments in promoting such structuresin the form
of incentives or regulationsto try to boost the sustainability of urbanization in metropolises.
By 2050, will metropolises be sustainable and equita- the benefits of agglomeration and increasing urban-
ble? Considering the extent of metropolitan growth ization costs.
in recent decades, the centrality of land use planning As a result of the sustainability challenges related
and regulation to many decisions that affect economic, to metropolises in transition, this chapter aims to
social, and environmental sustainability of metropo- answer two central questions: What are the effects
lises is often underestimated. Indeed, there are severe of uncoordinated land use planning and regulation
limits to sustainable development that are prolonged on metropolitan economic, environmental, and so-
by uncoordinated land use planning. One key fact is cial sustainability? And, how can public policies help
that, for a given population size, a metropolitan area achieve balanced sustainable metropolitan growth? In
with twice the number of municipalities is associated answering these questions, the chapter explores three
with around 6 percent lower productivity. Indeed, this main barriers to metropolitan sustainability associated
effect is mitigated by almost half by the existence of with uncoordinated land use planning and regulation.
a governance body at the metropolitan level (Ahrend, First, the author explains that uncoordinated land
Gamper, and Schumann, 2014). Not surprisingly, the use management affects the economic sustainabil-
fragmentation of metropolitan land use planning can ity of metropolises by minimizing the chances of
minimize the chances of achieving the very agglom- achieving the very agglomeration economies that
eration benefits of firm co-location and economies give metropolises their strength while heightening
of scale that give metropolises their strength. It can congestion costs and productivity losses associated
inadvertently encourage unnecessary urban sprawl, with insufficient articulation between places of res-
insufficient or irrational allocation of infrastructure idence and places of income generation (Rosenthal
and public services, traffic congestion and poor ac- and Strange, 2004; Puga, 2010; Combes, Duranton,
cessibility, pollution, and segregation, undermining and Gobillon, 2011).
164 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
experiments that illustrate new modalities for building uncoordinated regulation within a metropolitan area
metropolitan land use governance. In contrast to the can minimize the chances of achieving the very ag-
limited impact of formal institutional reform, during glomeration benefits of firm co-location and econ-
the past 25 years there has been considerable experi- omies of scale that give metropolises their strength.
mentation and innovation surrounding new efforts to Yet, in many metropolitan areas, regulations are
promote metropolitan land use governance by different implemented at the sub-metropolitan level by local
types of coordination agreements (Lefvre and Weir, planners who seek to maximize local welfare. If,
2012). Indeed, some evidence suggests that building for instance, congestion is mostly municipal while
enduring metropolitan institutions requires strong agglomeration effects are more diffuse, municipal
political leadership to carry the process forward.One plannerswho do not fully internalize positive met-
key debate is whether the national government should ropolitan agglomeration effectswill unduly restrict
essentially be promoting such structures in the form of development. On the contrary, if congestion is a
incentives or regulations to try to boost the sustainabil- metropolitan-wide phenomenon and agglomeration
ity of urbanization in metropolises. economies are taking place within municipalities,
Finally, given recent trends in metropolitan area local planners will induce too much development
extension, this chapter presents some innovative (Duranton, 2007). In all the cases in which the exter-
land use tools that foster coordinated urban expan- nalities that land use planning tackles are not restricted
sion and promote infrastructure investments. These by municipal boundaries, the uncoordinated maximi-
tools induce a better land use spatial structure that zation of local planners will in general be inefficient
promotes accessibility for all, while allowing funding and can promote too much or too little development,
to be allocated to urban infrastructure. In this way, hindering agglomeration economies or significantly
synchronizing extension and infrastructure enhances increasing urban costs. All these circumstances open
accessibility, increasing productivity and liveability, space for public policies of which those related to
and reducing urban costs. Based on these measures, coordinated land use regulation play an important role.
land readjustment tools that support mixed uses in
inner city areas or historic centers and planned urban
extensions widen the spectrum of land use policies Mitigating Urban Costs: Gains from
in metropolises. The author concludes that there is Improved Accessibility
a menu of metropolitan governance institutions that
can improve metropolitan governance of land use The benefits of agglomeration are just one side of the
planning to foster the economic, social, and environ- coin. The other side, the costs of urbanization, are an
mental sustainability of metropolises. essential barrier to realizing the urban agglomeration
economies that support urban productivity. One unin-
Economic Sustainability tended consequence of administrative fragmentation
and uncoordinated land use governance is unneces-
The greatest productive advantage of modern-day sary sprawl and an inefficient spatial allocation pattern
metropolises is that they form large and integrated of activities. The shift toward multi-centric, unco-
labor markets that boost productivity. The increase ordinated urban structures could in turn exacerbate
in metropolitan size expands the availability of spe- the scattered nature of new residential developments,
cialized inputs, which in turn raises the productivity thus constraining overall accessibility. Furthermore, it
of final goods production. One policy implication of can heighten congestion costs and productivity loss-
this fact is that the more integrated metropolitan labor es associated with insufficient articulation between
markets are, the more productive they are, which re- places of residence and places of income generation.
quires coordinated land use decision-making. Indeed, Consequently, coordinated land use planning should
166 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
(Baum-Snow, 2007), but also resistance to the densifi- against perverse incentives associated with a race to the
cation of built-up neighborhoods and even climate and bottom where neighboring municipalities in the same
topography (Burchfield, Overman, Puga, et al., 2006). metropolis compete for the same investments with little
Moreover, metropolises with more fragmented land use regard for spatial efficiency or the negative externalities
planning governance are more likely to have less dense associated with mis-specified regulation. Additionally,
suburban development in addition to favoring decen- it is necessary to ensure coordination where land use
tralized, dispersed development and sprawl (Burchfield planning and regulation policy from different local and
et al., 2006). Low-density development makes it difficult upper levels of government are consistent with each
and costly to provide bus, light rail, or metro services. other. Businesses and developers respond to incentives
The increased private car use required by dispersed and constraints, but they find uncertainty from an
urban extension leads to greater resource demands for unpredictable regulatory framework and delays very
transportation. destructive, which increases transaction costs and the
In sum, local decisions on land use regulation likelihood of irrational spatial outcomes. Both issues
related to urban extension reinforce unsustainable seem to be a fundamental argument for coordinated
spatial patterns. Further, local governments are likely metropolitan-level land use planning and greater con-
unable to coordinate and commit the funds needed to sistency in the vertical and horizontal metropolitan
support the new infrastructure. Effective governance business environment.
at the metropolitan level can reduce unnecessary ur-
ban sprawl, protect open space, and lower per capita Environmental Sustainability
infrastructure costs, all essential for the economic
sustainability of metropolises in transition. Uncoordinated land use planning and regulation af-
fects the environmental sustainability of metropolises
in different ways. First, many environmental issues,
Predictable Business Investment such as watershed and flood management, cannot ade-
Environment quately be addressed at the municipal level because the
land use footprint of watersheds and water courses do
Coordinated land use regulation across the municipalities not respect municipal boundaries.
that make up a metropolis present investors with a pre- Second, the fragmentation that inadvertently
dictable investment framework that is easy to navigate encourages urban sprawl is associated with the
in terms of transaction costs and conducive to spatially severe environmental implications of an extensive,
rational outcomes. The author already explained that unplanned urban footprint. When the amount of
uncoordinated land use planning means that different land converted from open space to residential use
local governments make independent land use decisions increases in disperse urbanization it can have negative
without much regard for how they affect or interact with environmental implications. Such extended suburban
adjacent jurisdictions or what the externalities might be areas can also cause negative externalities for individ-
for the metropolitan system. In the United States, as most ual communities and an entire region as a result of
city governments are overwhelmingly dependent on local the significant increase in land resource consumption,
property taxes, there is incentive for local governments to associated air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions,
enact policiesparticularly favorable business incentives leading to increased urban environmental costs that
and infrastructure policiesto attract business. have long-term health effects.
One common practice in uncoordinated metropol- Third, many issues that involve climate change
itan regions is inter-jurisdictional competition to attract have metropolitan-wide consequences and require
investment from mobile firms. The major implication regional coordinated responses. Further, local insti-
is that metropolitan land use coordination guards tutions do not have adequate scope or capacity to
168 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Moreover, the segregation of the affluentwhich (Monkkonen and Ronconi, 2013) and higher levels of
is growing rapidly in metropolitan areasresults in informality (Goytia and Pasquini, 2013).
the hoarding of resources and amenities, and dis- Current urban planning systems, shaped by fragment-
proportionate political power. There are worries that ed and unreasonable urban norms and land use regula-
this exclusionary zoning may instead maintain land tions, have failed to respond adequately to population
development at inefficiently low levels. If this is right, growth adjustments in metropolises, especially strong
overly restrictive regulations in developed areas of demand for infrastructure and affordable housing for
metropolitan regions would be a powerful force ex- lower income households. Making matters worse, the
plaining excessive urban sprawl in undeveloped areas. underlying failure to tackle the problem at the munici-
A third key issue is that, given that cities and jurisdic- pal level increases the potential for strategic interaction
tions in metropolitan areas operate within a system, there between local jurisdictions, which aggravates the role of
is potential for strategic interaction that would exacerbate uncoordinated regulations in determining informality.
the role of regulations in price determination. As noted Again, variation in the stringency of land use regula-
byHelsley and Strange (1995), restricting growth in one tion and the level of infrastructure within jurisdictions
community also negatively affects neighboring jurisdic- creates externalities, making segregation and informality
tions by pushing growth into those areas, although not even greater. For example, such variation can engender
all regulatory interventions will have equal effects in this a pervasive tolerance toward informal development in
regard. For example, the regulatory environment of some jurisdictions while enacting even more exclusive
the central city plays an important role in metropolitan land use regulation in others. At the same time, without
segregation patterns (Lens and Monkkonen, 2016). On coordinated land use planning and regulation, if some
the other hand, increased competition for (limited) sup- metropolitan jurisdictions offer improved access to
ply causes land and housing prices to increase, making land compared to their peers, these jurisdictions are
housing costlier in the entire metropolitan area (Glaeser likely to disproportionately attract (poor) migrants.
and Ward, 2009). As such, regulations that lead to ex- If the induced population growth is higher than any
cessive stratification of the population by income may adjustment to the formal housing supply, informality
not be welfare improvements for the society or engines is likely to grow in that jurisdiction.
of social sustainability. At the same time, when more The same type of inter-jurisdictional effects must be
coordinated actionor regional governmentshave considered in the case of slum upgrading programs that
power over land use decision-making processes at the improve availability and access to local public services
metropolitan level, income segregation is significantly and amenities in situ. Pro-poor land interventions in
lower. Taken together, this suggests strong arguments single jurisdictions, rather than coordinated at the met-
to push for greater metropolitan land use coordination ropolitan level, may attract the poor and increase slums
(Lens and Monkkonen, 2016). in that jurisdiction. Thus, the lack of metropolitan
The resilience of informality is emblematic of met- coordination might undermine the benefits as a result
ropolitan areas in developing countries. Characterized of improvements to informal settlements.
by a duality between land with appropriate property
titles and leases and squatted land, it is fuelled by the Land Use Governance and
incapacity of local jurisdictions to finance the neces-
sary infrastructure, forcing them to enact inadequate
Institutions
local land use norms and regulations to protect areas
from further development. In fact, strict local regula- The growth of metropolises raises questions about
tions intended to provide optimal conditions for land whether new encompassing forms of land use
use and occupation have had a completely opposite planning and regulation coordination are needed
effect of lower rates of compliance with the norms to promote economic, environmental, and social
170 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Instead, in both Europe and America, bottom-up ef- assembling land for (re)development, providing the
forts at collaboration and strategic planning characterize public infrastructure that urban growth requires, and
the contemporary process of (incrementally) building creating greater social inclusion.
metropolitan and regional institutions. In OECD coun- One tool regularly used to guide new urban devel-
tries, spatial planning and land use is a common field of opment is land readjustment. This scheme requires
cooperation after regional economics and transportation: contributions of land by local owners to a coordinat-
almost 70 percent of governance bodies work in this area, ing entity that then uses these inputs to facilitate the
and more than half of all government bodies (91 out introduction or expansion of public space, including
of 178) work on in three fields (Ahrend and Schumann, roads and truck infrastructure. In some versions, con-
2014). Some governance bodies exert centralized control tributed land that is surplus to the public space needs
over the entire planning process in a metropolitan area. is sold to help finance the cost of infrastructure and
Others merely serve to inform local governments of services. The instrument has been successfully applied
each others plans. In between those extremes, there is a in Korea, Japan, The Netherlands, India, Germany,
continuum of governance bodies with varying degrees and Colombia, among other countries. In these
of influence over the planning process. All are active in schemes, increases in land values from urbanization
the field although most have few formal competencies. typically more than compensate for the reduction in
However, a strong vertical dimension in metropol- individual land holdings. At the same time, the model
itan governance is characteristic of many Asian coun- requires managing land price expectations in the areas
tries, imposing interactions between governments and of urban expansion.
non-state actors (Pierre, 1999). For example, in Japan Another major challenge is coordinating and fi-
and Singapore, urban development policies are heavily nancing large metropolitan investments in new infra-
administered by the state (Vogel, 2010). In centralized structure to adjust to urban growth, including transit
countries like China, where they follow a state-led, systems to improve accessibility and new public spaces,
dirigiste approach, policies are enacted by the national which cannot be borne by any local government alone.
government to support inter-city coordinated devel- Coordinated planning can help not only in widening
opment. States respond to economic and political accessibility to a range of opportunities by major
pressure by adopting aggressive metropolitan devel- public transport infrastructure investments but also
opment strategies in pursuit of their goals (Ye, 2014). in encouraging mixed social and economic use in ur-
Functional and ad hoc models of metropolitan co- ban corridors. Changes in land uses and development
ordination around certain issues belong to the type of intensity or new infrastructure that raises property
pragmatic solutions that can be supported by federal values can provide potential revenue sources to meet
requirements or incentives. If effective these models the public investments required.
may mature into more integrated and enduring sys- Finally, measures aimed at helping reverse segrega-
tems of coordination (Lefvre and Weir, 2012). One tion and fostering the social sustainability of metrop-
key issue is that, in metropolises where organizations olises involve inclusionary zoning for mixed-income
responsible for metropolitan governance exist, their development. The mandatory inclusion of affordable
areas tend to be larger but they record lower levels of housing can be enforced by planning obligations or in-
urban sprawl (Ahrend and Schumann, 2014). clusionary housing zoning that prescribe the nature of
the development. Limiting the spatial concentrations
Land-Based Tools of poverty and wealth that lead to unequal access to
jobs, schools, and safe neighborhoods, and exacerbate
Metropolitan land management strategies for sustain- negative life outcomes for low-income households can
ability in the context of rapid urban transformation positively affect the long-term economic and social
need to deal with at least three main objectives: sustainably of metropolitan regions.
172 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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Abstract
Urban finance has received considerable attention over the years and is reemerging in 2016 as a fo-
cal area within the Sustainable Development Goals, the Financing for Development initiative, and
the dialogue around the Habitat III Conference. Although there is a well-developed framework for
designing intergovernmental and local finance systems, performance of these systems has often
failed to meet expectations. The mainstream framework focuses heavily on technical policy consid-
erations derived from public finance and fiscal federalism, as well as public management principles.
Underwhelming performance is often framed as a product of poor design and management, limited
capacity, and inadequate political will. The premise of this paper is that the conventional approach
does not sufficiently consider the larger institutional framework in which urban finance must operate,
the political economy factors underlying this framework, or the forces that shape the implementation
of even normatively well-designed reforms. Taking these considerations into account can help poli-
cymakers and practitioners understand the openings for and constraints on pursuing more effective
and sustainable urban finance reform.
The global community is dedicating substantial energy Local Development International, 2013; Ojendal and
to the task of financing sustainable development post- Dellnas, 2013; Faguet and Poschi, 2015). Performance
2015 through public and private as well as domestic challenges can reflect improper application of the
and international sources. The role of local, partic- dominant intergovernmental fiscal framework, such
ularly urban and metropolitan, governments in this as decentralizing less fiscal power than conditions
process has been given prominence as the Sustainable warrant. But the framework itself also suffers from de-
Development Goals are adopted, the Financing for ficiencies. Most critically, it is normative and narrowly
Development initiative is advanced, a strong Urban focused on technical concerns, failing to consider
Agenda surrounding the Habitat III Conference arises, key elements of country context, including political
and the urgency surrounding the need to mitigate the economy dynamics that shape system design and the
effects of climate change increases. This emerging behavior of the actors involved. The main argument
emphasis reflects an increasingly broad consensus on is that technical elements of the system are important
the need to unlock the developmental potential of and could be better designed and applied. However,
metropolitan areas and the bodies that govern them. reformersat the national and metropolitan level
Finance is obviously a critical element. need to think beyond conventional analytics to pursue
Fiscal decentralization has been a ubiquitous effective and sustainable metropolitan fiscal reform.
component of public sector and urban reform in The next section provides a short background on
developing countries. Despite advances, anticipated the key principles of fiscal decentralization and metro-
benefits have been unevenly realized and often disap- politan finance, including a very general assessment of
pointing (Connerley, Eaton, and Smoke, 2010; UCLG, how these systems look in practice. The third section
2010; Martinez-Vazquez and Vaillancourt, 2011; highlights neglected factors underlying the shape fiscal
174 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
systems take, with an emphasis on political economy view advocates empowering them as autonomous
and the lack of strategic implementation. Finally, a entities with a general mandate to provide for the
summary and some suggestions are provided regard- overall welfare of their constituents. In contrast to the
ing how to think about metropolitan finance reforms sectoral approach in orthodox thinking, it emphasizes
more productively and pragmatically. more holistic public service provision in specific ter-
ritories. This framing allows discretion to tailor plans
The Fiscal Framework and Related and budgets to local conditions (Commonwealth
Local Government Forum, 2013; Romeo, 2013).
Public Sector Reforms Proponents see this as necessary for sustainable de-
velopment, particularly for metropolitan governments.
Basic fiscal decentralization principles focus on as-
signing functions and revenues to subnational gov-
ernments. These are well documented elsewhere and Financing Routine Operations
will not be detailed here (Ahmad and Brosio, 2014).
For current purposes, it is sufficient to note the strong Central governments have intrinsic advantages in
priority placed on assigning clear functions to all lev- revenue generation due to the nature of productive
els of government and ensuring, in accordance with revenue bases and administrative considerations, while
the core finance follows function principle, that each subnational governments have an edge in providing
has sufficient resources to meet their responsibilities. a range of public services due to differences in needs
These can be in the form of tax and other revenues and preferences across jurisdictions. This situation
they generate, transfers they receive from higher levels means that intergovernmental transfers are inevitably
of government, or funds they secure from the private important, including for many metropolitan areas.
sector or other sources.
Subnational governments are often legally assigned Own-source revenues
functions seen as conceptually suitable for local pro- Although dependence on transfers is typical, there is a
vision, but there is wide variation in practice. A lack strong case for localespecially metropolitangov-
of clarity in local government powers resulting from ernments raising a significant share of their own funds.
the legal framework or the behavior of government Stronger local resource mobilization alleviates de-
actors is often a factor. Ambiguity can result in gaps mands on national budgets, links benefits and costs of
and redundancies in service delivery, complicate mobi- local services, generates funds to repay infrastructure
lization and allocation of resources, and muddle areas investment loans, and allows more national resources
of local government accountability to higher levels of to be targeted to poorer local governments, among
government and citizens. Metropolitan governments others. A range of subnational revenue instruments
are sometimes more empowered than other local is available (Bird and Slack, 2013; Martinez-Vazquez,
governments, either legally in formal fiscal frame- 2015), including property taxation, fees and charges,
works, or in practice, and by virtue of their larger licenses, and economic activity taxes. At intermediate
economies they generally have stronger revenue bases. and sometimes metropolitan levels, options include
At the same time, how overall government systems motor vehicle and natural resource revenues and
and processes are organized and managed can create some form of business or sales taxes. Other metro-
restrictions for cities and give rise to special challenges politan sources, such as land value capture, are also
of their own. emerging as promising (see below). Local add-ons
Mainstream literature frames fiscal decentraliza- to selected higher level taxes are often advised and
tion as the national assignment of specific roles and sometimes practiced, but mostly in federal or large
resources to subnational governments. A more robust countries, and typically by regional governments.
176 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
prioritization in this area and perhaps a presumption issued municipal bonds. Other approaches in mul-
that major urban areas can take care of themselves. In tiple countries include co-financing initiatives, sec-
the Habitat III/SDG era, this situation may change. ondary market support, and bond banks (Giugale,
Subnational government access to capital mar- Korobow, and Webb, 2000; Kehew, Matsukawa,
kets has been important in wealthier countries but and Petersen, 2005; Petersen, 2006; Matsukawa and
limited in developing countries. Opening local bor- Habeck, 2007; UCLG, 2015).
rowing channels and promoting creditworthiness Although not covered in this chapter, publicpri-
more broadly are considered priorities (Peterson, vate partnerships can also support metropolitan
2000; Friere and Petersen, 2004; Platz, 2009). Two governments to secure the expertise and resources
mechanisms have dominated past efforts: public or they need to meet their obligations (Marin, 2009;
quasi-public municipal development banks or funds, Brinkerhoff and Brinkerhoff, 2011; Ingram, Liu, and
and private sector borrowing. The former have often Brandt, 2013). In some cases, these partnerships may
been plagued by poor performance due to weak man- involve using funds that would have been difficult to
agement or capacity and politicization, while the latter obtain without engaging a private sector partner.
was long constrained by risk.
Recent initiatives to improve subnational access to Commonly recognized challenges in designing
development finance have included issuing borrow- the fiscal framework
ing or fiscal responsibility frameworks, reinventing (on Central governments in many countries tend to respect
more market-oriented principles) quasi-public lend- core fiscal decentralization principles in defining in-
ing bodies, and opening direct capital market access tergovernmental fiscal policy, but there are challenges.
(Ingram, Liu, and Brandt, 2013; Smoke, 2013). Leaders First, even the technical aspects of design are not easy
in fiscal responsibility frameworks have included to manage. Various tradeoffs in the principles (such as
Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. Experience with efficiencyequity) can make their application difficult
borrowing is varied. For example, in India, several and contentious, and there is often inadequate infor-
municipal corporations have raised sizable resources mation. In addition, weak capacity is recognized as a
through taxable and tax-free municipal bonds (some major constraint on effective local fiscal performance.
guaranteed). A few state entities, such as the Tamil Much attention has been directed toward capacity
Nadu Urban Development Fund and the Greater building, but concerns remain that conventional ap-
Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Project, use proaches are inadequate.
pooled financing to improve municipal access to cap- Perhaps the main challenge is that, although
ital markets. Mexico has also used pooled finance, as political obstacles to productive intergovernmental
well as future flow securitization and other innovative relations are recognized, they are often framed in an
mechanisms, to facilitate municipal borrowing. ad hoc way or in terms of the nebulous claim of weak
Much borrowing in the Philippines flows through political will for local empowerment. There is growing
public agencies: the Municipal Development Fund, awareness that a more nuanced approach to political
which mixes grant and loan finance, and the Local dynamics is needed. So-called second generation
Government Unit Guarantee Corporation, a private fiscal federalism focuses on important issues beyond
entity promoted by the Development Bank of the technical concerns of first generation theory, but not
Philippines. In South Africa, most subnational bor- in an integrated way (Weingast, 2014).
rowing is from the Development Bank of Southern Beyond basic fiscal principles for sharing powers,
Africa or the Infrastructure Finance Corporation, a there is broad recognition that metropolitan finance
private entity that funds municipal lending through depends on other conditions (Connerley, Eaton, and
bond issues. A few large metropolitan municipali- Smoke 2010; Manor, 2013; Ojendal and Dellnas, 2013;
ties, including Cape Town and Johannesburg, have Faguet, 2014; Smoke, 2015). Structures and processes
178 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
or in competitive political environments, the situation Finally, international agencies can influence
can change suddenly. Powers and funds can be de- or intergovernmental policy, especially in aid-depen-
re-centralized if an opposition party gains power or dent countries (Donor Partner Working Group
a crisis emerges. Policy analysts and policymakers on Decentralization and Local Governance, 2011;
need to be mindful of pertinent political dynamics Dickovich, 2014). Agencies have enabled good in-
and what they imply for the fiscal empowerment of tergovernmental and metropolitan reforms, but non-
metropolitan governments. trivial issues persist. Despite global agreements, many
donors continue to use unsustainable institutional
arrangements and to compete with each other, rein-
Recognizing Central Government forcing policy inconsistencies generated by competing
Bureaucratic Dynamics or uncoordinated government agencies.
180 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Metropolitan governments also face local infrastructure (Peterson, 2009; Ingram and Hong,
challenges. Even capable governments need to 2012; Walters, 2012; World Economic Forum, 2014;
strategically roll out reforms that require adopting Suzuki, Murakami, Hong, et al., 2015). Options
new processes and developing new skills. For ex- include betterment levies and special assessments
ample, taxpayers may resist if a government tries (lump-sum levies on developers or property owners
to assume new revenue powers too rapidly. It may to finance improvements that raise property values);
be more productive to raise assessments gradually, tax increment financing (surtaxes on properties re-
perhaps attaching them to service enhancements. developed and financed from bonds issued against
Broadly speaking, metropolitan governments pur- anticipated property tax increases); and land read-
suing reform could better connect to constituents. justment (pooling land with a share sold to partially
Civic education and participatory mechanisms can finance new infrastructure).
enhance awareness, generate valuable input, and Increasing existing revenue and adopting new
improve acceptance. revenue-raising mechanisms is challenging for both
political and logistical reasons, though these can be
The Future of Metropolitan Finance reduced by strategic incrementalism and flexibility.
When increasing property valuations, for example,
If metropolitan governments are to meet demands a metropolitan government could begin with a low
to be more significant players in sustainable devel- assessment ratio and gradually raise it. Similarly, new
opment, they will often need stronger powers to act or enhanced user charges could build progressively
more vigorously and autonomously. This must occur, toward cost recovery to soften equity effects, adverse
however, within an appropriate framework of insti- changes in service use, and political resistance that
tutional structures, processes, and mechanisms for may arise from sudden large increases. Flexibility
coordination and collaboration across different levels and enhanced convenience in payment schemes
of government, within metropolitan areas, and with could also improve compliance, especially where
non-governmental partners. significant lump-sum payments are demanded, such
Central government reluctance to devolve ade- as betterment assessments or connection charges for
quate revenue powers to metropolitan governments new infrastructure.
commonly hinders their ability to perform. National There is potential benefit in tying revenue in-
policy reforms and support measures are thus typically creases more closely to improved services. Public
essential, but metropolitan governments can take education and consultation schemes can be helpful
some steps on their own. Specific actions are often in this regard. Since perceived fairness is important,
required for financing, be it own-source revenues, metropolitan governments also need to be con-
intergovernmental transfers, or borrowing. cerned about revenue rules and how they are applied
and understood. Efforts to publicize new procedures,
to adopt mechanisms for citizen appeals and com-
Own-Source Revenues plaints, and to improve enforcement consistency
could be constructive.
There is often room to improve the structure and
administration of major metropolitan revenues,
such as property taxes and user fees. There may Intergovernmental Transfers
also be legal options to piggyback on revenues
collected at higher levels or to adopt new sources. Central governments can often take the steps need-
A potentially productive but underutilized base ed to improve intergovernmental transfers. Some
is the growth in land value generated by local common reforms were noted above, such as use of
182 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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(2015). Financing transit oriented development with
land values. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
United Cities and Local Governments. (2010). Local
government finances: The challenges of the 21st
century. Second global report on decentralization and
local democracy. Barcelona: United Cities and Local
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The missing link in sustainable development finance.
Barcelona: United Cities and Local Governments.
Walters, L. (2012). Land value capture in policy and prac-
tice. Provo, UT: Romney Institute, Brigham Young
University.
Weingast, B. (2014). Second generation fiscal federalism:
Political aspects of decentralization and economic
development. World Development, 53(1), 1425.
World Bank. (2008). Decentralization in client countries:
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Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Economic Forum. (2014). Accelerating infrastruc-
ture delivery: New evidence from international finan-
cial institutions. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Yilmaz, S., Beris, Y., and Serrano-Berthet, R. (2010).
Linking local government discretion and accountabil-
ity in decentralization. Development Policy Review, 28(3),
25993.
Abstract
With rapid urban growth, there is unprecedented pressure on local governments to provide services
and infrastructure in a context of high visibility and rising demands for accountability and trans-
parency. These complex challenges are driving demand for more comprehensive knowledge of city
performance to inform decision-making and lead to new and innovative processes. Standardized,
globally comparable data is a prerequisite to effectively measure and monitor results and can make a
key contribution to municipal governance. Measuring and monitoring municipal governance is often
hampered by data that tends to be scarce and uneven, using different methodologies and definitions,
which prevents meaningful comparisons. The international standard ISO 37120 represents a critical
paradigm shift when it comes to city data, creating indicators that address the frequent limitations of
municipal data. With standardized indicators, cities and citizens can assess municipal performance,
measure progress over time, and draw comparative lessons from other cities, both locally and glob-
ally. Data on government services can give residents a better understanding of city management
and performance, enabling citizen participation in governance that can be instrumental in orienting
policymaking toward community needs. Standardized indicators can therefore contribute to more ef-
fective governance and delivery of services, and help guide policy, planning, and management across
multiple sectors and stakeholders.
The populations of many cities throughout the world their social and economic spheres of influence (McGee
are spreading well beyond their old city limits, render- and Robinson, 1995; Myers and Dietz, 2002; National
ing traditional municipal boundaries, and by extension Research Council, 2003; Rojas, Cuadrado-Roura, and
traditional governing structures and institutions, out- Gell, 2005; Laquian, 2005; Angel, Sheppard, and Civco,
dated. In addition to this physical expansion, the func- 2005). Cities have extensive labor, real estate, financial
tional area of cities has also extended beyond often and business, and service markets that spread over the
dated jurisdictional boundaries. This raises a central jurisdictional territories of several municipalities and,
challenge for cities worldwide: how to govern and in some cases, over more than one state or provincial
promote economic development across these expand- boundary. In a number of cases, cities have spread
ing metropolitan regions and establish a new form of across international boundaries. Increasingly, these
metropolitan Ggvernance. An associated challenge functions demand more integrated planning, service
relates to the need for sound measures to assess city delivery, and policy decisions than these multiple but
services, quality of life, and economic development individually bounded administrative entities can provide.
progress as these metropolises pursue sustainable and Governing cities has therefore become much more
prosperous futures. complex, since a decision made in one municipality
Urban areas around the world continue to expand affects the broader urban system. This phenomenon
in terms of population settlement and spatial sprawl introduces new challenges of governance and, in par-
but, perhaps more importantly, they are expanding in ticular, metropolitan governance.
186 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Why is it important to recognize the challenges infrastructure spending, underpinned by high-quality,
of metropolitan governance? Initially it is important comparable, and standardized data, needs to be sup-
to understand the main objectives of metropolitan ported by a well-coordinated metropolitan planning
governance. and governance framework with a monitoring and
First, effective metropolitan governance can be evaluation system that can measure the suitability of
a key contributor to economic growth given cities an infrastructures outcomes. Moreover, through qual-
critical importance as sites for economic production, ity urban data, this framework can provide transparen-
agglomeration, and proximity, and as an essential stag- cy on sustainable infrastructure investment decisions
ing ground for connecting society and the economy to and global performance benchmarks.
external networks and the global economy (McCarney, Fourth, environmental sustainability and climate
2005). Metropolitan areas worldwide frequently have action at the urban level require effective metropolitan
more than one central district, as well as very diffuse governance. Managing metropolitan environmental
limits defined more by global reach than local geog- resources such as natural watersheds that spread
raphy, extended commercial areas of influence (often throughout the jurisdictional territories of several
for the country as a whole), and highly diversified local governments also focuses attention on the need
economies. This economic clout demands sound for coordination to overcome the problems of frag-
governance arrangements to guide investment. mentation in political institutions locally. Planning for
Second, metropolitan governance can address the environment and the sustainable future of cities
growing concerns related to an increasingly divided depends on metropolitan governance institutions
urban society, through balanced urban development that effectively span multiple jurisdictions. Moving
policies embedded in metropolitan planning and forward, it is critical to create metropolitan institutions
governance frameworks. Cooperation among cities, that effectively protect, manage, and plan for more
working together instead of in competition within sustainable and resilient cities spanning multiple juris-
the same metropolitan territory, can help overcome dictions and broad metropolitan territories. Building
disharmonies associated with crime, poverty, social metropolitan governance models worldwide is a core
inequalities, under-serviced transport systems, and challenge for planners, the urban policy community,
inadequate infrastructure. Effective metropolitan and other key city stakeholders.
governance offers potential for safer and more inclu-
sive urban development. Metropolitan government Data to Effectively Measure
arrangements can be instruments to address social
cohesion by promoting economic opportunity, in-
and Monitor
frastructure investment, access to transportation ser-
vicesspecifically affordable public transit facilities, City leaders are being tasked with a wider and deeper
and investments in social housing across large urban set of challenges, from crime prevention, to more
metropolitan areas, thus crossing not just political efficient mobility, to creating healthier environments,
divides but also socioeconomic ones. to emergency preparedness, to building economic
Third, metropolitan governance can improve the development opportunity, to climate resilient city
efficiency of investments in sustainable infrastructure, building. Now more than ever, with large infrastruc-
including transportation, by requiring integration ture deficits and climate-related challenges, sustain-
and comprehensive planning across urban regions. able urban growth depends on effective data-driven
Sustainable infrastructure investment supports eco- management and evidence-based policymaking. As
nomic growth, improves environmental conditions, noted in the introduction to this chapter, effective
advances resilience, and supports a better quality of metropolitan governance can be critical to achieving
life for urban inhabitants. Targeted investment of the objectives of economic growth, inclusive urban
188 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
planning, and management, but also ultimately the This first ISO international standard on city
efficacy of efforts to bring the problem under con- indicators was developed using the Global City
trol. Cities are major contributors to climate change, Indicators Facility (GCIF) framework developed
accounting for 78 percent of the worlds energy at the University of Toronto, work which be-
consumption and more than 70 percent of global gan in 2008. This work in Canada directly led to
energy-related carbon dioxide emissions (Greenhouse the creation of the ISO Technical Committee
Gas Protocol, 2012). on Sustainable Development of Communities
Recognizing the policy influence of local and (ISO/TC 268) and the publication of the first
metropolitan governments over greenhouse gas ISO standard on city indicators, ISO 37120. The
emissions and given a majority of these emissions are Technical Committee was created within the ISO
linked to urban transportation and energy consump- in 2012 as a result of growing demand for stan-
tion (McCarney, 2009), the international community dardized indicators for cities (coming from GCIF
has begun to move toward standardizing measuring and Canada in this case) and for smart technical
and monitoring. According to the Greenhouse Gas infrastructure standards (coming from Japan), as
Protocol, the first step for cities is to identify and well as for management systems standards for
measure where their emissions originate. The Global sustainable communities (coming from France).
Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Numerous benchmarks on sustainable develop-
Emission Inventories, or GPC, was developed to pro- ment planning had emerged in the previous de-
vide cities and local governments with a framework to cade, including frameworks outlined by the United
measure and report on city-level greenhouse gas emis- Nations, the World Bank, and the Organisation
sions (Greenhouse Gas Protocol, 2012). This protocol for Economic Co-operation and Development
has been adopted by various programs, including the (OECD), as well as private certifications like the
ISO 37120 certification for cities. Building Research Establishment Environmental
Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The
International Standards for Cities Designed proliferation of these benchmarks and certification
by Cities: WCCD and ISO 37120 programs provided further impetus to create the
Technical Committee and develop a more coordi-
The evolving world of international standards has nated family of standards and other deliverables
only very recently begun to address the need for (Lair and Bougeard, 2013).
standardization at the city level. International stan- ISO 37120, compared to other international
dards bodies, such as the International Organization standards, followed a unique development path.
for Standardization (ISO), the International Most international standards are generated within
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the ISO before being tested and marketed for public
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have consumption. The creation of ISO 37120 was the
started to address the pressing agenda for cities opposite. At least 75 percent of indicators were
with new work, ranging from smart grids, to smart tested and reported on by member cities of the
city infrastructure, to international telecommuni- University of Torontos GCIF before they were
cations and management systems, to city data. ISO established as an international standard within
has been leading this new focus on cities. The first ISO, making the more than 200 cities from over 80
international standard for cities, published May 15, countries within the GCIF worldwide network the
2014, was ISO 37120, Sustainable Development original developers of this standard. This involve-
of Communities: Indicators for City Services and ment by cities in developing ISO 37120 is important
Quality of Life (ISO, 2014). as they are now the adopters of this ISO standard.
190 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 1. WCCD Foundation Cities
Globally Standardized Indicators for Cities The WCCD conducted data aggregation pilot
and Metropolitan Regions projects that created a much needed understand-
ing of, and measured response to, the growth of
In addressing the lack of global information and metropolitan areas worldwide. Aggregated data
comparative data on metropolitan areas, one from a municipal to a regional level builds knowl-
solution is to aggregate standardized indicators edge on regions and metropolitan areas, helping
from the municipalities that make up a metropol- policymakers and local and regional governments
itan area. This aggregated information creates a position themselves in global markets and make
composite of the performance and quality of life infor med decisions about regional planning
indicators for that metropolitan area. For global with regards to infrastructure, economic devel-
comparability across regions, the starting point is opment, transportation, and the environment.
standardized data at the municipal administrative City-level data that is standardized, consistent,
boundary level that can be aggregated up to the and comparable over time and across cities pro-
regional level. This ensures city-regions globally vides a framework for global comparative study
are compared according to standardized measures. of urban regions and metropolitan areas. Sound
Individual municipalities within a metropolitan decision-making by city leaders across these vi-
area stand to benefit from aggregating their data tal metropolitan areas is critical, especially at a
because they will be able to place themselves with- time when cities and metropolitan regions have
in a larger context of their metropolitan region become the new sites for global population con-
and position themselves in a global market of centration and when city services and quality of
competitiveness where other large city agglomer- life are at the core of economic prosperity, both
ations are pursuing similar strategies. locally and globally.
192 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
For the city of Minna, Nigeria, ISO 37120 has References
provided a platform for key city data-generating Adusumilli, U. (2016). Role of regional development insti-
organizations to work together to interpret available tutions in creating an enabling environment toward
information for effective decision-making.Minnas in- shared prosperity: the case of Mumbai Metropolitan
volvement in the WCCD has allowed for comparisons Region. A presentation at the International Conference
on Sustainable Development through Quality
of the citys data with other cities around the world
Infrastructure Investment, Tokyo, Japan.
and the ISO 37120 indicators are now incorporated Angel, S., Sheppard, S.C., and Civco, D.L. (2005). The dy-
into the states Bureau of Statistics data collection namics of global urban expansion. Washington: The
template. Participation in the WCCD has shown the World Bank.
absence of important city data necessary for effective Belkindas, M. V., and Swanson, E. V. (2014). International
planning, which is in itself important information to support for data openness and transparency. Statistical
Journal of the IAOS, 30, 10912.
address the various challenges confronting this grow-
Cameron, R. (2005). Metropolitan restructuring (and more
ing city. Identifying these gaps will better enable Minna restructuring) in South Africa. Public Administration and
to plan toward achieving the targets of Goal 11 of Development, 25(4).
the newly launched Sustainable Development Goals Census of Population and Housing. (2010). Total pop-
(make cities and human developments inclusive, safe, ulation by province, city, municipality and Barangay.
resilient, and sustainable). Retrieved from: http://www.census.gov.ph/sites/
default/files/attachments/hsd/pressrelease/
Boston, in the United States, has been developing
National%20Capital%20Region.pdf
its first citywide plan in 50 years: Imagine Boston Fikru, M. G. (2013). International certification in develop-
2030. WCCD participation will help build city data ing countries: The role of internal and external insti-
capacity to implement and evaluate the plans goals tutional pressure. Journal of Environmental Management,
and objectives, which are to guide Bostons growth 144, 28696.
toward an inclusive city by improving quality of life in Greenhouse Gas Protocol. (2012). GHG protocol for
cities. Retrieved from: http://www.ghgprotocol.org/
its neighborhoods, driving inclusive economic growth,
city-accounting
investing in infrastructure, open space, and culture, Hamilton, D. (1999). Governing metropolitan areas. New York,
and promoting a healthy environment and climate NY: Garland Publishing.
change adaptation. Hezri, A.A., and Dovers, S.R. (2006). Sustainability indi-
cators, policy and governance: Issues for ecological
economics. Ecological Economics, (60)1, 8699.
Conclusion Instituto Nacional de Estadstica y Geografa. (2014).
Cuaderno estadstico y geogrfico de la zona metropol-
This chapter poses a core question: How do we itana del Valle de Mxico 2014. Aguascalientes: INEGI.
govern and promote economic development across Innes, J.E. (1998). Information in communicative planning.
expanding metropolitan regions and establish a Journal of the American Planning Association, 64(1), 5263.
new form of metropolitan governance? The author Janssen, M., Charalabidis, Y., and Zuiderwijk, A. (2012).
has raised the challenge of how to develop sound Benefits, Adoption Barriers and Myths of Open Data
and Open Government. Information Systems Management,
measures to assess city services, quality of life, and
29(4), 25868.
governance of economic development in existing Japan Statistics Bureau (2010). Table 60: Population by
and emerging metropolises. The first ISO standard sex, area, population density, percent to the whole
for cities is tracked as a new tool to build smarter and Area of Japan, sex ratio percent by age (3 groups),
more sustainable cities. She argues that high-caliber, number of private households, private household
standardized data are essential for cities to effectively members, members per private household - Major
metropolitan areas and metropolitan areas. Retrieved
monitor their progress and learn from each other in
from: http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/ListE.
their pursuit of a sustainable and prosperous future. do?bid=000001053739&cycode=0
194 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2.5 Steering the Metropolises to Shared
Prosperity: The City Prosperity Initiative
Eduardo Lpez-Moreno (UN-Habitat) and Regina Orvaanos Murgua (UN-Habitat)
Abstract
Cities underpin profound social, political, and economic transformations. UN-Habitats World Cities Report
2016 emphasizes that large and small cities are expanding and merging to create urban settlements in the
form of city-regions, urban corridors, and mega-regions that are more economically efficient. However,
very often these large agglomerations are not clearly coordinated in their management and governance
mechanisms or in their regional and metropolitan structures. Global trends such as urban sprawl, the drastic
reduction of residential densities, and unplanned urban growth are further threatening the economic perfor-
mance of metropolises. In this scenario, UN-Habitats City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) provides indices and
measurements that enable city authorities, as well as local and national stakeholders, to identify opportunities
and potential areas of intervention for their cities to become more prosperous. The CPI can put metropoli-
tan areas in a strong position to devise a systematic, data-driven local approach to current urbanization issues.
Cities and metropolitan areas benefit differently from the economies of agglomeration. Working with a
large number of urban agglomerations, the CPI can provide a wealth of information needed to understand
the dynamics of metropolitan prosperity and address the major impediments to metropolises improving
economic outcomes and quality of life for their inhabitants. The policy factors underlying the prosperity of
cities are multifaceted and there is a need for appropriate metropolitan planning and management strategies
that can enhance economies of agglomeration and reduce their negative externalities. The findings show
that metropolitan prosperity, measured by the CPI, not only results from the addition of the municipal
CPIs that compose the urban agglomeration, but also stems from a form of multiplication that takes place,
enhancing the prosperity of the overall agglomeration.
Urbanization has taken central stage in the interna- Between 2006 and 2012, the 750 largest cities in the
tional development arena. An increased number of world created 87.7 million private sector jobs, or 58
publications, growing attention in the media, a higher percent of all new private sector jobs in their respec-
level of politicization and inclusion in partisan debates, tive 129 countries (UN-Habitat, 2016). Cities have
and the recognition of cities and human settlements as not only contributed to economic growth, but also to
agents of positive change and global development are poverty reduction in rural areas. In China, for example,
evidence of this shift. The adoption of a standalone urban-based activities contributed to lifting 300 million
goal for cities in the 2030 Sustainable Development rural inhabitants out of poverty. Overall, ruralurban
Agenda (Sustainable Development Goal 11: make linkages resulted in an estimated reduction of 1325
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, percent in rural poverty in India between 1983 and 1999
and sustainable) is perhaps a turning point. (UN-Habitat, 2016). Research found that an increase of
Cities underpin profound social, political, and eco- 200,000 people in the urban population in India corre-
nomic transformations. They are engines of economic sponded to a decrease in rural poverty of 13 percent.
growth, accounting for 80 percent of global GDP Innovation, industrial and technological development,
(World Bank, 2016) and around 85 percent of all jobs. societal advancements, entrepreneurship, and creativity
196 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
or the urban extent of a city that encompassed several Large cities are therefore compelled to develop metro-
municipalities. In this sense, Tokyo appeared as a single politan governance arrangements not only for the sake
metropolitan area and not as 23 wards or municipalities; of productivity but to control urban expansion, increase
the Metropolitan Region of So Paulo was considered population density, and improve quality of life. Chapter
one city rather than 39 municipalities; and the City of 1.1 of this book (Why Metropolitan Governance Matters and
Johannesburg as a single metropolitan municipality and How to Achieve it) demonstrates that metro areas without
not as 18 cities or towns. a metropolitan authority are more likely to increase in
According to this study, three global trends threaten urban sprawl.
the economic performance of the metropolises: (i) ur-
Graph 1. Urban Extent Growth and Population Growth
ban sprawl and suburbanization; (ii) drastically declining
residential density; and (iii) disorderly and unplanned Less Developed Countries
urban growth. 5 500
100 500
100 500
Land Consumption per Capita (m2)
198 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
cities expansion areas between 1990 and 2015 were for- Local and national authorities no longer have the
mally planned. In this case, informally planned refers to option of making decisions about growing ever more
urban areas with an initial layout and territorial divisions complex cities and metropolises without the benefit
but streets that are typically unpaved and lack sidewalks; of internationally validated data and indices. This kind
not planned at all is defined as occupied land with no set of informed decision-making based on data and in-
layout or spatial organization and where settlement takes formation is a prerequisite to deciding which policies
place in an irregular fashion, or is atomistic; formally to implement, where to allocate public and private re-
planned indicates regular subdivisions carried out by the sources, how to identify setbacks and opportunities in
formal (public or private) sector, generally surveyed with a city, and how to measure what has changed. In short,
paved streets and sidewalks (Angel et al., 2016). a long-term process of monitoring and evaluation is
Planning and managing urbanization is essential for needed to ensure that cities and metropolitan areas are
the prosperity and sustainability of cities, particularly steered toward sustainable urban development.
large agglomerations and metropolises. Lack of or poor
planning diminishes the capacity of a city to generate The City Prosperity Initiative
economies of scale and agglomeration and undermines
the potential that urbanization offers. Higher costs to Since 2013, UN-Habitat has implemented the City
provide infrastructure and public goods, the intensi- Prosperity Initiative as a tool to measure the prosperity
fication of social and economic inequalities, and the and sustainability of cities. It has enabled city and met-
depletion of the protected environment are some of ropolitan authorities, as well as local and national stake-
the negative outcomes. holders, to identify opportunities and potential areas of
intervention for their cities to become more prosperous.
Understanding How Global Trends The initiative originated as the City Prosperity Index
and was accompanied by a conceptual matrix, the
Threaten Performance Wheel of Urban Prosperity, before being transformed
into a global initiative after UN-Habitat received re-
How do these global changes affect metropolitan ar- quests to estimate the prosperity indices of numerous
eas? What are the factors behind building prosperous cities. Mayors and other decision-makers wanted to
and sustainable urban agglomerations? What are the know how their cities compared to others. This includ-
major impediments for metropolises in improving ed, acquiring knowledge on how to improve the ratings
economic outcomes and quality of life for their of their cities on the prosperity path, gaining critical
inhabitants? The responses to all these questions insights about which programs and policies work, and
demonstrate the need for metropolitan authorities to assessing the possible impacts these actions have.
put in place sound monitoring mechanisms that pro- The CPI is both a metric and a policy dialogue
vide a general outlook and periodic assessments of the that offers cities the possibility to create indicators
state of the different municipalitiessometimes cit- and baseline information, often for the first time. It
iesthat compose a metropolis. Critical dimensions also serves to define targets and goals that can support
of urban development need to be studied in a more the formulation of evidence-based policies, including
integrated manner to move away from inefficient sec- the definition of city-visions and long-term plans that
toral approaches. Different scales of analysis from the are both ambitious and measurable. The CPI operates
neighborhood, to the municipality, to the metropolis, with aggregated city values that are also systemati-
to the region need to be part of the monitoring and cally disaggregated by six different components of
evaluation framework. Cultural and spatial differences prosperity: productivity, infrastructure, quality of life,
of every metropolis need to be considered, while at equity and inclusion, environmental sustainability, and
the same time allowing for international comparability. governance and legislation (cpi.unhabitat.org).
Supporting Multi-scale Decision-Making regional level, aggregating the 23 selected cities in four re-
gions, it is possible to adopt public policies from a region-
The CPI has been designed to support multi-scale de- al perspective that respond to geographic imperatives in
cision-making, ranging from national governments, to more homogenous areas of development (UN-Habitat,
metropolitan authorities, to city and sub-city local gov- FINDETER, APC, SDDE, and CAF, 2015).
ernments, and when information and data allows, even At a metropolitan level, the Agency for Metropolitan
disaggregating at the local, neighborhood level. It pro- Planning in So Paulo (Emplasa) is implementing the CPI
vides adequate information to make evidence-based in the 39 municipalities that comprise the metropolitan
decisions from a territorial perspective with the area. This study is assisting the State of So Paulo to
participation of different tiers of government. It also define a metropolitan strategy and propose an action
facilitates better institutional coordination and the plan for sustainable urban development. In Mexico, a
possibility to articulate sectoral interventions from critical mass of data for 77 metropolitan areas that are
metro- and city-wide perspectives. Working in this implementing the CPI enables the Ministry of Rural and
coordinated and integrated manner reinforces the Urban Development (SEDATU) and the Housing Bank
principle of active subsidiarity and collaboration. (INFONAVIT) to assess the impact of massive low-cost
In Colombia, for example, the CPI supported the housing on the prosperity of these agglomerations. The
development and implementation of national urban study calculates specific prosperity indices for each of the
policies, articulated in a National System of Cities. This 136 municipalities that form these metropolises, assisting
strategy will permit all citiessmall, medium, and local and national governments to identify deficits and
largeto better participate in the national development opportunities. This analysis has identified inter-municipal
plan by reassessing and reconfiguring their comparative inequalities and provided the tools to understand that
advantages. With an innovative analysis of the CPI at the urbanization is far from homogenous.
202 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
This shows that metropolitan governance and pub- aggravate disparities by focusing on one area of develop-
lic policies have been unable to maintain the different ment to the detriment of the other areas. Infrastructure
dimensions of prosperity at similar levels. (32 points) and environmental (27) values in El Salto
are extremely low, which is mainly due to the significant
Unequal Levels of Prosperity Within presence of slums, lack of waste water treatment, poor
access to water, and the absence of mass public transport.
Metropolitan Areas
Graph 3. CPI in Guadalajara and Monterrey, Mexico
Tla al
lto
Ar a
los ua a
Tla an s
Ju que
mb de
Z lco
ep ro
Gu ea
S illo
jar
tro jar
ig
qu ed
Sa
atl
de u
n
Me n
ala
po
Me ala
a
r
jom
To
ac
c
El
Za
ad
ad
an
are also evident at the intra-metropolitan level, with
lah
Ixt
some municipalities featuring relatively high on the CPI
Monterrey
index, while others are seriously lagging behind. A deeper
analysis carried out in five metro areasMexico City, 58
56 56
Puebla, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Celayafurther 54
53
confirmed that Mexican cities are growing unequally and 52 51 51 51 50 50 50
that prosperity is far from being shared by all inhabitants 49 48
and municipalities.
43
The greatest disparities among these agglomerations
are found in the metro areas of Guadalajara, Monterrey,
Ga o
ia
Meonte y
G pe
Ca rca
Pe ez
El ra
Ci en
ua
Gu na
Ge Apo a
Viclinas
de n N rea
Ju z
Sa es
Ga s
Sa ro A ey
n a
Flo ga
and Puebla (Graph 3). In some cases, the disparities
co ral
d
M rre
ne dac
e
rz
Jimreyt
tor
be
r
alu
rm
Sa uaz
r
ue
los icol
t rr
de ne
tar
Es ene
nte
sq
C
de
ad
Ca
Z
Mo
ral
nta
204 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
size of the city agglomeration (Graph 5). In itself, this is Identifying the Factors Underlying
good news because it indicates that cities do not need to Prosperity
grow in population to be prosperous, otherwise inhabi-
tants would invariably prefer to live in large metropolises. The limited powers of the metropolis, such as plan-
And is the case in Mexico, 43 percent of the population ning, laws, institutional frameworks, and governance
lives in secondary cities and medium-sized metropolises mechanisms, play against the possibility of ensuring
(United Nations, 2014). It also shows, however, that large harmonious development; consequently, some of the
metropolises are not taking advantage of their network dimensions of prosperity gain prevalence over others,
effects, cost advantages, and production scales and are creating distorted development. This dysfunction limits
experiencing diseconomies of scale relatively soon in the the possibility of generating self-reinforcing mechanisms
urbanization process. among the various dimensions of prosperity, and it is
possible that one dimension could interfere in the per-
Graph 4. Productivity and Population Size
formance of the other. For instance, metropolises like
in Mexican Metropolises
Cancun, Reynosa, and Monterrey, which have the lowest
60
infrastructure development scores can be affected by
55
R2 = 0.26
other dimensions, such as productivity or quality of life.
50
Wider discrepancies among the values across the various
45
dimensions of prosperity point to institutional and struc-
Productivity Index
40
tural metropolitan governance failures that are further
35
aggravated by territorial imbalances, inadequate capital
30
investments in public goods, management inefficiencies,
25
lack of proper monitoring mechanisms, and the lack of
20 intra-metropolitan schemes needed to address negative
10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000
Population Size
externalities of the agglomeration.
The policy factors underlying the prosperity of
Source: UN-Habitat CPI Database, 2016 cities are multifaceted and can be described in terms
Note: A moderate correlation between productivity and city size exists. In
general, larger agglomerations are more productive than smaller ones. of drivers and constraints. A comparison of results
between high- and low-performing metro areas on
Graph 5. Prosperity and Population Size the different dimensions of prosperity allows us to
in Mexican Metropolises identify them. With regards to infrastructure devel-
65 opmentthe dimension with the lowest values in
the Mexican metro areasit is possible to observe
60
that the average score (42 points) hides important
R2 = 0.10
variations. A prosperous city maintains its physical
City Prosperity Index
55
assets and amenitiesadequate water, sanitation,
50 power supply, road network, and ICT, among oth-
ersto sustain the population and economy while
45
also providing a better quality of life. A more refined
40 analysis of infrastructure results, integrating popu-
10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000
lation, demonstrates three main clusters of metros
Population Size
(Graph 6): one with a relatively high infrastructure
Source: UN-Habitat CPI Database, 2016. index includes only four medium-sized metro areas
Note: Cities do not need to grow in population in order to become more
prosperous. Smaller and intermediate cities can have better quality of life,
(R2=0.28, black); a second group that is close to the
inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
average of overall infrastructure values includes 49
50
index, includes 12 metro areas. This cluster shows a
45 moderately inverse correlation with city size, which
R2 = 0.83
40
suggests that, as urban areas increase in size, quality
of life declines slightly (R2=0.56, dark orange). A
35
second group, which has close to the overall average
30 of quality life values, comprises 43 metropolises of
all sizes (R2=0.32, light orange). The third group
25
10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000 comprises 22 metro areas with the lowest values of
Lower Infrastructure Average Infrastructure Higher infrastructure quality of life and a moderate correlation to city size
Population Size (R2=0.57, black).
The factors that explain good quality of life in
Source: UN-Habitat CPI Database, 2016.
Note: The cities in black, with higher infrastructure development in relation to
the high performing metro areas (12) are largely
their size, are Tepic, Mazatln, Cajeme, and Tlaxcala.
related to the availability of public space, in partic-
Not all factors affect infrastructure development ular green areas. No other variables are statistically
to the same extent. Notwithstanding some form of significantly. Conversely, factors explaining the rela-
redundancy in the analysis, factors such as urban form tively poor results for quality of life in the 22 metros
(-11 points), housing (-7), and social infrastructure (-6) of group three are more apparent: lack of public
have the most effect on infrastructure development, space and poor safety. Interestingly, other factors
reducing the values of the dimension. More specifi- that negatively influence quality of life are strongly
cally, housing quality, the connectivity of the streets, related to the bad planning and poor governance
and the availability and access to public space are the and management of metropolises, namely urban
variables that most affect the poor performance of form, population density, housing quality, and air
these metropolitan areas. Additional factors external quality. Poor air quality reduces quality of life by 15
to the infrastructure dimension include social inclu- points, deficient housing by 12, and urban form and
sion (the prevalence of slums) and waste management population density by 9 points. Waste management
for smaller metro areas, and air quality and safety for particularly affects small metro areas, while the lack
larger conurbations. of or insufficient mass public transport has a strong
In contrast to infrastructure, quality of life is negative effect in large agglomerations.
one of the highest performers within the dimen- These results point clearly to the need for appropri-
sions of prosperity for the metro areas in Mexico ate metropolitan planning and management strategies
(61.4 points). Although this dimension has different to enhance economies of agglomeration and reduce
meanings, facets, and ways of measurement, the UN- their negative externalities. Steering the metropolis
Habitat CPI index measures aspects such as social to shared prosperity requires a reinvigorated notion
infrastructure, education, health, recreation, safety, of planning on an appropriate supra-municipal scale.
206 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Graph 7. Quality of Life and Population Size in
agglomerations are growing with significant imbalances
Mexican Metropolises
among their different administrative and political units.
75 They are also growing unequally across the different
dimensions that constitute prosperity and sustainability.
R2 = 0.56
70
The CPI enables us to understand why this is happening
and know what to do to make urbanization and metro-
Quality of Life Index
R2 = 0.32
65
politan growth a real transformative force.
60 Proper metropolitan urban planning, supported
R2 = 0.57
by adequate laws and governance mechanisms, can
55
make these agglomerations more integrated, more
50
compact, more connected, and more sustainable. The
10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000 evidence demonstrates that many factors hampering
Higher Quality of Life Average Quality of Life Lower Quality of Life prosperity have a local urban component. Well-planned
Population Size metropolises can optimize economies of agglomera-
tion, increase densities (where needed), generate mixed
Source: UN-Habitat CPI Database, 2016.
Note: Cities with lower quality of life lack sufficient public space and have land use, promote public spaces, and encourage social
worse levels of security. Their urban form is less conductive to prosperity, they
have lower population density levels, poorer housing quality, and poor air diversity, all of which are critical elements of prosperity
quality.
and sustainability (UN-Habitat, 2016). A revived form
of metropolitan planning needs to respond to the
Conclusion imperatives of urban expansion and the mechanism
of inequality and exclusion, safety, pollution, and other
The review of the most important global trends and negative externalities, extending across various scales
the analysis of how they affect the prosperity of the of intervention from municipalities to cities, and to
metropolis points to a direction of change. The subse- metropolitan and regional areas. Effective metropolitan
quent study on the levels of prosperity and the factors policies and management practices depend on laws
underlying change or lack thereof for a more prosper- and regulations as the primary framework for action,
ous future in the Mexican metro areas suggest clear implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. The lack
policy directions. Without adequate, timely produced, of these metropolitan legal frameworks acts as one of
and disaggregated information, local and metropolitan the major impediments to prosperity and sustainability.
authorities would not be in a position to understand CPI findings show that metropolitan CPI values are
urban dynamics, the factors that produce them, and not only the sum of the municipal CPIs that comprise
the policies and actions that are needed to operate a an urban agglomeration. In fact, some form of multi-
real transformative change. Governments must pay plication takes place to enhance the prosperity values
more attention to how, when, and by which standards of the overall agglomeration in a way that is much
they measure issues such as accessible and sustainable more significant than the simple average of the isolat-
transport, adequate and affordable housing, inclusive ed municipalities. Synergies among different levels of
urbanization, and many other important issues that are government are realized and the individual capacity of
crucial for the sustainability and shared prosperity of cities and metro areas is strengthened, as well as their
metropolises (UN-Habitat, 2016). comparative advantages. Harmonious regional and ter-
UN-Habitat CPI can place cities in a strong position ritorial urban development requires strong metropoli-
to devise a systemic, data-driven, local approach to tan governance structures that facilitate subsidiarity and
current urbanization issues, incorporating new ana- decentralization, but also better national coordination
lytical tools based on spatial indicators. As illustrated for the sake of more balanced social, economic, and
by the analysis of metro areas in Mexico, many urban environmental development.
208 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2.6 Climate Governance in Metropolitan Regions
Harriet Bulkeley (Durham University) and Andres Luque-Ayala (Durham University)
Abstract
This chapter reviews emerging approaches to climate change governance in cities and metropolitan
regions. Targeting both climate mitigation and adaptation practices, the authors argue that governing
climate change is fundamentally an urban issue. Climate change affects metropolitan regions not simply
as a recent biophysical climatic condition but as a set of historically produced (social and political)
vulnerabilities. While climate change in the city is both unevenly produced and has a set of uneven
manifestations, urban space operates as a privileged site to imagine and develop climate solutions.
The chapter examines three types of urban responses to climate changenetworks, partnerships,
and innovation and experimentationand concludes with a reflection on why and how metropolitan
climate responses are a matter of climate justice: enabling and developing urban policies and inno-
vations that more adequately address issues of social and environmental justice are key challenges of
metropolitan climate governance.
Governing climate change is fundamentally an urban more salient as cities and municipalities grow into
issue. Cities and metropolitan regions are hotspots of city-regions, urban corridors, and other metropolitan
energy consumption, by some estimates accounting configurations that foreground the relevance of co-
for 7176 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) ordinating across municipal borders when responding
emissions from final energy use (IPCC, 2014a). They to climate change. The chapter reviews the ways
are also primary recipients of climate impacts, as in which local governance is responding to climate
much of global climate risks are concentrated in change, focusing on the importance of transnational
urban environments. In the past three decades, there networks of municipal governments, partnerships
has been growing recognition that cities and the local with non-state actors, and socio-technical forms of
scale are positioned at the frontline of responding innovation and experimentation to shape what met-
to climate change. Metropolitan areas are primary ropolitan governance can do to respond to this global
contributors to climate change and urban expansion challenge. Climate networks, partnerships, and exper-
and the rapid growth of informal settlements and imentation pose both challenges and opportunities
vulnerable communities within and across cities and to metropolitan regions, where two or more urban
municipalities exacerbate it (IPCC, 2014b). At the conurbations work together to address a common set
same time, as the level of government closest to the of problems and objectives. To conclude, the chapter
people, metropolitan governments are seen to have foregrounds the political nature of climate responses
the potential to provide more decentralized, flexible, and the extent to which issues of justice, exclusion,
and locally specific forms of response to climate and inclusion should be considered in developing
change. This chapter reviews key concepts within an effective metropolitan climate governance strategies.
emerging metropolitan governance of climate change,
and examines why and how cities and municipalities Empowering Cities
have become critical sites for the mobilization of pol-
icies and actions toward both climate mitigation and The involvement of cities and municipalities in devel-
adaptationa perspective that becomes increasingly oping responses to climate change is not new. For over
210 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
an ecology inspired understanding of social-ecological Networks, Partnerships, Innovation
systems, refers to coping with change and returning to and Experimentation
conditions of equilibrium. Both decarbonization and
the drive toward resilience are often seen by govern- In practice, cities are responding to climate change
ments and business as opportunities to develop green primarily through three types of arrangements: trans-
economies and clean technologies, establishing links national networks, partnerships, and innovation and
between climate responses and market-based forms of experimentation. Advancing novel forms of govern-
economic prosperity. Other stakeholders, particularly ing across scales, transnational networks of cities and
grassroots organizations and civic groups at the local metropolitan regions are playing a key role in defining
scale, prefer a different perspective: the need to achieve the shape of contemporary governance of climate
both low-carbon and resilience through a radical shift to change. Municipal networks are enabling cities to mul-
new economic systems that are more localized in their tiply their influence horizontally across cities as well as
forms of production and consumption. vertically with other levels of government. Similarly,
Today, the urban and metropolitan scales operate city partnerships with business and community orga-
as privileged sites to imagine and develop climate solu- nizations are playing a significant role in developing
tions. In responding to climate change and in experi- low-carbon and resilient infrastructure, services, and
menting with new metropolitan capacities for climate goods. Finally, innovation and experimentation are key
governance, cities and local governments are learning ways in which cities and metropolitan regions are by-
by doing. A focus on policy development (e.g., through passing the traditional tools and limitations of urban
decarbonization and resilience action plans) needs planning and sector-by-sector policymaking to put in
to be balanced with an acute understanding of the place a new form of integrated climate governance.
limitations of such policies in the context of existing
social and material realities of the city (Lovell, Bulkeley,
and Owens, 2009). Considering the urban context Transnational Networks
brings attention to large- and small-scale metropolitan
infrastructure systems, positioning urban energy, water, Transnational networks of cities working on energy, cli-
waste, transport, ICT, and other networks as potential mate, and environmental issues have been identified as
sites of intervention for effective climate responses. key to the future structure of climate governance. While
This means advancing governance for climate adapta- metropolitan regions and local alliances have been a crit-
tion and mitigation that acknowledges the materiality ical part of global responses to climate change, this has
of the urban, recognizing that physical infrastructure only been enabled by the presence and action of trans-
defines a great deal of how climate change is experi- national governance networks. In short, metropolitan
enced and addressed. Networked infrastructure plays authorities are not responding to climate change in isola-
a vital role in structuring possibilities for a low-carbon tion or driven by internal pressures. Rather, transnational
urban transition, operating as both key catalysts for organization of cities has led to their prominence and po-
environmental problems and the critical means through tential significance as a site for acting on climate change.
which governing climate change takes place (Bulkeley, Over the past two decades, transnational networks of
Broto, Hodson, et al., 2010; Rutland and Aylett, 2008). cities working on energy and environmental issues have
Yet, rolling out effective infrastructure responses at played a critical role in developing and positioning urban
the metropolitan level requires transcending a purely responses to climate change (Bulkeley and Betsill, 2003;
technological approach, emphasizing the need for novel Kern and Bulkeley, 2009; Feldman, 2012; Gore, 2010).
governance arrangements, cross-boundary coordina- Networks such as the Cities for Climate Protection pro-
tion, and horizontal management, as well as the social gram, Energy Cities (the European Association of Local
and political nature of the citys infrastructures. Authorities in Energy), ICLEI, and more recently the
212 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Ban Ki-moon of former New York City mayor Michael third sector organizations, partnerships are becoming a
R. Bloomberg as Special Envoy for Cities and Climate way to lower startup costs and increase the human and
Change, and by the UNFCCC launch of NAZCA (Non- capital resources available.
state Actor Zone for Climate Action) as part of the Lima It is important to acknowledge that partnerships
Paris Action Agenda. NAZCA operates as an online plat- and any type of direct action undertaken by private and
form that brings together the commitments to action by civil society actorstake urban climate responses to
companies, cities, subnational regions, investors, and civil areas outside the direct scope and influence of munici-
society organizations to address climate change (http:// pal governments and therefore are likely to be essential
climateaction.unfccc.int). By providing an overview of components of effective metropolitan governance
the commitments emerging at the subnational level, of climate change. While partnerships may provide
NAZCA played an important role in bringing state and a multiplicity of direct benefitssuch as resources,
non-state actors together toward the Paris Agreement knowledge, and a pool different strengthsthey also
that emerged out of COP21. require capacity (e.g., in terms of coordination) and can
be fragile in the face of competing interests. Advancing
metropolitan climate responses through partnerships
Partnerships requires a degree of caution, as these could be exclusive,
serve primarily the interests of selected groups, or omit
As metropolitan areas and regions seek to respond to direct linkages with broader societal needs by excluding
climate change, the importance of developing the gov- the requirements and voice of the poor and other mar-
ernance capacities required to address this complex issue ginalized groups. Partnerships can also raise questions
has been key. In a metropolitan context, partnerships about the legitimacy and transparency of decision-mak-
gain additional relevance, as they can become a vehicle ing, and the extent to which decision-making is open
for transurban (e.g., between neighboring municipalities) and democratic (Bulkeley, 2013, p.96).
collaboration toward both climate change and integrat-
ed service provision. As illustrated by the Compact of
Mayors, one of the main roles that city networks play in Innovation and Experimentation
supporting local governments in responding to climate
change is related to their ability to foster partnerships Large and small cities, but particularly many of the so-
with non-state actors and garner widespread support called global cities, have shown a marked strategic inter-
from a variety of stakeholders across civil society est in responding to climate change. Yet collective and
(Bontenbal, 2009; Bulkeley and Schroeder, 2012). Given individual urban responses have not necessarily resulted
the fragmented nature of metropolitan infrastructure in systematic planning efforts or in consistent enactment
and service provision, where various private and public of effective regulation. In contrast to these more plan-
organizations at the local, regional, and national levels are ning-led approaches, a marked interest in climate change
tasked with delivery, a partnership mode of governance at the city level has resulted in a growing patchwork of
is increasingly playing an important part in developing projects and interventions as municipalities seek to take
effective climate responses. Municipal governments have advantage of funding opportunities, potential strategic
embraced publicprivate partnerships as well as joint partnerships, or a reframing of local concerns in the con-
efforts with non-profits and community organizations text of a global agenda that appears to have broader trac-
as a new strategic approach to governing climate change tion and political appeal (Bulkeley, 2013). These projects
(Bulkeley and Schroeder, 2012; Bulkeley and Castan and interventions can be thought of as a form of urban
Broto, 2012; Hodson and Marvin, 2010). Coupled with experimentation, often bypassing traditional funding and
increased funding availability and a growing interest in planning mechanisms while at the same time creating
opportunities to address climate change in private and new forms of intervention in the absence of formal
214 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
performance and operation of new social and insti- respond and adapt because of a low asset base (da Silva,
tutional arrangements as much as new infrastructure Kernaghan, and Luque, 2012). As several scholars point
configurations and lower impact technologies. to the direct links between urban poverty and climate
vulnerability (Bicknell, Dodman, and Satterthwaite,
Conclusion: Metropolitan Climate 2009; Satterthwaite, 2009), it becomes clear that climate
change affects metropolitan dwellers in different ways.
Responses a Matter of Climate Justice Responding to climate change in metropolitan regions,
particularly in the context of cities in the global South,
This chapter highlights trends, challenges, and op- requires resolving preexisting urban vulnerabilities, par-
portunities for an emerging metropolitan governance ticularly those generated by poverty, informal housing,
of climate change. As large and small cities increase and access to limited services. As illustrated by the pio-
economic and physical connectivity through mega-re- neering experience of many small- and medium-sized
gions, urban corridors, and city-regions, responding to cities around the world, from Durban in South Africa
climate change also becomes a matter of metropolitan to Esmeraldas in Ecuador, metropolitan governance
interaction and coordination. Developing mitigation and of climate adaptation would require, first and foremost,
adaptation responses at the metropolitan level requires devis[ing] a new set of practical tools to address the
openness to partnerships across municipalities as much needs of the most vulnerable and ensure that rapid
as with civil society and private stakeholders. It calls for urbanization [will] not continue increasing vulnerabili-
an understanding of the metropolitan scale as a site for ty (Luque, Edwards, and Lalande, 2013, p.11; see also
climate intervention, considering action across municipal Roberts, 2010).
borders by engaging with the macro-urban and regional Positioning climate responses as a matter of justice
scales at which many vital urban infrastructures and nat- transcends the domain of climate adaptation, applying
ural ecosystems operate. Finally, it opens the possibility equally to how we approach issues of climate mitiga-
of using the metropolitan scale as a site for climate ex- tion. Until now, many of the urban responses to climate
perimentation and innovationwhere experimentation change have focused on establishing ambitious mitigation
is not simply understood as a technical matter, but rather targets without considering how such targets should
a matter of governance, social innovation, and politics. be distributed across the urban arena or the procedures
Climate change in urban areas is both unevenly by which diverse urban publics might engage in debate
produced and unevenly manifested. Increasingly, as the about what constitutes a fair and equitable response to
problem of climate change is understood in multiple, climate change (Bulkeley, 2015). While issues of climate
rather than singular ways. This welcome move recogniz- justice play an important role within international climate
es that climate change means different things to differ- negotiations (particularly through the principle of com-
ent people across nations, regions, metropolitan areas, mon but differentiated responsibilities, formalized at the
cities, and neighborhoods. An important consideration 1992 UNCED conference in Rio de Janeiro), the growing
is acknowledging that climate change affects urban work on urban responses to climate change still has a long
areas not simply as evolving biophysical threats in the way to go toward considering issues of justice. Within
form of, for example, increased precipitation, flooding climate change research, for example, only recently have
risks, changes in the spread of vector and waterborne low-carbon interventions in cities started to be examined
disease, heat waves, sea level rise, or other impacts, but through their potential to contribute to achieving social
primarily through a set of historically produced social justice or, alternatively, their capacity to foster conditions
and political inequalities and vulnerabilities. The effects of exclusion and inequality (Marino and Ribot, 2012;
of climate change are likely to be felt most by vulner- Bulkeley, Carmin, Castan Broto, et al., 2013).
able communities or those struck by poverty, exposed Issues of justice are likely to be at stake at a mul-
to higher levels of risk, and with limited capacity to tiplicity of junctions within an emerging framework
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Abstract
The effects of climate change are most palpable at the local level, causing individuals and households
to live in vulnerable situations and negatively affecting their safety, quality of life, and livelihoods.
However, the magnitude of climate change needs to be considered on the regional or metropolitan
scale, where the various and cumulative effects of climate change can endanger millions of lives, cul-
tural heritage, and the economy. This chapter makes the case that metropolitan-scale resilience plan-
ning will be successful when it is complemented by equitable, inclusive, and participatory local-level
resilience planning, and that in fact such local-level planning needs to be scaled up to inform the
metropolitan level. The authors provide insights into what would be important for resilience planning
at local and metropolitan levels and make the case for integrating local efforts into metropolitan re-
silience planning. The chapter includes examples from a diverse range of cities: Quito, Porto Alegre,
Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
The United Nations expects that by 2030, 41 me- brush efforts. As metropolitan regions continue to
ga-cities will be home to more than 10 million grow, and the impacts of climate change continue to
inhabitants each, predominantly in the global south rise, authorities need to ensure that climate change
(UN, 2014). Evidence suggests that growth has been planning accounts for the full spectrum of affected
uneven and has not sufficiently reduced poverty groups within a metropolitan region in ways that take
(Kneebone, 2014; Lee, Sissons, Hughes, et al., 2014). into account different vulnerabilities, as well as the
Metropolitan areas, particularly in the southern diverse resilience needs and priorities of populations
hemisphere, are marked by inequality, as poverty and across localities.
insufficient infrastructure co-exists with economic For the purpose of this chapter, resilience to
development and high income households. Urban climate change is the ability of a system (whether
agglomerations that experience greater inequality focused on a community, a metropolitan area, or
face issues that render successful governance chal- a specific sector) to withstand shocks and stresses
lenging: higher crime rates, slower economic growth, while maintaining its essential functions (IPCC, 2012).
and a smaller tax base from which to raise revenues Vulnerability is the propensity or predisposition to
(Glaeser, Resseger, and Tobio, 2009). be adversely affected, while adaptation is the pro-
Inequality also affects the distribution of vul- cess of adjusting to actual or expected climate change
nerability to climate change in urban areas. As such, and its effects (IPCC, 2012). Participatory planning
vulnerability to climate change can vary immensely refers to urban planning processes that bring together
within metropolitan regions, a phenomenon not multiple stakeholders through an iterative process to
often captured in adaptation or resilience planning. review an existing situation and work together to gen-
Therefore, metropolitan regions cannot be treated erate outcomes through this process. The process is
as homogenous and planned for with only broad founded on sharing information transparently among
218 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
stakeholders, fostering trust, and a clear understanding result in varying degrees of vulnerability. To combat
of the processes (Nelson, 2007). this, cities need to implement resilience measures that
This chapter looks at how to address local-level account for natural features and man-made infrastruc-
resilience planning (referring to the neighborhood, ture that span the entire metropolitan area, while fo-
municipality, or city) in a way that can be scaled up to cusing on the most vulnerable and ensuring that some
metropolitan resilience planning in order to account communities do not feel the negative consequences of
for differences in vulnerability and adaptive measures metropolitan adaptation efforts. For instance, when
in different locales in a metropolitan region. Linking planning for resilience in the National Capital Region
these two scaleslocal and metropolitanin promot- of Washington, D.C., planners included the core of
ing climate resilience can help deliver more effective the District of Columbia as well as areas in Arlington
results for different local communities and the region and Alexandria, Virginia, citing [T]he regions inter-
as a whole in a more sustainable and inclusive manner. dependent built systems, workforce, communities, and
natural systems converge here, which is the economic
Need to Address Metropolitan heart of the region, the nexus of regional transpor-
tation and services, and the confluence of two major
Capacity for Resilience Planning rivers (National Capital Planning Commission, 2013).
As much as planning for climate resilience at the
Cities do not exist as separate entities; they exist with- metropolitan level makes sense for large cities, it brings
in a broader geographical region and a subnational its own set of challenges, including coordination and
context, which both influence them greatly. The collaboration between multiple agencies, jurisdictions,
boundaries of large cities especially are often unclear and planning processes and timelines, as well as chal-
or limiting, and metropolitan regional boundaries lenges related to accounting for differential local reali-
become a more accurate measure to estimate how a ties. For instance, the U.S. process of Building a Climate
city functions and performs. Metropolitan regions, Resilient National Capital Region entailed a series of
or Metropolitan Statistical Areas as coined by the workshops and webinars over the course of 201314
U.S. Census Bureau, include both the urban core as and involved participation by 19 federal organizations,
well as surrounding areas that have a high degree three regional/state agencies, three utility companies,
of economic and social integration (Census Bureau, three local/city authorities, and five departments or
1994). They share a population, economic opportuni- agencies from the city authority of D.C., as well as seven
ties, and infrastructure and, despite having different non-governmental organizations. Enabling productive
jurisdictions and municipalities, function as a unit. interaction between individuals from 40 different
Examples include the metro area of Washington, organizations is challenging and time consuming but
D.C., which includes the District of Columbia ultimately necessary for effective adaptation action.
and the adjacent neighborhoods of Maryland and Another challenge of metropolitan resilience
Virginia, and metropolitan New York City, which planning is determining who has the authority and
includes Manhattan and the adjacent neighborhoods the incentive to implement the plans and ensure they
of New York and New Jersey. are effective. Good metropolitan governance systems
As cities confront the challenge of climate change, have a critical role to play here and can ensure good
metropolitan areas make even more sense as an metropolitan resilience. It is no secret that good gover-
administrative unit. Climate change impacts, seen nance is an elusive goal to assess and achieve. However,
through hazards such as floods, droughts, and heat metropolitan regions the world over need to consider
waves, have effects on a metropolitan-wide scale even how they can improve their governance systems and
while exposure and sensitivity of different neighbor- strategies to prepare for the increasingly frequent and
hoods and communities within a metropolitan area severe natural disasters caused by climate change.
220 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
However, most metropolitan regions do not have such disadvantaged groups are acts of commission; while
a coordinating agency and, to effectively coordinate projects that protect and favor economically advan-
resilience, may need to develop a consortium or create taged groups over minorities or low-income residents
such an agency. The Office of Long-Term Planning are acts of omission. An example of this on a city
and Sustainability was created in 2008 by Local Law 17. scale with lessons relevant to the metropolitan scale
Ensuring coordination and good governance at the is the initial planning process to rebuild New Orleans
metropolitan level alone, however, is unlikely to en- after Hurricane Katrina.
sure that the most vulnerableoften the poorest and Amid uncertainty as to how many residents would
most marginalized sectors of societyare protected return to the city, a debate surfaced about how much
from the effects of climate change, unintended conse- should be rebuilt and how to enable residents to
quences of adaptation interventions, or maladaptation. return without reproducing the pre-existing social
To secure such protection, authorities and planners inequalities and inequity (Nelson, 2007). Mayor Ray
need to ensure a close link with adaptation efforts Nagin created the Bring New Orleans Back (BNOB)
on a local scale so that metropolitan governance for Commission in September 2005 to provide city
resilience is equitable. officials redevelopment assistance (Nelson, 2007).
Although planning decisions had to address concerns
Need for Local, Participatory and needs at three levelsresidents, neighborhoods,
and the cityNelson (2007) writes that the mayor,
Resilience Planning when designing the BNOB Commission, did not
fully acknowledge the need for a participatory pro-
When metropolitan authorities fail to identify and cess to both build residents trust and foster dialogue
include specific vulnerable communities in the among all stakeholders about rebuilding strategies
planning process, undesirable outcomes can result, and concerns. Residents and local interests were
such as elite capture of resources and discrimination not prioritized from the onset because of the top-
against the marginalized or vulnerable (Dasgupta, down process favored by the Commission, which
2007; Anguelovski, Shi, Chu, et al., 2016). A top- strongly represented business interests. The BNOB
down decision and planning process tends to work Commission created seven committees, one of which,
with data and analysis developed for global scale the Land Use Committee, hired a planning firm to ad-
climate models (Von Aalst, Cannon, and Burton, vise and help develop a rebuilding plan (Nelson, 2007).
2008). Typically these processes are then scaled This plan developed recommendations that included
down to the local level but often omit community the now infamous Green Dot Map, which laid out a
participation, community-driven data or assets, ca- strategy to restore neighborhoods identified as among
pacities, and present vulnerabilities (Von Aalst et al., the most affected by the storm into parks and green
2008). As the impact of climate change is distributed spaces for ecological functions and to manage storm
unevenly within metropolitan areas, developing a water (Fields, 2009).
culture of local and participatory planning contrib- Most of the green dots were neighborhoods that
utes significant positive outcomes to a metropolitan were home to predominantly black and lower-income
areas overall resilience. families. Because of the evacuation and relocation
In some cases, metropolitan adaptation and resil- of many of these residents after the storm, and a
ience plans can exacerbate existing social vulnerabili- shortage of adequate policies to help residents return
ties and inequalities. Anguelovski et al. (2016) argued to their neighborhoods, many of these New Orleans
that there are two forms of injustice: acts of com- residents remained scattered throughout the United
mission and acts of omission. Projects or adaptation States and were thus omitted from the planning pro-
measures that disproportionately affect or displace cess (Nelson, 2007). A poor communications strategy
222 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
along with current strategies, policies, and measures. this assessment, testing its applicability in other
In practice, metropolitan planners can engage in a contexts, and understanding how it serves or links
range of activities to collect and analyze data with with metropolitan resilience is necessary. However,
communities: community risk mapping, transect preliminary outcomes are positive.
walks, asset inventories, livelihood surveys, histor-
ical and seasonal calendars, focus groups, surveys, Conclusion
discussions, and key informant interviews (Von
Aalst et al., 2008). This community-driven infor- As metropolitan regions become hubs of economic
mation helps authorities better understand present activity and the concentration of the global pop-
conditions, informing and enhancing their capacity ulation, the issue of adaptation and climate resil-
to analyze and adapt to future climate impacts. Such ience goes beyond a single, environmental narrative.
an approach would help a metropolitan city com- Adaptation at the local level is ultimately about quality
bine regional and local studies in order to engage in of life, allowing communities to flourish and develop
more holistic climate resilience planning, as in the sustainably, and raising their standard of living. This
example of Quito. must be reflected not only in local adaptation and re-
Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, Brazil, are silience plans, but also in the processes that determine
applying a resilience measurement tool at the neigh- and design regional plans. If the local needs of com-
borhood level to inform wider city planning. The munities are not integrated into the broader picture of
Urban Community Resilience Assessment (UCRA) metropolitan governance for urban climate resilience,
was implemented by city authorities in partnership then maladaptation could occur, as explained in the
with vulnerable communities to measure three aforementioned city-level example of New Orleans.
main aspects of resilience: the vulnerability of the This chapter identifies a few opportunities to
surrounding context, such as access to services address the need to scale local-level planning into
and exposure to high risks; community resilience, metropolitan resilience planning and presents them
such as social cohesion, which studies have shown as potential building blocks for a more coherent, co-
is important to enhance resilience (Baussan, 2015); ordinated approach to resilience planning on a metro-
and the capacity of individuals to deal with climate politan scale. Metropolitan regions could assess their
change, such as perception of risk and knowledge institutional capacity to address climate impacts prior to
and habits. undertaking metropolitan-scale resilience planning and
The UCRA combines community-driven and thereby produce more successful and ultimately imple-
collected data with city-level climate analysis, infor- mentable metropolitan resilience plans and supporting
mation, and risk management to determine whether governance structures. Moving forward with actions
a more nuanced, neighborhood-level strategy can and projects that promote metropolitan resilience, it is
lead to more appropriate resilience-building ini- imperative that metropolitan actors do not lose sight
tiatives that reflect the difference in the effects of of the local needs and vulnerabilities of communities
climate change across neighborhoods and integrate and citizens. Through local and participatory planning
these results into city and metropolitan resilience and appropriate measuring tools, these needs can be
planning processes. To date, Porto Alegre has identified inclusively and then integrated into metro-
included the UCRA in its Municipal Resilience politan action plans to address resilience. Ensuring the
Plan. Rio de Janeiro has features of the UCRA as disconnect between the metropolitan and local levels is
a resilience-building activity in both its Municipal adequately recognized and dealt with through a variety
Resilience Plan and its City Development Strategy, of measures, some of which are suggested in this chap-
which could be used to further inform metropolitan ter, can lead to a more inclusive and effective approach
resilience planning. Further work on developing to urban climate resilience.
224 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2.8 Metropolitan Governance for
Sustainable Mobility
Christopher Zegras* (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Abstract
Land use and mobility interactions in the modern metropolis manifest themselves in two competing,
age-old, forces: centripetal forces pulling us together into agglomerations and centrifugal forces
pushing us ever further into the metropolitan hinterland. Thus, mobility is a fundamental part of
urbanization and metropolitanization processes. Furthermore, mobility also serves as the core metric
in defining metropolitan areas, helping identify functional urban areas. This chapter aims to elucidate
some of the challenges to governing metropolises for sustainable mobility, defined by the author as
the ability to provide non-declining accessibility in time. The chapter analyzes mobility governance and
interrelating theories with concrete examples from the United States, Portugal, and Mexico, offering a
glimpse of the complexity and posing central yet still unresolved questions. In whose ultimate interest
is metropolitan mobility and who should pay for it? How related are the form of governance with
the quality of the governance outcome? By what outcomes can metropolitan mobility performance
be compared? Can these outcomes be meaningfully compared across metropolises? The chapter con-
cludes noting a contradiction: while the finance system is a critical factor in determining metropolitan
mobility governance, formal metropolitan mobility finance systems rarely exist. The author argues
that using money to move the metropolis in the right direction offers hope, largely unfilled to date,
to improve, and ultimately sustain, accessibility.
Mobility has always underpinned the concept of a areas, and the challenges to and examples of metro-
metropolis, dating back to the words Greek origins: politan mobility governance. It concludes with a sug-
the mother city to which colonies kept their eco- gestion that finance should play a more central role in
nomic, political, and cultural (mobility-enabled) ties. helping to induce better metropolitan governance for
Throughout modern urbanization, mobility has been sustainable mobility around the world.
inherent to metropolitanization. In essence, mobility
infrastructure and services have enabled the wide- Mobility in Metropolises: Core Forces
spread intra- and inter-national migration that fuels
urbanization. At the same time, mobility infrastructure Within a metropolis, people, firms, and other institu-
and services enable the urban expansion that makes tions interact with their land use and mobility sub-sys-
the modern metropolislarge, typically multi-jurisdic- tems creating accessibility, the ultimate objective of
tional, multi-centric economic engines. This chapter any human settlement: access to the daily needs and
aims to elucidate some of the challenges to governing wants to survive and thrive. Zegras (2011) argued that
the metropolis for sustainable mobility. It illustrates maintaining this capability to provide non-declining
the fundamental role of mobility within metropolitan accessibility in time is the fundamental operational
dynamics, how mobility systems define metropolitan definition of sustainable metropolitan mobility.
*The author is grateful for useful comments on sections of this chapter from Fred Salvucci, Laurel Paget-Seekins, Antnio Antunes, and Elisabete Arsenio.
Connectivities
Land, Floor Space Modes, Services
Mobility and Metropolitan Push/Pull spillovers (Glaeser, 1998; Ingram, 1998; Mieszkowski
and Mills, 1993).
Land use and mobility interactions in modern metrop- Centrifugal forces, simultaneously, push us apart.
olises manifest in two competing, age-old, forces: cen- These forces include classic negative urban exter-
tripetal forces pulling us together into agglomerations nalities, such as traffic congestion and air pollution.
and centrifugal forces pushing us ever further into the Various forms of social, political, and related factors
metropolitan hinterland. underlie the varying preferences of households and
Centripetal forces involve the general and often firms for public goods and services, as well as their
synergistic benefits people and firms obtain from rel- willingness to pay for them, also tend to counteract
ative proximity. For people, agglomeration can bring metropolitan centripetal forces. This phenomenon
higher earnings, possibilities for labor specialization, rests at the core of Tiebouts (1956) sorting, whereby
bargaining power, and insurance against unemploy- consumer-voters choose to reside in the local jurisdic-
ment, as well as access to better quality and quantity of tions that satisfy their public goods preferences and
goods, services, educational opportunities, and social willingness to pay (taxes). This positive theory leads
networks. For firms, centripetal benefits are partly to an efficient but not necessarily equitable outcome
complements to those for people and include higher in terms of a market for public services conditional
marginal labor productivity (e.g., due to specialization), on freedom of mobility, among other assumptions.
increasing returns on scale, higher access to labor, Basic urban economic theory captures how these
other inputs and final markets, as well as information forces shape the evolution of the metropolis, showing
226 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
the role of mobility and household and firm tradeoffs transportation infrastructure and services in inducing
in terms of location, space, and travel time (and costs). the multi-jurisdictionality of the modern metropolis
Most basically, the value of land, as an immobile asset, becomes clear. Alonso (1964) conceptually extended
partly reflects the relative accessibility (ease and value his model beyond the monocentric assumption and to
of movement) to/from that land, depending on the different types of transportation networks.
use of the land. Alonso (1964) formalizes this theory,
drawing from von Thnens seminal work from the Auto-mobility and Metropolitan
1820s, deriving the bidrent function for urban loca- Dynamics in the U.S.
tion choices. By this theory, a locating agents utility
depends on consumption of a generalized good, prop- Well before Alonsos writing, population growth in U.S.
erty size, and distance to the central business district metropolitan areas had already become suburb-dom-
(CBD). This agent aims to maximize utility, subject to inated, a process enabled by mobility, particularly au-
an income constraintthe resulting bidrent function to-mobility (i.e., the private car) (Muller, 2004). By 1960,
represents the amount an agent is willing to pay for the majority of people in the United States living in
rent at different locations, with different distances to metropolitan areas already lived outside the city center.
the CBD (and subsequently different transportation In the post-war era, rapid suburbanization of employ-
costs), while maintaining constant utility. The model ment followed households (Zimmer, 1974). Indeed, by
reveals a clear tradeoff between location and lot size, the time of Alonsos writing, metropolises in the United
and can somewhat straightforwardly be adapted to firm States had already become polycentric, with many sub-
location choice, with profit-maximization substituting urban bedroom communities being transformed into
for utility-maximization. By this theory, the generalized important centers of shopping, industry, and offices.
transport costs (e.g., time and money) dictate the shape Mobility, intertwined with demographic, socio-
of the curve (willingness to pay for proximity) and the economic, and cultural factors, played an important
end of the built-up zone (e.g., urban area boundary). role. National investments in highway infrastruc-
ture were a key contributor, as was the growth in
Figure 2. The Classic Monocentric BidRent Curve
dominance of the automobile and an emergence of
with a Mobility Investment
highly heterogeneous lifestyles, living orientations,
$ CBD= central business district communities, and travel demand patterns (Foley,
d= distance from CBD
r= rent price per square foot of land
1974). Inter-related demand factors also mattered.
b= urban area boundary For example, more women entering the workforce
_____ bid-rent curve before mobility investment
----------- bid-rent curve after mobility investment
created more two-worker households, changing the
commute demand equation with respect to house-
hold location choice. The growth of non-work
r0 r1 travel as a share of households total travel (Santos,
McGuckin, Nakamoto, et al., 2011) also increased
CBD b0 b1 d
the importance of accessibility to a much wider
Source: Author. range of potential destinations in the household
location decision. The traditional CBD no longer
A mobility improvement in relation to the CBD created as much pull for households or for firms, and
will lower the land value at the CBD, flatten the slope polycentricity broadly emerged (e.g., Giuliano and
of the bidrent curve, and extend the built-up area Small, 1991). In the United States, in any case, the
boundary (Figure 2). In Figure 2, if b represents a centrifugal movement of people and jobs seems to
political boundary (for a local jurisdiction) and such have been associated with shorter average commute
boundaries do not change, then the basic role of distances (Crane and Chatman, 2002). By the late
228 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
The multi-sectoral effects of mobility, which Metropolitanism in Mobility
influences, for example, housing, land development, Governance
and environmental conditions, add a level of insti-
tutional and disciplinary complexity. For instance, The possibility of achieving some form of met-
mobility services and infrastructure have direct and ropolitan governance for mobility is influenced
indirect effects on land development and vice versa by the scale and scope of the mobility problem,
(Figure 1). Relevant responsibilities tend to be sep- the nature of the infrastructure and services,
arated and often poorly coordinated within a single disciplinary and technocratic differences, and
jurisdiction, much less horizontally and/or vertical- the need to balance potential scale-related bene-
ly. The effects of this sectoral segregation are likely fits (e.g., urban rail investment) versus localized
exacerbated by disciplinary differences, including preferences (e.g., bicycling infrastructure) related
the modeling and evaluation tools used, time frames to jurisdictional sorting. In considering realistic
of analysis, and even methods of intervention (e.g., models of governance, political legacy also mat-
zoning versus infrastructure investments). ters. Metropolitan governance capabilities are
Individual planning styles, partly associated with influenced by the form and degree of a nations
sector and discipline, matter also because they can decentralization, which itself derives from a coun-
come into conflict, depending on technical ap- trys governing legacy, such as whether subnational
proach, political influence, collaborative propensity, governance has its origins in devolution or decon-
and/or advocacy perspective (Innes and Gruber, centration (Table 1). Inman (2007) defined gover-
2005). Related underlying socio-political and cul- nance along three related institutional dimensions:
tural factors play a role, such as environment versus number of subnational (i.e., provincial or state)
growth conflicts; racial, ethnic, and religious differ- governments, their policy responsibility, and their
ences; and philosophical perspectives on financing elective representation in central government. By
collective goods and societal conceptions of public these dimensions, Inman classified democratic
versus private goods. In public finance theory, pub- countries into three basic categories: federal, such
lic and private goods are defined by their degree as the United States, Germany, Brazil, Canada,
of rivalry and excludability; mobility infrastructure Switzerland, Spain, and Argentina; administratively
and services rarely fit cleanly into these dimensions. federal (unitary with policy decentralization), such
In practice, whether societies treat a certain good as France, Italy, Denmark, Japan, The Netherlands,
as public or private depends on a combination of and Uruguay; and unitary (without policy decen-
history, culture, laws, and ideology, among other tralization), such as Chile, Ecuador, Greece, Peru,
factors (Zegras, Nelson, Macrio, et al., 2013). Portugal, Philippines, and the United Kingdom.
Table 1. Characteristics of Governing Systems Relevant to Metropolitan Institutionality
This matters to governing metropolitan mobility Few bus services from the surrounding suburbs are
because mobility infrastructure and services, over time, permitted to operate in Mexico City, generating massive
influence the necessary geographic scope. Fifty years ago, demand for transfers (busbus and busmetro), creating
Mexico City was essentially a city-statehistorically, the system inefficiencies and major user inconvenience (in
Distrito Federalbut, since 2016, it has been formally 2010, approximately 2 million passengers per day made
known as Mexico City and equivalent to a state-level such inter-jurisdictional transfers at Mexico City transfer
government. Most of the metropolitan areas subsequent stations, GDF, 2011). Mexico City, with responsibility
growth, however, occurred beyond the Distritos jurisdic- for building, operating, and financing the urban rail sys-
tion. Today, the Mexico City Metropolitan Area is a highly tem (metro) has few incentives to expand services and
fragmented, one-tier governance model, which drastically infrastructure into the surrounding jurisdictions in the
impacts mobility infrastructure and service efficiencies. State of Mexico. Highway investments have also been
230 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
notoriously uncoordinated between Mexico City and United States: Metropolitan Mobility
bordering jurisdictions. Berlin, similarly, has city-state sta- Governance in a Federal System
tus and has unsuccessfully tried to expand its boundaries
to include suburban municipalities from the neighboring The United States is a longstanding federal system,
state of Brandenburg (Slack, 2015). Even Singapore, a with elected federal, state, and local governments. Its
city-state nation with a dominant political party, is not metropolitan areas, as defined by the Census Bureau,
immune from the challenges of metropolitan expansion. have long been jurisdictionally fragmented. By the late
The nations metropolitan area is spreading across the 1960s, the 227 statistical metropolitan areas already
narrow Johore Strait into neighboring Malaysia. Indeed comprised an average 38 local governments (counties,
Singapore is expanding its urban rail system into Malaysia municipalities, townships, not including school dis-
and is reportedly developing housing estates there as well. tricts and special districts) (Campbell and Dollenmayer,
Such metropolitan growth dynamics will surely influence 1974). Most metropolitan planning and coordination
mobility governance in the city-states future. in the United States originated as incentives from state
Despite the challenges, mobility also serves as a and/or national government, including federal condi-
natural point for some amount of intra-metropolitan tional grants-in-aid (Zimmer, 1974). Some authorities
collaboration. A study of metropolitan governance in emerged as Metropolitan Special Districts, designed to
OECD countries (Ahrend, Gamper, and Schumann, solve specific, area-wide service problems related to
2014) found transportation to be among the three the cross-boundary benefits associated with highways
most common metropolitan governance organiza- or public transportation, and often given special fi-
tions with some evidence of successful outcomes nancing capabilities (e.g., revenue from fees) (Zimmer,
(e.g., citizen satisfaction with public transport). The 1974). Such limited special districts may have had the
OECD study, nonetheless, appears to focus on a unintended consequences of further fragmenting the
relatively limited scope of transportation, primarily metropolitan governance landscape and exacerbating
public transport authorities. This fact reveals another inter-system externalities (e.g., highways vs. transit).
challenge to metropolitan transportation governance Federal transportation legislation, specifically the
since the range of relevant planning and management highway investment and finance system after World
responsibilities include the following: War II, gave birth to the modern metropolitan trans-
Planning infrastructure and services for portation planning organizations in the United States
public and private transport, roads and rails, today known as Metropolitan Planning Organizations
passengers and freight, motorized and non- (MPOs). A series of federal laws drove the process: the
motorized modes 1962 Federal-Aid Highway Act implicitly set the metro-
Managing and regulating infrastructure and politan scale for highway planning in urban areas and
services, including parking, traffic, operating, required planning as a condition for receiving money.
and infrastructure concessions and licensing By 1968, each state had to designate and empower
Designing, financing, investing in, and metropolitan area entities (clearinghouses) to review
sometimes constructing and operating projects for federal aid and coordinate these projects
infrastructure and services with plans and programs among different agencies. In
Collaborating with relevant authorities in the early 1970s, MPO requirements were strength-
related sectors, including land planning and ened and funded through federal highway financing
development, environmental protection, public (Weiner, 1992). Notably, states viewed these federally
health, and safety empowered MPOs as a violation of state rights by
creating another level of government (Weiner, 1992).
Rarely, if ever, does a single metropolitan au- Although MPOs originated in highway funding legisla-
thority encompass this entire range of functions. tion (through the Federal Gas Tax), MPOs scopes of
232 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
The two autonomous regions are not included in this dominance in the membership structure; and lacked any
characterization. Metropolitan governance is limited meaningful recourse to financial instruments. In 2015
to fragmented administrative powers, largely subsidi- the Portuguese government passed a law abolishing the
ary to municipal governments and dependent on the AMTs and folding their responsibilities into the respec-
central government for most financial support (Rayle tive metropolitan governments (Assembleia da Repblica,
and Zegras, 2013). The nation has been undergoing a 2015). This may represent a promising streamlining of
relatively slow process of deconcentration and decen- metropolitan governance, although only time will tell if
tralization, conditioned in part by membership in the the metropolitan institutions move beyond their strategic
quasi-federalist EU system. Nonetheless, the nation re- role toward a more fully empowered one for mobility and
mains relatively highly centralized in terms of spending other responsibilities.
responsibilities and tax revenue (OECD, 2017). Given this relatively weak formal metropolitanism,
The nation has long struggled with creating in- some evidence of bottom-up municipal collaboration
ter-municipal governance capabilities in the two primary has emerged, albeit not at a fully metropolitan scale. Rayle
metropolitan areas. Various laws have defined and and Zegras (2013) examined ad-hoc inter-municipal
aimed to empower the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon collaboration in Lisbon and Porto in the land use and
and Porto (AML and AMP, respectively). Most recently, mobility realms, finding that collaboration is facilitated
a 2013 law further defined the AML and AMP and by positive incentives (e.g., money), flexibility in the
approved inter-municipal entities for other urbanized institutional system, the presence of an external catalyst,
areas across the country. Earlier legal incarnations of existing networks, and specific organizational character-
the AMP and the AML did not represent metropolitan istics. Any one of these factors is insufficient; nearly all
governments, per se. Instead, each played a convening must be present for collaboration to emerge. Even then,
role, with the constituent municipalities participating the existing inter-municipal collaborations reveal modest
through a metropolitan assembly (members elected scopes. The focus of the collaboration also plays a logical
by municipal assemblies). Their respective attributions role. For projects such as public transport infrastructure,
were relatively vaguely defined and they depended with tangible, relatively short-term benefits, other factors
nearly entirely on their municipal members or central play a modestly important role. Where benefits are more
government for financing (Assembleia da Repblica, uncertain, such as for long-term planning, several sup-
2008). The result was the promulgation of a mix of porting conditions are necessary, including an external
non-compulsory, somewhat visionary strategic docu- coordinating force. Broader metropolitan coordination
ments (Schmitt, 2013). The 2013 law changes the politi- for land use and mobility in Portugal will likely require
cal composition of the metropolitan areas, although the metropolitan governance empowered to incentivize col-
attributions and dependencies remain nearly identical laboration (Rayle and Zegras, 2013). Time will tell if the
(Assembleia da Repblica, 2013). new metropolitan governance structure will effectively
A 2009 law established Metropolitan Transportation move in this direction.
Authorities (AMTs), which jurisdictionally coincided with
the AML and AMP but represented a separate governing Metropolitan Governance for
structure. Zegras et al. (2013) suggested that the AMTs
lacked the administrative and financial authority to met-
Sustainable Mobility: A Path Forward
ropolitanize transportation; risked exacerbating percep-
tions of a central government transportation finance bias The Portuguese examples of inter-municipal collabo-
toward Lisbon and Porto; might hamper broader inter- ration on land use and mobility reveal a mix of causes.
modal and intra-system management needs by focusing Collaboration emerges, or not, due to different com-
primarily on public transportation; remained a heavily binations of different factors, even when observing
top-down solution, evidenced by central government just two metropolitan areas in the same nation. That
Sources: INRIX: Cookson and Pishue, 2017; TTI: Schrank et al., 2015; Automobile: Owen et al., 2016a; Public Transport: Owen et al., 2016b; Walk: Owen et al., 2015.
Note: The geographic scope of the INRIX and TTI congestion measures are not necessarily consistent. TTI apparently uses the MSA, while INRIX defines urban
area based on roadway density. The accessibility values are calculated for the MSA; accessibility to jobs measures are calculated using travel time estimates for
metropolitan areas and the distribution of jobs, with the number of jobs reachable weighted, decreasingly, according to travel times (essentially, a cumulative
opportunities approach with a gravity-type impedance applied).
234 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Follow the Money? development patterns, environmental impacts, and so-
cial equity (Taylor, 2004). The key elements of system
(The author acknowledges Taylor [2004].) financing send investment signals, project and program
Associating the mobility performance of metropoli- evaluation signals, user (and system efficiency) signals,
tan areas with governance offers an inductive way to and signals for system coordination to the relevant
identify good governance structures. Deductively, we agencies and different levels of government. The
can be driven by theory: effectively governing metro- United States experience with national highway finance
politan mobility requires some capability to balance (via the gas tax) being used to induce coordinated
the societal benefits of scale (e.g., cross-jurisdictional metropolitan mobility planning and project selection
infrastructure and services) with localized benefits through the MPO process has been marginally effective.
of individual free choices. This requires coordination But without directly elected representatives and
across jurisdictions and integration of the land use rarely with direct recourse to taxes or responsibility
transport systems. The former is sometimes present, for investment and providing services, MPOs fall
while the latter, rarely. Places with strong jurisdictional short, and the U.S. federal government continues to
coordination, such as the cases of a relatively strong play an overly strong role. Fiscal federalism theory
central government role in metropolitan areas in The suggests that a metropolitan mobility finance system
Netherlands or jurisdictional integration in Singapore, should aim for fiscal equivalence, whereby beneficia-
run the risk of strengthening functional domains, ries and payees are matched, and efficiency, where
favoring intra-disciplinary dialogue and minimizing prices closely match marginal social costs, and price
inter-departmental collaboration (Kantor, 2006). This signals guide investment and management decisions.
suggests a tension exists between horizontal and ver- Prices should account for inter-system and intra-sys-
tical collaboration and integration: centralization does tem externalities. In short, the finance system is a
not necessarily ease metropolitanization of integrated critical factor in determining metropolitan mobility
mobility governance. governance, but formal metropolitan mobility fi-
Incentivizing metropolitanism in mobility might nance systems rarely exist (Zegras et al., 2013). Of
require stronger recourse to well-designed mobility the typical instruments availableexplicitly or im-
finance. Bird and Slack (2007) intimated that effective plicitlyfor financing metropolitan mobility, road
metropolitan governance requires an appropriate fiscal charges (e.g., congestion pricing), public transport
structure. The transport finance system and related fares, and land-related taxes have the strongest the-
fiscal instruments profoundly influence metropolitan oretical adherence to a fiscal federalismconsistent
mobility performance and related effects such as land metropolitan mobility system (Table 4).
Table 4. Fiscal Federalism: Financial Instruments for Metropolitan Mobility
236 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
aprova o estatuto das entidades intermunicipais, es- Glaeser, E. (1998). Are cities dying? The Journal of Economic
tabelece o regime jurdico da transferncia de com- Perspectives, 12(2), 13960.
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238 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Section 3
Building metropolitan governance:
lessons and good practices
Abstract
Greater Cairo offers an interesting case study of a huge metropolitan area and primate capital city
that has developed under a governance system characterized by dominant national authorities and
virtually no metropolitan-level coordination or structures. In spite of serious challenges that include
dichotomous spatial development, very weak local authorities, massive informal settlements, serious
transport problems, and imbalances in the funding of investments, attempts at instituting metropolitan
governance have so far had no success. The difficulties of introducing useful reform offer a cautionary
tale for efforts to promote metropolitan governance elsewhere.
Metropolitan regions, defined as metropolitan agglom- Cairo also is the seat of central government and by any
erations where people live and work across jurisdic- measure it can be considered a primate city, with recent
tional boundaries, are becoming more economically estimates putting the Greater Cairo Regions share of
interdependent with their surrounding settlements gross national product at 44 percent (Egypt, 2015).
and hinterlands, creating metropolitan areas that are However, for decades, Greater Cairo has managed
constantly expanding and need to be thought of as to avoid any metropolitan-level emphasis in adminis-
having a common economy, labor market, transport trative organization or in horizontal coordination, in
system, and infrastructure network. Such thoughts spite of a small number of attempts to introduce these.
underlie the increasing attention to metropolitan-wide Instead, all aspects of Greater Cairos governance and
mechanisms and joint interventions that can support development are controlled by national-level authorities
efficient, equitable, and sustainable urban growth. In or their subsidiaries, and all decisions about the me-
fact, as pointed out in Chapter 1.3 of this book on tropolis are centralized at the highest level. The result
Metropolitan Governance by Mats Andersson, this is fragmented responsibilities, silos, and little collective
thinking can be called the new normal. effort except in an ad-hoc manner. Such a high level
How does Greater Cairo measure up in terms of of management centralization represents one extreme
metropolitan governance? And does an understanding approach to organizing metropolitan development, and
of its particular forms of governance help inform thus offers an interesting case of what happens in the
ongoing discussions about the need for and ways to absence of metropolitan-level governance.
encourage metropolitan-level coordination and cohe-
sive planning and intervention? Greater Cairo as a Metropolitan Area
On the face of it, Greater Cairo should be a prime
case for metropolitan-scale management. It is one of How such a fragmented and extremely centralized
some 15 megacities worldwide, with a current popula- system for governing Greater Cairo came to be re-
tion of over 20 million inhabitants (some 23 percent of quires a brief look at Egypts modern history and
the national population). The metropolitan agglomer- geography. Any understanding of Cairos growth
ation has spread in recent decades to encompass all or must first be cognizant of its unique geographic set-
most of three local administrations (governorates), and ting. Figure 1 shows urban development straddles the
its economic and spatial influences extend even further. Nile and extends both into the intensely cultivated
242 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Table 1. Major Government Institutions Related
three governorates) except for a smattering of urban
to Greater Cairo Governance
renewal schemes in formal areas and the development
of the underground metro and road flyover networks. Planning and Land Development
244 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 3. The New Towns Around Cairo
Informal Cairo: The Elephant in the Room In the 1980s and 1990s, the informal areas could
not be totally ignored and progressively basic ser-
Starting in the 1960s, a new phenomenon began to vices were extended to informal areas piecemeal and
appear in peripheral areas of the Greater Cairo ag- ad-hoc. At the same time, the informal housing pro-
glomeration: informal housing of solid construction, cess began to reach farther afield, into the peri-urban
built by individuals and families on both private and areas in the Giza and Qalyubia governorates.
state land without government approval. This pro- Table 2 illustrates the dominance of informal
cess of housing creation was ignored by the state urban development in Greater Cairo by 2006. Not
but, because it fit well with both financial and social only did informal areas contain roughly two-thirds
parameters of the Egyptian family, had by the early of the population by 2011, these areas were esti-
1980s accelerated to represent the dominant mode mated to have absorbed an incredible 78 percent
of housing and sparked a wholesale exodus from of all additions to the metropolitan population over
overcrowded inner city districts. Remittances from the 19962006 period, partly in the informal city
Egyptians working in the Gulf countries provided found within the urban agglomeration and partly in
much of the finance. peri-urban areas.
Such urban informality creates the most afford- percent of Greater Cairos 20 million inhabitants.
able housing solutions in Greater Cairo, generates a However, their roles have become limited and weak.
significant micro and small enterprise sector, allows First, the governorates have been denied almost
for compact and low-energy living, and ensures all hinterland desert areas for urban expansion, with
considerable social capital and community solidari- the development rights over these captured mainly
ty. However, due to past neglect, infrastructure net- by NUCA. Second, governorates powers over urban
works are insufficient and overburdened, with poor planning and development have been seriously trun-
access to informal areas and very few paved roads. cated. Third, Egypts governorates have never enjoyed
Further, schools, health clinics, and open recre- all the powers and funding sources implied in Local
ational areas are sparse and mostly dilapidated, and Administration Law 43/1979, nor have any of the many
the accumulation of refuse is endemic. Population decentralization initiatives over decades resulted in
density is extremely high. Since the bulk of the giving governorates and their subunits more power
metropolitan labor force lives in these disadvan- and authority.
taged areas and considering almost all investment The three governorates of Greater Cairo operate
in modern enterprises is in the distant new towns under the same local administration legislation as
around Cairo, it is difficult for these workers and do all governorates in Egypt, and nowhere are they
entrepreneurs to be integrated into the economy of given any special status. Not even Cairo governorate
Greater Cairo. receives any special status, despite recognition in
The implications of increasingly dominant the 2014 Constitution as the legal capital of Egypt.
informal urban development processes in the Furthermore, governorate operations remain com-
Greater Cairo metropolitan region has immense pletely dominated by appointed local executive
consequences for metropolitan governance, yet councils and directorates beholden to central min-
informality has largely been ignored by planning istries. Most local decisions are made by governors
authorities. (themselves appointed by the President) or need
prior approval from the central government and
its representatives. Central government exercises
Governorates as Elements of Greater Cairos control over the units of local government, and
Expansion and Governance within governorates, power is centralized in the
office of the Governor and his Local Executive
The three governoratesCairo, Giza, and Qalyubia Council. As such, the local administration system
should be extremely important elements of Greater can be described as partly deconcentrated rather
Cairos governance structures, especially since the than decentralized.
jurisdiction of these governorates covers over 90
246 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 4. The Component Parts of Greater Cairo, 2009
Public Transport, Traffic, and Armageddon lines is well behind schedule, meaning that its system
coverage cannot attract anywhere near the ridership
Greater Cairo is an extremely large city in terms of that might discourage the use of surface transport, in
population. It is also huge in surface area, given the particular private cars.
headlong development of vast desert spaces over the There is a great opportunity to reverse transport
past 30 years. Greater Cairo is also a very congested city, trends in Greater Cairo if public transport were given
traffic management is chaotic, and the public transport higher priority over private vehicles. Car ownership in
system is disorganized and inefficient. In 2010, The Greater Cairo remains very small at some 15 percent of
World Bank (2014a) estimated the cost of congestion households. As a result, the integration of public trans-
in Greater Cairo at approximately US$8 billion per year port (the metro plus bus rapid transit and light rail) with
or at least 3.6 percent of the nations GDP. surface public transport (especially private mini- and
There are some 18 separate governmental entities micro-buses) would bring about significant economic
and four additional parastatal organizations that have and environmental benefits. And were such an efficient
a significant role in Greater Cairos transportation. public transport network in place, even some car-own-
There seems to be no concerted policy to strengthen ing inhabitants would prefer to use it rather than be
public transport systems and their attractiveness as the stuck endlessly in road and overpass congestion.
only rational alternative to this rising congestion. The But the prognosis is bleak. It appears that there is
only system that is presently separated from general no political will to combat the dominance of private
traffic is the Cairo metro, but work on its various cars in Greater Cairo. For the metropolitan area to
248 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
the years. In the late 1970s, GOPP created the Greater composition, all competent ministries and the gov-
Cairo Regional Planning Centre as one of seven planning ernors of the three governorates located within the
regions, but this has never had much clout and, crucially, Greater Cairo boundaries must be members of the
never included the new towns around Cairo. In the 1980s, proposed supreme council. Furthermore, the highest
a Greater Cairo Governors Committee composed of the authority in the country will head up the proposed
three Greater Cairo governors was created by the then supreme council (GOPP, 2012, p. 181). Based on
Governor of Cairo, but it only met a couple times. the principle of executive subsidiarity, each project
In 2009, an effort was made by GOPP to develop would be steered at a level close to executive authority,
legislation that would give Greater Cairo special status meaning that in most cases this would be the three
and special powers. A Capital City Law was proposed governorates of Greater Cairo. Also, a number of
to tackle the sectoral, administrative, and financial con- pilot projects were proposed that would extend across
fusions that constantly plague the three governorates governorate boundaries and would be under the direct
and to improve coordination with central level service responsibility of the Supreme Council, with their bud-
and infrastructure authorities. Additional financial re- gets approved by this council.
sources were to be given to the capital city (including a As far as this author knows, until now (2016), no
surcharge on the national sales tax), special funds were steps have been taken to establish the Greater Cairo
to be created with dedicated revenues, and the capital Supreme Council or its supporting technical author-
would be exempt from some national budget laws ity. At a minimum an amendment to Law 119/2008
and regulations. The aim of the law was to transform (which set up the Supreme Council for Urban
Greater Cairo into a strong economic, administrative, Planning and Development) would be required.
and cultural entity with considerable independence In mid-2012, a transportation agencythe Greater
befitting its status as the nations capital. Conversely, Cairo Regional Transport Regulatory Authoritywas
all manufacturing was to be relocated outside the established by the Ministry of Transport. The role of
capital city. The geographical extent of the law was this agency was to regulate, plan, follow-up, supervise,
to include all the new towns around Cairo and Cairo and assess the performance of all activities related to
Governorate, but only some districts of Giza and transport in the Greater Cairo Region. An executive
Qalyubia Governorates. Parenthetically, the excluded director was designated in July 2013. However, as of
areas just happened to be where informal peri-urban early 2016, there had been no progress in organizing,
growth was occurring. staffing, or making operational this authority (World
Although considerable work on the proposed Bank, 2014b).
Capital City Law was carried out by the Ministry These efforts show that the concept of met-
of Housing in 2010, all efforts were aborted after ropolitan governance for Greater Cairo does not
the January 2011 revolution and the concept has enjoy much support. Many senior planning and
yet to reappear. administration expertswho are fully cognizant
In the 2012 Greater Cairo Urban Development of the advantages of such an approachhave be-
Strategy (GOPP, 2012), a Greater Cairo Supreme come disillusioned. At an Expert Group Meeting on
Council was proposed in order to monitor, coordinate, Governance of the Greater Cairo Region (GOPP,
and supervise the numerous projects and elements of 2016), participants despaired that nothing will ever
the strategy. This Supreme Council would operate at change unless the will for reform is taken up at the
the highest level, in parallel with the existing Supreme highest political levels, something that seems unlikely
Council for Urban Planning and Development. It to happen. Moreover, for some this can only happen
would be responsible for official approvals of the if there is fundamental reform of the principal-sub-
strategy and its implementation and would arbitrate sidiary relationship between central government and
conflicts between different parties. In terms of its local administration nationwide.
250 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.2 Metropolitan Governance in South Africa:
eThekwini City Council
Purshottama Sivanarain Reddy (University of Kwazulu)
Abstract
South Africas two-tier metropolitan government system was ushered in through the Local Government
Transition Act in 1993. The eThekwini Municipality, established in 2000, incorporated the then City of
Durban and neighboring towns and rural areas. It is the only metropolitan council in Kwazulu Natal
and the third largest nationally. Challenges include low literacy levels and skills, high unemployment
and poverty, poor basic services, rise in HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, decline in economic
growth, natural capital loss, unsustainable development practices, inadequate water and energy supply,
crime, infrastructural degradation, climate change, and inward looking local government. eThekwini
has projected itself as the learning city for its innovative initiatives and creative thinking, specifically in
relation to participatory planning, financial management, and environmental sustainability. Innovation
has been prioritized and demonstrated by the impressive capacity for good practice nationally and con-
tinentally. However, political will is imperative to ensure greater integration and coordination between
diverse systems, processes, and policies. The benefits of metropolitization have yet to be experienced
by local communities. Municipal functionaries have to demonstrate a strong passion, patriotism, and
decisive leadership in responding to the above-mentioned challenges to enhance the quality of life.
The eThekwini Metropolitan municipal area extends percent of the South African populace (eThekwini,
from the east along the coastline to the western border 2009). Of the eight metropolitan areas nationally,
of Cato Ridge to the southern edge of Umkomaas and Durban has the highest number of poor, which creates
to Tongaat in the north. The municipal area covers unique challenges.
2,297 square kilometers and more than two-thirds of In 2013, the municipalitys growth rate of 2.85 per-
the population is considered rural or semi-rural (eThe- cent exceeded the national growth rate of 2.5 percent
kwini, 2011a). The eThekwini City Council governs and the growth rates of other major metropolitan mu-
the largest municipality in the Province of Kwazulu nicipalities, notably Johannesburg (2.7 percent) (eThe-
Natal and the third largest in the country. There are kwini, 2013). However, this positive growth rate has yet
currently eight metropolitan areas, 52 districts, and to translate into poverty eradication or job creation. Still,
213 local municipalities in South Africa. eThekwini Durban has retained the highest credit rating available
City Council is the only metropolitan municipality and consequently has a good track record for financial
in Kwazulu Natal that incorporates a highly diverse governance. It has also endeavored to develop a positive
municipal area that extends from urban (35 percent) linkage between social, financial, economic, and envi-
to peri-urban (29 percent) to rural (36 percent) com- ronmental sustainability as well as strategic priorities like
munities. The area is also a mix of racial and cultural accessibility, sustainable livelihoods, and safety, with a
diversity, with the African community being the largest goal of becoming Africas Caring and Livable City
(71 percent), followed by Indians (19 percent), whites (eThekwini, 2011c, 2015a).
(8 percent), and colored (2 percent). The metropolitan The eThekwini metropolitan area plays a strategic
population of 3.8 million people comprises one-third role in the South African and provincial economies and
of the population of Kwazulu Natal province and 7 as a result it is of international, continental, national,
252 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
establish municipal structures in December 2000. institutions within the municipal area have been
The Local Government Transition Act, 1993, provided part of this process in terms of developing new
for the first metropolitan council and four sub-coun- and innovative responses to challenges faced col-
cils, which were then increased to six in June 1996, lectively as a city. The city has defined successful
and finally into a unicity in 2000. The eThekwini and good practice and related concepts as follows
City Council was created following the amalgamation (eThekwini, 2010):
and restructuring of the seven entities administering Successful: outcomes being achieved
the former Durban Metropolitan Area. Following Innovative: original (i.e., has not been done
the December 2000 elections, 200 councilors were before)
elected, 100 of whom were elected on the basis of Sustainable: all encompassing
proportional representation and the other 100 as Participatory: comprises and embraces many
ward councilors. The Mayor is elected for a two-year stakeholders
term and may be re-elected. He chairs an executive Easily replicable: can be completed by others in
committee comprising 10 councilors who report to similar contexts
a 200-member council (Reddy, 2008). There are 17 Three characteristics of best practices highlighted
traditional leaders and a headman representing 18 by the United Nations are as follows (Andrews,
traditional communities that are part of the coun- 2008):
cil structures in Durban. Sections 81(1)(2) of the A demonstrable or tangible bearing on enhanced
Local Government: Municipal Structures Act of 1998 quality of life
provide for the formal participation of traditional Effective resultant partnerships between public,
leadership in local governance. These provisions private, non-governmental organizations
are presently being implemented, thereby ensuring Socially, economically, and environmentally sus-
meaningful participation of traditional leadership tainable
in council activities (eThekwini, 2015). The local
governance vision enshrined in the Constitution is Alberti and Bertucci (cited in Andrews, 2008)
that cooperative governance should be extended to pointed out that the concept of good practice is
the traditional authority areas based on a partnership more appropriate because it allows the implications
between municipalities, local communities, and tra- of the concept best to be avoided. Best can gen-
ditional leadership. erate considerable debate and discussion. Andrews
(2008) added that some authors, like Farah (2006) and
Toward a Notion of Lessons and Lopez (2006), prefer the term innovative to best
practices since innovation is viewed as responding to
Good/Best Practices long-standing issues with a fresh approach and the
possibility of dealing with new, emerging challenges.
The eThekwini Municipality has always prided Since 1994, South African municipalities have
itself on being a learning city and to this end has attempted to create a vibrant and robust base for
sought to enhance its local capability and service local government to serve as the pillars of local
provision through innovative initiatives and critical economic development, social equity, and environ-
thinking, specifically in the areas of environmental mental sustainability. However, according to the
sustainability, energy, participatory planning, and national government (South Africa, 2009a, 2009b),
financial management. Considerable emphasis has the majority of municipalities have failed to forge a
been placed on innovation and the municipality has strong relationship with local communities, which
demonstrated impressive capacity for good practice has negatively affected local governance and the
(eThekwini, 2011b). The local citizenry and public resultant processes.
254 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
issues in terms of integration and, more importantly, provide a lasting legacy and facilitate long-term
locally based problem solving and decision-making. economic growth. The facilities were intended for
It was accepted that the programs would use and multipurpose activities, with minimum running costs
develop the skills of the local populace and at the and maintenance requirements (eThekwini, 2011c).
same time draw on the expertise and skills within Several other projects and economic activities were
the municipality to facilitate development (eThe- also prioritized to facilitate job creation and promote
kwini, 2015b). The need for development initiatives the economic benefits of the World Cup, notably
in the selected areas was indisputable as each was ensuring that fans had positive and memorable ex-
characterized by high levels of poverty, poor mu- periences exploring the city and surroundings, and
nicipal services, and socioeconomic disadvantage showcasing the artistic and cultural capacity of the city
(eThekwini, 2011b). of Durban. The Moses Mabhida Soccer Stadium, built
The program was viewed as a catalyst and facilita- for the World Cup, has several key design features that
tor for examining and learning creative ways to execute will contribute to its long-term sustainability: flexible
the IDP (eThekwini, 2015b). It was led by small spe- seating capacity (ranging from 56,000 permanent to
cialist teams, which created an opportunity to coordi- 70,000 temporary places); the capacity to host several
nate and integrate the development initiatives of dif- types of events, including soccer, rugby, athletics,
ferent government spheres, line function departments, and music festivals; and a multi-functionality that ac-
the private sector, and community-based organizations commodates retail outlets, smaller events, leisure, and
to ensure good practice in rural and urban regener- tourist activities (eThekwini, 2011c).
ation approaches. Specifically, it presented a chance eThekwini Municipality has won the bid to host
to facilitate innovation and creativity in development the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Despite some initial
strategies and, more importantly, provide a vehicle for euphoria, the reality of the serious financial implica-
citizen action and partnerships (eThekwini, 2011b). tions for the residents of Durban, the province, and
Lessons learned include the importance of a the country have become apparent. The full costing
collective vision that is clear, coherent, and hopeful and funding mechanism has not been finalized.
in order to motivate people and take action; the sig- Though the economic and tourism benefits have been
nificance of champions who can make a difference acknowledged, there will be a massive, negative finan-
between success and failure; the need for ongoing cial impact (eThekwini, 2015a). There is a strong view
commitment; that the choice of zones for area-based that this will not be sustainable in years to come, and
management must be communicated; that the de- that the city has greater priorities than the games. The
lineation of accountability and reporting is critical; question that has been posed is, how can we meet
the necessity of a tighter policy framework; that due the cost of the Games and at the same time meet our
consideration must be given to financial sustainabil- commitments to the poor? (Natal Mercury, 2015).
ity; the need to develop internal networks; and the This has generated a great deal of debate and discus-
importance of mentoring, capacity, and leadership sion among local citizens.
development (eThekwini, 2011b).
256 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
information, ideas, and experiences, with a view to percent) losses; and high development backlogs,
encouraging and motivating local communities to particularly in relation to public housing (personal
practice sustainability (eThekwini, 2011c). School communication from the Chief Financial Officer of
children have been an integral part of the process. eThekwini Municipality, 2016; eThekwini, 2015a). He
The exhibition displayed a variety of sustainability added that environmental issues, specifically climate
initiatives by the municipality, non-governmental change, energy efficiency, and water efficiency, were
organizations, businesses, and schools, such as also high on the agenda, while balancing social, en-
minimizing waste and recycling, energy efficient vironmental, and economic expenditures would be
technologies, water conservation, organic food, a key challenge (Personal communication from the
gardening, and harvesting rainwater. The exhibition Chief Financial Officer of eThekwini Municipality,
was a first with such an emphasis on environmental April 25/26, 2016).
considerations and creating a stage for non-govern- Hesse and Allan (cited in Reddy, 2008a) alluded to
ment organizations and environmental companies the fact that massive infrastructure backlogs have cre-
to network and market their goods and services ated a situation where housing demand has exceeded
(eThekwini, 2011c). supply and funds in reserves have already been spent.
Reddy (2008a) added that informal trading, illegal
Developmental Challenges and immigrants, street children, informal settlements, and
the failure to implement bylaws have led to urban
Constraints decay and a reduced rates base in several parts of met-
ropolitan Durban. There is a lack of political will to
Considerable progress has been made in responding to address the latter despite new rules being introduced
the development challenges faced by the municipality. to address these issues, notably the Problem Building
However, there are still major constraints negatively Bylaw, 2015, and the Nuisances and Behavior in Public
affecting its progress, namely high unemployment and Places Bylaw, 2015. A Daily News editorial (Metro Sets
poverty; limited access to community and household Itself a Test, 2016), reflected on whether we were
services; inadequate energy and water supply; food far advanced in our slovenly, discourteous and lawless
insecurity, low literacy, and skill levels for development ways to create a contented city, [the] question is now
and economic growth; an increase in communicable whether it will have a traction in reversing urban decay
diseases and HIV/AIDS; natural capital loss; unsus- in greater Durban.
tainable development practices; climate change and The election or appointment of municipal func-
degradation of infrastructure; inwardlooking local tionaries who do not have the required qualifications,
government and financial sustainability, effectiveness, experience, and expertise can stifle progress and
and efficiency (eThekwini, 2012, 2015a). development as it negatively affects service delivery.
The City Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer, Political appointments were the norm in the first
Mr. Krish Kumar, has noted that rapid urbaniza- two decades of local democracy in South Africa
tion is exerting considerable pressure on the city. and, unless this trend is halted, development and
He highlighted several constraints on governance improved service delivery is likely to be impeded
and sustainability, notably the cost to rollout of (Reddy, 2008a).
integrated public transport (operational costs could A Municipal Services and Living Conditions
cripple metros if not properly managed); unfunded Survey conducted by eThekwini Municipality (2011e)
mandates on housing, health, library, and museum highlighted some of these issues, specifically the
services to the tune of R948 million; low economic problems faced on a daily basis such as unemploy-
growth and rates base; high unemployment; high ment, the cost of living, crime, health, and public
water (39.2 percent) and electricity distribution (6.11 transport. Some local residents believed that the
258 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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Abstract
Metropolitan Lagos is the largest and most important economic region in Nigeria. Occupying less
than 0.15 percent of the Nigerian landmass, it holds about 6 percent of the countrys population.
As a coastal metropolis, Lagos faces the daunting challenge of climate change in addition to in-
adequate access to infrastructure, slum settlements, non-inclusive development, and poverty, as
well as rapid and unplanned urbanization necessitating good governance. Relying on secondary
data, this chapter analyses the provision of public goods, especially in the areas of infrastruc-
ture, urban regeneration, metropolitan planning, and mobilization of financial resources since
the return to democracy in 1999. Emphasis is also placed on finance and the roles of key state
and non-state actors. Findings indicate that seamless political transition and stability, as well as
rising internally generated revenue experienced over time, have contributed significantly to met-
ropolitan governance and service delivery but at the expense of local government autonomy. As
a policy imperative to strengthen metropolitan governance, the state government should ensure
full access by local governments to their funds and establish functional local planning agencies
under a state-wide Metropolitan Planning Authority.
Metropolitan Lagos is located in Lagos state in Ota Town Local Government Area (LGA) as well as
the south west corner of Nigeria. The metropolis Mowe and Ibafo towns in Obafemi Owode LGA in
sprawls over large islands, separated by creeks, on Ogun State (De Gramont, 2015; Economist, 2011;
a vast lagoon on the Bight of Benin, bordered by Filani, 2010; Salau, 2006). Lagos accounts for about
the Atlantic Ocean. The entire region lies within 40 percent
the coastal lowland of south western Nigeria, gen- of Nigerias non-oil GDP. In the 2015 Human
erally less than 100 meters above sea level. The me- Development Report for Nigeria, Lagos state was
tropolis population has grown from an estimated ranked the highest in the country with a Human
500,000 in the late 1960s to over 17 million today. Development Index of 0.6712, well above the na-
The population growth is projected at an average tional value of 0.2712 (UNDP, 2015).
rate of 5 percent per annum (Figure 1) (United It is against this background that this chapter
Nations, 2012; Lagos, 2012; UN-Habitat, 2010; seeks to analyze the urbanization phenomenon
Nigeria, 2007). and its implications for metropolitan governance
Metropolitan Lagos is the most economically and transformation in Lagos. In this context, the
important part of the country, and innovations chapter examines the situational and legal contexts
in metropolitan governance have earned the me- of metropolitan governance in Nigeria in general
tropolis commendation from The World Bank and and Lagos in particular as well as the issues of
Carnegie Corporation, among others. The spatial urbanization, metropolitan planning, finance, and
and socioeconomic influence of Lagos extends provision of selected public goods.
beyond its administrative boundary, reaching the
260 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 1. Institutional Framework for Governance in Metropolitan Lagos
Magistrate Courts
37 Local Council
Development Areas
Customary Courts
Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Ofce of Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of
Transportation Justice Economic Civic Finance Physical Planning Overseas Youth & Wealth Womens Affairs
Planning & Engagement & Urban Affairs & Social Creation & Poverty
Budget Development Investment Development Alleviation
Lagos State Urban Renewal Lagos State Building Control Lagos State Physical Planning
Authority Agency Permit Authority
Source: Derived from records of the Lagos state government by Olokesusi and Wapwera, 2016.
Governance and the Challenges of to travel, the time spent commuting, and access to em-
Rapid Urbanization in Lagos ployment; and the problems associated with slum com-
munities, traffic congestion, and pollution (Rydin, 2011;
The rapid and unplanned urbanization experienced in Olokesusi, 2010; Mabogunje, 1995). In addition, due to
Metropolitan Lagos is largely due to a natural popula- its low lying coastal location, the metropolis is experi-
tion increase, in-migration, and the spatial annexation encing the challenges associated with climate change
of several unplanned towns and villages. While ur- in the form of rising seas, ocean surge, and flooding.
banization has several positive impacts (UN-Habitat, Thus, metropolitan governance through spatial plan-
2012), empirical evidence indicates that the informal ning, innovative policies, and proper management is
process of urbanization in developing countries is an attempt to regain control in order to manage and
accompanied by significant negative impacts (UN- regulate change and to be creative in urban areas that are
Habitat, 2013; World Bank, 2006). A major spatial themselves experiencing considerable transformation.
consequence is the pressure placed on both the built Because urban agglomerations are expanding be-
and natural environments. yond the municipality or transition areas, it has become
In spite of the ongoing transformation, Lagos is imperative for the metropolitan areas, especially in the
still confronted with several challenges, such as an unat- global north, to adopt appropriate models of gover-
tractive and inefficient use of urban land and resources; nance. This involves making the necessary institutional
loss of farmland, green space, and environmentally arrangements to cooperate and coordinate, and resolve
sensitive areas; excessive infrastructure costs to extend conflict, and to ensure power sharing between the juris-
water, sewers, and roads to remote districts; the need dictions (areas) and other agencies, such as provincial,
262 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
as full-fledged LGAs. This initiative conforms with contracting and sub-contracting for service delivery
provisions under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, among metro areas is rare. As soon as Ahmed Bola
which empowered states to create LGAs subject to rat- Tinubu became Governor of Lagos State in May
ification by two-thirds of the House of Assemblies (36 1999, he swung into positive action and committed
states) and both chambers of the National Assembly. to delivering the long-sought dividends of democracy.
In 2003, the Tinubu administration, with the approval He prepared a State Development Blueprint based on
of the Lagos state House of Assembly, created 37 his partys (Alliance for Democracy) manifesto. As a
LGAs and applied to the National Assembly for their bridge builder and mobilizer, he laid a solid foundation
agreement. The Peoples Democratic Party, which con- for inclusive governance and infrastructure provision.
trolled both the federal government and the National New public service institutions were created, while
Assembly at the time, turned down the request, not be- others were progressively reformed in order to enhance
cause the application lacked merit but because Lagos their capacities for quality service delivery. In addition,
state was being governed by an opposition party, the several new policies were formulated and implemented
Alliance for Democracy. The aborted 37 new LGAs (Filani, 2010). The fact that his successorsMr. Raji
were therefore converted to LCDAs and placed under Fashola (2007 to 2015) and Mr. Ambode (May 2015 to
the jurisdiction of relevant LGAs. date)belonged to the same party greatly facilitated
With a view to forcing the Lagos state government policy and program continuity and stability. Fashola
to conform, the federal government refused to transfer actually built on the foundation laid by his predecessor
statutory allocations to the 20 officially recognized LGAs while Ambode is sustaining the tradition of service and
for several months. Eventually, Lagos state government commitment to the welfare of Lagosians. The seamless
instituted a case against the federal government seeking political transition is responsible for both stability and
constitutional clarification at the Supreme Court, the continuity in the process of metropolitan governance.
highest tribunal in the country. In 2004, the Supreme For governance purposes, the Lagos state govern-
Court ruled (State Attorney of Lagos State v Attorney ment comprises the 16 urban LGAs plus the rapidly
General of the Federation) that the creation of the 37 growing Ibeju-Lekki LGA. To a large extent, this
LGAs by Lagos state was a valid act, but that the laws institutional arrangement is akin to a Metropolitan/
were inchoate and required additional steps to be taken by Regional Authority, sometimes referred to as a spe-
the National Assembly. It further ruled that the withheld cial purpose district (GIZ, GmbH, and UN-Habitat,
allocations should be released immediately. The federal 2015). But the LGAs and LCDAs within the metrop-
government disobeyed the courts judgment. olis still perform some functions, such as drainage and
It was not until 2007 that the succeeding YarAdua flood control, tree planting, markets, and educational
administration released the withheld funds. Although the and healthcare services, as well as minor urban road
National Assembly refused to acknowledge the LCDAs, construction and management. Although this institu-
the Lagos state government has continued to recognize tional arrangement has encroached on the functions
and finance the activities of the LCDAs in an effort to of the constitutionally recognized LGAs, there is the
bring governance closer to the people. The decision of benefit of economies of scale and service efficiency,
the federal government to withhold allocations owed to and it reduces regional inequality in the state.
the 20 LGAs became a blessing in disguise as it prompt- The overarching objective of the Lagos state gov-
ed the Lagos state Inland Revenue Service to generate ernment has been to transform Lagos into Africas
significant income through innovative thinking. This model megacity; to build a world class city state that
development is examined later in this chapter. is clean, secure, liveable, functions efficiently, and en-
Nonetheless, the Lagos state government and its ables the people to express their potential. The three
ministries, departments, and agencies dominate the administrations consistently devised and implemented
governance of Metropolitan Lagos. Collaboration by new but complementary policies, plans, and initiatives.
264 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
prepared for the metropolis in 2001 (MPMI, 2001). In in terms of internally generated revenue. During the
2010, the enactment of the Lagos state Urban and Regional same period, Lagos state accounted for an average
Planning Law was followed by the creation of several new of 38.79 percent of all state-level internally generate
state institutions, including the Urban Renewal Authority, revenue in Nigeria. Figure 2 highlights the impressive
Physical Planning Permit Authority, and Building Control growth of internally generated revenue between 2011
Agency. The Physical Planning Permit Authority vets and 2015. The Lagos state government has leveraged
and approves development permit applications, while information and communications technology in its bid
the Urban Renewal Agency is responsible for slum to facilitate online payments in order to continue this
improvement across the state, and the Building Control growth (Olokesusi et al., 2013). The state government
Agency monitors the structural integrity of buildings and also has a policy of accessing public funds by floating a
development control. The three agencies are affiliated to series of bonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Since
the MPPUD (see Figure 1 above). the policy began in the early 2000s the government
To accelerate land use administration and urban has been able to garner more than naira 150 billion
planning, a digital map of the entire Lagos state was (roughly US$1 billion) and has met its obligations to
completed over eight years ago. Currently, applica- all investors. Additional funds have since been raised
tions for building permits, land subdivisions, and land from the capital market.
title searches are done online. However, none of the
Figure 2. Internally Generated Revenue:
LGAs and LCDAs has urban planners on their payroll.
Lagos State and 36 Nigerian States
MPPUD, in consultation with critical stakeholders,
has prepared physical development plans for major 800000
700000
areas as distinct but inter-related entities. Examples
IGR (in million naria)
600000
of such plans are the Lekki Master Plan (201131), 500000
Ikeja Model City Plan (201232), Apapa Model City 400000
300000
Plan (201232), Mainland Model City Plan (201232),
200000
Agege Model City Plan (201333), and the Ikoyi- 100000
Victoria Island Model City Plan (201333). 0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Lagos IGR Total IGR for all Nigerian States
Internal Revenue Generation for
Metropolitan Governance Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2016.
Note: IGR = Internally Generated Revenue.
266 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
government, the LGAs, and LCDAs, as well as
To complement the states climate change policy,
the Government of Nigeria and its ministries,
some adaptation measures have been put in place
departments, and agencies;
with a view to taming ocean surge and flooding. One
availability of realistic institutional, administra-
example is the demolition of structures at the Kuramo
tive, and financial capacity for any additional
Beach on Victoria Island. The government appropri-
governance arrangements, pragmatic policies, and
ated about N36 billion (US$184 million) in 2012 for
support of critical stakeholders; and
the phased construction of 18 gyrones (sea breakers)
effective coordination of management of ser-
at intervals of 400 meters in the Atlantic Ocean. The
vices and infrastructure.
first phase commenced in 2013 and the entire project
should be completed by 2017.
However, the current economic challenges and gap
Perception of Public Service Delivery between the rich and poor mean that more innovative
policies and initiatives are required to better empower the
by the Government less privileged and move them out of poverty. Additional
efforts and investments are necessary to improve envi-
The results of a recent study in the metropolis indicate ronmental quality, as well as the supply and affordability
that, despite the general poor public perception of of reliable power, water, transport, and housing.
government in the country, Lagosians still rated the To increase adherence to the rule of law and devolu-
state government far above its federal and local gov- tion of powers, the state government should ensure that
ernment counterparts in terms of delivery of public the 20 LGAs regain full autonomy and have access to
services in 2013. While 30 percent of sampled house- their statutory allocations. Support could be given to the
holds rated delivery as good and 45 percent fair, only LGAs by the state government on participatory bud-
14 percent rated delivery by the federal government get preparation and implementation. Also, each LGA
as good and 44 percent fair. On the other hand, 18 should have an active Urban Planning Authority in line
percent rated delivery by local governments as good with the legal instruments guiding physical planning
and 44 percent fair (Lagos, 2013). in the country. To coordinate the urban planning of
the LGAs, a Lagos Metropolitan Planning Authority is
Conclusion recommended. The states climate change policy should
be popularized and implemented with greater vigor.
It is evident that since 1999, good metropolitan gov- Finally, greater attention should be paid to local eco-
ernance in Lagos has contributed immensely to the nomic development to guarantee wealth creation, youth
transformation of the metropolis, a feat recognized by employment, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth.
Lagosians and key stakeholders in and outside Nigeria.
The major enabling factors for the transformation can References
be summarized as follows:
seamless political transition, enabling stability and Alausa Alert. (2010). Resettlement of Market Traders.
continuity of policies and programs; Alausa Alert, pp.17.
Aworinde, T. (2016). LAMATA, Japan to Build $1bn Lagos
laws and regulations allowing metropolitan
Urban Rail. Punch, August 3. Retrieved from http://
arrangement; punchng.com/lamata-japan-build-1bn-lagos-urban-rail/
supportive state government; De Gramont, D. (2015). Governing Lagos: Unlocking the politics
incentives; of reform. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for
political will of the leadership and support from International Peace.
most if not all LGAs in the metropolis; DfID. (2009). Impact of climate change on Nigerias economy: Final
report. UK: Department for International Development.
clear division of functions between levels of Economist. (2011). A Rare Good Man: The Governor of
268 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.4 Bogot: Cities System and Territorial
Organization
Carlos Crdoba Martnez (Central Region of Colombia) and Jorge Ivn Gonzlez (National University
of Colombia)
Abstract
In Colombia, there is a conflict between two forms of territorial planning: one that focuses on the
cities system and another that seeks to strengthen the countrys departments. This chapter argues that
Bogots Special Planning Administrative Region (SPAR) brings the benefits of the system of cities
into a regional context, which presents a way to reconcile the two territorial planning approaches. The
living conditions in Colombian agglomerations or metropolitan areas are better than in uninodal cities,
but the potential benefits of convergence have not yet been fulfilled. Public policy should enhance the
intrinsic benefits of agglomerations. SPAR, in Bogot, is an adequate alternative that can contribute
to addressing the fight against inequality, the consolidation of the internal market, the improvement
in productivity, and environmental sustainability.
Cities in Colombia have achieved important results Two Modalities of Territorial Planning
in terms of decreasing poverty and improving qual-
ity of life. However, there has been little progress There are three levels of government in Colombia:
in terms of reducing inequality and strengthening national, department (32), and local (1,101 munici-
productivity. palities, including the cities). In this context, there is
In Colombia, there is a conflict between two tension between two models of territorial planning:
forms of territorial planning: a system of cities system of cities and strengthening the departments.
and a strengthening of the countrys departments. Colombia has yet to settle on one form and in-
Colombia has not yet decided on a particular territo- stead maintains a highly centralized government
rial planning form, nor has it designed mechanisms scheme that reduces the capacity of autonomous
to complement one another. The criteria to assess decision-making in territorial entities. This lack of
the effectiveness of each planning alternative should definition is an obstacle for regional development,
be convergence and sustainability. In this chapter, convergence, and sustainability. The absence of
the analysis of convergence is carried out indirectly leadership in territorial planning was evident during
by comparing agglomerations with uninodal cities. 2016, as most of the 916 municipalities had not
This case considers, specifically, the performance of submitted their own territorial planning models. As
Bogot and its surrounding municipalities, for which the plans are reviewed and adjusted every 12 years,
results indicate that there is no convergence. now could be an opportunity to advance territorial
The authors also examine the characteristics planning. Progress could be achieved beyond simply
of Bogots SPAR, which includes Bogot and land use, in a much broader sense of territorial plan-
the departments of Meta, Boyac, Tolima, and ning. Territorial planning and territorial development
Cundinamarca. This form of organization brings should become coordinated and complementary
the benefits of the cities system into a regional con- policy instruments.
text. The SPAR is a factual solution to the conflict Although in the last development planSantos II:
between the two approaches to territorial planning. All for a New Country, Peace, Equity, and Education
270 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
in rural areas. Territorial planning cannot be conceived only non-agglomerated ones. Later, the authors compare
as local land use. A broader emphasis should be placed on Bogot and the surrounding municipalities and find
economic development and ecosystem sustainability. that the gap in social conditions is significant. The
However, if there is no clear definition about the third approach compares the cities, independently
role of the system of cities, fiscal and policy fragility from the level of agglomeration. This exercise shows
may arise in the future, like the one that currently exists that the living conditions improve but that there
in the departments. If the departments are chosen as is no convergence. Finally, the fourth comparison
the adequate level at which to coordinate territorial looks at the localities of Bogot, finding a high level
planning, their finances should be strengthened because of segregation. The following sections explain these
they remain weak compared to those of the municipali- comparisons in detail.
ties. For instance, the departments could receive a por-
tion of the property tax that is currently municipal. This
solution is feasible only if the real estate tax valuations Comparison between Agglomerations and
are updated and the cadastral collection is improved. Uninodal Cities
Departments can play a key role not only supporting
and coordinating the municipalities and the urban ag- Angulo (2015) compared agglomerations and uninodal
glomerations internally, but also improving delegated cities using two indices. The first is the social inclusion
powers on several fronts, such as rural development. index, which modifies the multidimensional poverty
index developed by Alkire and Foster (2008) and
Convergence includes four dimensions: education, childhood and
youth, health, and housing condition. Angulo, Daz, and
From a general perspective, it could be argued that Pardo (2011) explained the Colombian version of the
territorial planning is adequate if it favors conver- poverty index. The second is the productive inclusion
gence and sustainability. The analysis in this chapter index, which is composed of three dimensions: poverty
is performed at several levels. The first comparison is by income, perception of inadequate employment, and
between crowded (agglomerated) cities and uninodal informality (understood as no pension contributions).
(non-agglomerated) cities. The overall conclusion is This second index is more demanding than the first and
clear: the agglomerated cities are better off than the highlights the relevance of informality.
Figure 1. Evolution of Social and Productive Inclusion Indexes: Agglomerations vs. Uninodal Cities
(Percentage of Households)
Agglomerations Uninodal Cities
55.6%
Social inclusion
59.7%
61.5% Productive exclusion
64.0%
29.0%
13.9% 22.0%
8.7% Exclusion
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
272 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
convergence. The differences that are observed in the between cities did not decline, there was no conver-
incidence of poverty are also present in other social gence. The differences are significant in productivity
indicators. The considerable gap with respect to Bogot and environmental sustainability.
demonstrate the need to integrate metropolitan policies Table 2 summarizes the results of the basic CPI in
and to have tools to effectively generate convergence. 2013 (UN-Habitat et al., 2015; Gonzlez, 2015). Cities
are ordered by the final score (last column). The con-
Map 2. Bogot Metropolitan Area
siderable differences confirm the findings of Lpez
and Carrera (2014) regarding the heterogeneity of city
behavior within the same country.
On average, Equity and Social Inclusion had
the highest score (69.391) and Productivitythe
lowest (36.093). The latter result is consistent with
the productive exclusion observed in Figure 1.
Once again, cities offer important improvements
in living conditions but weak results in terms of
productivity, expressed in inadequate employment
and informality.
To observe the degree of convergence, UN-
Habitat et al. (2015) estimated the coefficient of
variation (CV) for each of the index components. The
most notable differences are found in Environmental
Sustainability and Productivity (Table 2).
The study led by UN-Habitat reflects on this con-
vergence over time. According to the data in Table 3,
the CPI increased in all municipalities between 2010
and 2013. But the CV shows that the gap between
municipalities did not decline systematically and, even
worse, rose between 2010 and 2012.
In discussions of economic policy, convergence
is not usually proposed as a desirable objective. The
evolution of the gap between cities is not a subject of
concern. This myopia has not allowed a continuation
of design mechanisms that contribute to convergence.
Source: Prepared by the Central Region, 2016.
On the poverty side, dynamics between cities are
convergent. A decrease is observed in the poverty
Comparison between Cities gap between Bogot and the rest of the cities. Figure
2 compares the percentage of the population living
The comparison between cities is carried out us- in poverty in Barranquilla, Bogot, Bucaramanga,
ing the City Prosperity Index (CPI, Table 2). The Cali, and Medelln. In 2014, the incidence of poverty
UN-Habitat led study (UN-Habitat, FINDETER, nationwide was 28.5 percent; however, in Bogot it
APCSDDE, and CAF, 2015) of the 23 cities included was 10.1 percent and in Bucaramanga, 8.4 percent.
showed that the CPI improved between 2010 and Among the cities mentioned, the incidence of pov-
2013 (Table 3), but that this progress was not accom- erty does converge. There is less poverty in the cities
panied by a reduction in the gap. As the differences than in the countryside.
274 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2010 2011 2012 2013
In extreme poverty, the trend is also decreasing and The decrease of monetary poverty favors the
converging between cities. Bucaramanga and Bogot component of productivity of those indices of
have the lowest levels of extreme poverty. Between prosperity and of productive inclusion. But the
2013 and 2014, the incidence of extreme poverty in positive effect achieved through income is offset by
Bogot grew from 1.6 percent to 1.9 percent, and in the quality of employment and informality.
Bucaramanga it decreased from 1.2 percent to 1.1
Figure 2. Incidence of Poverty
percent. Nationwide, in 2014, the percentage was 8.1
percent. The reduction of extreme poverty is more 45.0
difficult when levels are low. For this reason, Bogot 40.0
policy, understood as the net balance between taxes Barranquilla AM Bogot Bucaramanga AM Cali AM Medelln AM
276 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Table 4. Rates of Poverty and Indigence: Localities in Bogot
278 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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Bogot (SDDE), Banco de Desarrollo de Amrica
Latina (CAF), Bogot.
Vickrey, W. (1977). The City as a Firm. In M. Fedlstein and
R. Inman (eds), The economics of public services (pp.334
43). London: MacMillan.
Abstract
The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (BAMA) is among the most populous and productive urban areas
in Latin America. It comprises 13.6 million people and generates nearly half of Argentinas GDP. It is
also a highly fragmented metropolis, where its political-institutional structure assigns responsibilities
for urban management and service delivery to the federal government, a state government, a capital
city, and at least two dozen municipalities. There are existing metropolitan institutions that currently
deal with waste management, watershed restoration, and the wholesale distribution of produce. But
other critical areas that require coordination, like transportation and land use, have yet to be ad-
dressed. Traditionally, political differences between metropolitan decision-makers have been strong
disincentives for coordinated action. But for the first time in decades, the 2015 election created a high
level of political alignment between the federal government, provincial authorities, and a third of the
metropolitan mayors. Among the signs of renewed interest in metropolitan governance is the estab-
lishment in 2016 of two new efforts to create more integrated metropolitan governance structures.
Prior experience in Argentina indicates that, in order for these coordinating bodies to be effective,
they must quickly create a metropolitan action agenda that reflects the interests of municipal leaders
and clearly defines key investment projects with an explicit metropolitan impact.
The political stars aligned for BAMA in late 2015. For the legitimate coordination mechanisms needed to put
the first time, many of the authorities responsible for that vision into effect?
investment decisions and service delivery in Buenos This chapter explores these questions by first,
Aires are from the same political coalition, creating a introducing the multi-dimensional complexities of
unique opportunity for coordinated action in Latin BAMA; second, giving an overview of the origins
Americas third largest megacity (UN-Habitat, 2013). and functions of existing metropolitan arrangements;
While some metropolitan arrangements already exist, third, identifying critical issues that could also be
BAMA does not have a political or administrative body addressed through a metropolitan governance ap-
in any formal sense (Klink, 2008). The challenge in this proach; and finally, proposing a pragmatic strategy for
respect is considerable because BAMAs governance advancing a metropolitan vision and implementing
structure involves overlapping functions and respon- coordinated investments in BAMA.
sibilities among at least two dozen jurisdictions and
multiple levels of government. The political alignment Defining Metropolitan Buenos Aires
of metropolitan actors is thus significant as it helps
to overcome an important barrier to developing and The importance of Buenos Aires to Argentinas well-
implementing metropolitan-scale actions. Given the being and development is substantial. It is home to
complexities of BAMA, how can local actors leverage over a third of Argentinas population and generates
this recent political opportunity to advance a strategic nearly half of its GDP (Prez, 2012). The demograph-
metropolitan vision? And what are the available path- ic and economic primacy of BAMA in Argentina is
ways through which the relevant actors can produce unrivaled by any other comparable megacity. Mexico
280 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
City comprises just 18 percent of Mexicos population outside CABA are oriented toward consumer ser-
and contributes 21 percent of its GDP (Muzzi et vices and the manufacturing industries that survived
al., 2016). It also far outweighs any other metropol- the de-industrialization process of the 1980s and
itan area in Argentina. Crdoba is the countrys sec- 1990s, most notably textiles (Provincia de Buenos
ond-ranking metropolitan area but it only represents Aires, 2007). Located along the northern metro-
4 percent of the national population and 2 percent of politan corridor toward Pilar and Escobar are the
its GDP (IDB, 2015). back-office functions for multinational firms, while
According to the Argentine census bureau, there along the southern corridor, through Avellaneda,
are at least two scales through which metropolitan Quilmes, and Ensenada, there are large-scale fa-
Buenos Aires can be viewed (INDEC, 2003). One cilities related to the regional port, and the oil and
is known as the Metropolitan Region, which in chemical industries. Generally speaking, CABA has
2010 contained 14.8 million people and 40 local higher employment rates and income levels relative
governments, plus Argentinas capital city known to its metropolitan area, which is less skilled and less
as the Ciudad Autnoma de Buenos Aires (CABA economically dynamic.
in Spanish). The Metropolitan Region is spatially
Map 1. Administrative Map of the Metropolitan
distributed along three concentric rings radiating
Region of Buenos Aires and Its Local Governments
out from the capital over an area of 14,000 square
kilometers (CPAU, 2010). A second, smaller scale
is the Metropolitan Area (BAMA), which includes
CABA plus the 27 municipalities located along the
first two concentric rings where 12.8 million people
live. BAMAs demographic growth is concentrated
in this second ring, which is currently home to 5
million people, a figure that rose by 28 percent be-
tween 2001 and 2010 (Fernndez, 2011). If we also
consider the provincial capital of La Plata and its
suburbs to be a part of BAMAs functional urban
areaclearly reflected in the areas urban footprint
even though the census considers it to be a separate
urban agglomerationthen Buenos Aires popula-
tion rises to 13.6 million and 30 local governments
within Buenos Aires province plus CABA. Due to
its relevance for metropolitan governance and the
high level of functional dependency among the
localities in the first two rings and the southern
corridor to La Plata, this chapter focuses on BAMA
Source: Professional Council of Architecture and Urbanism, Metropolitan
and the La Plata agglomeration (Map 1). Observatory. Retrieved from http://www.observatorioamba.org/.
Note: The dotted line delineates the 30 municipalities and the City of Buenos
Buenos Aires economic dynamism is concen- Aires that are the focus of this chapter.
trated in CABA, which serves as the countrys
political and administrative heart. It also plays the The contrasting characteristics between CABA
role of regional command and control center for and its metropolitan area are also reflected in the pop-
knowledge-intensive industries related to financial ulations access to infrastructure and urban services.
services, cultural production, and higher educa- Coverage of the water system is 99 percent in CABA,
tion. Economic activities in the municipalities just while several localities in BAMA rank among the 15
Source: Professional Council of Architecture and Urbanism, Metropolitan Observatory, based on data from INDEC, 2010.
282 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Table 2. Competencies of the Four Spheres of Governance in Metropolitan Service Delivery
Jurisdiction in BAMA
Metropolitan Service Federal Buenos Aires CABA Municipal
Province
Transportation Public transit Suburban trains Subway
Metropolitan Inter-municipal
buses buses
Roadways Access to Inter-municipal Maintenance of Maintenance of
highway network roadways local roads, traffic local roads, traffic
management management
Environment Water and Supply network Regulate and Maintenance Maintenance of storm
sewage control service of storm water water drainage
network drainage
Waste Final disposal Collect, final Collect
Management disposal of solid waste
solid waste
Parks and Environmental Environmental Build and maintain Build and maintain
public spaces oversight regulation
Security Federal police Provincial police Metropolitan police
in CABA
Land Use Building permits Building permits Building permits and
and land use and land use land use
Education Universities Primary and Primary and Early childhood
secondary secondary education
education
Health Hospitals All health services Primary health care
Source: Adapted from Prez, 2012, pp.19495.
The Ecological Coordination Agreement for the Local efforts have advanced in this regard since 2012
Metropolitan Area, known as CEAMSE in Spanish and, as of 2014, only five of the municipalities that use
(Coordinacin Ecolgica del rea Metropolitana Sociedad del CEAMSE lacked any type of source separation program
Estado), was formed jointly by the city of Buenos Aires (Gutierrez, 2014). By 2014, the volume of waste disposed
and Buenos Aires province in 1977. It is responsible for of by CEAMSE had declined by 13 percent relative to
the final disposal of garbage in CABA and 32 surround- 2011. These advances notwithstanding, experts believe
ing municipalities, primarily those located in the first and that it is time for CEAMSE to evolve into an integrated
second rings of the metropolitan region plus La Plata waste management entity tasked with the full waste cycle,
and its suburbs. The CEAMSE currently operates three involving waste collection, separation, recycling, and dis-
waste disposal sites. Two sites are over capacity and have posal, and serving the entire metropolitan region. For in-
restricted operations by judicial order due to environmen- stance, there remain eight municipalities in the third ring
tal risks, and a third site, located in the municipality of of the metropolitan region that do not employ CEAMSE
General San Martn, currently receives 86 percent of the and instead dump their waste in untreated municipal
areas waste and is also nearing the end of its useful life. landfills. There is also the question of CEAMSEs polit-
The need to reduce the volume of waste that reaches ical legitimacy as it is an entity controlled by CABA and
these landfills has driven local governments to implement the provincial government, and as such the municipalities
efforts to separate waste at its collection point. A related that pay for its services and house the landfills have had
incentive is that the collection and transport of waste little voice in its management or decision-making struc-
often constitutes a municipalitys largest budget item. ture (Klink, 2008; Prez, 2012).
284 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
dormant for a few years, but with the political alignment proposals related to establishing shared emergency
of the provincial and federal governments in 2016, re- response protocols and digitizing health care records
newed demand to address environmental deficiencies in between the provincial and CABA systems so that pro-
the southern metropolitan area is likely. viders on either side of the jurisdictional boundary can
These municipal associations are limited in the sense have access to the same patient information.
that they consider only a fraction of the metropolitan The Metropolitan Cabinet is a promising initiative
territory. During 2016, however, two initiatives emerged but represents a rather weak and volatile coordinating
to promote a more comprehensive metropolitan mechanism whose resolutions can be easily ignored by
body. Recognizing the importance of Buenos Aires local jurisdictions. In particular, it should be noted that
to Argentinas wellbeing and development, the federal the municipal voice has not yet carved out its space in
government established the Buenos Aires Metropolitan the Metropolitan Cabinet. Nevertheless, a process of
Area Consultative Commission (Comisin Consultiva del local collaboration is developing between CABA and the
rea Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, COCAMBA) whose immediately adjacent municipalities of Vicente Lpez,
purpose is to promote dialogue between the political Tres de Febrero, and Lans, all of which are aligned with
authorities and BAMA in order to identify actions and the same political party as CABA and the federal and
propose institutional innovations that can drive inter-ju- provincial governments. Led by CABA, and including
risdictional coordination (Telm, 2016). The COCAMBA the participation of local residents and civil society orga-
responds to the Minister of the Interior, Public Works, nizations, working groups have begun to come together
and Housing and is composed of nine members total, to discuss, identify, and prioritize issues for which coor-
three from each level of governmentfederal, provin- dinated action is needed to improve the quality of life in
cial, and CABA (the members designated by the Province those neighborhoods that straddle two jurisdictions. It is
of Buenos Aires can be drawn from the municipal level). considered a, first step that seeks to simply establish
The structure also includes a consultative council which a conversation between neighboring jurisdictions, based
represents civil society and academia. Together, commis- on the participation of those representatives who are
sion members aim to submit an institutional proposal closest to the citizens (Ricciuti, 2016). Indeed, this is a
to the minister for a more integrated metropolitan gov- bottom-up, incremental way to generate a metropolitan
ernance body for BAMA, at which point COCAMBA conscience that leverages the new political affinities be-
will be dissolved. The most immediate challenge for this tween actors as a starting point. If they are sustained, the
initiative is defining a politically legitimate roadmap to working groups have the potential to coalesce over time
achieve an operationally legitimate governing body. into legitimate instances of collaboration and coordina-
The second initiative came from the subnational level, tion between actors at the sub-metropolitan and, perhaps
where the governor of Buenos Aires province and the eventually, the metropolitan scale.
mayor of CABA established a Metropolitan Cabinet in
order to define a common agenda and agree on concrete Transforming Metropolitan Projects
actions that put that agenda into effect (Screnci and
Straface, 2016). It is an arrangement that brings together
into Policy
ministers from the provincial and CABA governments
every three months to propose and monitor those met- How could this nascent interest among local gov-
ropolitan initiatives. In the interim, a technical committee ernments to identify with a broader metropolis be
is responsible for achieving intermediate milestones. sustained and built into legitimate metropolitan in-
The first announcement was undoubtedly a feel-good stitutional arrangements? The actions of COCAMBA,
proposal: co-organizing cultural festivals and creating an the Metropolitan Cabinet, and the municipal working
exchange program between performing arts venues in the groups are promising and necessary first steps. But prior
metropolitan area. This was followed by more substantial experience with the process of building metropolitan
286 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
stops with high-quality signage and street furniture, to solve a pressing problem at the scale at which it
and improved pedestrian access on sidewalks and can most effectively be addressed. Buenos Aires has
crosswalks. Because local governments have jurisdiction a Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) in
over their roadways, this strategy allows municipalities placeestablished in 2014 by CABA, the province,
to coordinate with each other to improve transit service and the federal governmentbut at present it is a
without requiring action from the federal government. consultative body only and lacks municipal represen-
The first metropolitan Metrobus was built in 2015 tation. It is plausible to imagine that as the Metrobus
between CABA and its northern neighbor, Vicente projects expand, municipal leaders may begin de-
Lpez, accommodating 20 bus lines and 39 stations manding that the MTA play a more proactive role in
along a five kilometer corridor. CABA fully financed issues ranging from coordinating the different modes
the project, including the investments on the Vicente of transit (Metrobus, bus, subway, regional trains, and
Lpez side of the city boundary in exchange for Vicente bicycles), applying a single fare for intermodal trips,
Lpez financing a future flood prevention project that and assisting municipalities with transit-oriented land
will benefit CABA (La Nacin, 2015). Another metro- use strategies along the new corridors. In this way,
politan Metrobus is also being implemented between the Metrobus projects could influence and strength-
CABA and La Matanza to the west, in this case with en metropolitan institution building, developing the
financing from the federal government and The World MTAs operational legitimacy.
Bank. Another four lines are projected for a total of The matter of a metropolitan parks network in
118 kilometers of bus rapid transit, all of which are BAMA has yet to appear on the metropolitan agenda
the product of the capital citys initiative and technical of local decision-makers. But Garay and Fernndez
leadership (Clarn, 2015). (2013) identified significant environmental deficits in
BAMA, both in terms of water and soil contamina-
Map 2. Existing and Proposed Metropolitan
tion and access to open spaces. They estimated that
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Network
by World Health Organization (WHO) standards
Current BRT network only six of the 40 municipalities in the metropolitan
BRT under construction region provide decent access to green areas. Through
Planned BRT extension
a careful analysis of existing plazas, parks, and other
unoccupied land, Garay and Fernndez delineated a
metropolitan system of green corridors, nodes, and
links that could bridge the gap between existing open
spaces and the WHO standards of access by 80 per-
cent. If designed to double as green infrastructure,
a metropolitan parks network could also contribute
significantly to the mitigation of recurrent and increas-
ingly devastating flooding that afflicts the metropolitan
area, a problem that is squarely on the agenda of the
provincial government.
As with the Metrobus, a parks network is an
area where municipalities can be leaders in devel-
oping proofs of concept that serve as cornerstones
for a broader metropolitan system. Building and
Source: Clarn, 2015.
maintaining parks are functions delegated to the
These advancements in metropolitan transit ser- local governments. But open spaces are also vital
vice signal the willingness of local government actors elements of the natural systems that sustain the
288 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Klink, J. (2008). Recent perspectives on metropolitan or-
ganization, functions, and governance. In E. Rojas, J.
R. Cuadrado-Roura, and J. M. Fernndez-Guell (eds),
Governing the metropolis: Principles and cases (pp.77134).
Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.
La Nacin. (2015). Mauricio Macri inaugur el Metrobus
Norte, que une Vicente Lpez con Belgrano. La Nacin,
June 17. Retrieved from: http://www.lanacion.com.
ar/1802505-mauricio-macri-metrobus-vicente-lopez
Lefevre, C. (2008). Democratic governability of metro-
politan areas: International experience and lessons
for Latin American cities. In E. Rojas, J. R. Cuadrado-
Roura, and J. M. Fernndez Guell (eds), Governing the
Metropolis: Principles and Cases (pp.13792). Washington,
D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.
Muzzini, E., Puig, B. E., Anapolsky, S., Lonnberg, T., and
Mora, V. (2016). Liberando el potencial de las ciudades ar-
gentinas. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Prez, P. (2012). Argentina: The political constraints to
effective metropolitan governance. In P. K. Spink, P.
M. Ward, and R. H. Wilson (eds), Metropolitan governance
in the federalist Americas (pp.171208). Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame.
Prez, P., and Fernndez, L. (2014). Distribucin de la po-
blacin y de las actividades econmicas: Aglomerados
urbanos y gobernabilidad en Argentina. Revista de
Economa y Administracin, 11(1), 4764.
Provincia de Buenos Aires. (2007). Lineamientos estratgicos
para la Regin Metropolitana de Buenos Aires.
Ricciuti, E. (2016). Polticas pblicas para el rea Metropolitana
de Buenos Aires. Retrieved from: http://metropolitana.
org.ar/idm/politicas-publicas-para-el-area-metropoli-
tana-de-buenos-aires/
Rojas, F. M. (2015). Un camino hacia la gobernabilidad
metropolitana. In Polticas e instituciones metropolitanas
(pp.17176). Buenos Aires: Unidad Ejecutora Central
del Ministerio del Interior y Transporte.
Screnci, B., and Straface, F. (2016). Gabinete metropolitano:
Una nueva etapa en la coordinacin Ciudad-Provincia.
Retrieved from: http://metropolitana.org.ar/idm/
gabinete-metropolitano-una-nueva-etapa-en-la-coor-
dinacion-ciudad-provincia-por-bruno-screnci-y-fer-
nando-straface/
TLAM (2016). El gobierno suma al radical Surez
Lastra para coordinar una comisin consultiva del
rea Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. Tlam, October
27. Retrieved from: http://www.telam.com.ar/no-
tas/201610/168487-el-gobierno-suma-al-radical-su-
arez-lastra-para-coordinar-una-comision-consulti-
va-del-area-metropolitana-de-buenos-aires.html
UN-Habitat. (2013). State of the Worlds Cities 20122013.
New York: Routledge.
Abstract
The emergence and consolidation of metropolitan areas all over the globe has brought with it sev-
eral problematic issues with political, social, environmental, urban, and legal implications. Thus,
achieving effective metropolitan governance has become one of the most formidable challenges of
our time. In this context, the absence of institutional and legal frameworks at the metropolitan level
is a common problem faced by the great majority of metropolises, especially those located in Latin
America. Mexicos metropolitan development used to be no exception. As the Mexican Constitution
does not recognize metropolises as an administrative or governmental unit, there was no institutional
framework to regulate them prior to the enactment of the General Law on Human Settlements, Land
Management and Urban Development in 2016. This chapter presents the case of the Metropolitan
Area of Guadalajara, a conurbation that has led an unprecedented effort in Mexico to consolidate a
robust metropolitan governance structure. The governance regime entailed creating three Metropolitan
Coordination Entities that represent both government and civil society: the Metropolitan Coordination
Committee, the Metropolitan Planning Institute, and the Citizen Metropolitan Council. As a result
of this new institutional architecture at the metropolitan level, the first metropolitan-scale planning
instrument has been developed, aiming to achieve effective coordination across the metropolis, as well
as an appropriate territorial planning strategy aligned to the new normative body.
As the metropolitan phenomenon dramatically arises all municipalities, the country lacked adequate legislation,
over the world, achieving effective metropolitan gover- and institutional frameworks to attend to this metro-
nance has become one of the most pressing challenges politan reality until 2016. This is key to understanding
of our time. In this context, the absence of institutional the historical challenges faced by the Metropolitan
and legal frameworks at the metropolitan level is a com- Area of Guadalajara (MAG), the second largest
mon problem faced by the great majority of metropolis- metropolis in the country, particularly regarding its
es. In Latin America, the metropolitan phenomenon has governance and management.
been taking place in a context characterized by insuffi- This chapter describes the path followed by the
cient normative and technical capacities to attend to this MAG in pursuit of a robust and efficient governance
particular aspect of the urban agenda. As a result, local structure through different institutional reforms that
governments from several cities in the region have been have taken place since the 1940s. The case demon-
facing tremendous difficulties in efficiently providing strates how the MAG has adapted to the metropolitan
services and fulfilling the needs of their citizens. Thus, phenomenon, and it can serve as an example for other
metropolitanization is a common challenge at the core Latin American cities experiencing similar challenges.
of the New Urban Agenda. The authors first present a brief overview of metro-
Mexicos metropolitan development is no excep- politanization in Mexico, pointing out the main obstacles
tion. Even though rapid urban sprawl has overflowed and challenges faced by the country in terms of gover-
traditional administrative boundaries of Mexican nance. Second, they describe the MAG and recount the
290 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
governance evolution of this region since it began show- create institutions related to metropolitan agglomerations
ing metropolitan features until today. Third, they offer a (Gamboa, Montejano, and Ayala Cordeo, 2007) in the
glance at Guadalajaras metropolitan governance structure absence of an overarching normative body setting basic
and the functions of its Metropolitan Coordination guidelines. Of the 32 states that comprise the Mexican
Entities. Finally, they provide an outline of possible alter- Federation, only eight have a law regarding metropolitan
natives to strengthen governance of the MAG. areas (Silva Rodrguez, 2012). Those eight laws all provide
different scopes and propose similar mechanisms that
Metropolitanization in Mexico have failed to achieve a common denominator, which in
turn led to a highly disharmonized governance structure.
In a context of rapidly increasing dominance of urban This situation was further complicated by the fact
areas around the world (UN-Habitat, 2015) megacities, that Mexicos Constitution does not recognize metro-
conurbations, urban corridors, and metropolitan areas politan areas as an intermediate level for public admin-
or regions have become the new territorial expressions istration among the states and municipalities, nor as an
of the urban phenomenon in Latin America (UN- administrative unit. Municipalities were responsible for
Habitat, 2012). However, in the great majority of Latin solving challenges and problems of metropolitan char-
American countries, managing metropolitanization acter that by far surpassed their capabilities for coordi-
has been constrained by unresolved governance issues nation and association recognized in Article 115 of the
and lack of legislative frameworks. This translates into Constitution. Yet, by providing guidelines that establish
the absence of an institutional architecture to govern minimal conditions to create institutional structures of
Latin American metropolises and weak capabilities to metropolitan governance, the introduction of the new
attend to the metropolitan agenda in the region. legislation aims to resolve this issue. The already existing
In Mexico, the metropolitan phenomenon began laws of metropolitan governance must subordinate and
mainly during the second half of the 20th centu- align to the new regulations, whilst the states lacking
ry and the country is now highly urbanized. The of laws in the subject, will have to legislate their own
National Urban System concentrates 72.3 percent of regulations according to this new normative body.
the national population (CONAPO, SEDESOL, and Despite the obstacles and challenges faced by
SEGOB, 2012), which is 81.2 million inhabitants living Mexican cities in managing the increasing occurrence
in 384 cities, 59 of which are considered metropolitan and expansion of metropolitan areas across the coun-
areas, 78 conurbations, and 247 urban centers. try, the MAG excels at both the national and regional
Throughout Mexicos metropolitanization process, levels. This metropolis has led an unprecedented effort
a key challenge among local and regional authorities in to consolidate a metropolitan governance regime that
the country was the absence of regulations and legal filled the prior legal and institutional void, setting a
frameworks to articulate, coordinate, and manage the precedent as a good practice and as a national point
development of its expanding urban areas. However, of reference at the time of legislating the new General
the year of 2016 set a watershed in this regard. A Law on Human Settlements.
major constitutional reform was approved by the end
of the year, leading to the enactment of the General Guadalajara: From Institutional
Law on Human Settlements, Land Management and
Urban Development, which incorporates a chapter
Fragmentation to Metropolitan
on metropolitan governance for the first time, filling Governance
a vacuum on Mexican legislation.
The new law seeks to put an end to a period in which The MAG, commonly known as the City of
each state in the country drifted when deciding how to Guadalajara, is the second largest Mexican conurba-
exercise their authority to govern, to legislate, and to tion after the megalopolis of Mexico City. Guadalajara,
292 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
the Congress of the State of Jalisco enacted the Law human settlements that existed at that time was weak
for Urban Improvement, the first attempt to consolidate and inadequate to address the increasing metropolitan
a legal framework to regulate the regions planning. phenomenon. Therefore, in 1976, prior to the United
In the same year, Jaliscos government created the Nations Conference on Human Settlements held in
Planning Commission for Guadalajara, the first insti- Vancouver (better known as Habitat I), a legislative
tution with a joint decision-making approach where effort to improve the national legal framework on the
the state government, the municipalities, and the pri- subject was triggered in Mexico. As a result, Article 27
vate sector shared the same discussion table. By 1958, of the Mexican Constitution was reformed in 1976,
as a result of the inexorable increase of urbanization resulting in the first General Law on Human Settlements.
in the region, the municipalities that were represented Enacting this law was a watershed moment because
in the Planning Commission for Guadalajara were it aimed to balance the living conditions of inhabitants
recognized as part of the citys conurbation. with ecological wellbeing by adequately planning and
In 1959, the enactment of the Law on Planning managing human settlements regardless of their ur-
and Urbanization by the state authority resulted in the ban or rural location (Diario Oficial de la Federacin,
creation of the Planning and Urbanization Board of 1976). The spillover effect that this law had on the
the State of Jalisco (an institution that followed its great majority of Mexican Federation States was
predecessor, the Planning Commission). This board significant. In Jalisco, the law was published in 1977,
was given greater planning authority with a broader followed by the official recognition of the City of
scope in territorial terms, meaning that its attributions Guadalajara as a conurbation by the state congress in
were no longer exclusive to the City of Guadalajara. 1978 (IMEPLAN, 2015).
Once again, the state government was the head of the The Decree of Guadalajaras Conurbation also
institution (Arias Garca, 1995). meant including the municipalities of Tonal and
Another feature that characterizes this period is Tlajomulco de Ziga into the city core and recog-
the rapid demographic explosion and urban sprawl. nizing the first metropolitan ring, which consisted in
Guadalajaras population grew from 500,000 inhabi- a 15-kilometer radius from the city center to its urban
tants in 1950 to 1 million in 1964 and 1.5 million by limits (Cabrales Barajas, 2010). Furthermore, also
1970 (SEDESOL, CONAPO, and INEGI, 2010), in 1978, the Planning and Urbanization Board was
meaning it tripled in size in 20 years. The demographic replaced by the Regional and Urban Development
explosion led to the city expanding beyond its tradi- Commission of Guadalajara, which represented the
tional municipal boundaries. As a result, by 1975, the first attempt to achieve a participatory urban plan-
board was granted new powers, such as zoning, land ning process.
management, and the elaboration of urban plans In contrast with the previous board, this new
(Arias Garca, 1995). commission had more heterogeneous representa-
In sum, the early development of MAG solidified tiveness as it was composed of diverse actors and
the first legal and institutional pillars that shaped the stakeholders from society, yet all were subordinated
path toward consolidating the metropolis. It is im- to strong state government dominance. The most
portant to emphasize that the metropolis existed long significant achievements of this commission were
before its official recognition in 1978. Unikel (1976), the elaboration of the Regional Urban Plan in 1979
Regalado (1995), and Lpez-Moreno (1996) agree that and the 1982 Land Management Plan for Guadalajara
the City of Guadalajara gained the territorial charac- Conurbation, which had a metropolitan spirit. In
teristics and population to be considered a metropolis addition, the commission allowed the municipal au-
between 1940 and 1970 (IMEPLAN, 2015). thorities to reach coordination agreements, such as
During the 1970s, urbanization was already a reality creating inter-municipal agencies and organizations
across Mexico. However, the national legislation on to provide inter-municipal public services.
294 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
reformed, while Article 81 Bis was included in the Metropolitan Planning, a non-permanent entity for
legislation. This event constituted an inflection point consultative purposes. Bearing these new metropolitan
in the development of a metropolitan governance bodies in mind, the state congress reformed the Urban
structure because it led to the creation of a compul- Code of Jalisco in 2015. The external municipality of
sory mechanism for metropolitan coordination. Zapotlanejo was also included as part of the MAG,
Another significant step in consolidating increasing the total number of municipalities to nine.
Guadalajaras metropolitan governance structure Finally, the most recent advance in the path to-
took place in 2009, when the state congress enacted an ward better metropolitan governance was launching
Urban Code that specified the responsibilities of the the Plan for Metropolitan Territorial Planning of
state government and the municipalities in terms of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (POTmet in
urban governance. In addition, in the same year, con- Spanish), which took place in June 2016, prior to the
gress issued a new Decree for the Metropolitan Area enactment of the General Law on Human Settlements,
of Guadalajara, recognizing a second metropolitan Territorial Planning and Urban Development, in
ring of 35-kilometer radius (Cabrales Barajas, 2010). November 2016. The POTmet aims to achieve an
The second ring included the external municipalities appropriate territorial planning strategy across the
of Juanacatln and Ixtlahuacn de los Membrillos. metropolitan area, while it also intends to support
In continuation of those efforts, in 2011, the state and give legal weight to the territorial planning deci-
congress enacted the Law on Metropolitan Coordination, sions taken by the Metropolitan Planning Institute
which is currently the most important legal framework (IMEPLAN, 2016a). The POTmet also formulates the
in terms of metropolitan governance. This law estab- essential criteria to address problems caused by urban
lishes both the procedure to recognize and establish sprawl that the city has been experiencing during the
metropolitan areas in the state and the basis for the past decades (IMEPLAN, 2016b).
organization and functioning of the Metropolitan In order to complement the objectives and goals
Coordination Entities in accordance with Article 81 set for the POTmet, IMEPLAN is currently working
Bis of Jaliscos Constitution (Peridico Oficial del on a second strategic instrument that aims to draw
Estado de Jalisco, 2011). a roadmap for metropolitan development toward
In this spirit, in 2011, the mayors from the munici- the year 2042 through a participatory and com-
palities of the MAG signed an agreement to create the prehensive planning approach. This instrument is
Board of Metropolitan Coordination, a political entity the Metropolitan Development Programme of the
within the governance structure. After an intense year Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, 2042. Additionally,
of negotiations, the board was finally constituted in the Board of Metropolitan Coordination is currently
December 2012. Furthermore, a temporary commis- discussing the creation of metropolitan agencies to
sion to elaborate the organic statutes of the rest of the effectively provide public services such as security and
Metropolitan Coordination Entities was established solid waste management.
in the same year, having important support from di-
verse organizations from the civil society such as the Guadalajaras Metropolitan
Assembly for Metropolitan Governance.
By February 2014, the Organic Statutes of the
Governance Structure
Metropolitan Coordination System were published,
leading to the subsequent consolidation of the As mentioned, the MAG is now the most advanced
Metropolitan Planning Institute (IMEPLAN in Mexican city in terms of metropolitan governance.
Spanish), which is the entity with technical authority; This is the result of governmental efforts to achieve
the Citizen Metropolitan Council, an entity for citi- better coordination at the metropolitan level through-
zen participation; and the Consultative Council for out the years. Further, it is a consequence of significant
Technical Entity
Guadalajaras Metropolitan
Coordination Entities Metropolitan Planning Institute
Supported by the Consultative
Council of Metropolitan Planning
Source: Authors.
The Board of Metropolitan Coordination is as the Metropolitan Zoning Plan, the Metropolitan
conceived by the law as an inter-municipal body for Development Program, and the Risk Atlas; it also
political coordination. It comprises the mayors of the provides a Metropolitan Information System.
nine municipalities of the MAG, the state governor or According to the law, IMEPLAN also has the au-
his representative, and a technical secretary, who is at thority to establish partnerships with organizations and
the same time the Managing Director of IMEPLAN. universities in order to create further technical studies
Some of the most important responsibilities attributed and propose additional coordination mechanisms.
to the board are setting the metropolitan agenda and However, all of the instruments and mechanisms pro-
ensuring compliance to it, approving technical metro- posed by this organization are subject to approval by the
politan planning instruments and the annual work and Metropolitan Coordination Board and by the city halls
investment plan, and performing necessary actions of the MAG municipalities, when appropriate.
for the effectiveness of metropolitan coordination Finally, the Citizen Metropolitan Council is an in-
actions. The aforementioned metropolitan agenda is ter-municipal advisory body for citizen participation
considered an instrument to establish priorities, objec- with an honorary character. It is a group of citizens
tives, strategies, and actions for the metropolitan area. of neighborhood associations as well as citizens from
The Metropolitan Planning Institute is an in- academic, professional, and civic organizations that
ter-municipal decentralized public body with a legal seek to promote social impact on the public policy
identity, its own assets, and technical, financial, and cycle. The council includes a minimum of two citizens
managerial autonomy. It includes a managing director from each metropolitan municipality, who are elected
(appointed by the Metropolitan Coordination Board), through public nomination. Its main purpose is to par-
a governing board, and technical and administrative ticipate in monitoring and evaluating the metropolitan
units. Some of its main responsibilities are to develop agenda, while it is also responsible for elaborating,
and propose metropolitan planning instruments such receiving, and discussing proposals from civil society.
296 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Conclusion The way forward for the MAG seems promising
since it has been taking a more horizontal and com-
The current scheme of metropolitan governance of prehensive governance path. The upcoming launch
the MAG, created under the form of a tripartite sys- of the Metropolitan Development Programme and
tem of metropolitan coordination, is a good example the consolidation of metropolitan agencies to provide
of how a Latin American city is trying to address the public services will likely be important milestones.
metropolitan phenomenon. The institutional structure
of this metropolis was a point of reference at the References
moment to enact a new national regulation that has
included the metropolitan approach into the Mexican Arellano Ros, A. (2013). Las Instituciones Metropolitanas
legislation on human settlements and urban planning. de Guadalajara [Guadalajaras Metropolitan
Institutions]. En R. Arias de la Mora, Coordinacin
However, this governance structure is in the process
metropolitana y gestin pblica municipal (p. 272).
of consolidation and still has significant challenges Zapopan: El Colegio de Jalisco.
to overcome related to its integration, representation, Arias Garca, C. F. (1995). Evolucin de la Legislacin
performance, scope, and funding. Urbanstica e Instrumentos de Planificacin en Jalisco
For instance, in order to keep advancing in y Guadalajara, de 1933 a 1995 y hasta la actualidad
consolidating a robust and effective metropolitan [Urban regulations and planning instruments evolu-
tion in Jalisco and Guadalajara, from 1933 to 1995
governance regime in the MAG, and in the whole
and the present]. Retrieved 2014, from Instituto de
urban and metropolitan system, it is crucial to reform Investigaciones Jurdicas de la UNAM: http://www.
Article 115 of the Mexican Political Constitution, jurdicas.unam.mx/
which has a significant legal vacuum in terms of Cabrales Barajas, L. F. (2010). El de atrs paga: el modelo
metropolitan affairs Although the enactment of the metropolitano de Guadalajara [The next one is pay-
new General Law on Human Settlements set a crucial ing: the metropolitan model of Guadalajara]. In O.
Urquidez, La reinvencin de la metrpoli: Algunas
inflection point to attend the metropolitan phenome-
propuestas (p. 328). Zapopan: El Colegio de Jalisco.
non in Mexico, reforming such constitutional article CONAPO, SEDESOL, and SEGOB. (2012). Catlogo.
could pave the way for deeper coordination and a Sistema Urbano Nacional 2012 [2012 National Urban
more efficient governance at the metropolitan level. System Catalogue]. Retrieved August 2016 from
Furthermore, the city is currently very different Secretara de Gobernacin: http://www.conapo.
from the basic conception expressed in Article 115 gob.mx/es/CONAPO/Partes_I_a_V_-_Catalogo_
Sistema_Urbano_Nacional_2012
of the Mexican Political Constitution (IMEPLAN,
Diario Oficial de la Federacin. (1976). Ley General
2016 b, p.6). de Asentamientos Urbanos (26 de 05 de 1976)
Another significant challenge faced by the city is [Urban Settlements General Law, May 26th 1976].
overcoming political and partisan logic when it comes Retrieved August 2016, from Diario Oficial de
to reaching metropolitan agreements. Although the la Federacin: http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.
Board of Metropolitan Coordination is a space char- php?codigo=4845406&fecha=26/05/1976
Gamboa Montejano, C. (2007). Derecho Metropolitano:
acterized by strong political bargaining, it is paramount
Estudio Terico Conceptual, de Derecho Comparado
that the spirit of the Metropolitan Coordination Interno, y de las Principales Iniciativas Presentadas en
Entities remains focused on the metropolitan devel- la Materia en la Pasada LXI Legislatura [Metropolitan
opment path that the city wants to follow. The will- Law: Theoretical studies, Comparative Law and main
ingness of the state government and the municipal initiatives presented at the LXI Legislature]. Mxico,
authorities to cooperate and collaborate in the met- D.F.: Editorial Acadmcia Espaola.
Gmez, G. R. (2009). Comisin Nacional para Prevenir
ropolitan agenda is a crucial pillar to keep advancing
y Erradicar la Pobreza contra las Mujeres [National
toward a more efficient and effective metropolitan Commission to prevent and eradicate poverty in
governance scheme. women]. Retrieved August 2016 from Diagnstico
298 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.7 Metropolitan Reform in Mexico City:
Some Key Ideas
Alfonso Iracheta (Colegio Mexiquense)
Abstract
Continued and rapid urbanization in Mexico is creating larger and more spread out cities. Neither the
spatial and urban planning system nor the administrative structures in any of the three tiers of the
Mexican government have assumed responsibility for planning and governing metropolises from a
comprehensive governance approach. The Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico stands out for
its fragmented and sectoral features, which have made it enormously difficult to define and execute
a long-term metropolitan vision. And yet the city works! But how is it working? Does it offer rea-
sonable conditions for comprehensive development and sustainable environment? The answer is no,
as the positive conditions it has to offer diminish and the simple problems disproportionately grow.
This raises some key questions: Why is metropolitan governance so important for national and local
security and development? What are the key proposals to move from metropolitan crisis to successful
metropolitan governance? This chapter provides some answers and advocates for the importance of
metropolitan governance and the need for a long-lasting and effective urban reform in Mexico as well
as a metropolitan strategy for The Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico.
Continued and rapid urbanization in Mexico is the Valley of Mexico (MAVM) stands out for two
creating larger and more spread out cities where reasons. First, it comprises Mexico City, which is
long distance commuting and conurbation have the national capital and the indisputable political,
become an everyday experience for a growing num- economic, social, and cultural driver of the country.
ber of urban inhabitants and local governments. Second, the metropolitan area includes 79 different
Such urban growth has usually occurred over jurisdictions, each with executive bodies of its own,
multiple jurisdictions, making local governments in addition to two state governments (the State of
responsible for some areas, without necessarily Mexico and State of Hidalgo), the federal district,
taking into account the rest of the city. Metro ar- the federal government, and 59 corresponding
eas are not only integrated and interrelated entities legislative bodies. This translates into at least 80
from social, economic, spatial, and environmental different territorial plans and programs to plan the
perspectives, but also share a single labor market metropolis (Iracheta, 2006).
with strong interdependent linkages between the There is not a national legal and/or planning
economic core and the workforce at the periphery. framework to deal with the metropolitan phe-
Furthermore, they often share common environ- nomena. At best, some big cities have developed
mental features, such as air and watersheds, among metropolitan plans and some states have produced
others. However, neither the spatial or urban metropolitan legislation, however, with poor gov-
planning system nor the administrative structures ernance arrangements. This is the case of the 1998
in any of the three tiers of the Mexican govern- Metropolitan Program for the MAVM, which has
ment have assumed responsibility for planning and been updated at least four times, but never applied.
governing the metropolises from a comprehensive This problem can be traced to how state and mu-
governance approach. The Metropolitan Area of nicipal boundaries were historically defined in the
Note: *The population numbers for 2000 and 2005 were calculated with the universe of Metro Zones of 2010.
300 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Map 1. From Tenochtitlan to Mexico City to Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico:
Five Centuries of Urbanization (15242014)
The growth rates for the Mexican Central the megalopolis. Public policy, and institutional and
Megalopolis, or Central Region of Mexico (CRM), governing decisions are made independently without
are around 1 percent per year. The CRM comprises a regard for the other jurisdictions, leaving legislation,
macro-regional area surrounding the MAVM with 37.3 planning, and urban taxation (property taxes), among
million residents, 12 metropolitan areas, six federal other issues, with barely any common ground.
entities, and 535 municipalities. Notwithstanding the From an economic point of view, more than 80
huge number of activities and socioeconomic rela- percent of GDP is produced in cities and more than
tions shared by the six state jurisdictions that intersect 70 percent in metropolitan areas, where 26 percent
the CRM, there is a lack of effective coordination is produced in the MAVM and 31 percent in the
and an inability to properly deal with the needs of CRM (Table 2).
Santa Teresa
Villas de la Laguna
Paseos de San Juan
Villas del Campo
Bella Vista
La Capilla
Senderos de San Isidro
Parajes del Sur
Riberas del Bravo
Caadas del Florido
San Miguel Res. y V. de San Fco.
Arboledas
Chulavista
Colinas de Altamira
Name of social housing unit
Villas Universidad
Valle de Puebla
Villa del Prado
Ciudad Olmeca
Granjas del Marquez
Anma
La Loma
Loma Linda
La Cholla
Villa Bonita
Balcones de Alcal
Acoros
Villas de San Miguel
Villa Bonita
Villas del Rey
Torremolinos
Real de Palmas
Villas Otoch
Hacienda de los Portales
Los Angeles
Alamos Country
Campanario
0.45 5.45 10.45 15.45 20.45 25.45 30.45 35.45 40.45 45.45 50.45
Kilometers
302 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Map 2. Some Social Housing Development
Mobility in almost all Mexican cities and partic-
Locations within the
ularly in the large cities has become a very sensitive 3 Major Metropolitan Areas (Valley of Mexico,
issue. The poorest of the population are estimated to Guadalajara, and Monterrey), 2015
spend almost 50 percent of their family income on
urban transportation. To be more precise, according
to Carruthers, Dick, and Saurkar (2005), the maximum
sustainable expenditure on urban transportation for
one person should be no more than 30 percent of
their total income. A study of 36 of the worst-off
social housing developments scattered throughout the
country (INFONAVIT, 2015) showed that average per
capita transportation expenditure represented almost
19 percent of total household income.
Even though this value was below the sustainable
threshold, it is relatively easy to reach and surpass that
threshold because it is highly sensitive to additional family
members spending to regularly commute to workplaces,
education centers, and other places. Finally, almost 40
percent of the population settled in social housing devel-
opments require more than one hour to commute on each
leg of their daily public transportation trips (INFONAVIT,
2015). Three of the 36 social housing developments were
located in the MAVM, with the State of Mexicos suburban
municipalities showing the worst results.
It is clear that public transportation systems within
Mexican metro areas are inadequate for connecting
social housing developments with their metropoli-
tan centers, hence fostering the use of private cars
(INFONAVIT, 2015).
It has been estimated that US$2 billion per year are
lost in MAVM alone as a result of a deficient working
Source: INFONAVIT, 2015, p.70.
class transportation system (IMCO, 2012; 2014) and
that excessive use of cars represents around 4 percent The dependence of the vast majority of Mexican
of metropolitan GDP in five of the most populated cities on vehicles reinforces this problem. Evidence of
metropolises: MAVM, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla- this pattern can be found in MAVM vehicle fleet size
Tlaxcala, and Leon (Medina, 2012). Furthermore, this that increased at twice the rate of the United States
transportation pattern has direct negative effects on and Canada between 2000 and 2010. The Metropolitan
environmental quality and human health. The latest Federal Fund evaluation (Iracheta and Iracheta, 2014)
example goes back to early march 2016 when MAVM found that, for 16 metropolitan areas during 200609,
faced one of the worst air pollution crises in the past around 47 percent of total financial resources were
two decades. Most experts agreed that it originated used for road-related infrastructure projects, or 54
to a large extent from poor environmental and urban percent of the total number of projects, whereas less
planning and the absence of a sustainable metropolitan than 4 percent were public transportation projects, and
transportation system. these received 15 percent of the resources. The MAVM
304 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Strong metropolitan governance first requires coordination compulsory within metropolises, pro-
the legal recognition and regulation of metropolis- moting and rewarding those inter-municipal public
es. In the same way, the spatial planning system in policies, projects, and actions with clear metropolitan
Mexico has to recognize municipalities as the basic scope. The former is addressed by the new legis-
territorial jurisdiction making up metropolitan areas lation, which opens up the possibility for the con-
and regions. Hence, a first step is to conceptualize struction of a real metropolitan strategy comprising
both cities and metropolises from a legal, spatial, and inter-state and inter-municipal participatory planning
statistical standpoint because they are currently not processes.
defined in national or state legal and spatial planning It is fundamental to legally set forth a clear
frameworks. A significant difficulty in planning a city definition of responsibilities for the three tiers of
or a metro area under the current system arises when government within spatial planning and governance
the only recognized spatial entities are the municipal- public bodies. The federal government has many
ities and census tracts. Furthermore, the concept of social programs and policies to assist urban, low-in-
a population center that is the closest approximation come neighborhoods and address local urban prob-
to a city and is regularly used for urban planning is lems. However, there are difficulties implementing
still outside the generally accepted norm. Therefore a national metropolitan coordination strategy or
a population center cannot generally be considered a metropolitan sustainable mobility policy, among
valid in determining city or metropolitan boundaries other long-term national spatial issues. This may be
nor for public policy decision-making. As a result, because electoral purposes influence Mexican politics
many cities and metropolises have different criteria and public policy definition.
and methodologies for their spatial delimitations and It is necessary to officially recognize the right of
pursue different objectives that are not necessarily all citizens to enjoy a sustainable, more equal, demo-
recognized by public administration bodies that make cratic, and secure city/metropolis where the human
decisions. The recently passed General Law on Human rights of everybody are fully respected. After a series
Settlements and Urban Development (2016) legally recog- of measures passed by the Mexican government in
nizes metropolitan areas and conurbations, however, 2011 amended the Constitution to recognize inter-
federal states still need to update their own spatial and national human rights, this became a starting point
urban planning legislation. for full recognition of the right to the city within
Metropolitan governance also requires a strong the 2016 law.
and inclusive national strategy oriented toward As it was stated earlier, Mexican cities and metro
promoting participation and collaboration among areas have suffered from a disordered and unsus-
municipalities. It means recognizing them as key tainable expansion. In order to face these issues,
stakeholders in building metropolitan governance, metropolitan governance needs to move toward a
becoming owners of the system, and therefore taking more consolidated and compact metropolitan spatial
responsibility for metropolitan issues, such as defin- pattern, which has been formalized within the new
ing boundaries and formulating plans. Metropolitan legislative agenda. There are three main proposals
management arrangements to facilitate joint func- that stand out:
tions and projects among stakeholders should be 1. Give priority to occupying the inner citys va-
subject to promotion and regulation. From this per- cant land.
spective, it is desirable that urban municipal plans be 2. Control peripheral urban sprawl.
derived from metropolitan plans in order to build a 3. Determine strategic lands in order to locate social
participatory vision of the totality (metropolis) first facilities and housing developments for the urban
and of its parts (municipalities) afterwards. It is also poor, hence improving control and reducing
necessary to make inter-municipal and inter-state informal expansion of settlements.
306 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
INFONAVIT. (2015). ndice de deterioro de la vivienda
Mexican territorial reform should be considered social en Mxico (INDH), Reporte general del di-
a milestone for national and local security and socio- agnstico de 36 conjuntos habitacionales con altos
economic development, as almost all decision-making niveles de vivienda abandonada (), prepared by Centro
processes that affect present and future national devel- Eure (A. Iracheta, Coord), Mexico City
opment take place in cities. This is particularly the case Iracheta, A. (2006). Governing the mega city in Mexico City.
London School of Economics and Political Science.
for large agglomerations and metropolitan areas, where
Retrieved from https://lsecities.net/media/objects/
the MAVM stands out, making them arenas for either articles/mexico-city-governing-the-mega-city/en-gb/
social wellbeing or social disruption. . (2010). Hacia nuevas estructuras de planeacin,
administracin y participacin metropolitana. In
L. lvarez, C. Snchez-Mejorada, and C. San Juan
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Abstract
New York Metropolitan Region is a case of historical decline in metropolitan governance. It shows the
lack of institutionalism and the discontinuity of public policies that once favored sustainable mobility
and quality public spaces. While the region has grown, prospered, and seen changes, the institutions
have remained stagnant or have been influenced by political cycles. This chapter critically analyzes the
governance structure and how fragmentation poses major challenges for urban management and plan-
ning, particularly because of the lack of coordination in public policy and investment. The three states
in the metropolisNew York, New Jersey, and Connecticutsquabble over funding and compete for
business, rather than understanding their collective destiny. Though funding presents problems, the
greatest challenge for New York Metropolitan Region is not paying for the projects, but agreeing on
new systems to address the shortcomings in planning, financing, governing, and implementing regional
infrastructure. One example is analyzed in-depth: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and
its cousin, the TriBorough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.
One of the fundamental questions facing all metro- Challenges to Governance in the
politan regions today is how to address change. In a Metropolitan Region of New York
rapidly evolving world of environmental, technolog-
ical, cultural, economic, and political transformation, The institutions that have shaped and continue to gov-
is a metropolitan region able to embrace change and ern the New York Metropolitan Region were created
transformation? Can its public agencies and political during the beginning of the last century, from 1890
leaders, businesses and economic foundations, and to 1940. During that period Greater New York was
civic leaders and institutions adapt? Or will a region be fashioned by consolidating dozens of smaller com-
stuck with the same basic institutions, organizations, munities on Long Island and Westchester (including
political structures, and capabilities of its past? the city of Brooklyn, already a major city in its own
In 2000, London created the Greater London right) with the wealthy city on Manhattan. Two great
Authority, a new administrative authority with public authoritiesthe Port of New York Authority
wide-reaching powers and the ability to consolidate and TriBorough Bridge and Tunnel Authoritywere
housing, land use, economic development, and trans- established to build bridges across the rivers that sep-
portation. On January 1, 2016, the Metropole du arated Manhattan from the mainland and Long Island.
Grand Paris established a structure for cooperation They were given semi-autonomous governance struc-
between the City of Paris and its suburbs, with juris- tures and the ability to self-finance their investments,
diction over planning, housing, and environmental which they used to build a foundation for extraordi-
protection. From Tokyo to Singapore, the tremendous nary metropolitan growth and development. Business
growth of Asias cities has been managed in most cas- and residents flocked to the city, which grew from 1.5
es by institutions less than a decade old. New Yorks million inhabitants in 1890 to 7.5 million by 1940 and
governance history is not much changed over the past built what is now perhaps the greatest metropolis on
hundred or so years. the planet (if you ask a New Yorker, at least).
308 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
But even as New York and the surrounding region homeowners who do not want to see additional trains
have grown and prosperedand seen enormous in their backyards.
changesthe institutions have remained stagnant. Connecticut has underinvested in transportation
If the 8.5 million residents of New York City and 15 for a generation and finds itself mired in debilitating
million residents of the surrounding region are going congestion along its coastal corridor. The state boasts
to continue to enjoy prosperity while combating the some of the wealthiest communities in the nation,
new challenges of climate change and extreme in- such as Greenwich, but also some of the poorest
equality, the institutions that provide the vital services cities, including Bridgeport. How can such extremes
binding the region togetherthe subways and mass coexist? The state disbanded county government over
transit, highways, seaports, and airportsneed to 40 years ago, so there is no regional entity between
evolve, adapt, and reform. It is unclear if they have the state and municipalities. As a result, the towns
the capacity to do so. each control more of their destiny, which exacerbates
The government structures do not easily lend income polarization, crime, poor schools, and other
themselves to reform. The region is composed of segregating forces. Recently, a state judge issued a
three states (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), scathing condemnation of Connecticuts public ed-
which are enshrined in the United States Constitution. ucation system, which allows for extreme differences
They squabble over funding and compete for business, in educational quality between wealthy and poor
rather than understanding their collective destiny. communities, and gave the legislature just six months
Perhaps more troubling, land use decisions and plan- to devise a better system to allocate resources and
ning are governed at the municipal level, thanks to a address inequalities. The state legislature had claimed
theory that home rule is the best form of making de- that local control absolved them of responsibility. But
cisions about land use. New York City has a strong city the judge noted that local governments are all inven-
planning department and, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg tions of that same state legislature: It certainly cant
and his PlaNYC initiative (now called OneNYC under say its hands are tied when it tied the knots itself,
Mayor de Blasio), the city has a relatively clear vision he concluded (Connecticut Coalition for Justice in
of where growth should go, how to address issues of Education Funding v. Rell, 2016).
affordability and access, and even a path to lowering New Jersey has been the most progressive and fastest
carbon emissions and addressing the threat of climate growing piece of the tristate region over the past genera-
change. Local communities fight against growth and tion, but that is changing too. As a member of a political
development, but the city at least has an understanding party that denies that climate change is a man-made
of what it needs to be doing (de Blasio, 2015). threat to the planet, Governor Chris Christie pulled New
Not so for the more than 600 cities, towns, and Jersey out of a successful model to lower carbon emis-
villages outside New York City that are part of the sions, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Baxter,
metropolitan region. Each creates its own local 2011), so that he could raid the funds and pay for tax cuts.
plans, often in direct conflict with their neighbors. Likewise, he diverted funds for a critical rail link to New
Communities on Long Island oppose rental housing York City so that he could delay raising taxes on gasoline
despite a crisis in affordability. The single most im- for a couple of years (Marcus, 2016). Finally, when funds
portant improvement for Long Island would be to for infrastructure were depleted earlier this year, the gov-
build a third track on the main line on the commuter ernor put almost all capital projects on hold, rather than
railroad, which would allow for reverse commutes allow an increase in the gas tax to fund infrastructure
during the peak hours (when both of the existing investment (Marcus, 2016).
tracks are used for express and local services). But In the U.S. system, the states have always served
for decades the state has been unable to build the as laboratories for public policy, from education to
project because of local opposition from a few dozen community policing, to economic development and
310 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Hudson (PATH). Today it loses over $400 million a process. A 2014 report by the Special Panel on the
year in operating expenses, a deficit that is paid for Future of the Port Authority called for an overhaul
by drivers on the George Washington Bridge and of the Port Authority of New York and New Jerseys
Holland and Lincoln tunnels. The New York City governance structure, replacing it with a unified CEO
subway was combined with the TriBorough Bridge position that would report to an independent board
and Tunnel Authority to create the Metropolitan with a rotating chairman. At the time of writing, this
Transportation Authority in 1968 by Governor position had not been filled.
Rockefeller, again creating a financial linkage between Rebuilding LaGuardia Airport has been a priority
the profit-generating roads and bridges and the mon- for New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo ever
ey-losing transit operations. since Vice President Biden declared it a third world
Merging the financially independent Port Authority facility (Santora, 2014). The Port Authority had already
and TriBorough Bridge and Tunnel Authority with been moving ahead with plans to rebuild the Central
transit operations broke the firewall between public Terminal Building long before the Vice Presidents
and private. Now that the authorities needed state declaration. However, the JFK and Newark airports
assistance, they struggled to maintain their indepen- are experiencing the greatest increases in air travel and
dence. Politicians began to see these public authorities the worst delays. They serve the international market,
as just another extension of state government. Rather which is growing most rapidly and major investments
than appointing independent boards and letting them are necessary to increase their capacity, including,
do their work, politicians began directly hiring senior someday, new runways. And, if the region wants to
staff, directing which projects would be built, and build transit links to the airports, the priority should
controlling the fares and tolls that paid for the in- be extending the PATH to Newark or eliminating the
vestments. Senior staff selections were hit-and-miss, AirTrain transfer at Jamaica, each of which would
sometimes resulting in excellent public stewards and provide line-seat rides to Newark and JFK.
other times in political hacks. But even the good ad- On the other side of the river, New Jersey politi-
ministrators were hampered by reporting directly to a cians and commuters are furious about the condition
politician rather than a board of director. And, instead of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, with good justi-
of selecting projects that would generate a positive fication. The terminal was built in 1950 to serve less
return on investment, the capital investments were than 100,000 riders. Today, it handles over twice that
politically driven and usually financial losers. number. It is a crumbling, decaying, depressing facility
that is well past its useful life cycle.
But replacing the bus terminal with a modern
The Future facility raises many difficult questions that overlap
into competing jurisdictions. The Port Authority
Today, the Port Authority finds itself limping toward owns and operates the facility and the tunnels
its centennial celebration. Divided by politics and under the Hudson River that connect it to New
tainted by scandal, it has been unable to carry out the Jersey. New York City owns and operates the streets
governance reforms it committed itself to almost two around itstreets that many inter-city buses use to
years ago. At that time, it became clear that senior staff pick up or drop off passengers. The Metropolitan
at the agency had intentionally caused major traffic Transportation Authority operates the subways than
problems as political payback to local politicians for run through the facility, onto which almost half of
not endorsing the reelection of Governor Christie. the bus riders transfer. And NJTransit runs the buses
Recent political bargaining between New York and that most of the commuters ride on.
New Jersey over capital projects underscores the agen- Any attempt to plan for the future of the Port
cys inability to follow a rational and coherent planning Authority Bus Terminal needs to start with the
312 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Conclusion
References
Baxter, C. (2011). Gov. Christie announces N.J. pulling out of
regional environmental initiative. Retrieved from http://
www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/gov_chris-
tie_to_announce_nj_pu.html
de Blasio, B. (2015). One New York: The plan for a strong
and just city. Retrieved from http://www1.nyc.gov/
office-of-the-mayor/news/259-15/transcript-mayor-
de-blasio-releases-one-new-york-plan-strong-just-city
Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v.
Rell. X07 HHD CV 145037565 S 7. (Conn. Super. 2016).
Doig, J. (2001). Empire on the Hudson: Entrepreneurial vision
and political power at the Port of New York Authority. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Marcus, S. (2016). N.J. Republican lawmakers push for repeal
of 23-cent gas tax hike. Retrieved from http://www.
nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/10/republican_law-
makers_urge_repeal_of_23-cent_gas_ta.html
Santora, M. (2014). Some see Bidens Third World de-
scription of La Guardia as too kind. New York Times.
Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/
nyregion/some-see-third-world-as-too-kind-for-la-
guardia.html
Special Panel on the Future of the Port Authority. (2014).
Keeping the Region Moving. Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey. Retrieved from http://www.panynj.
gov/pdf/SpecialPanelReporttotheGovernors.pdf
Abstract
Metro, the metropolitan regional government for 25 cities and three counties in the Portland, Oregon
region, has had measurable successes in replacing the typical American pattern of sprawling growth with
more compact, higher density development that supports a higher level of transit use, walking, and biking.
An important component of its strategy is an urban growth boundary coupled with strong state-level
protections of farm and forest lands. The factors that contribute to its successes in changing the patterns
of regional growth most relevant to other (primarily mid-sized) metropolitan areas in other parts of the
world are (i) the independent political authority of its council derived from its direct election by electoral
districts that are more populous than almost all of the local government electoral districts; (ii) sufficient
powers to achieve its missions derived both from state laws and a mission and charter directly approved
by its voters; (iii) being integrated within a supporting statewide framework of planning and land regula-
tion that delegated to Metro the responsibility to adopt and amend an effective urban growth boundary
and that has protected lands outside Metros jurisdiction from development; (iv) a much greater level of
land use and transportation planning and forecasting analytic capacity and competence than any other
unit of government, which is essential in a system that is controlled by legal and numeric standards; and
(v) delivering sufficient results that enable it to withstand political pressure from the local governments
that often resent and sometimes resist compliance with Metros regional planning mandates.
Metro is a regional government in the Portland region, a regional transit agency, school districts, water, and
a small metropolitan area of 2.4 million people in the sewer districts gathered around a ring of tables to
northwestern United States, straddling the Oregon and provide advice on a very important question: Does
Washington states. Metro has achieved notable results this growing metropolitan region need to increase
in reshaping the pattern of development from the the supply of land available for new housing, jobs,
American norm of low-density, auto-oriented sprawl and amenities?
and inner neighborhood decline to a much more com- To the participants, the event combined the mun-
pact and denser development pattern with a vibrant dane with the momentous. These local government
central city with a significant share of its residents using representatives met twice a month in the same loca-
transit, walking, and biking. How and why this has been tion, year-in and year-out. They knew each other well
accomplished, despite the occasionally vigorous opposi- enough to use each others first names, to make jokes
tion of some of the 25 cities and three counties within about each others political views, and to complain
its boundary, is the subject of this chapter. about the tediousness of their endless arguments
about metropolitan policy and data.
Vignette of a Regional Government But to an outside observer from other parts
in Action of the United States and many other parts of the
world, the event would be remarkable in several re-
On September 9, 2015, mayors, city councillors, and spects. First, in many metropolitan regions, a meet-
commissioners representing 25 cities, three counties, ing of local officials of this type never occurs, let
314 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
alone twice a month. Second, it would be surprising The Portland, Oregon Metropolitan
that a metropolitan region wouldor couldmake Region
a binding decision about its urban land supply and
concurrently about the preservation of rural lands The Portland metropolitan area is located in the north-
for farming, forestry, and the protection of natural west of the United States, straddling the Columbia
resources. Third, this group of officials was not River, which separates the states of Oregon and
making that decision itself, but advising an elected Washington.
metropolitan government that had the authority It has a population of about 2.4 million, roughly
and the responsibility to make a metropolitan-level comparable to the metropolitan areas of Vienna,
decision about how much land would be available Stockholm, Toluca, Manaus, Yangzhou, Nagpur, or
for regional urban development. Finally, and per- Accra. About three-fourths of the metropolitan pop-
haps most importantly, the metropolitan govern- ulation lives in the state of Oregon; the remainder
ments decisions about urban land development lives across the Columbia River in Washington State.
were so effective that the results could be seen The region was first settled about 12,000 years ago.
from orbit. Colonization by Americans from the eastern United
The location of the meeting was Portland, States began in the 1840s; the city of Portland was
Oregon. The participants in that meeting were founded in 1845. In recent decades, the regions econ-
members of the Metro Policy Advisory Committee omy has diversified from forest products and agricul-
(MPAC) and the advice they were preparing to give ture to high tech manufacturing and software design,
was to the Metro Council, the directly elected gov- sportswear design and production, and a mixture of
erning body of the regional government. MPAC professional services. No single industry dominates
voted 11 to 4 in favor of a decision not to expand the economy.
the regional urban growth boundary (Christensen,
2015). Several weeks after MPAC voted, the Metro Creation, Structure, Powers,
Council voted unanimously (7-0) that no additional
land was needed for urban development to accom-
Finances, and Activities of Metro
modate the regions vigorous growth over the next
five years. In the 1950s and 1960s, a number of regional planning
The region and its largest city, Portland, are entities and associations of governments were formed
regularly identified as among the most sustainable in the Portland area. Concerns about the adequacy
cities in the United States as measured by such of these organizations in the rapidly growing region
things as compact growth, the amount of travel were documented in a series of reports by non-profit
made by biking, walking, and transit, energy effi- organizations.
ciency, and recycling. In one article, Portland was In response to these concerns, authorizing state
ranked Americas top green city as half its power legislation was passed in 1973, leading to an election in
comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the May 1978 when the voters in the region approved the
workforce commutes by bike, carpool, or public creation of a regional government, initially called the
transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by Metropolitan Service District and shortened to Metro
the U.S. Green Building Council (Svoboda, Mika, in 1992. The district encompassed the urban portion of
and Berhie, 2008; Light, 2013). Portland was ranked the Portland metropolitan area in the state of Oregon
third in a Natural Resources Defense Council study but excluded the part of the urban area in Washington
(Thompson, 2009). State. A chronology of significant milestones in Metros
Metro, the regional government, is one of the organization and function can be found in Metros
explanations. adopted budget for 201516 (Metro Council, 2015).
316 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
voters used to fund significant capital investments initiative and referendum, meaning that through a peti-
(Metro Council, 2015). tioning process, they can refer a measure adopted by the
There are some fundamental differences between Metro Council to a vote of the public or initiate their
Metro and almost all other regional government and own Metro-wide legislation.
regional planning entities in the United States. The first MPAC is the most prominent of Metros advisory
is its form of governance. Metro is governed by a di- committees but Metro makes use of many other perma-
rectly elected president who represents the entire region nent and ad hoc advisory committees, such as the Joint
and a council of six members elected from districts Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation, Solid
of equal population. Those district boundaries do not Waste Alternatives Advisory Committee, Natural Areas
correspond to local government boundaries. Program Performance Oversight Committee, Regional
This government arrangement makes it almost Trails Committee, and Equity Strategy Advisory
impossible for a metro councillor to be politically sub- Committee. This is one of the characteristic features
ordinate to another government. It means that elected of its governance.
officials from local governments find it awkward to
claim that their voters want some different policy from Delegation of Planning Powers
what the metro councillor wants because they are the
same voters.
to Metro from State and Federal
This is unlike regional associations and government Governments
councils in the United States, which are governed
by representatives of the constituent cities, counties, Metros extensive authority over regional land use
towns, and townships. In addition, these associations do and transportation planning is derived from a com-
not allocate votes in proportion to population; often the bination of its own powers under state law (Oregon
representatives of the largest cities have the same vote Revised Statues 268.300268.393, 2015; Oregon
as the representatives of much smaller cities. Const. art XI, 14) and the power delegated to it
Given the size of Metros electoral districts, the through Oregons unusually rigorous land use plan-
number of voters in Metro Council elections is larger ning system (Liberty, 1992).
than the number of votes in local elections. For example, Among other objectives, the state land use goals
in 2012, about 400,000 votes were cast in the race for require the establishment of urban growth boundar-
Metro Council President compared to about 247,000 ies around every city in the state to stop low-density
votes cast in the 2012 race for Mayor of Portland. sprawl, allow for a wider range of housing types, and
The Metro Council and Metro President are preserve more than 90 percent of all private land in
non-partisan positions, which means that party plat- the state for farming, forestry, ranching, or natural
forms and ideological positions are largely absent in resources. Metro is also responsible for setting and
Metro Council races (and in most, but not all, other amending the regional urban growth boundary,
local government races in the region). which now coincides with its political boundary.
The Metro Council President receives a salary Metro was charged with carrying out a special
about double the average household income in the state regulation adopted in the early 1980s. The regu-
region, or $122,000. Metro councillors receive a sal- lation required local governments to change residen-
ary that is about two-thirds of an average household tial zoning to allow the construction of many more
income ($41,000). apartments, condominiums, and townhomes and to
The Metro Council can refer matters to the voters reduce the minimum size lot allowed for single family
for direct action, such as the approval of tax measures zones in order to meet target minimum densities.
to fund Metro operations and capital programs. The Metro has supplemented these efforts over the
voters within Metros boundary have the power of years by adopting a regional plan and regulations
318 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Transportation Choices and Greenhouse In December 2014, the Metro Council approved
Gas Reductions its Climate Smart Strategy (Metro, 2014a). If imple-
mented fully, the strategy will achieve a 29 percent
Although Metro does not operate the transit system, it reduction in per capita greenhouse gas emissions.
often leads the analysis and development of transpor- Metros Climate Smart Strategy has several separate
tation and transit projects. In the past 20 years, Metro elements that each contribute to reducing greenhouse
developed an internationally recognized approach gases. Perhaps the most important are to promote
to integrating land use and transportation planning compact growth through infill and redevelopment and
based on knowing that the arrangement of land uses to increase investment in transit, biking, and walking
determined by regional and local land use plans and facilities. All of these efforts reduce the amount of
regulations are often primary determinants of how greenhouse gases generated by driving. Other ele-
much people travel and how they travel. For example, ments include support for clean fuels and electric and
if zoning regulations separate stores or professional hybrid vehicles.
services from homes by long distances, then trips to
the store or the doctor will become impossible to make
by walking or biking. On a broader scale, if land use Waste Reduction
regulations sharply limit housing densities, then transit
service to those areas will be impractical. There are also In 2008, Metro adopted its decennial Regional Solid
trade-offs in household budgets between how much Waste Management Plan, setting goals for waste
can be spent on housing and how much can be spent prevention and recycling, with an overall recycling
on transportation. Metros efforts to integrate land use and waste reduction goal of 64 percent of disposed
and transportation planning has helped support many materials (Metro, 2008). Per capita waste generation
alternatives to single-occupant commuting. A report in the region decreased 23 percent between 2005 and
by 1000 Friends of Oregon (1997) demonstrated how 2013, although Metro acknowledged that part of
Metro made changes in local land use regulations, road this decrease can be attributed to the Great Recession
standards, and parking fees for a highway ring road and that began in approximately in 2007 (Metro, 2015).
thereby helped develop modern scenario planning. Additionally, greenhouse gas reductions in 2013 from
The 2014 Regional Transportation Plan noted recycling, composting and energy recovery totaled ap-
that the amount of driving per capita between 1996 proximately 1.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
and 2014 fell by 15 percent and attributed that de- equivalentsequal to tailpipe emissions from nearly
cline to the regional transportation strategy (Metro, 420,000 passenger vehicles.
2014b). The 2014 Transportation Plan sets targets Statistical comparisons of waste generation and
for travel by other than single occupancy vehicle of recycling between U.S. metropolitan regions are not
60 to 70 percent in the Portland central district; 45 available. However, the city of Portland has ranked in
to 55 percent in the regional centers, station areas, the top 10 U.S. cities for recycling according to various
and local main streets; and 40 to 45 percent in the reports (Clarke, 2014).
outer suburbs (Metro, 2014b). The plan reports that,
according to Metros own land use and transportation
models, the region will make substantial progress to- Economic Development
ward increasing travel by walking, biking, and transit
but still fall far short of the regional goals for 2040. Observers both inside and outside the Portland metro-
The share of walking trips, for example, will increase politan region have speculated for years about whether
to 10 percent of the total but fall far short of the Metros effort to curb urban sprawl and protect the
target share of 27 percent. environment might dampen job creation.
320 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
than 1 percent. Yet the policy differences between the References
candidates were actually modest. By 2015, the Council 1000 Friends of Oregon. (1997). Making the connections:
President (who had been re-elected) announced that he A summary of the LUTRAQ project. Portland, OR:
did not support expansion of the urban growth bound- 1000 Friends of Oregon.
ary but backed expansion of light rail to the southwest- Abbott, C., and Abbott, M. P. (1991). A history of Metro,
May 1991. Retrieved from http://www.oregonmetro.
ern suburbs and endorsed tax increases to pay for the
gov/sites/default/files/abbott-a_history_of_met-
operation of Metros regional natural area system. ro_may_1991.pdf
Other aspects of Metros success seem to depend Badger, E. (2014). Why quirky Portland is winning the
on factors specific to Oregon or the region. One of battle for young college grads. Washington Post, October
these factors is the relatively modest population of the 20. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.
metropolitan area and another is the similarly small com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/20/why-portland-
is-growing-its-own-swiss-chard-and-stealing-your-
number of local governments within the region. The
college-grads/
Nashville, Tennessee, metropolitan area had a popu- Christensen, N. (2015). Regional advisory committee
lation of about 1.5 million in 2010, very similar to the debates, supports proposed growth decision. Metro
population inside Metros boundary, but that region News, September 10. Retrieved from http://www.
has 10 counties and 61 cities compared to three coun- oregonmetro.gov/news/regional-advisory-commit-
ties and 25 cities inside Metros boundary. tee-debates-supports-proposed-growth-decision
Clarke, C. (2014). 5 Cities That Are Recycling Superstars.
The high level of civic capacity as reflected in the
Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/arti-
large number of effective and well-staffed non-govern- cle/2014/09/17/5-cities-are-recycling-superstars
mental organizations specializing in state and regional Ingram, G. K., and Hong, Y. H. (2009). Evaluating Smart
environmental and planning matters, also explains some Growth: State and Local Policy Outcomes. Cambridge, MA:
of Metros success in implementing sustainability pro- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
grams. For example, just six of the many environmen- Institute for Natural Resources. (2008). The Oregon Land
Use Program: An Assessment of Selected Goals.
tal and sustainability organizations in Portlandthe
Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University.
Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon Environmental Liberty, R. L. (1992). Oregons comprehensive growth
Council, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, 1000 Friends management program: An implementation review and
of Oregon, Willamette River Keeper, and OPAL (an lessons for other states. Environmental Law Reporter, 22
environmental justice organization)had combined 10367.
annual budgets of more than $5 million and almost 80 Liberty, R. L. (2002). Abolishing exclusionary zoning: A
natural policy alliance for environmentalists and af-
combined staff members, plus hundreds of volunteers.
fordable housing advocates. Boston College Environmental
By comparison, in its 201516 fiscal year Metro had Affairs Law Review 30, 581.
the equivalent of 48 full-time staff dedicated to land Light, J. (2013). 12 Cities leading the way in sustainabil-
use and transportation planning and 92 for parks and ity. Retrieved from http://billmoyers.com/con-
nature operations. tent/12-cities-leading-the-way-in-sustainability/
A more interesting question is the degree to which Metro. (2008). Regional Solid Waste Management Plan
2008-2018 Update. Retrieved from http://www.or-
the institution of Metro, a regional government with
egonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/cov_exesum.pdf
some notable achievements in promoting sustainability, . (2010). Urban Growth Report 2009-2030:
is part of a self-reinforcing dynamic of attracting sus- Employment and residential. Retrieved from http://
tainability minded immigrants to the region, and those www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/ur-
residents supporting and pushing Metro to undertake ban-growth-report-2009.pdf
more sustainability efforts. If so, then Metros model . (2014a). Climate smart strateg y for the
Portland metropolitan region 2014. Retrieved from
may have greater significance worldwide than could be
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/
expected from a small regional government in a modest ClimateSmartStrategy-FinalVersion-2014.PDF
sized urban area in a remote part of the United States. . (2014b). Regional transportation plan 2014:
322 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.10 Recent Trajectory and Perspectives in
Greater So Paulo
Jeroen Klink (Universidade Federal do ABC)
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of metropolitan governance in So Paulo, which is grounded within
an understanding of the limits and potentials of ongoing regulatory changes and developments in
Brazil in general and metropolitan So Paulo in particular. After a brief primer on the evolution of
Brazilian metropolitan governance since the demise of the national developmental regime in the 1980s,
the chapter prioritizes the analysis of recent developments in Greater So Paulo in light of the approval
of new federal legislation (the Statute of the Metropolis). The legislation implies the collaborative
elaboration of integrated urban development plans at the metropolitan level involving state and local
governments, the private sector, social movements, and organized civil society.
Brazil is an excellent example of what has become known be dissociated from a broader historical analysis of
as the metropolitan paradox. While most city-regions and how the developmental state effectively organized
metropolitan areas usually see the bulk of country-wide and intervened in these territories (Campanaro, Klink,
social deficits and economic potential and, as such, should Freire, et al., 2015; Klink, 2013; Magalhes, 2010).
figure as high priority on the national development agen- During the military regime (19641985), metro-
da, they have notoriously deficient institutional, organiza- politan areas performed a key role in the develop-
tional, and financial frameworks to guide their planning ment of an integrated national market. A centralized,
and management (Magalhes, 2010). techno-bureaucratic command and control approach
This chapter analyzes the case of So Paulo in light was instrumental in organizing investments in hous-
of recent changes in the structure of metropolitan gover- ing, urban development, and logistical infrastructure
nance in Brazil. After this introduction, the author briefly in metropolitan areas. Nevertheless, the democratic
discusses the regulatory restructuring that has been taking deficit, the excessive sector-wide approach, and the
place in Brazilian metropolitan areas since the 1960s, in- lack of funding and initiatives effectively targeted at
cluding the introduction of a new federal framework (the low-income groups marked the contradictory inter-
Statute of the Metropolis) in January 2015. A subsequent vention of the developmental state in urban-metro-
section provides the basic characteristics of metropolitan politan spaces during this period. Eventually, from
governance in So Paulo until the creation of a new legis- the mid-1980s onward, the macroeconomic and fiscal
lation for this area in 2011. Then the author discusses the crisis and emergent democratization destabilized the
regions perspectives in light of the emerging institutional authoritarian developmental state and its metropolitan
framework in the country. The final section of the chapter institutional arrangement.
provides some conclusions and main findings. The 1988 constitution signaled a delegation of
the metropolitan agenda from the federal to the state
Brazilian Metropolitan Governance level, with the latter becoming formally responsi-
during State Restructuring ble for creating and organizing metropolitan areas.
Nevertheless, effectively not much happened, par-
As mentioned in the literature, any analysis on the tra- ticularly considering newly emerging actorselected
jectory of Brazilian metropolitan governance cannot mayors, social, and housing movementsassociated
324 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
metropolis, which is an urban space with a territorial precisely where the infrastructure conditions are
continuum which, in light of its population and politic worst, particularly sewage and sanitation. At the same
and socioeconomic relevance, has either a national or a time, the local governments lack of leverage over real
regional influence which presents, at least, a functional estate markets has pushed poorer income groups to
area structured around a regional capital according environmental protection areas in the metropolitan
to the criteria adopted by the National Brazilian outskirts, with very poor services. Not surprisingly,
Institute of Geography and Statistics (Presidncia both in the capital and surrounding city-regional ag-
da Repblica, 2015). A key feature of this law is that glomerations (such as the ABC region), slums have
in all existing metropolitan areas a metropolitan de- persisted. For example, 18 percent of total units in
velopment plan (or an integrated urban development Mau and So Bernardo (Greater ABC) are located in
plan, IUDP) has to be elaborated and discussed in slums. This expansion of the metropolitan periphery
collaboration between the state, municipal govern- has also generated a substantial increase in intra-met-
ments, and civil society. Moreover, cities are expected ropolitan work and study related to daily commuting,
to adjust their master plans in line with the IUDP. In generating additional burdens for its population. For
other words, the coordination of land use planning example, during 200010, the share of residents who
among municipalities emerges as a key element in commuted outside of their municipality of residence
the new legislation, complementing earlier guidelines for work or study increased in cities such as Vargem
of the City Statute that had framed urban planning Grande Paulista (from 17 percent to 28 percent),
(Presidncia da Repblica, 2001). Taboo da Serra (from 32 percent to 39 percent),
In the next two sections the author fleshes out the Itapevi (from 29 percent to 38 percent), So Lourena
specific trajectory of metropolitan So Paulo within da Serra (from 14 percent to 24 percent), Cajamar
this broader framework, including elements of the (from 10 percent to 20 percent), Franco da Rocha
ongoing planning process in Greater So Paulo that (from 28 percent to 37 percent), and Mairipor (from
has now mobilized both the state and municipalities. 16 percent to 20 percent). While more than half of
this commuting exceeded 30 minutes, 25 percent took
Hollowing Out and Partial Filling more than one hour (Campanaro et al., 2015).
The vacuum in metropolitan governance in So
In (19902011) Paulo during the 1990s has led to some innovative bot-
tom-up experimentation among municipalities, which
The Metropolitan Region of So Paulo had 22 million has gained momentum and critical mass. Specifically,
inhabitants in 2015 and included 39 municipalities. It the ABC region, composed of seven cities located
is by far Brazils biggest metropolitan area in terms in the southeastern industrial heartland of Greater
of population. The region represents somewhat of a So Paulo, created an inter-municipal consortium in
paradox: the sheer scale of its challenges and potential December 1990. The innovation was related to its
in relation to, until 2011, its lack of a transparent and multi-sector approach; in its initial years, the institution
coherent institutional framework to guide sustainable launched initiatives in areas such as regional economic
planning and management. Its development trajectory development, environmental management and plan-
is characterized by important mismatches between ning, and solid waste.
land use patterns and service delivery (Campanaro From the mid-1990s onward, regional gover-
et al., 2015). Relatively faster growth in housing con- nance in the ABC region gained momentum and
struction is taking place in the western outskirts of the mobilized the private sector, labor unions, and social
metropolitan area (in cities such as Vargem Grande and environmental movements, as well as the state
Paulista, Taboo da Serra, Itapevi, So Lourena da government of So Paulo itself (Pose, Tomaney, and
Serra, Cajamar, Franco da Rocha, and Mairipor) Klink, 2001). In 1997, all these stakeholders joined the
326 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
was the executive agency of the State Secretary for legacies that surround Brazilian metropolitan gover-
Metropolitan Affairs, which, among others, was intended nance in general and So Paulo in particular.
to coordinate the states overall metropolitan strategy. In The remaining part of this chapter provides a
the midst of general political and economic turbulence preliminary analysis of this emerging scenario, em-
that affected the country in June 2013, Governor Geraldo phasizing metropolitan So Paulo.
Alckmin somewhat surprisingly announced the down-
sizing of the recently created Secretary for Metropolitan Emerging Regional Planning
Affairs. After the re-organization, the secretary (and,
as such, EMPLASA) lost institutional status and was As a starting point, it is important to stress that most
transformed into a sub-secretariat of the state cabinet. states and cities were caught by surprise by the sud-
Furthermore, the resulting fiscal austerity hollowed out den approval of the Statute of the Metropolis. As
any prospective additional financial resources and man- such, there was a certain vacuum and lack of precise
power. As a result, the 201314 marked a turning point in understanding as to the scope and content of the new
the positive momentum that had surrounded EMPLASA metropolitan IUDPs.
in terms of its capacity to effectively shape new forms For good or bad, in metropolitan So Paulo, two in-
of metropolitan governance in the state of So Paulo. stitutional players were quick to present their project for
From a more fundamental point of view, however, the IUDP. From the start of the process in July 2015,
it was clear from the outset that the newly created gov- EMPLASA used its PAM as a blueprint for the IUDP.
ernance structure in metropolitan So Paulo suffered At the same time, the city of So Paulo had just com-
from a lack of effectively functional mechanisms for pleted its master plan while it was also finalizing the dis-
collaborative planning and management that could cussion of a new macro-zoning law. Both EMPLASA
involve and mobilize both private and public actors and the city of So Paulo demonstrated their desire to
alike, including local governments and inter-municipal elaborate the metropolitan plan as soon as possible and,
consortia. While there was of course recognition of the possibly, send it for approval to state parliament before
role of consolidated city-regional governance, as exem- municipal elections (in October 2016).
plified by experiences in the ABC region as well as the Local and city-regional representation, however,
more recent consortia, not much articulation between complained about the lack of time for more fundamen-
the state, cities, and inter-municipal consortia had ef- tal debates and discussion on the scope and direction of
fectively occurred around the elaboration of the PAM. the plan, as well as structural issues such as metropolitan
How has the approval of the Statute of the governance and finance. According to that view, the
Metropolis affected this somewhat truncated and calendar should be designed according to a two-stage
cumbersome scenario? Although the date is likely to approach: a diagnosis and general guidelines should be
change, the legal requirement for states and municipal- established before the elections, while during 2017 the
ities to collectively develop integrated urban develop- detailed proposals for macro-zoning, coordination of
ment plans (IUDPs) by January 2018 (three years after land use planning, and investments would be fleshed
the Statute of the Metropolis was approved) appears out. In the end, however, the official methodological
to have reinvigorated the metropolitan development terms of reference for elaborating the IUDP that was
agenda of the state in general and EMPLASA in approved in January 2016 by the metropolitan council
particular, which has assumed the role of executive favored EMPLASAs position and only postponed final
secretary in the process. delivery of the plan to December 2016 (EMPLASA,
It remains to be seen, however, how this new 2016). At the time of writing this chapter, however,
phase of city-regional and metropolitan planning will implementation progress of the IUDP had indeed
eventually be filled in by the state of So Paulo and its proven more cumbersome, meaning that proposals
municipalities, particularly in light of the unresolved for macro-zoning and coordinating instruments and
328 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
However, there is a more fundamental point in for metropolitan planning and decision-making. It is
relation to the design that underpinned the process of most likely that any proposal for the IUDP will not be
the IUDP until May 2016. Both EMPLASA and the approved before the end of 2017.
city of So Paulo worked on the basis of their recent Finally, financing metropolitan areas is still an un-
practice and existing knowledge that was established resolved issue. There have been abundant signs over
in house through the PAM and the municipal master the past few years that institutional strengthening
plan. While both the PAM and the city of So Paulos and renewed interest in the metropolitan agenda has
municipal master plan provide valuable insights for not been reflected in any significant progress in the
ongoing metropolitan planning, they are not directly design of stable, predictable, and transparent sources
replicable for the IUDP process. As mentioned, the of finance for equitable and efficient metropolitan
PAM is a strategic plan that outlines a portfolio of planning and management.
social, economic, and environmental projects and pro- For example, the intense negotiations that accom-
grams. As such, it is not a territorial plan. Moreover, it panied the aforementioned federal law on public con-
explicitly does not prioritize issues of land use plan- sortia eventually led to a significant hollowing out of
ning, considering the lack of state leverage over land the financial capacity of consortia. Although these in-
use planning falls within the responsibilities of local stitutions could receive grants, they were only allowed
governments (EMPLASA, 2013). to borrow (national or international) for development
Likewise, while the So Paulo master plan is indeed and infrastructure projects that generated revenues
a territorial plan, it incorporates specific land use in- guaranteed and backed by user charges and tariffs.
struments (e.g., floor area-to-land ratios of 1 in com- Likewise, the initial design of the Statute of the
bination with area-based development contributions; Metropolis incorporated a clause that constituted
compulsory subdivision, utilization, and building on a metropolitan fund that would receive its sources
vacant land; and progressive property taxes and other from the federal budget, contributions from states
value capture instruments) that cannot automatically and municipalities associated with the joint costing
be exported, at least in their existing format, to other of common projects, and grants from national and
parts of the metropolitan area. international development agencies, among other
In other words, articulating existing land use plan- examples. The presidential veto of this clause argued
ning instruments on a metropolitan scale still requires that it would introduce additional rigidity and would
complex negotiations among public and private actors, result in a loss of efficiency associated with the cre-
the state, municipalities, and social-environmental and ation of another specific-purpose fund.
housing movements in light of their impacts on real While the veto reflected a lack of political will to
estate and housing markets and local interest groups. move forward on issues related to finance, the vol-
The ongoing work in 2016 proved that more time untary character of the fund and its lack of linkages
was needed. While there are initial proposals on met- with more structural fiscal reform structured around
ropolitan zoning and coordination of urban and envi- a metropolitan logic would have nonetheless made it
ronmental policy instruments circulating in the tech- ineffective as a predictable and transparent source of
nical and executive committees of the IUDP process, metropolitan finance.
these still need to be elaborated and discussed in the It is not the objective of this chapter to flesh out
committees and tested in public meetings. More funda- possible details of a proposal aimed at structural finan-
mentally, these initial proposals have also made it more cial reform on a metropolitan scale in Brazil; this has
clear that there is no agreement between the state gov- already been discussed in previous work (Magalhes,
ernment and municipalities on important issues such 2010). Such a proposal would have to deal with various
as the degree of participation of local government and reforms, including formula-based intergovernmental
organized civil society in the governance arrangement transfers; the constitution of fiscal intra-metropolitan
330 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Conclusion Consrcio Intermunicipal Grande ABC and Universidade
Federal do ABC. (2016a). Pesquisa para apoiar a discusso
e elaborao do plano diretor regional: Diagnstico territorial.
If there is any lesson that can be drawn from the expe- Relatrio 1 de Pesquisa. Santo Andr: UFABC.
rience in So Paulo it is that institutional strengthening . (2016b). Pesquisa para apoiar a discusso e elaborao do
and building technical capacity are necessary but insuf- plano diretor regional: Verso revisada e ampliada seminario in-
ternacional: Desenvolvimento e governana regional: Diagnstico
ficient conditions to improve metropolitan governance.
e perspectivas a partir da regio metropolitana de So Paulo.
Technical and political legitimacy are two sides of the Relatrio 2 de Pesquisa. Santo Andr: UFABC.
same coin in terms of strengthening metropolitan . (2016c). Pesquisa para apoiar a discusso e elaborao
planning and management. In the setting of Brazilian do plano diretor regional: Cenrios e tendncias. Relatrio 3
metropolitan regions in generaland in So Paulo in de Pesquisa. Santo Andr: UFABC.
particularthis means that without a political agreement EMPLASA. (2013). Plano de ao da macrometrpole paulista
(PAM 2013-2040). So Paulo: EMPLASA.
that involves metropolitan cities, the state government,
. (2016). Guia Metodolgico do PDUIRMSP. So
and civil society regarding the main directions of a Paulo: EMPLASA.
metropolitan project and strategy, the Statute of the Fix, M. (2007). So Paulo cidade global. Fundamentos financeiros
Metropolis is unlikely to produce its expected results. The de uma miragem. So Paulo: Boitempo.
recent planning process in So Paulo, as described in this . (2011). Financeirizao e transformaes recentes no
chapter, has neither generated this political understanding circuito imobilirio no Brasil (Doctoral dissertation).
Campinas: Instituto de Economia, Universidade
between the state and municipalities, nor has it been able
Estadual de Campinas.
to mobilize participation from non-governmental orga- Klink, J. (2013). Por que as regies metropolitanas con-
nizations, businesses, and social movements. tinuam to ingovernveis? Problematizando a reestru-
While this conclusion seems rather pessimistic, there turao e o reescalonamento do Estado social-desen-
is nothing inherent in the metropolitan institutional and volvimentista em espaos metropolitanos. In Furtado,
political landscape that will emerge in the coming years B.A., Krause, C., de Frana, K.C.B. (eds), Territrio
metropolitano, polticas municipais: Por solues conjuntas
in So Paulo. For one, many of the newly elected may-
de problemas urbanos no mbito metropolitan (pp.83114).
ors are politically aligned with the governor. Moreover, Braslia: IPEA.
the continuing macroeconomic adjustment and fiscal Lei Complementar Estadual no 1.139 de 2011. (Estado de
austerity will affect metropolitan economies in a way So Paulo).
that requires collective territorial responses. After all, Lei No. 10.257, de 2001, O Estatuto da Cidade. (Presidncia
it was the scenario of economic crisis and productive da Repblica).
Lei No. 11.107, de 2005, Lei dos Consrcios Pblicos,
restructuring of the 1990s that initially drove public and
(Presidncia da Repblica).
private civil leadership to establish a series of innovative Lei No. 13.089, de 2015, O Estatuto da Metrpole.
city-regional arrangements for collaborative gover- (Presidncia da Repblica).
nance. The question emerges, is it back to the future in Magalhes, F. (ed). (2010). Regies metropolitanas no Brasil:
metropolitan So Paulo? Um paradoxo de desafios e oportunidades. New York: Inter-
American Development Bank.
Pose, A. R., Tomaney, J., and Klink, J. (2001). Local em-
References powerment through economic restructuring in Brazil.
The case of the Greater ABC region. Geoforum, 32(4),
Campanaro, A., Klink, J., Freire, M., Sampaio, L., Akaishi,
459-469.
A. and Sachs, J. (2015). Metropolitan governance in Brazil:
Sandroni, P. (2010). A New financial instrument of value
Inputs for an agenda and strategy. Washington, D.C.: The
capture in So Paulo: Certificates of additional con-
World Bank.
struction potential. In G.K. Ingram and Y.H. Hong
Consrcio Intermunicipal Grande ABC, Prefeitura da
(eds), Municipal revenues and land policy. Cambridge, MA:
Cidade de So Paulo, and Prefeitura da Cidade de
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Guarulhos. (2016). Plano de desenvolvimento urbano in-
tegrado da regio metropolitana de So Paulo: Contributo
elaborao do projeto de lei. So Paulo: CGABC.
Abstract
Toronto is the largest and most economically important city-region in Canada. The core City of
Toronto has 2.7 million residents, while the Greater Toronto Area has more than 6 million. In the
absence of a single governing authority, and as the region has expanded and become a major conti-
nental center for finance, education, and tourism (among other major functions), it has struggled to
find solutions to govern an increasingly diverse population within the constraints of important sus-
tainability requirements. Over the past several decades, the core city of Toronto has (i) amalgamated a
previously successful two-tier metropolitan system (with an upper-tier government and five lower-tier
municipalities) into a single-tier city; (ii) developed a planning framework to densify development in
the region within a perimeter bounded by a greenbelt, which is the source of much of the fresh wa-
ter flowing into the city from the north; and yet (iii) struggled to develop a regional transit policy by
forming a provincially based transit agency. Each of these initiatives is the subject of ongoing political
challenges, but there is no further major reform on the horizon.
Toronto, the largest and most economically important for creating innovative metropolitan institutions.
city-region in Canada, has a core municipality, the City These institutions are still in place, but they are now
of Toronto, and a broader region, the Greater Toronto structurally and functionally inadequate to govern a
Area (GTA). The GTA produces over 20 percent of growing and dynamic global metropolis. In recent
Canadas GDP and about 50 percent of the GDP of years, political leaders at both the local and the pro-
the province of Ontario (Statistics Canada, 2014). In vincial level have struggled to forge new governance
recent decades, this metropolis has been transformed practices within this frame, while shying away from
from a national industrial and commercial center any effort to alter the institutions of local government
to Canadas leading post-industrial global city. The themselves. The story, then, is one of governance
Toronto region experiences ongoing and significant innovation and experimentation, shaped and con-
population growth, driven largely by immigration strained by institutional inheritances of an earlier era.
almost half of the 250,000 immigrants that come
to Canada each year settle in the GTA. As a result, Local Government and Urban
Toronto is now perhaps the most ethno-culturally
diverse city-region in North America.
Governance in Canada
Like many other globalizing cities, Toronto faces
environmental and social sustainability challenges that Perhaps the most basic defining feature of the
stem from rapid economic, demographic, and social Canadian system of local government is strong pro-
transformation. Our main purpose in this chapter is to vincial control and oversight. The Canadian federal
examine how the metropolitan governance system has constitution does not recognize the local level as an
responded to these challenges. In the second half of independent authority. Instead, local governments
the 20th century, Toronto was internationally known are subordinate to provincial governments, which can
332 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
(and periodically do) unilaterally change local govern- of urban policy initiatives is often built on a piecemeal
ment structures, functions, and financing arrange- basis and can be difficult to sustain even in the face
ments. As a result, metropolitan governing structures of obvious need.
in Canadian urban areas, including Toronto, are largely Together, these three key characteristics of the
the product of a historical sequence of provincially led Canadian local government systemstrong provincial
reform initiatives. Since Canadas federal government control, high dependence on local revenue, and weak
has no jurisdiction over local government, it has not intergovernmental political integrationhave shaped
been involved in developing metropolitan governing and constrained both the historical evolution of
institutions or, with the exception of two brief peri- metropolitan governance in Toronto and present-day
ods in the 1970s and the early 2000s, has it engaged efforts to reform governance practices in response to
systematically with urban policy issues. current sustainability challenges.
While provincial governments have full formal
control over local governing systems, in fiscal terms Metropolitan Governance: History
local governance in Canadas cities is highly decen-
tralized. During the heyday of the welfare state in the
and Limits of Structural Reform
1960s and 1970s, some urban policy fields such as
housing and public transit enjoyed significant inter- For several decades, governance reform in the Toronto
governmental support, but much of this fell victim to area was driven by an Ontario provincial government
spending cuts in subsequent decades. Today, Canadian that embraced local government restructuring as the
local governments are highly dependent on locally primary means for responding to the challenges of
raised revenues, especially property taxes. For example, urban growth and change. Toronto was the first urban
in 2015, 81 percent of the City of Torontos operating area in North America to adopt a two-tier metropol-
revenue came from local sources, with property taxes itan system. Established by the provincial govern-
alone accounting for 34 percent of the total. Provincial ment in 1954, this system consisted of an upper-tier
transfers, by contrast, contributed 18 percent, most Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro), which
earmarked for local delivery of provincially mandated was responsible for metropolitan planning, policing,
social programs, and federal transfers a mere 1 percent infrastructure development, public transit, and social
(City of Toronto, 2015). The high dependence on local policy, and several lower-tier municipalities that were
revenue sources puts local governments in urban areas responsible for remaining local matters. Buttressed by
under significant fiscal stress and limits their ability to significant intergovernmental funding, this system suc-
deal with the large-scale policy problems associated cessfully addressed key urban policy challenges such
with urban growth and transformation. as mass transit and social housing (Frisken, 2007) and
In addition, Canadian local governments are weak- gave Toronto an international reputation for effective
ly integrated with the provincial and federal levels in metropolitan governance.
political terms. The vast majority of Canadian munic- By the 1970s, Torontos suburban growth reached
ipalities, including all municipalities in Ontario, have beyond Metros boundaries. The provincial govern-
non-partisan local political systems by legal mandate. ment responded by essentially replicating the Metro
As discussed later in this chapter, local politics in the system. It divided the outer suburbs of the GTA
City of Toronto, non-partisanship certainly does not into four areas and established a two-tier governance
mean that local politics is bereft of ideological content. system in each. The new upper-tier regional municipal-
But it does mean that Canada lacks the intergovern- ities of Halton, Peel, Durham, and York were granted
mental partisan ties that facilitate the coordination of powers analogous to those of Metro, with remaining
urban policies in many other advanced industrial de- local matters the responsibility of some 20 lower-tier
mocracies. As a result, intergovernmental coordination municipalities. Initially, these reforms were part of a
334 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Table 1. Toronto Population, Immigration, and Diversity
Source: Authors calculations based on Statistics Canada current and historical census tables.
Note: The Census Metropolitan Area includes about 90 percent of the population of the GTA.
336 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2016). Over the next 25 years, that disparity will stretch Act, the Greenbelt Plan and Greenbelt Act, the
even further. Best estimates suggest that by 2041 the Niagara Escarpment Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine
population of the GTA as a whole will rise by nearly Conservation Plan, and the Provincial Policy Statement
3 million to reach over 9 million people, with over 80 and Planning Act.
percent of that growth occurring in the outer subur- The Growth Plan establishes specific density and
ban belt (Hemson Consulting, 2013). intensification targets for all municipalities across the
To date, growth in the outer suburbs has predom- GGH, complemented by the worlds largest perma-
inantly been low density, with land consumption long nent greenbelt (urban growth boundary) protecting
outpacing population growth. Between 1971 and over 700,000 hectares of agricultural and environ-
2006, the suburban population grew by 80 percent mental sensitive lands. The plans sets a region-wide
but the regions urban footprint more than doubled intensification target of 40 percent, meaning that in
(Government of Ontario, 2015). The rate of urban every municipality across the region, 40 percent of all
expansion appears to have slowed in recent years. new residential development must be located within
Between 1991 and 2001, the population of the GTA existing built-up areas.
grew 19 percent, while the urbanized area expanded Whether or not these targets are truly being met
by 26 percent; by comparison, between 2001 and 2011, remains unclear. In its first progress report, the gov-
the population grew 18 percent and the urban area ex- ernment concluded that the Growth Plan remained
panded by only 10 percent (Neptis Foundation, 2014). on track to protect as much as 800 square kilometers
As the economic, social, and environmental prob- of land from development by 2031 (Government
lems associated with unchecked sprawl have risen on of Ontario, 2011). But this forecast depended on
the public agenda, regional land use planninglargely the Plans complete implementation, which has not
abandoned by the province in the 1970shas once yet been achieved. A recent independent analysis
again become a political priority (Eidelman, 2010). In cautions that, while most municipalities in the region
the absence of a regional government for the GTA, have indeed adopted the minimum targets of the
the provincial government, led by Premiers Dalton Plan, only two out of the GGHs 130 municipalities
McGuinty (200313) and Kathleen Wynne (2013 ), plan to exceed the minimums and many have been
has gradually assumed the role of de facto regional granted exceptions to use even lower targets (Allen
planning authority. In doing so, it has also redefined and Campsie, 2013).
the boundaries of the urban region for planning pur- In 2015, the province appointed an advisory panel
poses, focusing on what it calls the Greater Golden chaired by former Toronto mayor David Crombie to
Horseshoe (GGH), a large, predominantly urbanized inform a coordinated review of all provincial growth
area that reaches well beyond the GTA and has a plans. The Crombie panels final report noted that al-
population of 8.7 million (Statistics Canada, 2015). though there is widespread support among the general
All municipal land use plans must now conform to public and affected stakeholders for the overall intent
a package of legislative and regulatory frameworks of the provinces land use goals, the policy regime
enforced by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and in place is in urgent need of strengthening and im-
Housing and a quasi-judicial appeal body known as provement (Government of Ontario, 2015). In May
the Ontario Municipal Board. 2017, Ontario released four updated land use plans
The centerpiece of the provinces regional that work together to help grow communities in the
planning framework is a strategic blueprint known GGH and on the Niagara Escarpment in a way that
as the Growth Plan for the GGH first released in attracts jobs and investments in vibrant urban centers,
2006 (Government of Ontario, 2013). The Growth while also preserving and protecting green spaces,
Plan is complemented by several interrelated reg- farmland and ecologically sensitive lands and waters
ulations and statutes, including the Places to Grow (Government of Ontario, 2017).
338 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
drawing funds from increased sales and gas taxes, a regard to social inclusion, local governments have
parking levy, and a share of development charges been forced to go it alone. The City of Toronto has
(Metrolinx, 2013). An independent advisory panel attempted to partner with federal and provincial gov-
asked by the premier to review these recommenda- ernments to invest in targeted social programs, but
tions agreed that new transit investments will require both local and intergovernmental political support
increases in sales and gas taxes, as well as corporate for such initiatives has been unstable. By contrast,
taxes. But the panel concluded that, currently, the the province has emerged as the central policy actor
public has very little trust in how transit is planned, in in regional land use planning, using its constitutional
how money is managed, and in how projects are de- powers over municipalities to design a comprehen-
livered (Transit Investment Strategy Advisory Panel, sive legislative and regulatory framework aimed at
2013, p. 4). Premier Wynne has since rejected both curbing suburban sprawl. Finally, on regional transit,
Metrolinxs and the advisory panels conclusions, the success of ambitious new policy initiatives and
promising that the government will find a way to governance arrangements has been hampered by
invest more than C$2 billion a year for transit across poor coordination between all three levels of gov-
the GGH without increasing taxes. ernment, leading to a series of political setbacks and
policy reversals.
Conclusion From an international perspective, various features
of Torontos metropolitan governance system could
From a distance, Toronto appears to be a relatively be considered idiosyncratic. Provincial intervention in
well-run, orderly city. But like all rapidly growing regional land use planning, for example, can be traced
cities in North America and around the world, to unique electoral imperatives as much as prudent
metropolitan governance in the region is anything policymaking. The Toronto model, as it were, could
but straightforward, involving multiple levels of not be easily replicated in other contexts. That said,
government. Efforts to design and coordinate public from an analytical perspective, the Toronto case does
policies on the metropolitan scale have resulted in offer at least one useful insight applicable to metro-
considerable innovation and experimentation but politan governance systems in other city-regions: the
have also exposed serious institutional inadequacies absence of a functional metropolitan government
created by past rounds of government restructuring. does not preclude the possibility of responsive met-
Twenty years on, the bitter legacy of the 1998 Metro ropolitan governance.
amalgamation endures, dampening any political The challenges facing policymakers in the GTA
enthusiasm for change. One would be hard pressed do not require a top-to-bottom institutional redesign.
to find a single elected official at any levelin Sound ideas, such as addressing social polarization
government or in oppositionwho has publicly by making strategic investments in low-income
declared even the slightest interest in pursuing a new neighborhoods, could very well be championed by
round of comprehensive structural reform. Instead, future political leaders given the right timing and
political leaders have opted to address the growing electoral conditions. Poor coordination between
list of metropolitan governance challenges on an governments, as demonstrated by the transit file, is
issue-by-issue basis. equally remediable given the right political incentives.
Currently, the city-region faces three main en- These incentives are invariably the product of the
vironmental and social sustainability challenges: regions political institutions. But the institutional fix
social polarization and integrating new immigrants required to alter incentive structures has more to do
and low-income residents into the fabric of city life; with emerging norms of intergovernmental relations
controlling urban sprawl in the outer suburbs; and ef- than with the establishment of any new, formal met-
fectively planning and funding regional transit. With ropolitan government
340 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.12 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei: Regional Governance
Under a Highly Centralized Political System
Yan Tang (Tsinghua University), Dong Yang (Tsinghua University), Kai Chen (Tsinghua University),
and He Zhu (Tsinghua University)
Abstract
The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region (BTH) has a population of over 100 million. It is now in
the world media spotlight not only due to its great development achievements over the past 20 years, but
also because of its well-known heavy smog, environmental pollution, and water shortage. These problems
highlight the urgency of collaborative action to deal with regional issues and build an effective regional gover-
nance system in BTH. This chapter analyzes the development problems grounded in Chinas peculiar social,
political, and economic context, and BTHs special identity. Further it analyzes the regional power system
and the roles of stakeholders, as well as regional initiatives and barriers to inter-municipal collaboration to
explore the characteristics of the regions governance mechanism. Under a highly centralized political sys-
tem, the dilemmas, causes, and solutions for BTHs regional governance are both discussed and interpreted.
After the reform and opening up of China in 1978, the However, many of Chinas mega-metropolitan
countrys urbanization level increased dramatically, mak- regions are now facing severe challenges, including
ing cities and metropolitan regions the backbone of na- unbalanced regional economies, lack of regional iden-
tional social and economic development. Statistics from tity, poor internal-region collaboration, deterioration of
the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development ecological environments, and vicious local competition.
of China (MOHURD) and National Bureau of Statistics On example is the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan
of China (NBOSOC) show that, from 1978 to 2014, the region (BTH region), with a population of over 100
number of cities in China increased from 193 to about million. The region is now in the global media spotlight,
653, and the urbanization ratio increased from 18 per- not only due to the great development achievements
cent to 55 percent (MOHURD, 2014; NBOSOC, 2015). that the mega-metropolitan region has made over the
The competitiveness of big cites, metropolitan regions, past 20 years, but also its recent, well-known suffering
and urban agglomerations have been developed, and from heavy smog, environmental pollution, and water
peoples general living quality has improved (MOHURD, shortages, which highlight the urgency of collaborative
2011). The three inshore mega-metropolitan regions action to deal with regional problems and build an ef-
that are driving the engine of Chinas economyPearl fective regional governance system. As one of the three
River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin- significant poles of Chinas economic development, the
Hebei (Figure 1)accumulated 18 percent of the BTH capital region is made up of 10 local authorities,
national population, attracted 87 percent of foreign two province-state cities (Beijing and Tianjin), plus eight
investment, and produced 37 percent of the nations cities in Hebei province (Tangshan, Baoding, Langfang,
GDP by 2012 (Housing and Construction Department Qinhuangdao, Changzhou, Zhangjiakou, Chengde, and
of Guangdong Province, 2014). There is little doubt Shijiazhuang). These are referred to as 2+8 or 10 inde-
that the mega-metropolitan regions in China, products pendent kingdoms located in a spatially linked area. These
of the rapid urbanization, are significant spatial units local authorities are accustomed to dialogues with their
with global influences, whose healthy development will upper-level leaders while ignoring or even refusing dia-
strongly influence Chinas future. logues with their neighbors as a result of Chinas highly
342 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
mountainous areas. They are the important guardians of Along with globalization and modernization, there
regional ecological security and protectors of water and is more and more desire for intra-regional communica-
greenery. But these cities are also unwilling to give up tion and collaboration in BTH. The flow or exchange
their industrial and economic development opportunities, of materials, information, and population has already
restricted by this regional ecological and environmental broken through the city boundaries, and issues like fog
security duty, because there are no effective regional haze, water shortages, and environmental pollution
financial compensation and transfer institutions to pay can only be resolved through cross-border regional
for their sacrifice. collaboration. Based on related interviews and re-
The middle sub-region. This active area con- search, the main reasons for collaboration between
sists of four cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, and the cities are summarized in Figure 3. The emergence
Langfang) and has the strongest economic develop- of a willingness to collaborate regionally can also been
ment performance in BTH. Connected by a 30-minute demonstrated by the spatial development strategies of
high-speed railway, the linear belt from Beijing to Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.
Tianjin has been the significant regional development Spatial development strategy of Beijing. The
corridor, even though the two so-called big brothers great achievement of the economic, culture, and
are fighting fiercely for market, talent, and resourc- political development of Beijing, the capital city, has
es instead of sharing. As for the other two cities, caught global attention. The successful hosting of the
Tangshan is a vital energy-producing city that supplies 2008 Summer Olympic Games followed by a winning
significant electricity and coal to both BTH and the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games (Beijing-
rest of the country (and is now suffering serious eco- Zhangjiakou) has much enhanced the Chinese peoples
nomic issues in light of the dropping coal price), while self-confidence and refreshed the worlds understand-
Langfang is a city with a flourishing real estate market ing of China. Thus, Beijing proposed its development
because it borders on Beijing and Tianjin. goal in 2010 to be a significant world city/global city,
The southern sub-region. Developed for man- which will be better achieved by collective efforts from
ufacturing and port industries, three cities are located the entire BTH region.
in the southern sub-region: Shijiazhuang, Cangzhou, Spatial development strategy of Tianjin. To
and Baoding. Due to their relative distance from the make full use of the benefits of its seaport, Tianjin
Beijing-Tianjin corridor, these industrial cities devel- launched a reform program to construct a national
oped more independently. pilot coastal area in 2006 with the support of the
central government-Tianjin Binhai New Area. This
program could gain more support through collabora-
Purposes of Intra-regional Collaboration tion with the other four important seaports in Hebei
and increasing interaction with Beijing. Unfortunately,
As early as in the 1980s, some researchers, such as Wu the unexpected warehouse explosion in Tianjin Binhai
Liangyong, started to identify Beijing, Tianjin, and in August 2015 cast a big shadow over the future de-
Tangshang as one regional spatial unit in their studies velopment of Tianjin.
(Wuliangyong, 2004). However, the economic and Spatial development strategy of Hebei. The
social exchange between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provincial development strategies of Hebei always
has been limited by administrative segregation, which focus on Beijing and Tianjin to benefit from a re-
has blocked the integrated development of the BTH gional division of labor and market. Attempting to
region (Li Xiaojiang, 2008). Disputes including a war attract more population and industries from Beijing
for water and a fight for the location of the second and Tianjin to Hebei, Hebei has put forward a strat-
International Capital Airport, among others, are fre- egy of building a New Urban Cluster around Beijing.
quent between local authorities in BTH. An initiative to strengthen Hebei coastal cities has
Other cities
Governance Dilemmas Undermining formed during the planned economy period is still the
Transformation of BTH main administrative approach in China. This ensures
that almost all the cities in the BTH region prefer to
To transform the area from an isolated archipelago to lobby and contact upper-level government instead of
an integrated region, BTH is in great need of effective their neighbors. As a result, horizontal and vertical
regional governance and collaboration. However, the fol- collaboration between different local authorities and
lowing dilemmas have made regional integration across government departments has been inadequate in
the administration boundary in BTH very difficult. BTH. Moreover, the governments, instead of drawing
Dilemma 1: Fragmentation caused by admin- on market mechanisms, are still playing a large role in
istrative divisions. The free flow of information, hu- allocating important primary resources and produc-
man resources, and production in most mega-regions tion factors in BTH. As there is no necessary mar-
is highly restricted by Chinas unique institutional en- ket-based coordination and compensation mechanism
vironment and traditional administration mode, which between local authorities, cross-boundary exchange
combines features of a planned and market econo- of social, economic, and natural resources is always
my. The traditional vertical bureaucracy mechanism difficult to realize.
344 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Dilemma 2: Vicious competition caused by informal collaboration, inter-local service agreements,
the allocation of tax revenue. The decentralization regional councils of government, and contracting
of power triggered by political and economic reforms from private vendors, which are precisely the most
in the 1990s in China reinforced the status of local common approaches emerging in BTHs governance
authorities. According to the Chinese system of tax system. Whether a water use and compensation mech-
distribution, a large proportion of tax revenue goes to anism agreed to between Beijing and Hebei, a 9+10
the central government, while the local governments regional tourism collaboration agreement, or the eco-
can only gain a small amount of funds. Therefore, it is nomic collaboration and development forum of the
unsurprising that disputes over resources and vicious Bohai economic circle, all help cities achieve trust and
competition between local governments have become consensus on the basis of mutual benefits.
increasingly serious and a significant obstacle to coor- Regional communications first occurred in trans-
dination in the BTH region. port infrastructure development, economic collabo-
Dilemma 3: Inefficiency in mobilizing multi- ration, water resource use and compensation, joint
role participation. Lack of effective regional plan- development of tourism, and urban planning and
ning and public participation has also contributed construction. The regional dialogue platforms are not
to the difficulty of regional collaboration in BTH. confined to the scope of the BTH region, but also
Citizens do not have enough enthusiasm or knowledge extend to the Bohai economic circle, including the
to participate in public activities, non-governmental provinces of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shandong.
organizations do not have access to involvement in Participating actors include government departments,
public affairs, and the private sector pays inadequate relevant experts and scholars, enterprises, and foreign
attention to public interests. The regions collabo- representatives, among others In terms of impact,
ration is rendered even more sensitive and difficult many regional transportation links has been devel-
under such particularities as, for example, the central oped, including a large number of intercity highways
governments location in Beijing. This has given cen- and high-speed railways, which help create a half hour
tral government the privilege of intervening in local economic circle around Beijing and Tianjin and a one
BTH affairs, especially in Beijing, and interfering in to three-hour traffic circle across the entire BTH re-
Beijings priority rights to absorb and transfer regional gion. A reasonable industrial division is starting to take
resources. shape in BTH, as follows (Planning Office of Beijing
Social Science, 2009):
Efforts at Regional Governance and Beijings economy is oriented to the service,
knowledge, and headquarters economies.
Collaboration
Tianjin is becoming the high-level modern man-
ufacturing and research and development base,
Entering the 20st century, new trends in regional as well as a northern international shipping and
collaboration (formal and informal) are emerging in logistics center.
BTH, such as regional dialogue, regional infrastructure Hebei province aims to grow as the important
construction, urban forums, regional collaboration national base for the heavy chemical industry, ad-
agreements, regional planning research, and regional vanced manufacturing, and agricultural produc-
working meetings. These suggest a new stage, leading tion and processing.
toward more harmonious regional governance in
BTH. Mitchell-Weaver, Miller, and Deal Jr. (2000) As a result, the traditional manufacturing industries
summarized the main approaches of regional gover- in Beijing, such as the Capital Steel Plant, the First
nance and collaboration in detail. They highlighted Machine-Tool Plant, and the Coking Plant, have been
the relatively easy areas of collaboration, including gradually moved into Hebei province.
346 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
reduce 60 million tons of iron and steel output, 60 for Coordinated Development, Zhangjiakou-Chengde
million tons of cement, 40 million tons of coal, and Ecological Functional District, Tianjin Binhai New
30 million weight cases of glass. District, and New Airport Economic Zone, and N
During the APEC conference in 2014, Beijing had designates numerous platforms for industry takeover.
many APEC blue days, in which the three locations, The BTH region is encouraging and guiding the trans-
for the first time ever, simultaneously employed traffic fer of general manufacturing industries and regional
control, with construction projects halted in Beijing wholesale markets to well-established industrial parks
and production prohibited in surrounding cities, to im- in Hebei (e.g., Cangzhou, Yongqing, Shijiazhuang,
prove Beijings air quality. This is an outcome directly Baigou, and Guan). Overall, 392 polluting enterpris-
attributable to regional governance under a centralized es left Beijing in 2014, and 326 in 2015. Since 2014,
power system. APEC blue demonstrated the positive over 80 industry projects have been transferred from
role that regional collaboration and joint governance Beijing to Hebei, involving an investment of 136.8
can play in improving regional air conditions. billion Yuan. Further, 80 commodity markets in the
central city of Beijing were demolished in 2015, and
another 70 were transformed and upgraded.
Transfer of Non-capital Functions
348 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
2. Medium level of regional collaboration. would actively create conditions for future inte-
The entire metropolitan area would realize a gration into the core area.
degree of stable connection and collaboration 3. High level of regional collaboration. The
between cities. The northern mountainous area region would reach strong, close intra-regional
of Zhangjiakou, Chengde, and Qinhuangdao connection and collaboration. Beijing-Tangshan-
would maintain good regional exchange in order Baoding-Cangzhou would form a quadrilateral
to promote their joint tourism industry. The area and become the core of regional growth.
area between Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, and Building from common goals regarding tourism
Langfang would communicate well and become and ecological protection, Zhangjiakou, Chengde,
the development core of the BTH region. Other and Qinhuangdao would establish a close part-
cities (e.g., Shijiazhuang, Baoding, and Cangzhou) nership.
Figure 4. Scenario Analysis of Future Regional Collaboration in the BTH Region
Source: Authors.
350 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.13 Governance in Indian Metropolises: Delhi
Debolina Kundu (National Institute of Urban Affairs, India)
Abstract
Indias 52 metropolises are the economic and commercial engines of the modern nation. These
complex entities with multiple municipal and non-municipal institutional arrangements are working
essentially as creatures of state governments with very little strategic flexibility. The metropolis of
Delhi is no exception, although it enjoys the special status of National Capital Territory (NCT). This
is partly because the 74th Constitutional Amendment (CAA) of 1992 failed to visualize the dynamics
of emerging large complex urban formations. With 16 million inhabitants, the NCT is the second
most populous metropolis in India. Metropolitan governance in Delhi, like any other metropolis,
is characterized by fragmentation of responsibility; incomplete devolution of funds, functions, and
functionaries; parallel existence of parastatals and resident welfare associations; and low recovery of
user charges and property tax. The 74th CAA and the National Urban Renewal Mission attempted
to empower the urban local bodies, including metropolises, to improve governance and efficiency in
civic administration. By contrast, the Smart Cities Mission has mandated special purpose vehicles that
redefine city governance and financing, in the process disengaging metropolises and other big cities
from these functions. This chapter argues for both a need to comply with the 74th CAA for long-term
solutions, as well as better coordination among the municipal and non-municipal entities to achieve
effective urban governance.
Metropolitan governance in India has long been have largely viewed urbanization as city expansion
characterized by a fragmentation of responsibility, (Sivaramakrishnan, 2013).
incomplete devolution of functions to the elected ur- As urban India comprises 31 percent of the na-
ban local bodies, lack of adequate financial resources, tional population and contributes over 63 percent of
and indecision on the role of parastatals in delivering the GDP, with metropolitan cities accounting for the
services. However, recent decades have witnessed bulk, the capacity of the nation to pursue its economic
a move toward greater municipal autonomy and goals becomes contingent on its ability to govern its
accountability, improved property taxation methods cities. Urban governance has, therefore, increasingly
and user charge levies, and greater private sector assumed importance as a means to ensure that eco-
participation in financing and delivering functions. nomic growth is equitable, sustainable, and improves
Indian metropolitan cities, which are complex living conditions. Apart from the government, the
entities with multiple municipal and non-municipal private sector, resident welfare associations, and civil
institutional arrangements, are subordinate bodies society all have critical roles to play in local gover-
of the state governments with neither the necessary nance. The 74th CAA tried to empower urban local
strategic flexibility nor political legitimacy. This bodies in India to improve governance and efficiency
can partly be attributed to the failure of the 74th in city administration. The Jawaharlal Nehru National
Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) of 1992 to Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) focused on
visualize the dynamics of large complex urban for- governance improvement by implementing reforms
mations. Also, Indian policymakers have been slow (Kundu, 2014). Other ongoing initiatives, in particular
in responding to changing metropolitan forms and the Smart City Mission, the Swachh Bharat Mission,
352 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
from among the ward councillors for a one-year term. associations (RWAs). Their involvement has broadly
Elections are held at different times for the central, been in areas related to operating and managing civic
state, and municipal governments. In December 2011, services, capital investment in infrastructural projects,
as per the notification of the Delhi Municipal Corporation planning and participatory budgeting, and maintaining
Amendment Act (2011), MCD has been trifurcated neighborhood security. In fact, efforts have been made
into the North, South, and the East Delhi Municipal to institutionalize RWAs as partners in the develop-
Corporations. As per the legislation, the total number ment process through government-led programs like
of seats in each corporation cannot be more than 272 the Bhagidari (or Citizen-Government Partnership
or as decided by the government. The 14th schedule Scheme) in Delhi. The RWAs have been supported
of the act divides the number of zones and wards in not only by the government but also by private agen-
the three corporations. The operationalization of the cies and civil society. Importantly, their functioning
three corporations has begun, and the MCDs budget has been restricted largely to the middle income and
was split accordingly in 201213. wealthy areas. Correspondingly, the informal settle-
In addition to the bureaucracy at various levels of ments, which house the urban poor, are unable to
government, there are a number of parastatal agencies exercise their voice through the same form of activism
that have major responsibilities within the city gover- (Kundu, 2011).The opening by state government of
nance structure. The Delhi Development Authority new spaces for RWAs meant that the elected members
is a central government parastatal agency responsible of the legislative assembly and of the municipal gov-
for planning and developing land in Delhi. Generating ernment were bypassed (Lama-Rewal, 2011).
and distributing electricity was handed to the Delhi In the NCT, a majority of the RWAs are regis-
Vidyut Board in 1996. This board was unbundled and tered with the Delhi government as their Bhagidars
privatized in 2002, and distribution was divided be- (partners) in the Bhagidari. The RWAs are required
tween three private companies in different geographic to coordinate with a number of government depart-
locations within Delhi. ments and parastatal and civic agencies to address their
Water supply is the responsibility of the Delhi Jal day-to-day problems. As an illustration, the RWAs in
Board (DJB), which was formed in 1998 as a state Delhi need to coordinate with the DJB to resolve their
agency, when responsibilities for these areas were trans- problems related to drinking water and sanitation. The
ferred from the MCD. Formally, the DJB is only allowed RWAs also help the DJB collect water bills, distribute
to make private, in-house water connections in legal water through tankers, replace old or leaking pipelines,
settlements, though the board is required to provide and harvest water, among other services. Importantly,
communal supplies (from public taps) to all citizens. in Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority has been
In recent years, there has been a sea change in brought under the participatory framework, as the
urban governance in the country. Economic lib- RWAs have joined with the authority to prevent en-
eralization in India, followed by decentralization croachment and maintain community parks, common
measures adopted by all tiers of government as an areas, and parking facilities inside the district (Kundu,
aftermath of the 74th CAA has resulted in gradual 2009).
withdrawal of the state and increased private sector
participation in capital investment and the operation Demographic Growth of Delhi
and maintenance of urban services. The institutional
vacuum thus created has been occupied by non-gov- Delhi was a fast growing urban agglomeration until
ernmental organizations. The inability of the ward 1991. The unique feature of the Delhi urban agglom-
committees, institutionalized by 74th CAA, to usher in eration is that it has grown by over 4 percent per
decentralized governance has also led to the growth annum in every decade since 1931, unlike any other
of middle class activism through resident welfare metropolis. Delhi (NCT) experienced population
North West
North
HARYANA
North East
West Central East
New New Central East North West South North North South
Delhi Delhi West East West
South West UTTAR PRADESH
South
Understandably, this spatially differentiated rural settlements where a dearth of basic amenities
growth has increased the inequality in density within is leading to degenerated peripheralization (Kundu,
the urban segment. The rapid population growth in 2014). Industrial dispersal, particularly of non-con-
many of the wards in the MCD, on the other hand, forming and hazardous industries in the peri-urban
would have an adverse effect on the quality of the area around the metropolis, has significantly altered
microenvironment as the already high density levels population composition, employment, and housing
put pressure on the limited amenities. The same is conditions in the city and its hinterland (Ghani,
true for a large number of peripheral urban and Goswami, and Kerr, 2012).
354 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
It is important at this juncture to analyze the mac- urban agglomerations with the addition of new census
ro trends of urbanization in the country. India, with towns in the vicinity of such cities.
377 million people living in urban areas, is an integral Metropolitanization across states experienced a
part of the urban transformation that the world is growth spurt during 200111, as more people live in
witnessing, although it is gradually making the shift metropolitan areas. The highest rise was in Kerala,
from rural to urban at a much slower pace than other where over 76 percent of the urban population and
developed nations. A large number of new census 36 percent of the total population lived in metro areas
towns emerged in the 200111 decade, which, though in 2011. Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal also
urban by definition, are rural by governance. There is have very high metropolitanization levels. Leaving out
also clear evidence that points to growing suburban- Odisha, which does not yet have a metro area, 11 of
ization and peripheralization. the 13 major states have seen a rise in their metropol-
During 200111, the number of metropolitan itanization levels.
cities increased sharply in India, to 52 from 35; Among the 52 metropolitan cities in India, Delhi
this is the highest increase in any decade thus far had the second highest population with over 16 mil-
and accounted for around 43 percent of the total lion inhabitants (after Mumbai, 18.4 million) and a
urban population in 2011 (Figure 2). A large part growth rate of over 2 percent per annum. The popula-
of the increase in population share of metropolitan tion has increased more in the peripheral areas outside
cities is due to the emergence of new metropolitan the municipal boundaries of the city where the share
areas. These metropolises have not been formed rose from 23 percent to almost 33 percent, registering
through the expansion of existing statutory towns, a growth rate of almost 6 percent from 2001 to 2011.
but through the mushrooming of a large number By contrast, the population within the city boundary
of census towns in the vicinity of existing statutory grew at an annual rate of less than 2 percent during
towns, resulting in urban agglomerations (NIUA, the same period (NIUA, 201213).
201213).
Figure 2. Population of Metropolitan Cities Economic Analysis
The 74 districts that housed the 52 metropolitan
43
Population (per cent of Total)
97500
5.5 65000
4.7
monthly per capita income in Delhi was Rs.15,457
4.7
2.9
2.75 28067 32500
commercial, and residential activities in the post-in- Delhi India Delhi India
dependence period. The growth rate in per capita Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of NCT, Delhi.
Note: Q - Quick Estimates, A - Advance Estimates.
annual income has been higher than that in rural areas,
leading to a slight increase in the relative gap between An analysis of the workforce structure shows that
the NCT and national figures of per capita annual the share of regular salaried workers declined in Delhi,
income (Figure 3). In 201314, Delhis per capita an- from 61 percent in 200405 to 54 percent in 200910.
nual income at current prices (Rs.219,979) was three This is in sharp contrast to the average of metropolitan
times that of India (Rs.74,380). Moreover, the income India, where regular salaried jobs increased from 51
growth rate was much higher in Delhi (14 percent) percent to 52 percent during the same period. The un-
than in India as a whole (10 percent). Concurrently, employment rate, which was much higher in Delhi (5.2
the percentage of people living below the poverty percent) compared to metropolitan India (3.8 percent)
line in urban Delhi (which was as high as 52 percent in 200405 experienced a steady decline to 3 percent in
in 1973) had declined systematically over the decades, 200910, whereas the average unemployment rate for
declining to 28 percent in 1983, 16 percent in 199394, all metropolitan cities increased to 4 percent in 200910.
and 10 percent in 201112 (Planning Commission,
Table 2. Gini Coefficient: Metropolitan, Rural,
2012). The reduction in poverty was partly due to
and Urban India
higher income growth and partly to deceleration in the
number of poor moving into the NCT. The declining 200405 200910 Increase
poverty ratio is also reflected in the lower share of Metropolitan India 0.358 0.389 0.031
slum households in Delhi, which stands at around 12 Urban India 0.348 0.371 0.023
percent compared to the national share of 17 percent, Rural India 0.266 0.276 0.010
according to the Population Census of 2011. The re- Delhi 0.340 0.364 0.024
spective shares during the previous decades were 17 Source: National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 200405 and 200910.
356 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
In Delhi, the share of households with a computer or and District Planning Committees have also been con-
laptop with internet is nearly two times higher than the av- stituted in all states. Metropolitan Planning Committees
erage across metropolitan India. Similarly, the incidence of have also been constituted in a few cities, but are yet
owning an asset like a TV, computer or laptop, telephone to become functional in most of them. Their prime
or mobile phone, or scooter or car is higher in Delhi (28 responsibility is to prepare draft development plans for
percent) than in metropolitan India (18 percent). However, the metropolitan area as a whole.
the share of good quality houses in 2011 was lower in Also, efforts are underway to make parastatals and
Delhi at 69 percent than other metropolitan cities in India other service providers accountable to urban local
(72 percent). This may be because a large section of the bodies. Parastatals like water boards were established
population resides in slums and informal settlements, through legislation and there is a reluctance to bring
where the quality of housing is substandard. Also, hous- parastatals functioning well under municipal control
ing in the city is tight, with nearly 31 percent of the urban at the city level, including Delhi.
dwellers in Delhi residing in one room or in no exclusive The Indian experience clearly shows that no state
room. The corresponding figure for metropolitan India government is willing to give up control of a metro-
during the same period was 37 percent (NIUA, 201213). politan area. In India, the constitutional structure is a
carryover from the colonial period of the Union-State-
Devolution of Funds, Functionaries, Municipality. This three-tier system based on a hierarchy
of authority and responsibility may not be adequate to
and Functions manage an urban agglomeration or a metropolitan area.
In India, almost all of the million plus cities and their
All Indian states have initiated the reform process agglomerations are multi-district and multi-municipal.
committed to under JNNURM, although the status The state and central government agencies and depart-
of implementation varies. Reforms like the 74th CAA, ments are active in all. Moreover, all of them also have
reduction of stamp duty, repeal of the Urban Land significant entities of trade, commerce, and service
Ceiling and Regulation Act, rent control laws, enactment provision in the private sector.
of community and public disclosure laws, among oth- When the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957 was
ers, have been implemented in most states. But there amended in 2003 the unit area method of property tax
has been slow progress in transferring functionaries calculation was introduced, along with the system of
and finances, and integrating service delivery functions self-assessment by the tax payer. Coverage of property
with urban local bodies. tax is restricted substantially due to non-collection from
Additionally, most cities have introduced e-gover- unauthorized colonies and rural areas (CRISIL, 2014).
nance modules, double entry accounting systems, and Also, there is significant disparity in property tax collec-
earmarked funds for services to the poor, and instituted tion as the South Delhi Corporation has much higher
property tax reforms. But there has been moderate tax coverage than the East and North Corporations.
progress in extending these reforms to all the urban local It is essential to recognize that a metropolitan area
bodies in the state. Almost all states have amended the is an intergovernmental entity. A major reason for the
Municipal Acts to incorporate the provisions of the 74th reluctance of state governments to devolve control over a
CAA and transfer the functions of the 12th Schedule. metropolitan area is the enormous financial and political
Eleven states have transferred these functions to urban clout that urban land and therefore real estate operations
local bodies. Almost all states devolved functions except carry. In spite of the constitutional amendments 12th
fire services. Elections are being held regularly in urban Schedule, which explicitly includes urban and town plan-
local bodies, including those in Delhi. But, funds and ning, and regulation of land use and construction of
functionaries continue to be a problem and there are lim- buildings, in many Indian cities, including Delhi, these
ited efforts to transfer them. State Finance Commissions powers have not been fully devolved to municipalities.
The NDMC is one of the urban local bodies The 52 metropolitan cities of India comprise a signifi-
that has been selected as a Smart City by the cant proportion of the urban population and generate
Government of India. The mission is envisioned high economic growth, and Delhi is no exception.
to be implemented through a special purpose ve- Many old metropolises have witnessed decaying cores
hicle established as a limited company under the and growth beyond municipal boundaries. This phe-
Companies Act of 2013 and promoted by the state/ nomenon is very evident in Delhi. It is important to
UT and the urban local body jointly, both of which note that Delhi has registered a decline in the popula-
have a 50:50 equity shareholding. The private sec- tion growth rate corresponding to the national urban
tor or financial institutions could be considered trend. The city has registered a decline in the share
to take an equity stake in the vehicle, provided of the population below the poverty line and a con-
the state and the urban local body continue to comitant increase in the per capita income, reflecting
have equal shares, and that the state and urban a trend toward exclusionary urbanization. The city is
local body retain a majority shareholding and thus also characterized by high coverage of households to
control of the special vehicle. The funds granted basic amenities and asset ownership, which reflects
by the central government to the vehicle will be better delivery of services due to higher affordability
in the form of tied grants and kept in a separate and better governance structure.
grant fund. These funds are to be used only for the Like all other metropolitan cities, Delhi also
purposes as planned in the Smart Cities plans and demonstrates that, because the tasks to be per-
subject to the conditions laid down by the central formed in a metropolitan area are highly varied, they
government. require different actors and different structures.
The policy guidelines specify that one of the While some congruous functions like water supply,
primary reasons to create a special purpose vehicle sanitation, streets, street lighting, and solid waste
is to ensure operational independence and auton- are grouped as municipal, many other services are
omy in decision-making and mission implementa- inter-municipal and metropolitan wide in coverage,
tion. The Smart City Mission encourages delegat- especially transport, electricity, rail, and air connec-
ing the rights and obligations of the NDMC with tivity. A minimum organizational set up is necessary
respect to the Smart City project to the special to bring these important agencies to a platform
purpose vehicle in addition to delegating the de- that can determine a metropolitan wide strategy,
cision-making powers available to the urban local planning, and action. Although the National Capital
body under the relevant municipal legislation to Region exists as a broader metropolitan area, in-
the Chief Executive Officer of the vehicle. Also, ter-agency coordination is essential to strengthen
it is required that decision-making powers available the governance of the Delhi metropolitan area.
to the Urban Development Department or local Also, empowerment of urban local bodies is essen-
self-government department are delegated to the tial to realize fiscal federalism. Finally, new urban
board of directors of the special purpose vehicle initiatives should be implemented with caution so
(GOI, 2015). The vehicles, among others, are that they do not result in increased vulnerability
expected to determine and collect user charges as of the local bodies and accentuation of intra-re-
well as collect taxes, surcharges, and other duties gional disparities. In fact, the urban development
as authorized by the urban local bodies. In such programs should seek to improve the coverage of
instances, there is a high probability of disempow- urban basic services for all and at the same time
ering the urban local bodies. reduce the existing disparities.
358 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It describes the various
public and private organizations involved in extended public goods provision and the functions they
undertake within the context of a three-tier federal system. The chapter further analyzes the major
issues faced in providing public goods, including affordable housing within the region. In particular, the
analysis focuses on the reasons for the lack of coordination in resolving inter-jurisdictional problems,
the conflicts that arise due to political and jurisdictional fragmentation that preclude true polycentricity,
and, most importantly, the lack of reform in relevant policies. The chapter then makes relevant pol-
icy recommendations and highlights the importance of having a metropolitan level government for
Mumbai, delimiting its domain in terms of discharging functions that are best undertaken on a regional
scale with the necessary finances and functionaries. The authors argue that such strategies would enable
the region to function smoothly as a common labor market, thus reaping agglomeration efficiencies.
Mumbai has always been the financial capital of India. market at the regional level. The region as a whole has
Over the years it has witnessed considerable growth in become an economic entity. An additional reason to use a
population and an expanding economy driven first by the regional lens is to effectively deal with environmental issues
textile and manufacturing sectors and later by the financial that have implications at the regional level. Therefore, any
and commercial services sectors. The growth of cities long-term strategy to improve Mumbais competitiveness
has been accompanied by the two opposing forces of and ensure sustainable development must focus on the
agglomeration and congestion (Ellis and Roberts, 2016). MMR. This requires the coordination of policies and
For sustainable growth and development it is imperative investment plans, and joint or consolidated provision of
to keep the congestion forces in check while ensuring certain public goods at the metropolitan level. Getting the
that growth translates into the creation of livelihoods. In governance of MMR right is critical for this to happen.
Mumbai, unimaginative and downright bad policies related This chapter has six sections including the introduction.
to planning, housing, and transport have contributed to the The second section provides an overview of the demo-
rise in congestion. Land markets in the city are unadaptive graphics and economy of MMR. The third describes the
and restrictive, leading to the proliferation of slums and extant governance structure and the fourth highlights the
unauthorized development in the peripheries. As a result, outcomes of this system. The fifth section outlines some
the city has become unattractive to investors and has recommendations for reforms and the sixth concludes.
been gradually losing out to other metropolises in India.
Realistically, it is doubtful whether the many issues leading Overview of the Mumbai
to a conundrum can be resolved within the city limits.
Concomitantly, the dispersion of industries, commercial
Metropolitan Region
centers, and residential populations outside Mumbai and
within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has The MMR was formally recognized in 1973 after
resulted in strong economic linkages and a unified labor the approval of the Government of Maharashtra.
360 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
It has a geographic area of 4,354 square kilometers Greater Mumbais population growth rate has
and comprises the districts of Mumbai and Mumbai slowed down and was only 4 percent in 2011, indicat-
Suburbantogether Greater Mumbaias well as ing population stabilization. In fact, Mumbai city saw
parts of the Thane, Raigad, and Palghar districts, a decline in population and the Mumbai suburbs wit-
which contain both urban and rural areas. The region nessed a deceleration in population growth, both of
is one of the largest in the country in terms of pop- which contributed to the downward trend in Greater
ulation and has a thriving economy that contributes Mumbais population overall. The growth rate of
significantly to both the state of Maharashtra and MMRs population has also declined steadily but is still
India as a whole. According to the 2011 census, the much higher than that of Greater Mumbai. The share
population of MMR was approximately 22 million. of Greater Mumbais population in MMR has fallen
Table 1 provides the total population and population from around 77 percent in 1971 to 57 percent. These
growth rate for MMR and the primate city of Greater trends indicate that the population growth in MMR is
Mumbai, as well as the share of Greater Mumbais mostly taking place outside of Greater Mumbai.
population in MMR since 1971.
Table 1. Population Growth in Mumbai and MMR
Much of the incremental growth has taken place area. Over time, commercial and other economic ac-
outside Greater Mumbai. There are large areas of land tivity expanded northward to the former mill areas in
within MMR that have witnessed no development. Lower Parel and the Bandra Kurla Complexa special
This is largely because these areas are protected and planning area created by the Mumbai Metropolitan
their development is prohibited. The rise in population Development Authority designed for businesses and
over the years has likely been due to strong economic corporate officesas well as the suburban districts of
growth that led to in-migration, and the sprawl can be Andheri. Many businesses later also relocated outside
attributed to the changing location of new workplaces Greater Mumbai to the city of Navi Mumbai and
within the region. the region as a whole gained economic significance.
Until the 1980s, most of the economic activity and In 2010-11, MMRs economy comprised 33 percent
employment generation took place within Greater of Maharashtras GDP and contributed over 4 per-
Mumbai. The manufacturing sector thrived in the city. cent to Indias economy. For the same year, Greater
The dominant industry at that time was textiles, which Mumbais share in MMRs economy was 65 percent.
provided employment to thousands of workers in the While Greater Mumbai continues to dominate MMRs
textile mills. After the decline of the textile industry economy, it has been on the back of the services
and the opening up of the economy, the financial sector, whereas manufacturing and industrial activity
sector and businesses prospered in the southernmost has been growing just outside the city. These activities
362 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
of the nature of cooperation, competition, and con- results in competition, creating a quasi-market sit-
flict resolution that exists within the system. In an uation that benefits citizens; and conflicts among
efficiently functioning system, the complementarity various organizations are resolved through insti-
of providing goods and services elicits cooperation tutionalized mechanisms. In the next section, the
among the organizations involved in providing for authors show that Mumbais governance system is
mutual gain; substitutability of goods or services only ostensibly polycentric.
Figure 1. MMRs Governance System
Central Government
Judiciary
Government of
Maharashtra
Central Parastatals State Parastatals Urban Local Bodies Urban Local Bodies
Metropolitan
Level
Civil Society Civil Society Civil Society
364 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
growth depends on regulatory policies that are in attempts to leverage public lands to raise resources
place. Unfortunately, policies governing land supply using land-based financing mechanisms.
have been restrictive and uncoordinated. All these factors make land markets unadaptive to
One of the most important policy instruments regional needs and lead to chaotic regional housing
used within MMR to regulate supply is the FSI, which outcomes. The most prominent among these is the
is the ratio of the buildable area to the total size of distortion in real estate markets resulting in soaring
the plot; a higher FSI allows for a more built-up area. land prices, which in turn means housing is unaf-
Within Greater Mumbai, the allowable FSI is deter- fordable for many in the city (Gandhi, 2012). As a
mined by the MCGM and needs to be approved by result, many households have sought a solution to
the state government. The MCGM has capped the FSI the housing problem in slums. A second major issue
at unreasonably low levels uniformly across the city. is unauthorized development, meaning real estate
At the same time, it has created regulations that grant construction that violates regulations. These develop-
additional FSI at a premium tied to specific purposes ments differ from slums in that they look formal and
or functions but which have little regard for the carry- presumably meet better construction norms (Pethe,
ing capacity or infrastructure availability in the area in Nallathiga, Gandhi, et al., 2014a). There have been
which it is carried out. The local government has been reports of illegal construction in Navi Mumbai within
able to raise substantial revenue using this mechanism, MMR, which puts homebuyers at risk (Chaudhari,
which has resulted in the abusive transformation of 2016). This unauthorized development is carried out
what is essentially a planning tool into a fiscal one not only by private developers but also by public of-
(Gandhi and Phatak, 2016). This is also true for other ficials. The Adarsh Society Housing Scam brought to
cities in MMR, like Vasai Virar. The MMRDA, which light the manner in which bureaucrats, politicians, and
is a special planning authority for certain areas within other public officials have been involved in grabbing
Greater Mumbai, has its own policies that allow an prime real estate property within Mumbai through
FSI of up to 5 in the Bandra Kurla Complex area (the illegal means (Tandel, Gandhi, Libeiro, et al., 2014).
new business district in Mumbai). These are not in Over the years, the state government has tried
accordance with MCGMs policies. a number of measures to tackle the issue of slums,
There is ongoing debate about the effects of re- including creating a Slum Rehabilitation Authority to
forming the FSI policy on development in Mumbai. provide housing to people living in slums and formu-
Alain Bertaud (2011) argued that, given the high land lating policies to create incentives, such as granting
prices in Mumbai, the city should have a much higher additional FSI to private developers to build affordable
FSI. Bertaud also compared the FSI levels in Mumbai housing for the poor and providing public housing
to other cities in the world, showing that Mumbai for low income groups. However, these measures
has among the lowest FSIs in the world. Patel (2013) have had limited success. A housing policy and action
countered that such a comparison is incorrect and that plan announced by the state government in 2015 set
Mumbais high level of density and crowding is com- a target of providing 1.1 million houses within MMR
parable to cities with higher FSIs. Patel further stated by 2022 to ease the acute shortage in housing. The
that any upward movement in the FSI (especially in state government sought to deal with the problem of
poorer areas) will worsen this situation. unauthorized development by proposing a policy that
Another important issue is the mismanagement of regularized all illegal construction that was built before
public lands and the presence of vast tracts of land December 2015. However, the judiciary dismissed the
that have been demarcated as no development zones. plan on the grounds that no impact assessment of the
A large proportion of MMR territory is owned by policy had been carried out and that it was in violation
public authorities and is inefficiently managed, includ- of the law. What is lacking is a strategy to address the
ing being kept vacant (Pethe et al., 2012a). This thwarts housing problem at the regional level.
366 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Recommendations for Reform in Political power must be vested with the governing
Governmental Set Up authority. This will be ensured by having directly or
indirectly elected members (at least the mayor) consti-
(This section is based on Gandhi and Pethe, 2016.) tuting the body. Along with political power, it would
It is evident that polycentricity in its true sense is require a competent bureaucracy that is immune from
non-existent in Mumbai region. There are two ways to the influence of state governments.
proceed. The first is to strengthen polycentric gover- Finances and executive power must be given to
nance. Polycentric governance is a system with multi- the governing authority. According to Bahl, Linn,
ple actors with overlapping functions and jurisdictions and Wetzel (2013), any innovative decisions regarding
existing at multiple levels. Such a system, it is argued, finances at the metropolitan level must recognize the
allows for cooperation among public organizations as existing governance structure and forms of public
well as efficiency-enhancing competition that benefits finance. For Mumbai, building on the financing
citizens in terms of improved delivery of public goods mechanisms currently being used by metropolitan
and services. Strengthening polycentricity requires authorities, some of the most important revenue
both improving coordination between organizations sources for the metropolitan governing body would
and fostering competition. It also requires re-evaluat- be land-based financing tools and user charges. The
ing the role of the MPC. The second option would governing authority could also leverage lands that
require a two-tiered system of metropolitan gover- are owned by public bodies to finance infrastructure.
nance, comprising urban and rural local bodies on the Finally, it must be granted sufficient autonomy, albeit
lower tier and a metropolitan body on the upper tier. with some safeguards, to raise resources to finance
Given the current stage of development, capacities, infrastructure through borrowings. Operational effi-
and political economy realities, the latter would be ciency will require that metropolitan governments are
more suitable for the Mumbai region. This type of also assured a certain amount of resources by way of
restructuring is not uncommon and has a precedent grants that are devolved in a formulaic or predictable
in the metropolitan governance structures of London manner.
and Toronto. In recent times, there has been some Thus, whereas a polycentric structure of govern-
deliberation on the type of governance structure and ment appears rather attractive, at the current juncture,
governing bodies that metropolitan regions need. One a two-tier setup with clear mandates and funding
suggestion has been to create Metropolitan Councils mechanisms delineated between both tiers would be
as an alternative to MPCs. For such a two-tier met- more pragmatic.
ropolitan governance system to succeedand not
be an exercise in replacing one ineffective body with Conclusion
anotherit must satisfy the conditions discussed in
the next three paragraphs. This chapter critically examines metropolitan gover-
Functions such as planning transport and the nance in Mumbai. It flags some of the conundrums
metropolitan region, and providing infrastructure that arise due to the nature of the governance system.
that enjoy scale economies must be assigned to the It then articulates an agenda to reform the present sys-
governing authority at the metropolitan regional tem of ostensibly polycentric governance to a two-tier
level of Mumbai. Metropolitan planning will involve setup with functions, financial, and executive powers,
articulating a vision and specifying goals, such as and functionaries clearly delineated between the local
sustainable growth, inclusivity, improving competi- and metropolitan levels. This is a departure from the
tiveness of the region, and formulating policies for ideal of home rule or jurisdictional fragmentation,
investments, the environment, land use, and housing which advocates for organizing local public goods
so that these goals are attained. and service delivery at the lowest possible level (Bahl,
368 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Metropolitan government finances in developing countries
(pp.243271). Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of
Land Policy.
Pethe, A., Nallathiga, R., Gandhi, S., and Tandel, V. (2014a).
Re-thinking urban planning in India: Learning from
the wedge between the de jure and de facto develop-
ment in Mumbai. Cities, 39, 12032.
Pethe, A., Tandel, V., and Gandhi, S. (2014b). The dy-
namics of urban governance in India. In A. Goyal
(ed), Handbook of the Indian economy in the 21st century:
Understanding the inherent dynamism. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
Slack, E. (2007). Managing the coordination of service delivery in
metropolitan cities. The role of metropolitan governance. Policy
Research Working Paper 4317. Washington DC: The
World Bank.
Tandel, V. (2014). Political economy of metropolitan governance:
The case of MMR. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation).
University of Mumbai.
. (2016). Metropolitan governance for planned urban
development in India. (Unpublished paper).
Tandel, V., Gandhi, S., Libeiro, S. J., and Marpakwar, C.
(2014). Vulnerabilities of institutional checks in Indian
federalism: The case of the Adarsh society scam in
Mumbai.India Review,13(2), 11228.
Tandel, V., Patel, S., Gandhi, S., Pethe, A., and Agarwal, K.
(2016). Decline of rental housing in India: The case of
Mumbai.Environment and Urbanization, 28(1), 25974.
Taubenbck, H., Wegmann, M., Berger, C., Breunig, M.,
Roth, A., and Mehl, H. (2008). Spatiotemporal analy-
sis of Indian mega cities.Proceedings of the international
archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial
information sciences (ISPRS),37, 7582.
Wetzel, D. L. (2013). Metropolitan governance and finance
in So Paulo. In R. Bahl, J. Linn, and D. Wetzel (eds),
Metropolitan government finances in developing countries
(pp.24371). Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of
Land Policy.
Abstract
As an urban area grows, it expands beyond its formal administrative boundary. This expansion can be
seen in many cities around the world, not only in developing regions. The administrative boundaries
of cities no longer reflect the physical, social, economic, cultural or environmental reality of urban
development and new forms of flexible governance are needed (EU, 2011). As Seoul Metropolitan
Area (SMA) grew from approximately 2 million inhabitants in 1960 to 20 million in 2000, it confronted
various multi-level, multi-city issues that must be solved to achieve sustainable urban development.
This chapter discusses SMAs experiences with three multi-level, multi-city metropolitan issues: urban
planning, solid waste management, and water management. Especially in the explosive growth of the
early urbanization phase, vertical coordinationled mainly by central government working with local
and regional governmentswas required and effective in solving metropolitan issues. As the urban-
ization matures, local and regional governments can resolve many metropolitan problems through
horizontal coordination, or between governments, instead.
Today, the dwellers of towns and cities and their A citys environmental burdens can arise from activi-
neighboring rural areas move across administrative ties outside its boundaries and affect people living in
boundaries for life, work, and play within a daily ur- the city. This is another reason for metropolitan or
ban life system. This large geographic agglomeration regional governance on an appropriate scale.
forms a functional urban area, or a metropolitan
Figure 1. Expansion of the Administrative
area. The administrative boundaries of cities no
Boundary of the City of Seoul, 191463
longer reflect the physical, social, economic, cultural,
or environmental reality of urban development. In
order to make life easier for the inhabitants, a type
of metropolitan governance is needed that enables
neighboring municipalities to collectively organize
traffic and transport, spatial planning, housing, green
space, environmental substantiality, and the economy
on an appropriate scale.
At the same time, as a geographic agglomeration
expands, urban environmental health becomes af-
fected more by neighboring people, businesses, and
municipalities than before. Environmental issues are
threats to human welfare either now or in the future,
and include inadequate water and sanitation, air pol-
lution, inadequate waste management, and pollution Source: SMG, 2016.
of rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. They also include
ecological disruption and resource depletion, and As cities, towns, and rural regions of Seoul
emissions of harmful chemicals and greenhouse gases. Metropolitan Area (SMA) are not free from each
370 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
others planning and development process, there is a energy, transportation, sanitation, waste, and public
need for metropolitan governance for integration and spaces, all of which were once managed independently
coordination over the metropolitan area. The experi- by each city. Infrastructure touches the life of every
ence of SMA established two types of metropolitan person in a metropolitan area: from turning on the
governance. One is vertical, integrating municipalities taps, to traveling to work, to turning on the lights,
planning under higher or regional planning, even to heating a home in winter, to garbage disposal.
under national planning, and focuses on vertical in- Infrastructure also increases the effective functioning
tegration or top to bottom governance. The other is of a city to be productive and competitive, and de-
horizontal metropolitan governance, which focuses creases its impact on the environment.
on coordination and collaboration between munici- This chapter reports on the practical experience
palities. The former emerged during the rapid urban of governance in SMA. Especially with the drastic
growth period when the municipalities were not yet growth during the last half century, SMA desperately
established; the latter arose as the urbanization process needed to develop and supply urban land and public
matured and expansion stabilized. space to meet the explosive demand, enhance water
For example, the traffic volume of all trips to Seoul quality and prevent flood damage, and reduce and
from the neighboring cities and towns rose from 7 manage solid waste.
percent in 1980 to 24 percent in 2006. There was a
seven-fold increase in people making trips from the Territorial Planning System and Seoul
neighboring cities and towns to Seoul from 142,000
to 1,057,000, which shows that residential areas have
Metropolitan Area Planning
steadily expanded. Seoul and neighboring cities, towns,
and rural areas has become one functional urban area. Over the last half century, the Republic of Korea
(simply called South Korea) experienced explosive
Figure 2. Commuting Traffic to Seoul, 2006
population growth and dramatic urbanization. The
population of South Korea more than doubled, from
approximately 20 million in 1960 to 50 million in 2010,
while urbanization rose from 39 percent in 1960 to 88
percent in 2000.
The population of Seoul increased from 1.6 mil-
lion in 1955 to 2.5 million in 1960. As urbanization
and industrialization accelerated, Seouls population
reached 5.4 million in 1970, 8.4 million in 1980, and
10.6 million in 1990. With the continuous influx of
people, Seoul had to provide urban land and infra-
structure for 270,000 new citizens every year on av-
erage for 30 years from 1960 to 1990. Sudokwons
the Capital Region, which includes Seoul, Incheon,
and Gyeonggi provincespopulation also increased
sharply from around 4 million in 1950 to over 23 mil-
lion in 2010. Sudokwons population share reached
almost half of the national population although its
Cities are made of stones, rules, and people land share remained at less than 12 percent. The
(UN-Habitat, 2013). A metropolitan area needs to comparison with Mexico City, which experienced
build a metropolitan infrastructure, including water, similar population growth over the same period, is
30.
13.75
11. 22.5
Pop (unit: million)
2.75 7.5
0.
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 0.
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
South Koreas vertical territorial planning system The territorial planning scheme is characterized
from nation level to city level, which was developed by a layered structure: the Comprehensive National
together with government-led economic development Territorial Plan, the Comprehensive Provincial Plan,
policies, played a critical role in areas such as land and the Comprehensive City level Plan, as well as the
environmental management, infrastructure supply, Regional Plan for specific regions and the Sector Plan
urban development and urban land supply, housing for specific segments of the economy.
supply, and resource management. Territorial plans The Sudokwon Readjustment Planning Act was intro-
have responded to the urban, regional, and national duced in 1982 to manage the capital region. It contains
issues along the course of South Koreas socioeco- regulations regarding constructing universities, facto-
nomic development. This spatial planning contributed ries, public complexes, and other large buildings; de-
to the sustainable development of cities and South veloping land for industrial and housing purposes; and
Korea as a whole. locating for specific districts (e.g., those which have
According to the Comprehensive National Territorial measures in place to curb overcrowding, those with
Development Plan Act (1963), Comprehensive National measures to manage growth, and nature preserves).
Territorial Development Plans have been established The Sudokwon Development Plan is prepared
at an interval of about a decade since the first plan in accordance with this legislation. The plan is a
(197281), the second (198291), and the third (1992 comprehensive, long-term strategy that sets forth
99). The legislation was revised as the Framework Act the fundamental principles for the basic direction of
on National Territory (2002) and the name of the plan development or improvement projects in Sudokwon,
changed to the Comprehensive National Territorial the physical distribution of people and industries,
Plan. The 4th Comprehensive National Territorial and the construction of infrastructure in the area.
Plan extends from 2000 to 2020. The Sudokwon Development Plan takes precedent
372 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 4. New Towns Outside of Seoul in 1990
over other laws and regulations in place in the area,
including various land use and development plans. In Yangju
fact, it forms the basis of those laws and regulations.
Unjeong
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport
Ilsan
develops a draft plan and submits it to the Sudokwon Gimpo
Development Plan Committee (chaired by the Prime Gumndan
Minister), which deliberates and approves the plan. Seoul
As the importance of urban planning was em- Jungdong
phasized in the early 1960s, the central government Wirye
established the urban planning bureau in the City of Pyeongchong
Seoul in 1961, and then enacted the Urban Planning Sanbon Pangyo Bundang
Law and Building Codes in 1962. As the population was Gwangyo
expected to grow up to 5 million in 1980, the adminis-
trative boundary of Seoul was doubled for new urban Dongtan
Seigyo
land in 1963 by annexing the southern area of the Han
River (although the additional 5 million was reached Goduk
by 1969 and the population continued to grow). This
Green Belt New Towns (Phase I) New Towns (Phase II)
was followed by the central government and Seoul city
governments 10-year Urban Development Strategy, Source: SMG, 2009.
announced in May 1965, and the Seoul Metropolitan
Area Master Plan in 1966. The plan emphasized Vertical integration was inevitable, effective, and
sustainable development with increasing population, efficient not only because central government was the
including a proposed greenbelt that would limit appropriate body to address the national scale rapid
sprawl, and seven new towns located outside of the and massive growth and urbanization, but also because
then Seoul boundary, which would accommodate 3 provincial and city governments were then too weak
million additional citizens over the coming decades. to assume such responsibility in terms of capability
Each new town was planned to hold between 300,000 and budget. Central government was the driver before
and 800,000 people. decentralization.
The available land large enough for additional As South Korea developed, local voices required
population was nearly exhausted within Seoul, causing decentralization and autonomy. Decentralization took
the population to expand beyond the greenbelt. Faced effect in earnest from 1995, and mayors and local as-
with limitations in land supply for urban development sembly members were elected. Later the responsibility
within Seoul, the central government planned to build and authority for planning were transferred to local
an additional five new towns outside the city. In 1989, governments for them to develop their own master
the central government began to construct these new and implementation plans. Now metropolitan-wide
townsBundang, Ilsan, Pyoungchon, Sanbon, and issues are governed mainly by collaboration among
Jundongoutside of Seoul, where new developments related municipalities.
could easily connect to existing urban infrastructure
and new residents could commute to Seoul within an Solid Waste and the Sudokwon
hour. The land size of each new town ranged from 4
to 20 square kilometers and the target population size
Landfill Site
ranged from 170,000 to 390,000 people. The total new
land area was 50 square kilometers and the total target The Sudokwon Landfill Site (SLS) Development Plan was
population was 1.2 million people. established in 1987, initiated by the central government.
374 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Ministry of Environment insisted on the extended use lasted more than six months, the group consented to
of the SLS until 2044 due to the available capacity of using the SLS for 10 more years by developing a site
the site. Incheon, on the other hand, insisted on using covering 103 hectares, a part of the third landfill. It was
it until 2016 according to the original plan as residents an inevitable decision in the short term. When none of
living in the vicinity of SLS had suffered the foul odor, the three municipalities secured any alternative landfill,
dust scatterings from garbage trucks, and other dam- it was only natural to see a trash crisis due to the lack
ages, all of which had reached unacceptable levels. The of facilities. In addition, Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi
residents of Incheon, elected public officials, and po- also agreed to develop alternative landfill sites in their
litical, community, and civic groups fiercely opposed own jurisdictions during the extended period.
the extended use of SLS, which eventually escalated The agreement included (Yonhap, 2015):
into a conflict between municipalities. 1. an offer of economic benefits to Incheon;
If the extended use was not allowed, Seoul did not 2. transfer of the landfill permit and the resulting
have any alternative, and it was not easy to secure a site ownership of the 1,690 hectares of land from Seoul
for obnoxious facilities like landfill in Seoul. Therefore, and the Ministry of Environment to Incheon;
Seoul desperately needed to extend the use of the SLS. 3. as much as 50 percent of the additional waste
In April 2012, when the conflict intensified, Seoul of- tipping fees collected wired to a special account
fered to invest a portion of the proceeds from selling in Incheon that would be used to improve the
part of the site into improving the area around the SLS. vicinity of the SLS starting in January 2016;
However, approval for this investment in Incheon was 4. takeover of SLS Management Corporation, a
delayed in the Council of Seoul. Even after approval, national corporation affiliated with the ministry,
Seoul suggested the support fund be provided over by Incheon as a regional corporation;
several years, intensifying distrust and doubts among 5. proactive efforts by the consultative group to
the residents of Incheon. advance the extension of Incheon Subway Line
To use the landfill for an extended period, the con- No. 1 and Seoul Subway Line No. 7, to construct
struction of a third site was critical, but Incheon rejected an environmental theme park, invigorate the
the construction and public opposition in Incheon wors- environmental industry, develop physical train-
ened. Seoul persisted in its attempt to tip the balance. In ing facilities for local residents, and improve and
a series of such efforts, Seoul held conferences at the expand transportation to revitalize the economy
national assembly and distributed a monthly community and develop the vicinity of the SLS.
newsletter in the local districts of Seoul, arguing for the
extended use of the SLS. In the meantime, Incheon sent Watershed Management and Water
letters of complaint, held an open forum for citizens, and
fomented public opinion against the extension. Out of
Use Surcharge
urgency, Seoul attempted to host a press conference at
the SLS, but it was cancelled as Incheon residents blocked Water management policies were previously based
vehicles from entering the site (Yonhap, 2014). on administrative districts and focused on restrict-
ing behaviors in upstream regions through emission
regulation, end-of-pipe treatment, and by designating
Operation of the SLS based on Consent water source protection areas. This meant upstream
between Municipalities residents were subject to regulations for water source
protection and were therefore disadvantaged, while
In December 2014, the Ministry of Environment, downstream regions enjoyed the resulting benefits,
Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi inaugurated a consul- creating conflicts between upstream and downstream
tative group regarding the SLS. After negotiations that reaches.
376 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Water use charges are imposed on water users ac- relevant government ministries. In other words, the
cording to the user pays principle. In other words, the area-wide local governments participate in the River
charges are imposed on end users who are supplied Management Committee to represent local residents,
with source water or purified water collected from the who are stakeholders in the river basins, and ensure
public waters of the four major rivers. The charges resident opinions are reflected in decision-making
are proportionate to the amount of water used and (Ministry of Environment, 2015).
included in the water bill. Water use charges take on
Figure 6. Water Pollution of Paldang Lake
the properties of a user charge because they are non-
tax charges imposed for the purpose of carrying out 2.0 2.0
0.8
sources.
0.6
Resident support projects include income gener-
0.4
ation, welfare enhancement, education, scholarship
0.2
assistance, and housing improvement.
0
1998 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912
378 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
quality. Water use surcharges are collected from Conclusion
downstream users who are supplied with tap water
originating from upstream sources. These surcharg- In order for an urban area to function, it has to
es are placed into river management funds to carry create, protect, and enhance common goods (e.g.,
out water quality improvement projects in upstream natural resources, the climate, public health, and
areas and to support the upstream residents who safety) and develop adequate urban assets (e.g., public
are negatively affected by regulations to protect space, infrastructure, the right mix of activities and
water sources. people, and adequate housing), both of which are
The most significant outcome of basin manage- needed for individuals to develop and businesses
ment policy is clean water security. The Gyeongan to thrive (UN-Habitat, 2013). As peoples everyday
River flows into the upstream of Han River watershed living space expands geographically beyond a citys
and has been classified as one of the most pollut- administrative boundary, governance of the metro-
ed. However, since the introduction of the Special politan, or functional urban, area needs to reflect the
Measure for Han River Watershed in 1998, Gyeongan metropolitan areas social, economic, cultural, and
River has been cleaned successfully, with biological environmental reality.
oxygen demand having declined from 8.8mg/L in In South Korea, metropolitan governance started
2002 to 2.2mg/L in 2013. from a vertical and state-led approach and trans-
Secondly, the green growth strategy improved formed into a horizontal and municipality collabo-
source water quality and regional development. The ration approach. The form and transformation of
population of Paldang, the target of the special metropolitan area governance must be understood in
measure for water quality management in 1998, had the following context. The per capita GNP of South
increased by 37 percent to 849,000 in 2012 from Korea in 1960 was around US$80 (in current prices).
538,000 in 1998. The number of businesses discharg- The economic growth rate in 1960 was very low at
ing industrial waste water had risen by 23 percent 1 percent. The agricultural sector captured about
to 1,217 in 2012 from 934 in 1998. However, the 40 percent of GNP while the manufacturing sector
biological oxygen demand level of Paldang Reservoir captured less than 15 percent. Social overhead capital
declined to 1.1 mg/L in 2013 from 2 mg/L in 1998, or infrastructure was insufficient. Natural resources
suggesting the co-existence of conservation and were also in short supply. There was little possibility
development. of capable local government in the early urbanization
The third meaningful outcome was the estab- period in South Korea.
lishment of new governance for basin manage- In the early phase of development, national ter-
ment. When dealing with the most sensitive issues ritorial development and urban development could
between municipal governments such as basin not be separated. For example, clean water supplied
management, and the allocation and use of funds, to citizens of a city usually came from outside the
the watershed management committee strived to city and waste went to neighboring areas. As a result,
maximize the value as a group by accommodating South Korea began with a central government-led
all residents living around the basin. The commit- governance system to manage national territory and
tee also pursued resolution through discussion, metropolitan areas, which was the appropriate scale
negotiation, participation, and cooperation. Water, to tackle the challenges of early development and
the common resource, had been the cause of con- urbanization in South Korea
flicts between municipal governments, but these One of the most important factors in the
disputes were resolved through new governance, countrys success was implementing its national
which allowed policies beneficial to everyone to be and regional policies through its Comprehensive
developed and implemented. National Territorial Plan. This was seen in terms of
380 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.16 Changing Governance of Urban
Redevelopment in Shanghai
Jie Chen (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics) and Zhumin Xu (University of Hong Kong)
Abstract
Driven by the forces of both marketization and globalization, urban governance in Chinese cities has
experienced a dramatic restructuring since the economic reforms in the 1980s. Nonetheless, how the
redevelopment of urban governance in Chinese cities is related to urban redevelopment is still un-
derexplored; in particular, how the massive-scale urban redevelopment is arguably a key force behind
the miracle of the Chinese urban economy. This chapter attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in
this respect, using the case of Shanghai. It focuses on the changing governance structure of urban
redevelopment in Shanghai, and particularly explores how and to what extent government authorities
shape citizen participation in residential relocation and housing expropriation. Such analysis helps us
to better understand the importance of the role of residents in decision-making around inner-city
redevelopment. This chapter concludes by discussing policy implications of the findings, including
how to achieve economic and social sustainability in urban redevelopment.
Driven by the forces of both marketization and glo- service industry. The Shanghai economy took off over
balization, the urban governance in Chinese cities has this period; economic growth was in the double-digits
experienced dramatic restructuring since the economic for most years between 1980 and 2010, and both eco-
reforms in the 1980s (He and Wu, 2009; Zielke and nomic output and per capita income increased dramat-
Waibel, 2014). The emergence of a liberalized housing ically. From 1980 to 2010, the citys economic output
market and the related liberalization of land use rights increased more than 50-fold in nominal terms, rising
were greatly instrumental in promoting a market-driven to 1.7 trillion RMB (US$0.25 trillion) from 31 billion
urban economy and enabling a growth-first model of RMB (US$4.6 billion). Also during that period, the per
urban governance in China (Yang and Chang, 2007). capita income of the registered population increased
Nonetheless, not much research has examined how over 44-fold, to 121,544 RMB (US$18,095) from 2,720
the restructuring of urban governance in Chinese cities RMB (US$405) (Shanghai Statistical Yearbook, 2011).
is related to urban redevelopment, even though mas- With a total population of 25 million and annual
sive-scale urban redevelopment is arguably a key force GDP of 2,496 billion RMB (US$385 billion) in 2015,
behind the miracle of the Chinese urban economy (Wu, Shanghai is the largest and most globally vibrant city in
2016). This chapter attempts to bridge the knowledge China (Berube, Trujillo, Parilla, et al., 2015). As evidenced
gap in this respect, using the case of Shanghai. by the literature, Shanghai embraced a state-led develop-
This research focuses on the post-economic ment approach and functioned as an entrepreneurial city
reform (post-1978) period. During this period, the when paving its way to reclaim its global status (He and
population of Shanghai increased to 25 million from Wu, 2005; Wu, 2003; Zheng, 2010). The city used various
11.9 million residents, a 110 percent increase. A ma- preferential policies to create its attractive image as an
jor part of the increase (about 70 percent) was in the ideal place for industrial development and financial in-
non-resident or floating population, many of whom vestment (Marton and Wu, 2006; Wu and Barnes, 2008).
are rural migrants who traveled to Shanghai for work Creative industry clusters were tossed into a hub to host
in citys the rapidly growing construction sector and world famous cultural and artistic events (Zheng, 2010).
55 000 800
and social sustainability of urban redevelopment.
27 500 400
Background of Urban
Redevelopment in Shanghai 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
0
382 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Cleaning up dilapidated neighborhoods in the housing (villa condo and apartment) has increased
downtown area is a key component of urban redevel- from 33 percent in 1978 to 94 percent in 2014, while
opment. Obviously, a major part of the motivation is the share of low-quality old housing (lanes and shan-
to free up valuable land for productive urban develop- ties) dropped from 65 percent in 1978 to 3 percent
ment. The original impoverished neighborhoods are in 2014. While most new housing is constructed in
replaced by high-rise commodity housing that mainly suburban areas, the hosing stock in the traditional
accommodates high and middle-upper class. The urban area has also been greatly improved. The stock
blighted industry areas are also replaced by shopping of old housing, mostly located in the central areas, was
centers, offices, and banks. 36.18 million square meters in 1995, but declined to
Table 1 shows that the average quality of residen- 16.34 million square meters in 2014. This implies that
tial housing stock in Shanghai improved significantly 20 million square meters of dilapidated housing were
in the past three decades; the share of modern-style demolished within 20 years.
Table 1. The Structure of Residential Housing Stock in Shanghai (10,000 m2)
However, according to Figure 1, more than 80 changed from the alleviation of dilapidated housing
million square meters of residential housing were estates as a means of social welfare provision to
demolished in Shanghai between 1995 and 2014, state-sponsored property development as a means
leaving a gap between the two totals that implies a of growth promotion.
significant number of recently built housing stock
was also pulled down. This suggests that demol-
ishing housing stock and resettling households in Resettlement Housing Program in Shanghai
Shanghai affects both dilapidated neighborhoods
and newly built housing. Intensive urban infra- Rehousing displaced residents is a critical factor in the
structure projects such as subway construction and process of urban redevelopment. Typically, displaced
elevated roads contributed to the demolition and residents are compensated by the local authority
resettlement. Thus, He and Wu (2009) argued that through a lump sum of money and discounted hous-
the rationale of urban redevelopment in China has ing that is usually located in the suburban area.
384 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
housing to resettle lower-income Shanghai residents. district governments will enter into contracts with
SHCDC personnel identify available suitable land for districts that have ample land, paying them to resettle
low-income or affordable housing developments, residents (He and Wu, 2005). In Shanghai, the district
supervise subcontractors, bid out portions of the government is more likely to have direct dialogue with
project, and manage construction (SHCDC, 2011). the municipal government for resettlement housing
The SHCDC is involved in three general types of because the land resources for each district is very
affordable housing development: (i) large-scale limited (Xu, 2015). The municipal government is also
residential communities along the outer ring road in charge of distributing resettlement housing on the
with access to the city center through rail transpor- municipal level.
tation, (ii) affordable housing within each city district
through building contracts with district governments,
and (iii) lands real estate companies have already New Legal System Governing Urban
leased to construct subsidized housing. Redevelopment in Urban China
In Shanghai, since implementing the policy of two
levels of government, two levels of financing in 1987, The growing value of housing assets and the hous-
the district government has been authorized to sign ing market boom in China since the privatization
agreements with foreign investors to lease land and reform in 1998 have given rise to conflicts triggered
develop real estate. by urban housing demolition, and now constitute a
Leasing land to investors of all kinds, such as over- grave threat to social stability. In response to the
seas Chinese and the domestic real estate investor, has legislative demands posed by the mounting ten-
become common practice in generating local revenue. sions in urban redevelopment and to balance pub-
The decentralization of both fiscal and land manage- lic and private interests in this process, on January
ment authorities enables urban districts to play a key 21, 2011, Chinas State Council promulgated the
role in shaping community landscapes. Many district Regulations on Expropriation and Compensation of
governments have not only adopted pro-growth pol- Housing on State-Owned Land to replace the out-
icies, but the public authorities have also themselves dated Administrative Regulations on Urban Housing
become business partners with real estate and other Demolition and Relocation of 2001.
companies (Zhang, 2002a). Over time, a quasi-partic- Compared to the 2001 regulations, the 2011 regu-
ipatory decision-making structure in urban develop- lations set forth several new principles regarding the
ment has emerged in the form of expert consulting governance process of urban redevelopment. One
within municipal government, sub-districts (street significant change is that the term demolition is
offices) active involvement in local development is- replaced by expropriation. The 2011 regulations also
sues, and the participation of owners associations at stipulate that the only purpose that justifies housing
the neighborhood level (Xu, 2015). expropriation is public interest and specify circum-
As district governments are the negotiating author- stances that qualify as for the sake of the public inter-
ities in the land lease process and retain a significant est. Meanwhile, for the first time, the 2011 regulations
share of land revenue, they also take responsibility for make clear that compensation standards for housing
clearing residential housing and enterprise sites that expropriation should not be lower than the market
are displaced by redevelopment (Ye, 2011). Usually, value of properties. The principle of compensation
district governments would prefer to resettle residents before removal is also affirmed in the 2011 regulations.
on land for which they have land use rights so that In addition to compensation, the residents are legally
the resettlement cost can be minimized. However, entitled to temporary housing assistance.
many districts, especially downtown, lack sufficient The 2011 regulations make great attempts to in-
vacant land for resettlement. In such situations these crease the transparency of the governance structure
386 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
government for better relocation compensation (Ren, differences across Chinese cities (Ye, 2011). The 2011
2014). The negotiation was carried out on a one-to- Shanghai bylaw developed a two-round procedure
one basis, thus incentive-driven behaviors and compe- to seek public opinions in housing expropriation
tition among residents for better compensation made cases. For the first round public hearing, at least 90
many residents choose the strategy of deliberately not percent of affected residents need to vote in favor
moving, or acting as a nail household (Ding Zi Hu), of the projects. For the second round hearing for a
to postpone the relocation process in order to seek the detailed relocation plan, the approval rate needs to be
best offer in the best interests of their families (Shin, above 80 percent to move forward with the relocation
2013). Nonetheless, it is this informal participation project. Families with either financial constraints or
that results in both inefficiency and inequity. special needs receive additional compensation, and
The Shanghai municipal government started a few their compensation packages are disclosed to the
pilot projects in 2007 to solicit residents opinions public where other residents are able to monitor them.
on redevelopment and relocation (Xu, 2015). The The two-round participation procedure helps pursue
2011 regulations allowed a new collective framework collective benefits for the majority of residents, with
to be created for urban redevelopment and housing special attention paid to families with difficulties. The
expropriation schemes in China. The expanding role participation procedure also generates a mechanism
of residents in housing expropriation decision-making to force the minority, unwilling-to-move residents to
and the power dynamics in urban redevelopment proj- comply with the majority decision, leading to a more
ects opens the discourse of the definition of public efficient relocation process.
interest in todays China. Under the 2011 regulations, the major stakehold-
After the State Council of China promulgated ers in housing requisition for urban redevelopment
the 2011 regulations in January 2011, the Shanghai in Shanghai include the municipal government that
municipal government issued a corresponding bylaw establishes the regulations, the district government
in October 2011. The Shanghai bylaw added detailed that develops the property taking plan, the quasi-gov-
provisions regarding allowance and reward plans to ernmental center that manages the property taking
compensate those whose homes were expropriated process, and the Shanghai Municipal Development
and affirmed that they had the right to choose the and Reform Commissions and the Shanghai Urban
mode of compensation. The bylaw also established Construction and Communications Commission that
compensation for the losses from closing business supervise all inner-city renewal projects. The stake-
operations caused by expropriation. holders also include private developers, investors, and
While the 2011 regulations mandate general citizen utilities companies, as well as neighborhood resident
participation in various forms, it entrusts local govern- committees and street offices, which often represent
ments to develop detailed plans in order to address the community (Table 2).
Table 2. Key Stakeholders in the Urban Development Process in Shanghai
Stakeholders Duties
Shanghai Municipal Government Establish the regulations
District government, land reserve authorities Make plans, manage, implement, organize
Responsible municipal authorities Supervise
Developers, investors, and utilities companies Coordinate, implement, participate
Street offices, resident committee Mobilize, organize
Residents Participate, advise
Source: Xu, 2015
388 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
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390 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.17 The Negotiated City: London Governance
for a Sustainable World City
Greg Clark (Specialist), Tim Moonen (The Business of Cities), and Jonathan Couturier (The Business of Cities)
Abstract
London is a negotiated city that has undertaken multiple, incremental reforms over the past 25 years.
London is an example of a city whose metropolitan governance has gone through several important
cycles over three decades, from a structure largely determined by the national government toward a
more negotiated and distributed system. In that time, the city has experienced the abolition of citywide
government, the creation of a national office for London, the increasing self-organization of business
and civic communities, and eventually the creation of a two-tier metropolitan government. Twenty
first century London has developed robust strategies to sustainably develop transport, infrastructure,
spatial growth, the economy, and the environment. This has been aided by incremental accrual of
powers to its mayor, actively engaged central government ministries, positive collaboration across the
33 boroughs, and responsible leadership from business and civil society leadership networks. Although
challenges to sustainable growth remain, in many respects London has emerged as an archetypal
negotiated city whose hallmarks of pragmatism and compromise are critical ingredients as Europes
largest city grows toward 10 million people.
When Londons population returned to growth At the same time, Londons economy was
in the 1980s, after more than 40 years of de- growing rapidly once again as service industries, in
cline, the citys governance was entering a crisis. particular the financial and media sectors, were de-
The city had been one of the first to experience regulated and younger populations were drawn back
large-scale de-industrialization, which had seen into London. This coincided with a drop in crime
entire neighborhoods go into physical and social and a broader shift in lifestyle and business location
decline, particularly in the east. Conflict over how choices that produced demand for a clean, liveable,
to manage the fall-out led to entrenched political well-designed, high amenity inner city. Londons
division between Labour and Conservative rep- upswing caught the citys governing institutions un-
resentatives not only in national politics, but also aware given that the city had previously been forecast
among Londons 33 local boroughs and the young to fall to a population of 6 million. It put pressure on
institution the Greater London Council. Service the citys transport infrastructure and public services,
delivery and decision-making became effectively which had experienced significant neglect and disin-
paralyzed (Clark, 2015). The central government vestment. After decades of high-rise social housing
had set up the London Docklands Development that had concentrated poverty and crime, London
Corporation (LDDC) to bypass local authorities in also faced the imperative to physically and socially
regenerating a large section of inner East London, regenerate much of its urban fabric.
and this new entity had poor relations with the It is against this backdrop of new globalized sec-
boroughs it operated in. tor growth, urban malaise, and non-compliant local
392 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Table 1. Key Metropolitan Infrastructure Projects in London over the Past 25 Years
The 1990s also saw business and civic leaders culinary scenes and improved quality of life. For
organize themselves more effectively in the absence the first time in its history, London had dedicated
of a citywide government. London First emerged local-level promotional agencies despite the absence
in 1992 as a business membership organization that of metropolitan government (London First, 2016;
advocated solutions to capitalize on Londons grow- London Price Partnership, 1995).
ing potential. Backed by central government, it was Throughout the 1990s, a new policy consensus
invited to produce a strategic vision for London in that had been building since the LDDCs actions in
partnership with other private actors and the bor- the East End was finally crystalized. Local councils
oughs: this resulted in the prospectus of the London were becoming more supportive of Londons new
Pride Partnership. While non-binding, the vision role and attracting professional talent. They them-
heavily influenced government thinking on London selves lobbied for many necessary changes such as
and inspired a policy agenda focused on place-based more placemaking, education, and infrastructure
regeneration. These years were widely regarded as a investments, hoping to leverage them to fulfill social
key moment during which the self-organization of goals such as regeneration and joblessness. During
business and local authorities aligned in London and the 1990s, the boroughs also began to cooperate
laid the foundations for its strong networked gover- again and articulate common positions, leaving be-
nance structure today. hind the partisanship of the 1980s.
London First took the London Planning The negotiation of local boroughs, central
Advisory Committees recommendations to heart government, new agencies, and investors helped
and created an inward investment promotion sub- to deliver important projects that improved the
sidiary in 1994, the London First Centre, acting on management of the citys growth. One of the most
the view that London did not have a message that important was the Jubilee Line Extension to re-
sustained interest in what it had to offer. Led by a vive Canary Wharf. In the early 1990s, the isolated
number of large corporations, the agency received Docklands project had gone bankrupt and many of
both public and private funds and acted very ef- the first office developments were viewed as sterile
fectively as the citys first vehicle for promotion, and mono-functional. Key to its revival was the
intelligence, and investor support. By 1997, it had ability of local actors and businesses to convince
attracted 100 firms to London. The London Tourist central government to support investment in public
Board also became more active in promoting the infrastructure, notably expanding the rail network
city as a destination to Europeans and North through the site to East London. As a result, public
Americans, focusing on its emerging cultural and investment flowed into the Docklands Light Railway
394 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
and the Jubilee Line extension, which convinced metropolitan government. This decision reflected
the private sector to contribute 400 million to the the fact that London was viewed to have moved
latter. At the same time, the LDDC became more on from its era of political hostility and brink-
receptive to calls for mixed land uses in the devel- manship and was therefore trusted to manage its
opment, with more of the residential, cultural, and relationships and its finances prudently (Travers,
service amenities sought after by the local boroughs. 2004, 2015). The governments 1997 Green Paper
As a result the project took off once again. This confirmed that a directly elected mayor would fea-
experience taught private and public actors to work ture in the capitals new governance arrangements.
together, especially around advocacy and assembly Preparations involving input from the boroughs and
of investment (Clark, 2015). higher tiers of government highlighted the need for
Londons growth coalition successfully lobbied an integrated planning approach that would prior-
central government to fund high-profile projects to itize inclusion, diversity, greenery, and knowledge
support the citys growth, albeit on an ad hoc, stand- exchange. London was set to gain a new kind of
alone basis. These were funded partly through the governance system that had never been seen in a
national Single Regeneration Budget introduced in British city.
the 1990s to support neighborhood regeneration, as
well as lottery funds, and the national City Challenge A New Metropolitan Government for
Programme. From 1991 onward, central finance
supported a cultural industry cluster on Londons
London
South Bank as part of wider neighborhood regener-
ation schemes along the Thames. Although not fully The Greater London Authority (GLA) was estab-
anchored to a wider strategy, the model of using lished in 2000, with a mayor at its head, overseeing
public infrastructure investment to unlock private and coordinating the work of the 33 boroughs.
finance continued to work successfully. This helped Importantly, the mayor gained powers over trans-
secure a sequence of Millennium projects, including port through the new subsidiary agency, Transport
the Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge, Millennium for London (TfL), as well as strategic planning and
Dome, Millennium Wheel (London Eye), as well as economic development powers via the London
new riverside housing in East London. Areas of the Development Agency. Policing and fire services
city fringe were refurbished with public funding to were also transferred. From 2002, a Sustainable
support the cultural sector, paving the way for the Development Commission was established, advising
revival of Hoxton and Shoreditch into fashionable, the mayor on environmental strategies and priorities
technologically oriented districts. Other initiatives (Mayor of London, 2016a).
included rail connections to airports, airport ter- The Mayor-Assembly model of the GLA ini-
minal expansions, station redevelopments, new tially had a fairly modest staff (around 400), and
shopping districts, market places, and high street its powers were fairly minimal. Although the GLA
revitalization schemes. Put together, these projects and mayor developed transport, spatial, economic,
secured much needed infrastructure and liveability and housing strategies to give direction to Londons
improvements, and enabled Londons new job clus- growth management, the institutions self-governing
ters to spill over into surrounding areas beyond the and self-financing autonomy was extremely limited.
central business district (Moonen and Clark, 2016; This is one reason the system is sometimes called a
Clark, 2015). weak mayor model. One of the key roles of the
When the Labour Party won a landslide elec- mayor and the GLA has been to win support from
tion in 1997, it responded to the call for increased central government and the private sector for invest-
coordination in London by promising to restore ment and policy support. The mayors role revolved
396 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 1. London governance map
Source: London Communications Agency, New London Architecture, and Travers (2015).
The GLAs Key Achievements team have consistently secured central governments
backing in these key areas (Moonen and Clark, 2016).
For the first decade of its existence, the GLA-Mayor Transport. A transport strategy was published in
model was successful in at least five areas. 2001, with a follow up in 2010, that helped secure much
Securing central governments backing for needed cycles of investment for TfL to improve the
Londons global roles. For instance, the London transport network. A congestion charge was introduced
Project Report, developed by the Offices of the Prime to alleviate traffic in the center, while TfLs fare struc-
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the early 2000s, ture allowed it to cover most of its operational costs in-
offered targeted intervention from central government in dependently, with central government co-funding large
key areas where the GLA was unable to act, specifically capital projects. Central government was convinced to
over social inclusion, skills, and upgrading public services. fund one-third of Crossrail, with the rest coming from
Skills and education. The GLAs economic devel- community infrastructure levies, business contributions,
opment strategies have focused on skills and mobilizing TfL, and the GLA. TfLs early successes have seen car
central government investment in education and re-skill- traffic drop by 20 percent in London, and London
ing at the city level and London has achieved a major Underground delays drop by 40 percent between 2007
turnaround in the quality of its schools. Even with chang- and 2014 and by a further 38 percent in 2015 based on
es in mayor and government, the GLA and the mayors the 2011 baseline (Moonen and Clark, 2016; TfL, 2014).
398 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Areas and receives direct financial backing from the The division of the GSE into three agencies, how-
central government (Clark, 2015). ever, had only limited success in forming a coherent
The new era of metropolitan government in growth management strategy for Londons city-region.
London consolidated the citys nascent system of Early on, the London Plan had the capital containing
negotiated consensus. Rather than the private sector its growth within its own boundaries in the medium
negotiating with fragmented local bodies and central term, and surrounding local authorities showed limited
government departments, the GLA and the mayor interest in wider regional cooperation. The south east
negotiate on Londons behalf with all tiers of govern- and east regional agencies were themselves concerned
ment and businesses to secure the resources to manage with creating regional identities and fostering their
Londons continued growth. own competitiveness, which often meant introspec-
tive rather than cooperative policies across the wider
Attempts to Build Sustainable functional region. Attempts at creating a single author-
ity were deemed implausible as such a region would
Regional Growth in London have disproportionate weight in the British economy.
Nonetheless, they did manage to form a pan-region-
Managing growth in London has also meant finding al forum to liaise on key issues. Notable successes
ways to manage population and infrastructure change included gaining strategic government investments
through relationships beyond the capitals core boundar- in rail, port, and airport improvements; coordinated
ies. London effectively became a regionalized economy urban regeneration and environmental policies; and
in the early 20th century, and its green belt encouraged successful bids for European funds. But in 2010, the
leapfrog development into settlements across the regional development agencies were disbanded, pre-
surrounding region, known as the Greater South East venting them from making a more significant impact
(GSE). This puts London at the center of a functionally (Kantor et al., 2012; Gordon, 2004).
polycentric region that has strengths in research and
development, innovation, and high-end services, notably 2010: Sustainable Development and
in the M4 corridor from London to south Wales and the
London Stansted Cambridge corridor (Thompson, 2007;
the Price of Londons Success
LSCC Growth Commission, 2016).
In 1994, the central government created government The two generations of maturing negotiated governance
offices for the regions, including the south east and of the 1990s and 2000s empowered London to enhance
east of England surrounding London, which together its public realm and street life, internationalize its econo-
formed the GSE region. However, they were merely my, and upgrade its transport, all with considerable suc-
branches of central government in the regions. With cess. However, the return of metropolitan government
New Labours accession to power in 1997, regional devel- in London did not solve all of the growth management
opment agencies were created, including for the east and issues that had arisen over time.
south east of England, and the London Development While Londons publicprivate collaboration to re-
Agency was embedded in the GLA. Their purpose was to generate under-optimized sites has become even more
formulate economic development plans, and later, spatial proficient, it did not adequately address housing demand.
planning strategies with a view to coordinating growth in Londons population surprised most by surpassing its
by far the United Kingdoms biggest regional economy. pre-war peak of 8.6 million and will probably reach 10
Made up of business representatives, civil society, and million within 10 to 15 years. But house building has
local authority representatives, they were scrutinized by fallen significantly behind demand. Key obstacles include
regional assemblies of local politicians (Kantor, Lefvre, difficulties and opposition to assembling sites, limited
Saito, et al., 2012; Gordon, 2004). borough finance and capacity, and skilled construction
400 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
percent of their business rates by 2020 (currently busi- In addition, in a bid to secure infrastructure in-
ness rates account for 9 percent of GLA and borough vestments that are less dependent on negotiations
revenue). For London, business rates revenuewhich with central government and one-off trophy projects,
is currently split approximately 60 percent:40 percent in London has set up an Infrastructure Delivery Board.
favor of the boroughswill increase the predictability Made up of key city and business representatives, it
of the funding stream and provide a firmer foundation identifies the citys long-term infrastructure needs
for large infrastructure projects. At the same time, central through evidence-based scenarios, and published the
reforms have unlocked funding for a Local Growth Fund London Infrastructure Plan 2050. More than a wish
for London, delivering almost 300 million in funding list of projects, it provides clear evidence of Londons
for housing, skills, and infrastructure. Other, larger fis- future needs, and potential routes to achieve them,
cal concessions have not been forthcoming (London to signal to central government what must be done
Finance Commission, 2013; HM Government, 2014, to manage Londons growth. Among other things, it
2015; London LEP, 2016; BBC, 2015). forecasts the need for a 70 percent increase in trans-
At the same time, various GLA agencies are experi- port capacity, 20 percent more energy capacity, and 10
menting with innovative financing mechanisms to fill the percent more green space, as well as extra water and
gaps. TfL is developing its property portfolio around its waste facilities. In 2016, as a first sign of movement, it
stations with private partners in the hope of raising 1 was announced that TfL would assume control of all
billion to reinvest in its services while providing 9,000 suburban rail routes as their franchising arrangements
new homes. In the meantime, the Northern Line exten- expired (Mayor of London, 2014).
sion to Battersea, to support new housing developments, A Smart London Board has also been established
is being financed through a Tax Increment Financing to identify and coordinate developments in smart
scheme. The GLA is borrowing 1 billion, which will infrastructure as an emerging means to improve the
be repaid by future uplifts in the business rate revenue functionality of infrastructure systems in London.
resulting from the new development (Sell, 2014). The Smart London Plan aims to leverage Londons
In terms of housing, the GLA and the mayor tech sector as a key source of innovation to deal with
have commenced several initiatives with support from its growth and infrastructure challenges in the coming
central government to facilitate land acquisition. The cycle (Mayor of London, 2016c).
Housing Strategy of 2013, building on Londons newly The London Local Enterprise Panel has also de-
acquired powers, provides for the creation of housing veloped its own economic strategynot to compete
zones to meet a 42,000 unit a year target. These zones with the GLAs, but rather to provide a longer time-
are to be nominated by boroughs and fast tracked for frame through which key growth management issues
planning, land assembly, funding, and taxation relief for business and competitiveness can be identified
through GLAgovernment collaboration. Central and brought to the central governments attention
government initially made 200 million in loans avail- (Clark, 2015).
able for the boroughs, with the rest matched by the These innovations are small, incremental steps
GLA, to prepare sites. It also granted local councils the toward a more integrated and fiscally independent sys-
power to issue Development Orders to remove obsta- tem of governance in London. They represent conti-
cles to development. Around the same time, a London nuity in the citys tradition of negotiating the resources
Housing Commission was created to identify public it needs to manage its growth with central government
sector brownfield land suitable for development. An and businesses. In recent years, it has gained further
interim report in 2016 identified enough land for momentum on the back of political devolution and
130,000 extra homes, which itself concedes is likely a decentralization in the United Kingdom, as regions
conservative estimate (Clark, 2015; Mayor of London, (such as Scotland) and cities (such as Manchester) are
2015b; GLA, 2015c). experimenting with greater devolved powers.
Experiment with More regeneration Engagement of universities Case for more fiscal
development funding from central and institutions as sources of autonomy
corporations government leadership
Inner-city boroughs Improved marketing Collaboration across Greater Long-term
more opportunist and promotion South East infrastructure
about private sector planning
development capital
Gradual emergence Internationalization of National support for major More strategic use
of second CBD population projects (e.g., Crossrail, of public land
Olympics)
Rapid growth in Fully integrated city brand Smart system
finance and business management
services
402 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Organization and coordination for Londons Londons challenges, national policy will also need to
city-region. TfL has gained the right to manage sub- review the future of the citys green belt and of the
urban rail services as their current franchises expire metropolitan infrastructure and institutions in order
because of its excellent record in London itself. This to organize the capitals real economy and quality of
will facilitate the integrated management of and in- life in an integrated and sustainable way.
vestment in regional rail routes leading into London.
Beyond the services it will acquire direct control over References
in London, TfL is working with the Department for
Transport to deliver a joint vision and management Clark, G. (2015). The making of a world city: London 1991 to
framework for rail in the GSE. This effectively grants 2021. London: Wiley.
Clark, G., and Moonen, T. (2012). The Honor Chapman report
London a greater say in the management of its trans-
London 1991-2021: The building of a world city. Retrieved
port needs in the wider region. Although local authori- from www.rtpi.org.uk/media/11802/greg_clark_
ties in the region do not fully collaborate on the key is- book_2012_june_hc_london_final_09_05_2012.pdf
sues of housing, green space, and sustainable growth, . (2015). The density dividend: Solutions for growing and
since 2014, voluntary cooperation is re-emerging shrinking cities. Case study: London. Urban Land Institute.
through regional summits that bring together the 156 Retrieved from http://europe.uli.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/3/ULI-Documents/The-Density-
local authorities and the 11 Local Enterprise Panels.
Dividend-London-case-study-FINAL.pdf
Posts have been created within local governments to George Osborne: Councils to keep 26bn in business rates.
facilitate collaboration around transport corridors and (2015). BBC News, October 5. Retrieved from www.
housing, and are underpinned by an effort at shared bbc.co.uk/news/business-34445311
data collection and analysis by all the relevant local Gordon, I. (2004). A disjointed dynamo: The Greater
authorities. Although a more empowered regional South East and inter-regional relationships. New
Economy, 11(1), 404.
entity is unlikely in the near future, this new period
Greater London Authority. (2015c). Land and development:
of debate and knowledge exchange promises a more London Land Commission. Retrieved from https://www.
positive cycle of regional collaboration (Sandford, london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/land-
2013; Mayor of London, 2016f, 2016g; Wider South and-development/london-land-commission
East Summit, 2015a, 2015b; TfL, 2016b). HM Government. (2014). London growth deal. Retrieved
Londons transformation as a global city over the from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/
system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398867/23_
past 30 years has been enabled by increased aware-
London_Enterprise_Panel_and_Greater_London_
ness of its metropolitan governance needs and the Growth_Deal.pdf
increased maturity and pragmatism of the public and . (2015). 58m Expansion of Growth Deal boosts
private actors within it. A new phase of institutional local plan for London Economy. Available at https://
development in and with U.K. cities has been under- www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
way since 2010, meaning the national system is also attachment_data/file/399384/London_Factsheet.pdf
Kantor, P., Lefvre, C., Saito, A., Savitch, H. V., and
evolving into a more negotiated structure. The mo-
Thornley, A. (2012). Struggling Giants: City-region
mentum for further devolution in other secondary Governance in London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo.
cities creates a more favorable political environment Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
for London to extract genuine reforms for its own London Councils. (2015). Total funding and expenditure diagrams
growth needs. In the next cycle, given political concern 2014-15. Retrieved from www.londoncouncils.gov.
in the United Kingdom that Londons contribution to uk/our-key-themes/local-government-finance/local-
government-funding-and-expenditure/total-funding
national economic growth no longer outweighs the
London Finance Commission. (2013). Raising the capital:
negative effects of its tendency to suck in talent, The report of the London Finance Commission. Retrieved
jobs, and investment, a shared national urban strategy from https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/
may be needed. Given the scale and complexity of gla_migrate_files_destination/Raising%20the%20
capital_0.pdf
404 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
3.18 Grand Paris, Metropolitan Governance
by Design?
Nicholas Buchoud (Grand Paris Alliance for Metropolitan Development)
Abstract
Since the turn of the millennium, Paris has become metropolitan. The process culminated in the
establishment of a new institution in 2016, the Mtropole du Grand Paris. Institutional competition
has nevertheless tempered the remarkable rebirth of the Paris agglomeration since the turn of the
millennium. Conflicting cooperation has been a dominant pattern of the Grand Paris model.
Additionally, long-term big investments and the establishment of new institutions are being ques-
tioned by digital, social, and environmental changes, which are reshaping the metropolitan landscapes
at a rapid pace. This chapter provides unique insight into one the worlds most epic contemporary
metropolitan journeys.
406 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
brought together city mayors from different political Paris agglomeration. This would be the first step of
affiliations and the metropolitan conference became a a deeply transformative process connecting sustain-
permanent structure. The conference was transformed able and climate friendly visions with investments
in 2009 into a cooperation body known as the Syndicat in housing, landscape, research, and infrastructure
Mixte dEtudes Paris Mtropole, with 212 local govern- at the metropolitan level. It would also be about in-
ment members as of January 2015. venting 21st century forms of urbanization. Led by
A year later, in 2007, the newly elected French architects and planners, over 500 urban development
President Nicolas Sarkozy coined the phrase Grand professionals from all disciplines worked tirelessly
Paris during a speech he delivered for the inauguration for about a year, bringing in guest experts, students,
of a new terminal at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle academics, investorsand local politicians. The
international airport. By Grand Paris, he meant the consultation nurtured an in-depth reassessment of
Paris agglomeration should regain its status among the agglomeration system. Countless field visits de-
leading global cities in a changing world. He also veloped a comprehensive understanding of the real
meant metropolitan issues should be a top priority on spatial impact of local, regional, and global social,
the national agenda. environmental, and economic trends. The team lead-
In those days, the Ile de France regional govern- ers were invited several times by the French president
ment was the institution legally in charge of planning to the Palais de lElyse to share their assessment
the future of the Paris agglomeration, with the help of and draw future design proposals, bypassing the
a number of technical agencies, such as the Regional traditional French technical expertise production
Planning Agency. The regional government and the controlled by competing national engineering corps.
Regional Planning Agency of Ile de France were In the early Grand Paris years, new ideas, con-
proudly leading the revision of the regional master cepts, and projects flourished. Though not all
plan. A massive process involving months of public have survived, it opened a new era for large-scale
hearings and mobilizing dozens of experts, the new planning and urban design. The Grand Paris in-
regional master plan aimed to revive the regional ternational consultation and its aftermath served
planning heyday of the 1960s while also responding to as a stepping stone for many of the architects
contemporary concerns, such as climate change and the and planners involved. It reconnected the Paris
social costs of urban sprawl. While the plan developed agglomeration with world class built environment
a comprehensive vision of the regions spatial transfor- practitioners. Meanwhile, the French president did
mations, numerous critics pointed out that it failed to not lose sight of more institutional politics, as he
address the real economic and infrastructure issues of appointed a deputy minister, Christian Blanc, in
the French capital region in an era of global capitalism. charge of developing the capital region and turn-
The presidential announcement of June 2007 cre- ing the intellectual momentum into more concrete
ated much discontent within the regional government plans. The deputy ministers roadmap envisioned a
but this did not prevent the Grand Paris process from new metropolitan economic strategy to develop a
advancing and opening new horizons. number of world class hubs (such as business and
research and development) and connect them with
a new suburban transit network. He was assisted by
A New Metropolitan World of Opportunities a dedicated taskforce of 40 experts.
Despite conflicting visions between most of the
In 2008, the French Ministry of Culture organized leading architects involved in the international con-
an international consultation out of which 10 in- sultation and the new deputy minister, Grand Paris
ternational multidisciplinary teams were selected as a transformative process triggered unprecedented
to design a greener and more active future for the renewal and an update of data, information, visions,
408 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Figure 1. Grand Paris Express Plan for 2030
Turning competing visions and strategies into a and many city mayors viewing it favorably, the national
new public transit network involving tens of billions governments decision to bypass regional government
of euros in investment has been no easy task. The generated resistance. The architects who competed
regional government strongly resisted the initiative but during the Grand Paris consultation joined forces and
the national government nevertheless passed a Grand vocally disclosed their own vision of a Grand Systme
Paris Act in June 2010 and forced its way through. It Mtropolitain. In the fall of 2010, Grand Paris was on
imposed the vision of Grand Paris as a world class fire. The entire decision-making system was blocked
capital region based on the development of a series and the quest for a consensus looked hopeless.
of world class economic hubs and science clusters, In order to move on and reach an agreement
connected by a brand new metropolitan transit sys- between all parties, a superlative public debate was
tem of more than 200 kilometers and 70 new metro established so that the national and the regional gov-
stations. Despite the Grand Paris Act being voted on, ernments, as well as the architects could submit their
410 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
were barely involved or consulted. This limited the federalist structure either. The metropolitan authority
scope of the discussions about the most relevant and is focused on the core of the agglomeration, leaving
well performing governance structures. The debates the question of its coordination with the regional gov-
that took place in the national assembly in 2013 as ernment open. Key competences such as economic
part of the discussions about a national metropolitan development are divided between the new metropol-
act failed to nurture in-depth discussion. As soon as itan authority, the regional government, and other
the act was approved, the articles dealing with the inter-municipality districts. There is an urgent need
Grand Paris governance system had to be reviewed. to tackle rising poverty levels in the agglomeration
It took a new round of long and painful negotiations (Secours Catholique, 2016), but it will take time to es-
throughout 2014 to reach a fragile agreement regard- tablish fully functional metropolitan policies address-
ing the creation of the Grand Paris new metropolitan ing prosperity, inclusiveness, and competitiveness.
authority. It was as if the conflicting cooperation The organizational structure of the MGP reflects
pattern of metropolitan political decision-making its complex birth. On one hand, it stands out as a real
had reached its limits during the winter of 201011. institution, with a deliberating assembly of 208 mem-
The country had no choice but to find an agreement bers, a president, and an executive board of 28 mem-
regarding the financing of the future metropolitan bers. On the other hand, the organization has a limited
transit system. Regardless of political affiliations and number of staff and it works more as a taskforce than
individual tactics, it was about launching a strategic as a comprehensive institution. In fact, the MGP has
investment project for the nations future. Reaching the same number of staff as the former Mission pour
or not an agreement became a choice between a col- lAmnagement de la Region Capitale back in 2008 and
lective winwin or a collective failure and blame. The barely the same number as the temporary Mission de
situation was different a few years later as establishing Prefiguration de la MGP, which in 201415 assisted
the new institution, however important, was not seen with the debate surrounding Grand Paris metropolitan
to be as critical as the metro network. governance in the parliament. Grand Paris governance
Since 2007, Grand Paris has emerged from the is still in the making and it will be interesting to mon-
political drama and tension to have positive effects. itor the next steps, as the new institution follows a
At first, it was the drama of France losing its status roadmap of progressive reinforcement of its compe-
as a global leader. Grand Paris was poised to reboot tences between 2016 and 2020.
the countrys capital and to meet the 21st century ur-
ban and economic challenges. Finding a stateregion
agreement on the organization, finance, and manage- An Endless Appetite for Innovation
ment of the future metropolitan transit system was a
further challenge. A major investment project, it would Metropolitan making in the Paris agglomeration has
also become the cornerstone of the Paris agglomera- always been about innovation. The launch of the
tion in the future. The whole country was involved in metropolitan conference of mayors in 2006 was in-
the debate. It was impossible not to find an agreement. novative and at odds with decades of local politics.
On the contrary, setting up a new metropolitan institu- The 2008 Grand Paris international consultation was
tion was also getting back to more local issues and this different from the visioning strategies that many cities
process did not consume the same energy. Part of the in the world had engaged in, as it raised both local and
drama had vanished and the final outcome was only global urban development issues. The whole process
halfway solid metropolitan governance. of Grand Paris is innovative as it was not primarily
The Grand Paris new metropolitan authority was about designing new institutions but unlocking and
created in 2016. The MGP does not replace any other supporting the French capital region potential, at odds
sub-regional government level but does not have a real with decades of regional politics and master planning.
412 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
intercommunalits en Ile-de-France. Retrieved from
http://www.apur.org/article/carte-intercommu-
nalites-ile-france
Blanc, C. (2010). Le Grand Paris du XXIme sicle. Paris: Le
Cherche Midi.
Buchoud, N. (2014). Grand Paris, lHeure de la Socit
Civile? Businessimmo, May 6. Retrieved from
http://www.businessimmo.com/contents/44791/grand-
paris-l-heure-de-la-societe-civile
Buchoud, N., and Rouvet, J.L. (2014). Pas de Grand
Paris sans concertation largie. Les Echos, October 8.
Retrieved from http://www.lesechos.fr/08/10/2014/
LesEchos/21788-043-ECH_pas-de-grand-par-
is-sans-concertation-elargie.htm
CCI. (2016). Chiffres-cls de la rgion Ile de France 2016. Paris:
Chambre de commerce et dindustrie de rgion Paris
le-de-France. Retrieved from http://www.cci-par-
is-idf.fr/etudes/organisation/crocis/chiffres-cles/
chiffres-cles-region-ile-de-france-crocis
Dallier, P. (2008). Le Grand Paris, un vrai projet pour un
enjeu capital. Rapport dinformation n262 200708.
Paris: Snat.
DRIEA. (2015). Contribution au diagnostic de la Mtropole du
Grand Paris. Paris: Direction rgionale et interdpar-
tementale de lquipement et de lamnagement Ile
de France. Retrieved from http://www.driea.ile-de-
france.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/pre-diagnostic-
de-la-metropole-du-grand-paris-a4967.html
Le Grand Pari(s): Consultation internationale sur lavenir
de la mtropole parisienne. (2009). Hors Srie de la revue
AMC.
Le Grand Paris est-il dj trop petit? Revue Etudes Foncires
#167, Avril-Juin 2015. Business Immo d., Paris, 45 p.
Secours CatholiqueCaritas France. (2016) La fracture
territoriale: Analyse croise des ingalits en Ile de France.
Retrieved from http://www.secours-catholique.org/
sites/scinternet/files/publications/fractureterritori-
aleidf.pdf
Abstract
The Stuttgart Region in Germany is among Europes most prosperous areas, characterized by a thriv-
ing industry and growing immigration. To maintain quality of life and competitiveness, providing
building land and adequate infrastructure, protecting open spaces, and adapting to climate change
have become high-priority issues. As none of these challenges can be tackled within the boundaries
of one municipality, intensified cooperation between cities and their metropolitan hinterland is crucial.
Stuttgart Regions joining forces approach is designed to coordinate the activities of 179 confident
municipalities in the field of urban and economic development. The Verband Region Stuttgart func-
tions as a public body at a supra-municipal level and is responsible for regional public transport, eco-
nomic development, comprehensive regional planning, development of open spaces, and marketing.
The members of the Regional Assembly are elected in a direct ballot, which underlines the political
dimension of regional governance.
Urban space in Germany is not so much a matter One major principle of German administration
of megacities but of urban landscapes where large is its far-reaching autonomy of local government
cities and smaller local authorities are functionally that is guaranteed under the countrys constitution.
linked across administrative boundaries. Despite In particular, local authorities must provide basic
specific challenges, most of these urban areas are public services and important social infrastructure
facing the same tasks for the future. First, to master facilities (such as nurseries), ensure land-use plan-
the challenges of demographic change, with a major ning, identify specific areas for construction, and
shift in infrastructural requirements (fewer nurs- promote economic development. Coordination
ery schoolsmore nursing homes) and sustained across different municipalities within a metro-
migration into attractive centers. Second, to secure politan area is therefore particularly important in
global competitiveness by increasing the regions conurbations with functional interrelationships that
attractiveness for investors and experts. Third, to exist irrespective of administrative borders (e.g.,
promote climate friendly energy production and commuting and shopping patterns or environmen-
adapt to the effects of climate change tal circumstances).
In order to meet these challenges, local author- Numerous examples have shown that it is al-
ities must, among other things, provide sufficient most impossible to ensure sustainable development
space for residential and commercial use, adapt the unless there is coordination within this overall
infrastructure, particularly with regard to mobility, structure. It is highly unlikely that the sum total
and permit important open-space functions. This of various local isolated solutions will add up to
requires certain planning, decision-making, and en- allow for the decisions for specific locations and
forcement mechanisms that must be geared to the infrastructural activities required for efficient and
specific administrative realities in each place. resilient housing structures.
414 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Stuttgart Region: Overview The regions economic performance is also reflect-
ed in the evolution of population figures. Its natural
Stuttgart Region has a population of approximately demographic developmentthe ratio between births
2.7million and occupies an area of 3,500square ki- and deathshas been negative for many years. If there
lometers. Although this density is relatively high for were no influx from outside, Stuttgart Region would lose
Germany, the region has over 75 percent open space, about 3 percent of its population by 2030. Set against this
including high-quality recreational space as well as background, the steady flow of immigration since 2010
wine growing areas and other special crops on soil that has been beneficial to the region. Particularly in the 18 to
is superbly suited for agricultural purposes. 30 year age group, the influx has been well above aver-
Where administration is concerned, the region is age compared to other German regions. Peoples major
structured into very small units. Apart from the City motivation for settling in the Stuttgart Region, especially
of Stuttgart (the capital of the federal state of Baden- from this age group, has been to start vocational training,
Wrttemberg), there are five administrative districts to embark on a career, or to study at university.
comprising 178 local authorities. Two-thirds of them Immigrants countries of origin include, in par-
have populations of less than 10,000 yet are essentially ticular, the more recent EU member states and the
self-governing. Local authorities are partly funded Mediterranean countries. The Stuttgart Region is
through income from trade tax, generated by local busi- therefore benefiting from the free movement of
nesses, as well as a share of the populations income tax. workers within the EU.
This means that local authorities are benefiting greatly In view of the general demographic development
from todays generally good economic climate. that can be expected through the retirement of large
Economically, Stuttgart Region is seen as among numbers in the relevant age groups, immigration is an
the most powerful in Europe. The output it generates important prerequisite for sustaining economic per-
is approximately 180 billion, which is roughly the formance and the high level of prosperity. But it also
gross domestic product of some of the smaller mem- involves special challenges as it means providing suffi-
ber states of the European Union. cient high-quality housing and commercial space, while
Unlike in most German conurbations, this out- continually developing an infrastructure that meets
put comes largely from the manufacturing industry. peoples needs, ensuring a high recreational value, and
Two of the key sectors are the automotive industry adapting to the anticipated effects of climate change.
(Daimler and Porsche and their many suppliers) and Both the impetus and the dimension of the resulting
the mechanical engineering industry. Another im- requirements are comparable to the situation just over
portant role is played by high levels of investment in 20 years ago, which led to fundamental reforms in the
research and developmenta forward-looking field Stuttgart Regions administrative structures.
that is attracting more private funds than the budgets
of public research institutions. The Joining Forces Approach of
The special constellation of companies also has an
impact on demand for land, focusing on sites that are
the Stuttgart Region
suitable for production and logistics because of their
location, size, and transport links. In a region that is A 1993 newspaper article pointed out, in and around
already fairly densely populated and that has certain Stuttgart there are increasing signs of a serious crisis.
restrictions in terms of topography and conservation, Unemployment is rising steadily. () The housing
such space is only available to a limited extent. The shortage is getting worse, partly because there is a lack
main focus is therefore on meeting the spatial require- of suitable construction space. Start-ups wanting to
ments of existing businesses and of companies that settle in the region are meeting with ever new obsta-
form part of the regions value chain. cles. () The Stuttgart Region, its five administrative
416 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
total annual budget is around350 million, of which especially in mobility, has also been underlined in the
nearly 90 percent is for public transport. government program of Baden-Wrttemberg, cur-
The founding fathers decided not to let the region rently under a coalition between the Green Party and
have its own source of funding. They were aware that Christian Democrats. The agreement states: Working
this would involve a fundamental reorganization of together with the Verband Region Stuttgart, we want to
local council finances and, along with it, some tough continue developing the Stuttgart Region as a model of
debates on allocation. a functioning and sustainable mobility region. It is an
area with particularly high levels of traffic and transport.
Verband Region Stuttgart: Powers This makes it all the more important to have a function-
ing infrastructure that meets the mobility needs of the
and Responsibilities population and of the industry within a confined space
(Coalition Agreement, 2016, p.114).
The Verbands catalogue of functions is defined by The various approaches to improve the quality of
law. They cover regional planning, regional transport Stuttgart Region as a whole can best be explained using
planning, the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park, regional the following examples.
traffic and transport management, funding of S-Bahn
local trains and regional Express buses, funding of ad-
ditional local transport (fare integration), promotion of The New Trade Fair Center
industry and tourism, elements of waste management,
tradeshows, culture, and sports (voluntary). To a certain extent, building a new trade fair center was
The Verband Region Stuttgart thus has several central a statutory commitment of Verband Region Stuttgart.
functions which, in practice, go beyond the boundaries The old site in northern Stuttgart had been bursting
of local authorities and districts and their specific respon- at the seams and, the city was now chock-a-block with
sibilities. By controlling and funding these functions at trade fair trafficneither residents nor visitors could
the (new) political/regional level, it has been possible to be expected to put up with it any more. There were no
ensure regional consolidation and thus closer regional sites large enough in Stuttgart for a new trade fair cen-
collaboration (Till, 2015, p.490). Specifically, these func- ter. So immediately after it was founded, the Verband
tions concern land-use planning, mobility, and economic Region Stuttgart started looking for a site throughout
development. The Verband Region Stuttgart looks after the region. The Regional Plan identified the best place
the technical (gray) infrastructure just as much as it en- as right next to Stuttgart Airport, just outside the city.
deavors to upgrade the regions open space as green in- By doing so, the regions designated new trade fair lo-
frastructure, particularly the Stuttgart Region Landscape cation was beyond the municipal planning supremacy
Park. It has powers over control, implementation, and of the sites municipality. This gave rise to protest in
funding. Moreover, it uses its political weight to ensure the locations municipality but the highest German
that the Stuttgart Region continues to be livable, eco- administrative court confirmed the lawfulness of this
nomically powerful, and environmentally conscientious. procedure. The Verband Region Stuttgart not only
The powers of the Verband Region Stuttgart have launched the planning stage of trade fair center, it also
been expanded substantially in three areas. In 1996, contributed more than 50 million to the construction
it took on commissioning powers for local S-Bahn costs. The trade fair center, opened in 2007, has been
trains; in 2004, it became responsible for the Stuttgart economically successful and extensions are underway.
Region Landscape Park; and in 2015, it added regional The new trade fair center has given a considerable
transport management and regional Express buses. All economic boost to the southern part of the region.
this served to strengthen the regions function in terms It perfectly complements the airport as both are lo-
of funding. The important and exemplary role of cated alongside the motorway, are accessible with the
the Stuttgart Region in overcoming major challenges, S-Bahn, and soon will be accessible by the city light rail
418 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
the transportation infrastructure has to meet the mo- of the Regional Assembly attach particular importance
bility needs of these commuters. Moreover, it cannot to informing the general public and public participation.
be planned from a municipal perspective but must be Hence every planning procedure entails early stage and
coordinated on a supra-local level. The same goes for comprehensive public information on the intended
land-intensive locations or the use of renewable energy content of the plan and the procedure envisaged. Taken
sources. Open-space functions, the linking of living spac- together, the participation activities go well beyond the
es, and retaining fresh-air corridors in the face of climate legally prescribed scope and also contain special mea-
change must all be coordinated independently of local sures, such as involving young people.
responsibilities if they are to function in the long run. The large volume of comments customarily re-
This calls for priorities and priority functions to ceived as a result are given extensive consideration
be defined. Which open spaces can be used for a during the decision-making process and ultimately
building development? And where must the focus be play a part in markedly improving the quality of the
on to ensure important open-space functions? The planning. However, the final decision-makingand
complex considerations of differing public and private thus the final decisionis the sole responsibility of
interests cannot become binding solely on the basis of the regional councillors.
decisions made by authorities.
Just as core issues of urban planning are the subject Lessons Learned
of a (more or less) intensive social debate, the preced-
ing, underlying stipulations also require due consider- It is precisely in prospering metropolitan areas that
ation and ultimately political evaluation as well. efficiency is adversely affected by the fragmentation
The introduction of a regional parliament in the caused by administrative borders, especially when no
form of a directly elected Regional Assembly put sufficiently binding coordination can be achieved in
Stuttgart Region on such a level of political action. key tasks. Non-binding agreements regularly turn out
The direct election necessitates a political plan of to be too weak to reconcile conflicting local interests
action from the parties that specifies the objectives effectively and to establish a long-term development
for the future development of the region. Unlike the strategy. Although in these cases incorporation can
usual delegation of regional decision-makers from dis- represent a solution, it does entail new losses in terms
trict assemblies, this creates an autonomous regional of subsidiarity, public participation, engagement of
agenda that is manifestly more complex than the sum civil society, and identification.
of individual rural district perspectives. In contrast, the Stuttgart Region model allows local
By being elected directly to the Regional Assembly, identification to be maintained and creates healthy
the members acquire a strong democratic mandate. In competition between municipalities. Regardless, the
practice this is the only way to consistently represent Regional Assembly functions as an authoritative de-
regional interests in relation to the invariably directly cision-making body in all matters of supra-municipal
elected municipal councils and mayors and also legit- relevance. Hence an economic areas contribution is
imize them democratically. still guaranteed, even if no consensus can be found in
The Regional Assembly thus has become a forum the plethora of local interests.
for assessing core issues from a regional perspective. What is equally important is that, in addition to
Even though this enables a majority to be reached in decision-making being regulated, implementing and
non-consensual matters, in practice after exhaustive enforcing decisions are as well. In the Stuttgart Region
discussion, decisions are overwhelmingly reached by there are binding stipulations on procedure and par-
a large majority or even unanimously. ticipation, legal options, and also financial incentives.
Altogether, this system increases the political rel- Regional requirements thus become an element of an
evance of regional decisions and consequently their effective executive.
perception by the public. In this process, the members
420 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
Final Remarks
Inter-American
Development Bank
polticas pblicas
public policies
Metropolitanism:
Final Remarks on Steering the Metropolis
By David Gmez-lvarez and Gabriel Lanfranchi
Lets begin by stating what this chapter is not: it is not that do not respect jurisdictional boundaries or disci-
a summary of the book nor it is a conclusion as such. plinary silos. Flooding, heat waves, pollution, drought,
Indeed, we cannot conclude on a topic that is history in crime, poverty, congestion, migration, slums are just
the makingan agenda under construction. The century some of the phenomena local governments are incapable
in which we are living is prophesied to be the century of of facing individually. As Bruce Katz argued in the pro-
metropolises, so we are both players and observers. We logue of this book, the kind of problems we face demand
are reflexive practitioners and researchers, both learning new models of governance and a fundamental refram-
from and trying to influence the development of the ing and re-focusing of the (multi-sectoral) leadership
metropolitan agenda. class in cities. In other words, metropolitan challenges
Most authors who contributed to this book coin- have to be reconsidered in a completely different fashion.
cided in emphasizing multi-stakeholder involvement in It is not only a matter of scale, but of nature of the city. It
metropolitan governance. It is certain that steering the is not a difference of degree, but of essence when dealing
metropolis includes co(re)creating the metropolis: a pro- with metropolitan problems.
cess that involves different actors in the (re)making of the The book strongly argued in favor of metropolitan
city. One proponent of such an approach is Joan Subirats coordination. In doing so, we deliberately avoided pick-
(Chapter 1.4), who argued that co-creating with the city is ing winning models and defending them. It is now for
a key concept as much of the space is already urbanized, communities to debate and decide which metropolitan
with actors already in the territory. The metropolis has governance tools best suit them. We deliberately avoided
to be rebuilt (in line with open source urbanism and highlighting best practices because we believe each prac-
similar concepts) within the given built environment and tice is the result of the particularities of each metropolis.
public space. We are not drawing on a blank canvas and In the context of rapid urbanization, rising inequality
metropolises are perennially incomplete projects, with the and urban poverty, and climate change, metropolitan gov-
power to reinvent themselves (Sassen, 2013). ernance should focus on concrete issues, such as how to
The art of steering and co-creating a metropolis is produce urban land (Goytia, Chapter 2.2), how to achieve
not reserved for disciplinarian specialists, scientists, or resilience (Bulkeley and Luque-Ayala, Chapter 2.6, and
engineers. There is no formula, but experiences, prac- Dinshaw, Lane, and Elias-Trostmann, Chapter 2.7), and
tices, and lessons. As several authors argued, steering how to manage complex systems. As those issues exceed
a metropolis is a political and institutional practice that both sectoral divisions and jurisdictional boundaries, it
has to be carried out using participatory processes, has is necessary to revise governmental schemes and foster
to be iterative and reflective, has to be informed by both an integral institutional approach that can address the
technical and cultural knowledge, and has to balance metropolis transversally, rather than by territorial zones
inclusion, efficiency, and sustainability. or thematic sectors.
In the next two decades, humankind will build as In addition to the aforementioned, we strongly be-
much urbanized area as during the entire history of lieve metropolitan issues in the 21st century go beyond
humanity. The existing built up area and the additional territorial organization and multi-sectoral (or technical)
urbanized land will face issues that occur despite and coordination challenges. It is of the utmost importance
beyond political parties differences, ideological cleavages to develop metropolitan culture and identity as a project
* We thank Deborah Gonzalez Canada, who provided insight and assistance in writing this chapter.
424 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
metropolitan governments because they organize The global role of metropolises that are richer
governance schemes only in local (municipalities and than entire countries (in terms of GDP) is changing
counties), regional (provinces, states, or departments), rapidly (Cohen, Chapter 2.1) and the issue of para-di-
and national layers. Changing the rules of the game plomacy (the relations established among subnational
includes modifying constitutions and rethinking the governments) is gaining momentum. Some chapters
institutional arrangements. mentioned the existence of networks of metropolises
Third, in the field of international relations, net- within a country, a region, or worldwide. Bulkeley and
worked metropolises are rising, as explained by Xu Luque-Ayala (Chapter 2.6), for instance, highlighted
and Yeh in Chapter 1.8 in the context of mega-city that transnational networks are one of the three
regions in China. We are witnessing a shift in how ways cities are addressing climate change challenges
the agenda of subnational governments influences and those could be the foundation for future climate
nation-state organizations and even international re- governance. Chapters in Section 3 also referred to
lations. The networked metropolis is by no means a cities trying to become or making efforts to remain
recent phenomenon. All cities, past and present, are in a position of global reference: such as London
somehow networked. In fact, cities have been connect- (Chapter 3.17 by Clark, Moonen, and Couturier) and
ed with other cities through trade and migration for Paris (Chapter 3.18 by Buchoud). Thus, the logic
centuries. But today, metropolises are linked to each behind the networks goes from sharing knowledge
other beyond their hinterlands or territories through to exercising power (see Bulkeley and Luque-Ayala,
exchange of capital, information, and ideas (Xu and Chapter 2.6, for examples). Some mayors and gover-
Yeh, Chapter 1.8). In the present, relations among nors are seeking to extend their political and economic
metropolises tend to be more horizontal than vertical. influence globally and/or to attract more investment
This process of city-ness or metropolitan-ness to their cities. A number of metropolitan areas are
is more about networks, as opposed to town-ness, also sending temporal or permanent representations
which refers to hierarchical and traditional structures. to foreign countries to protect and advance their spe-
Though the concept of the global metropolis tends cific interests (Tavares, 2016). Additionally, in some
to refer to economic capacity or wealth, the notion of countries there is a metropolitan revolution going on
global cities has been used by Saskia Sassen since 1991 (Katz and Bradley, 2013): mayors are rising up in the
in reference to large metropolises characterized by face of national governments trying to contain their
transnational relations, beyond national frontiers and growing influence. Self-declared sanctuary cities in the
traditional geopolitical boundaries (see Chapter 1.5 by United States are an example of this rebellion by local
Ortiz and Kamiya). Manuel Castells (2002) added to the authorities against national powers.
concept of global cities with the idea of a networked Another interesting interplay between metropolises
society based on a world city network in which the and nation-states is related to taxonomies and catego-
global scope of a metropolis in the knowledge era rizations. Though there have been many attempts to
is almost independent of countries or regimes. His create a taxonomy of metropolises and global cities,
post-industrial idea of a large metropolis based on glob- the worlds largest metro areas do not easily fall into
al connectivity and infrastructure (hubs), led to the idea the nation-state binary division between first world/
of global networks of corporations. None of these third world countries, later redefined as developed/
complex and overlapping networks are being entirely developing, or Global North and Global South. Is
regulated by local authorities or city governments. The Shanghai developing in the same way as So Paulo is?
context of globalization and inter-scalar relations even Do London and Detroit belong to the same first world?
questions the role of states in regulating activities, which Are Mumbai and Delhi developing similarly being both
leads to a whole new scale (of) governing uncertainty in the same country? It sometimes seems that each me-
and planning for prosperity (Xu and Yeh, Chapter 1.8). tropolis is a family of its own, a unique category.
426 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
The tension and power struggles between national Habitat IIIrather than economic performance, pro-
and subnational governments within a country has ductivity, and job creation (see Chapter 2.1 by Cohen).
been a rich topic of discussion for several authors. Metropolitan governance is a crucial variable in
Despite the strength and size of some metropolitan GDP figures. A 2015 OECD study (mentioned in the
economies, nation-states are expected to remain a pre- Introduction of the book, in Chapter 2.2 by Goytia, and
dominant force over the next few decades (Ortiz and in other chapters) showed that fragmentation in met-
Kamiya, Chapter 1.5) and to withhold devolution of ropolitan decision-making translates to losing points
financial resources. Many metropolitan areas around in regional GDP, while the existence of metropolitan
the world will continue to lack stable revenue sources, coordination institutions reduces those inefficiencies
being chronically poor, and have limited or inexistent by half. The UN-Habitat City Prosperity Initiative also
legal recognition in the respective constitutions. shows a moderate correlation between productivity and
Those of us who are convinced of the need city size in Colombia and Mexico, with larger agglom-
to strengthen metropolitan governance must also erations being more productive than smaller ones (see
understand the dimension of the threat that strong Lpez-Moreno and Orvaanos Murgua, Chapter 2.5,
metropolitan government entities pose for national and Crdoba and Gonzlez, Chapter 3.4). Therefore,
governments. Metropolitan politics is an emerging if national governments do not actively participate in
field of discussion where metropolitan mayors formulating metropolitan policy, the competitiveness of
are the new political players in both the domestic a whole nation could suffer as a consequence.
and international political arena. The key lies in a In Chapter 2.1, Cohen stated that, within a me-
paradigm shift, that is, in turning the conversation, tropolis, the definition of productivity itself must
in each and every case, from a tension perspective change toward a broader evaluation of the impacts
(strong metropolises versus nation-states) to a col- of an urban area. New definitions and new research
laboration perspective. on metropolitan productivity should include positive
Some cases around the world show that while me- and negative externalities that firms and other sectors
tropolises are evolving, their respective nation-states generate, from pollution to health. The rich field of
are either declining or not developing at the same pace. study of urban metabolism can be useful to under-
These asymmetries are intensifying pre-existing tensions stand metropolitan metabolisms. It is also interesting
and creating new ones. However, if we seek to change to study the interplay between collaborative economy
the paradigm, it is important to focus on quantitative models and metropolitan areas. From transportation
and qualitative evidence that strongly links the efficiency to sharing resources, from education to energy, collab-
of metropolises to the wealth of nation-states. orative economies facilitated through digital platforms
National governments should more actively partic- are game changers and will continue to be so.
ipate in organizing metropolitan governance schemes,
as they are crucial actors in the development of their The Metropolitan Scale: Approaching
respective countries. In the words of Cohen (Chapter
the Urban Future
2.1), There is growing, if reluctant, official acknowl-
edgment that cities are the engines of growth in most
economies in both industrialized and developing Urbanism is no longer enough to tackle urban prob-
countries. According to the World Bank (2015), cities lems, claims Subirats in Chapter 1.4. The metropol-
generate over 80 percent of global GDP and over 60 itan imperative of two decades ago is still unrealized,
percent of national GDP in most countries. However, meaning that the adoption of metropolitan frameworks
the urban economy has been largely ignored by the G20 (Cohen, Chapter 2.1) is a work in progress. As Ortiz
governments over the past decade, and housing and showed (see Chapter 1.6 by Lanfranchi and Contin), the
infrastructure dominate urban discussionsincluding scales and scopes of professionals working with urban
428 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
quality of the governance outcome? By what out- offered a glimpse of the kind of issues transnational
comes can we compare metropolitan performance? cities like Toronto present. How to govern plural cities,
Which outcomes matter? Can these be meaningfully with multiple identities and diverse senses of identity
compared across metropolises? Metropolitanists is another dimension of metropolitan governance to
should be able to start finding answers to those be further explored.
questions and ways to navigate the complexities of For David Harvey (2012), the right to the city must
metropolises. In addition, metropolitanists should be operate as a constant question, just like the crucial
able to constantly perform a balancing act due to the interrogation of political economy: who benefits.
multi-stakeholder political nature of metropolitan While clusters of globalized industries, businesses,
governance (particularly see Birch, Chapter 1.2). and corporations are interconnected in major cities,
The importance of metropolitanism as a scope resulting in highly specialized and divided labor mar-
and scale, and as a field of theory and practice, can be kets and economic growth, it is also true that inequality
complemented with the study of metropolitan culture has been rising, producing social exclusion and urban
or metropolitan sense of place, as well as issues of poverty, affecting metropolitan governance.
integration and exclusion. The following paragraphs A central topic for future research and practice
propose to look at metropolitan issues from the field should be how to reduce public and private corruption
of cultural studies and political economy. practices. One way forward is a path toward transpar-
The Introduction of the book highlighted the fact ency, accountability, and open governance, with city and
that there is no unique working definition of metropolis metropolitan data becoming accessible, as highlighted
and that some metropolitan areas are not merely the ag- by a number of authors, such as McCarney (Chapter
gregation of local governments polygons while others 2.4), Subirats (Chapter 1.4), Ortiz and Kamiya (Chapter
lack integration. A rich field of study, still untapped, is 1.5), Smoke (Chapter 2.3), Reddy (Chapter 3.2), Roberts
the topic of metropolitan sense of place and that of and Abbott (Chapter 1.7), Chen and Xu (Chapter 3.16),
building metropolitan ownership among key stakehold- and Andersson (Chapter 1.3). Accountability requires
ers (see Chapter 1.1 by Ahrend et al). Another topic is unambiguous government structures, with established
that of meta-narratives. In modern times, the creation channels for complaints and participation.
of most nation-states was accompanied by the creation As part of the global trend toward open govern-
of national identity; the same could emerge in metrop- ment, a movement of open cities has emerged, which
olises, where the identity with the city can be central. combines the principles of open government and
It is also possible to look at what happens when urban participatory interventions or tactical urban-
individuals raised with those national meta-narratives ism. This global movement across cities implies not
co-exist in the same city. Some metropolises have only the openness of local governments, but also the
become transnational cities or places where people, renovation and innovation of cities through different
cultures, and ideas from different countries converge urban policies and local participatory mechanisms.
and collide, producing innovation and social tensions. Open government and tactical urbanism overlap
Also called multi-cultural cities, these metropolises to some extent, but these trends come from differ-
are cosmopolitan and they might be more connected ent origins. On one hand, according to the Open
(in terms of everyday life experiences) to other trans- Government Partnership, open government refers
national cities in different countries than small cities to the applicable principles of transparency, account-
within the same country. In this context of cosmopoli- ability, citizen participation, information technologies,
tanism, transnationalism, and universalism, the idea of and publicprivate co-creation. On the other hand,
metropolitanism becomes critical to understanding the tactical urbanism refers to concrete interventions to
identity of these metropolises and of the people living renew urban and public spaces responding to citizens
in them. Chapter 3.11 (Eidelman, Horak, and Stren) demands and local priorities.
430 Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development
List of Contributors
Inter-American
Development Bank
polticas pblicas
public policies
List of Contributors
John Abbott is a metropolitan planner York City. As a UN-Habitat consultant, she was part of
and researcher and the Principal of the organizing team for the International Forum on
John Abbott Planning in Brisbane, Innovation and Metropolitan Governance, held in
Australia. He has worked for national, Guadalajara in November 2015. Melissa has acted as
state, and local governments in managing editor for Steering the Metropolis.
Australia and the United Kingdom, and has extensive
practical experience in collaborative governance and Mats Andersson specializes in urban,
regional planning projects in South East Queensland metropolitan, and city-regional develop-
(SEQ) and Victoria. He has a PhD in urban and re- ment as an independent consultant.
gional planning from the University of Queensland Between 1994 and 2007 he was munic-
and an MSc (Econ) in social planning from the ipal finance and urban management
University of Wales. His doctoral research was on specialist at the World Bank and was its country coor-
Understanding and managing uncertainty in metro- dinator in China for urban development for 200003.
politan planning and reviewed metropolitan gover- Since 2008, his main clients have been the World Bank,
nance and regional planning processes in SEQ and the Asian Development Bank, GIZ, and USAid. He has
Greater Vancouver, Canada. He has taught planning published on metropolitan governance and finance, and
theory, strategic metropolitan planning, governance, worked on the subject in China, Eastern Europe,
and infrastructure planning at the University of Central Asia, and Africa. Prior to joining the World
Queensland and has published in these areas. Bank, Mats was with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the
Bank of Montreal, and his own consulting firm in
Rudiger Ahrend is head of the Urban Canada, with numerous assignments in Latin America.
Programme in the OECD Centre for He is a Swedish national residing in San Francisco. He
Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Local holds MBA degrees from Sweden and the United States
Development, and Tourism. In this ca- and is a Certified Management Consultant by the
pacity, he has supervised various studies Canadian Association of Management Consultants.
on metropolitan governance, urban productivity, land
use, housing, urban transport, and national urban poli- Alexis Arthur is an international
cies. In addition, he has overseen numerous reports on policy analyst and writer currently
major metropolitan agglomerations and is the main working with the UN-REDD Secretariat
author of The Metropolitan Century: Understanding in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously,
Urbanisation and its Consequences (2015). He has published she worked on energy policy for the
widely in both academic journals and newspapers. Institute of the Americas in San Diego, CA. She has
also worked on a range of socio-economic policy
Melissa Amezcua Ypiz is a PhD can- issues for the Inter-American Dialogue, Y Care
didate in Sociology and History at the International, UN Women, Oxfam GB, and the
New School for Social Research. She is a International Crisis Group, among other non-gov-
professor of Politics at the Universidad ernmental organizations and think tanks in Australia,
de Guadalajara where she currently di- the United Kingdom, the United States, and Latin
rects the master program in political science. From 2010 America. She has extensive experience as a freelance
to 2015, she taught Social Theory and Urban Studies at writer and editor. A native of Australia, Alexis is
Eugene Lang College and she was program coordinator currently based in France and is fluent in Spanish
for the Janey Program in Latin American Studies in New and French.
Alfonso Avalos Jurez specializes in multi- Barcelona. Karina holds a BA in international relations from
media technology and applications for com- the Instituto Tecnolgico y de Estudios Superiores de
munication and advertisement. He has Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico.
worked on strategic projects for the
University of Guadalajara, such as the Nicolas Buchoud is the president and
University Network, as well as in university-related busi- co-founder of the Grand Paris Alliance for
nesses (Mexplaza mall and Proulex, a center for foreign Metropolitan Development, a not-for-profit
language study). He currently works for the Administration awarded think tank established in Paris in 2011.
and Finance Secretary of Jalisco State Government, where A former senior advisor to the president of
he contributes by creating a visual identity for the MIDE Paris Ile de France region and deputy chief of staff of a city
Lab and Evala Jalisco as well as for the Jalisco State mayor in the Paris region, he is an active civil society leader and
Development Plan 201333. He has acted as graphic de- a trusted metropolitan entrepreneur. The co-inventor of the
signer for Steering the Metropolis. Metropolitan Compact framework (2017), he released The Smart
Cities We Need Manifest in 2016 and edited over 100 reports, ar-
Eugnie L. Birch is co-director of the Penn ticles, books, and papers on local and global urban innovation
Institute for Urban Research and president of and change in the past decade. Nicolas is the co-owner of
the General Assembly of Partners of the Renaissance Urbaine, a strategic advisory consultancy estab-
World Urban Campaign. She is Lawrence C. lished in 2006, that specializes in complex urban ecosystems
Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and from Vancouver to Vladivostok. In addition, Nicolas is a mem-
Education, chair of the Graduate Group in City and ber of the Deutsche Akademie fr Stdtebau und Landesplanung,
Regional Planning, and co-director of Penn Institute for an expert at the Siberian Institute for Future, and the director
Urban Research. She has been active in the field of city of the Center for Urban Research and Regional Development
plannings professional organizations and in academia in the at the Tomsk State University. He holds an MSc in 17th Century
United States and abroad. In 2000, she was elected to the Chinese History (Paris La Sorbonne) and an MSc in urban and
College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified regional planning (Sciences Po Paris) and is a graduate from
Planners and made an honorary member of the Royal Town Sciences Po Paris in Public administration. Nicolas was elected
Planning Institute. She has been a member of the Planning in 2017 as co-chair of the UN General Assembly of Partners
Accreditation Board, serving as its chair from 2004 to 2006. Professionals constituent group and as a member of its
She has been president of the Association of Collegiate Executive Committee.
Schools of Planning, president of the Society of American
City and Regional Planning History, and co-editor of the Harriet Bulkeley is a professor in the
Journal of the American Planning Association. Eugnie was re- Department of Geography at Durham
cently appointed president of the General Assembly of University where her research is concerned
Partners for Habitat III of the World Urban Campaign. with environmental governance. She cur-
rently holds an ESRC Climate Change
Karina Blanco Ochoa is currently studying a Leadership Fellowship, titled Urban Transitions: Climate
masters degree in development studies at the Change, Global Cities, and the Transformation of Socio-
London School of Economics and Political technical Systems, through which she is developing this
Science in the United Kingdom. Previously, work. She is author of the recent report commissioned
she worked at the Under-Secretariat of by the World Bank, Cities and Climate Change: The Role
Planning and Evaluation of Jalisco State Government, where of Institutions, Governance, and Urban Planning.
she coordinated Guadalajaras metropolitan agenda along with Harriet leads the Leverhulme Transnational Climate
technical cooperation with international organizations such as Change Governance research network and, through her
the World Council on City Data and the Inter-American Philip Leverhulme Prize, is examining the politics of
Development Bank. Her international experience includes climate change emerging beyond the nation-state in the
being selected as a member of the Mexican Delegation to the United Kingdom. She is an editor of Environment and
G20 Youth Summit, held in Turkey in 2015; an internship at Planning C: Government and Policy and domain editor of
the Permanent Mexican Delegation to the OECD in Paris; Policy and Governance for Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews
and an academic exchange at the Universitat Autonoma of Climate Change.
Jie Chen is a professor at Shanghai University 2004, he held a number of key roles in organizations leading
of Finance and Economics (SHUFE). He Londons development agenda. He is presently researching
holds University Chair Professorship and is a and writing The Honor Chapman Report on Londons
member of Universitys Academic Committee, Competitiveness, 1992 to 2022.
assistant dean of the Institute of Advanced
Research, and director of the Real Estate Research Institute Michael A. Cohen is a professor of
at SHUFE. He earned a bachelors degree from Fudan International Affairs at the Milano School of
University (1997), masters degree from the University of International Affairs, Management, and Urban
Oslo (2001), and a doctorate in economics from Uppsala Policy. He is the founding director of the
University (2005). His research covers various fields in re- Studley graduate program in international af-
gional, urban, and housing-related economic issues. He has fairs at the New School and director of The New Schools
published more than 20 SSCI-listed international peer-re- Observatory on Latin America. He holds a PhD in political
viewed journals. He is also author of five books and has economy from the University of Chicago and is an urban and
published extensively in Chinese academic journals. He development policy specialist. He worked at the World Bank
works as a policy advisor for Chinese central and local gov- from 1972 to 1999 and was responsible for much of the banks
ernment agencies, as well as a senior consulting expert for urban policy development during that period. He has worked
international organizations, including the World Bank and in 55 countries and was heavily involved in the World Banks
Asia Development Bank. He is on the trustee board of the work on infrastructure, environment, and sustainable devel-
Urban Studies Foundation, a board member of the Global opment. He has advised governments, non-governmental
Chinese Real Estate Congress, a steering member of Asia organizations, and academic institutions around the world,
Pacific Network of Housing Research, and a member of the including in preparing the UN-Habitat Global Report on
Advisory Committee of ULI Chinese Mainland. Human Settlements (2005-2012).
Kai Chen is a masters degree student in ur- Antonella Contin is a research associate at the
ban planning and design at the School of Department of Architecture and Urban
Architecture, Tsinghua University. His re- Studies (DAStU), within the School of
search interests are urban land use planning, Architecture, Urban Planning, Construction,
urban design, and application of geographic and Engineering at the University of
information system and remote sensing. He won second Politecnico di Milano. She is currently the coordinator of
prize in the 2014 meili-international landscape and urban MSLab at DAStU and a member of the Doctoral Board for
planning design competition, and selected awards in the 2013 Architectural and Urban Composition. Antonella has lectured
Architects in Mission (AIM) competition and the 2014 at many international universities, including Colombia,
Think-Space competition. During his undergraduate study, Cooper, NYIT, ITU, Azad, Greenwich University, Guadalajara
he was awarded the Xuzhong scholarship, Xibang scholar- de Guadalajara, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Cairo
ship, and Top 10 on the youth honor roll in the School of University, and IBERO Torreon, among the others. Her re-
Architecture at Tianjin University. search focuses on metropolitan architecture, new sustainable
models of urban growth, smart sensitive cities, new technol-
Greg Clark is an international cities expert and ogies, and urban design mapping. Her latest publication is
advisor to several global cities, including Qualitative Metropolis: A New Culturally Encoded Concept
London, So Paulo, Singapore, New York, and for a Qualitative Regeneration of Formal and Informal
Hong Kong. His portfolio includes work as Settlements (co-authored with Pedro B. Ortiz, 2015). She has
senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute published extensively in international journals. Antonella holds
(Europe), chief advisor and chairman of the OECDs Forum a PhD in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano.
on Local Development and Investment, lead advisor on the
World Bank Urbanisation Knowledge Forum, a global fellow Carlos Crdoba is the director of the Central
of the Brookings Institution in Washington, associate of LSE Region of Colombia, which links Bogot to
Cities, chairman of British BIDs, and a visiting professor at the departments of Boyac, Cundinamarca,
Cass Business School. He is author of more than 10 books Meta, and Tolima. He was previously the
and several major reports on city development. From 1989 to national planning contract manager and
coordinator of land synergy within the National Department Gabriel Eidelman is assistant professor at
for Planning. He has also coordinated the program Bogot the University of Torontos School of Public
Cmo Vamos. Within the Government Secretariat of Policy and Governance. His research and
Bogot, he was the citizenship participation director. He is teaching focus on cities and urban gover-
a public administrator, with specializations in public econo- nance in North America. His work has been
my and a masters degree in philosophy. published in Cities, the Journal of Urban Affairs, the Canadian
Journal of Political Science, and Politics & Policy.
Jonathan Couturier is a research fellow at
The Business of Cities in London. He spe- Sahil Gandhi is assistant professor at the
cializes in urban data, benchmarking, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. His research
metropolitan governance, and has co-au- interests are in the areas of urbanization in
thored work for the Urban Land Institute and India, land and housing markets, and metro-
Overseas Development Institute. He holds degrees from the politan governance. His research has been
London School of Economics and Political Science and published as chapters in edited books and in peer-reviewed
University College London. journals. He has worked on projects with government agen-
cies and think tanks. He has a PhD in economics from the
Samuel Danjuma Wapwera has worked as University of Mumbai.
an environmental consultant for the University
of Jos since 2014. He was involved in the data Brittany Giroux Lane is the program
collection and preparation of the report on the manager for the Subnational Pilot Program
National Urban Water Sector Reform Project at the Open Government Partnership
for Plateau State, Nigeria (2014/2015), which was commis- (OGP). Her primary focus is to support the
sioned by the federal government of Nigeria and the World OGP pilot of 15 subnational governments
Bank. Danjuma was an ETF-TetFUND scholar from 2011 to and other local level reformers and civil society organiza-
2013 and a PhD visiting scholar at the Northeastern University tions to develop and implement ambitious OGP action
in Boston and San Diego State University in California. He plans. Prior to joining OGP, Brittany worked at the World
holds a PhD in built environment from the University of Resources Institute and the Urban Institute on issues of
Salford in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, a specialty local governance, urban planning, and urban service de-
in spatial planning framework for urban development and livery. She holds an MSc in urban development planning
management, is a registered town planner, and is also a mem- from the Development Planning Unit at University
ber of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. College London and a BA in urban studies and politics,
philosophy and economics from the University of
Ayesha Dinshaw is an associate with the Pennsylvania.
Climate Resilience Practice at the World
Resources Institute (WRI), which aims to build David Gmez-lvarez is currently a vis-
adaptive capacity in developing countries. iting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute
Ayesha has been with WRI since 2011. Within of Technology and executive president of
the Climate Resilience Practice, she focuses on urban resilience Transversal Think Tank. He has been a
and tracking, and enabling adaptation success at the project, consultant for UNDP, UN-Habitat, and
portfolio, and national levels. In the past, she provided re- the World Bank. He is author of the book Education in
search and support for the 2013-2014 World Resources Report Federalism: Decentralization of Educational Policy in Mexico
on creating a sustainable food future. Before joining WRI, and editor of Institutional Capacities of Local Governments
Ayesha worked at a renewable energy organization called in Mexico, among other publications. He has held high
NativeEnergy and interned with HSBC Indias corporate level positions in the public sector and has actively par-
sustainability department in Mumbai and the Centre for ticipated in civil society organizations and civic initia-
Science and Environment in Delhi. While earning her gradu- tives in his country. He holds a PhD in public adminis-
ate degree, she provided analysis to the Somerville Community tration from New York University and an MSc in public
Corporation on program evaluation and worked with the Tufts policy from the London School of Economics.
Institute of the Environment.
Deborah Gonzalez Canada is a knowledge She is fellow to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in the
broker and editor from Argentina. She holds United States. Cynthia develops a relevant body of academ-
a master of environment from the University ic research focused on the evaluation of the causal impacts
of Melbourne (Australia) and a double major of urban policies published in specialized publications and
in communication and education from the books, some of them recently released in Chinese. She is
University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). She specializes in interested in the rigorous assessment of effects to urban
multi-stakeholder participation in socio-environmental issues policies, which besides its territorial effects have significant
and has done research in science communication, institution- economic and social consequences. Her research includes
al analysis, and metropolitan planning for food security. She innovative tools, such as big data analytics, and a persistent
is currently a consultant at CIPPECs Cities Program, where aim to develop interactive web tools to increase the publics
she has worked for the CIPPEC/BID-FOMIN Collaborative understanding of research results, which could improve and
Economy Project, as well as other initiatives for smart, resil- contribute to more informed government policy decisions.
ient, and inclusive cities in Argentina. Previously, she worked
for SOS Childrens Village, Idealist.org, Austral Education Martin Horak is associate professor of po-
Group, Matador Network, and CISV. She has acted as assis- litical science and director of the local gov-
tant editor for Steering the Metropolis. ernment program at the University of
Western Ontario. His books include Governing
Jorge Ivn Gonzlez is a professor in the the Post-Communist City: Institutions and
Faculty of Economics at the National Democratic Development in Prague (2008); Sites of Governance:
University of Colombia. Previously, he was a Multilevel Governance and Policy-Making in Canadas Cities (2012,
researcher for the Centro de Investigacin y co-edited with Robert Young); and Urban Neighborhoods in a
Educacin Popular, consultant to the United New Era: Revitalization Politics in the Post-Industrial City (2015,
Nations Study on Human Development and Social Mission, with multiple co-authors).
and director of the Centro de Investigaciones de Desarrollo.
He has also held positions as the director of finance, director Alfonso Iracheta is coordinator of the pro-
of the master in economics program, vice-dean, and dean gram for urban and environmental studies at
of the Faculty of Economics at the National University of the Colegio Mexiquense. He holds a masters
Colombia. His teaching focuses on macroeconomics, tax degree in regional planning from the
theory, state theory and fiscal policy, and public finance University of Edinburgh and a PhD in geog-
spending. With a long and distinguished career as a research- raphy and regional studies from the University of Varsovia.
er and consultant on social policy and public finance, he is He is currently director of the interdisciplinary program of
currently working on aspects related to different dimensions urban and environmental studies at the Colegio Mexiquense,
of urban spatial segregation and urban social indicators. the national coordinator of the Mexican Network of Cities
towards Sustainability, and coordinator of the Permanent
Cynthia Goytia is head of the master in ur- Committee of the National Congress of Urban Land.
ban economics program at Torcuato Di Tella Alfonso is a level II researcher of the National System of
University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Researchers, focused on issues of national and international
she also chairs the Urban Policy and Housing metropolitan development, land, and urban and environ-
Research Center, a leading research institution mental development. He was previously president of the
in Latin America specializing in urban policies. She holds an Colegio Mexiquense and founding coordinator of the UN-
MSc in urban economics and a PhD from the London Habitat office in Mexico.
School of Economics and Political Science in the United
Kingdom. She lectures at University of Cambridge, the Marco Kamiya, a national of Japan and Peru,
London School of Economics, and the Institute of Housing works globally on urban economy and munic-
Studies, and is David Rockefeller Visiting Scholar at Harvard ipal finance implementing policy studies and
University 201617. She is a senior consultant to Argentina field projects for local governments. Based at
and to Latin American governments, as well as the World the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi,
Bank, the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Marco has been a senior expert on urban economy, public
Bank, and CAF (Banca de Desarrollo de America Latina). policies, and competitiveness at CAF (Development Bank
of Latin America in Caracas); senior Japan Trust Fund con- Thomas Kiwitt has an engineering diploma
sultant at the Inter-American Development Bank in in environmental and spatial planning and is
Washington, DC; and director of Development Projects at the director of the Planning Department of
PADECO Co., Ltd., in Tokyo. He studied economics and the Verband Region Stuttgart (Stuttgart
international development in Lima, Boston, and Tokyo, and Regional Association). He is on the Managing
speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Japanese. He works Committee of the Network of European Metropolitan
extensively in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Regions (Metrex) and a lecturer at the University of Applied
Sciences, Stuttgart.
Myounggu Kang is professor of urban and
regional planning and vice president for inter- Jeroen Klink is a Dutch economist with a
national affairs at the University of Seoul. He PhD in urban planning from the University
was senior urban specialist at the World Bank, of So Paulo and is currently professor of
director general of International Urban urban economics and planning at the
Development Collaboration for the Seoul Metropolitan Universidade Federal do ABC, in Greater
Government, and acting dean of the International School of So Paulo. Previously he served as secretary for econom-
Urban Sciences at the University of Seoul. He is a co-author ic development in the city of Santo Andre (Greater So
of the chapter Seoul: Downtown Regeneration through Paulo) and worked at the Institute for Housing and Urban
Restoration of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in the recent Development Studies (Rotterdam), among others. He has
World Bank publication Regenerating Urban Land: A Practitioners provided national and international consultancy services
Guide to Leveraging Private Investment (2016). He also authored and published extensively in areas related to economic
the article, Smart City: A Case of Seoul (2015). He is cur- restructuring, planning, and governance in urban metro-
rently leading the International Capacity Development politan areas.
Programs of Seoul on smart and sustainable urban develop-
ment. Myounggu holds a PhD in urban and regional planning Debolina Kundu is an associate professor
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. at the National Institute of Urban Affairs in
India and has over 20 years of professional
Bruce J. Katz is the inaugural Centennial experience in the field of development stud-
Scholar at the Brookings Institution, where ies. She has been a doctoral fellow with the
he focuses on the challenges and opportuni- Indian Council for Social Science Research and holds a
ties of global urbanization. Bruce assumed PhD in municipal finance and governance from the
this cross-institutional role in January 2016 Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Debolina has
after 20 years as the vice president and co-director of the worked as a consultant with LSE, IIDS, UNDP, UNESCAP,
Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, which he founded KfW Germany, GIZ, Urban Institute, Washington, among
in 1996. He is also a co-author of The Metropolitan Revolution others, on issues of urban development, governance, and
(Brookings Press, 2013), which argues that cities have be- exclusion. She is currently editing the book Developing
come the vanguard of policy innovation and problem-solv- National Urban Policies: Ways Forward to Green and Smart Cities
ing in the United States and the world. with UN-Habitat. She is the editor of the journal Environment
and Urbanisation, Asia (SAGE) and has published a large
Soo-Jin Kim is a policy analyst at the OECD number of articles in books and journals.
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Local
Development, and Tourism. She is the main Gabriel Lanfranchi is an architect and
author of the recent OECD publication urban planner from Argentina. He holds a
Governing the City (2015) and has led a large masters degree in urban economics from
series of OECD Territorial Reviews on metropolitan re- Torcuato Di Tella University and a fellow-
gions. She has also worked extensively on analyzing gover- ship with the Massachusetts Institute of
nance arrangements that help promote quality of life and Technology Special Program for Urban and Regional
inclusive growth in cities and is a co-author of Hows Life in Studies. Currently he is the director of the Cities
Your Region? Measuring Regional and Local Well-Being for Policy Programme at CIPPEC, Argentina, and also works as a
Making (2014) and Making Cities Work for All (2016). consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank,
Grupo Edisur, and AySA. At MIT, he founded the MIT Eduardo Lpez-Moreno is the director of
Metro Lab, an initiative that promotes metropolitan gov- research and capacity development at UN-
ernance awareness and helps governments create better Habitat, the United Nations Human
tools for city management. He was the director of the Settlements Programme headquartered in
Metropolitan Office that coordinated the Strategic Nairobi. He has over 25 years of academic
Guidelines Plan for the Buenos Aires Metropolitan and professional experience in housing and urban devel-
Region. He also led suburban poverty alleviation devel- opment policies, institutional analysis, global monitoring,
opment projects at Fundacion Pro Vivienda Social and and equity and urban poverty issues. He holds a PhD in
worked on the Verona Mobility Plan and the Green Plan urban geography and a masters degree in urban sociolo-
for Barcelona. gy from the University of Paris III, Sorbonne in France.
He has published extensively, including five books on
Dorothee Lang graduated in history and topics related to social housing, land policies, equity, and
political science. After a career as a journal- urban development. Eduardo is the task manager and
ist, she worked in press and public relations principal author of the UN-Habitat State of the Worlds
for various local councils. She heads the Cities Report.
policy and public relations division of the
Verband Region Stuttgart. Andrs Luque-Ayala is lecturer in the
Department of Geography at Durham
Alexander C. Lembcke is an economist University. His research revolves around
and policy analyst at the OECD Centre for three interrelated topics and their implica-
E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p, S M E s, L o c a l tions for cities, particularly in the Global
Development, and Tourism. His work con- South: the development of a critical geography of energy;
siders economic and social development in a socio-technical examination of smart forms of ur-
regions and urban areas. He is a co-author of the OECD banization and the coupling of digital and material infra-
publication The Metropolitan Centur y: Understanding structures as a new security apparatus in the city; and a
Urbanisation and its Consequences (2015) and he has contrib- critical evaluation of urban responses to climate change
uted to several OECD Territorial Reviews. He has co-au- and the disruption of the relationship between climate
thored numerous OECD working papers and regularly mitigation and adaptation in cities. Andrs has over 12
publishes his work in peer-reviewed journals. years of practitioner experience in the interface between
urban infrastructures and environmental issues. Currently
Robert Liberty is director of the Urban he coordinates the ESRC-funded International Network
Sustainability Accelerator. He has worked on Comparative Urban Low Carbon Transitions, a global
for more than 30 years at all levels of gov- network of researchers examining how cities around the
ernment to promote liveable and sustain- world are responding to climate change. He is also a
able cities and regions. Robert was staff co-investigator for the RCUK-CONFAP International
attorney and then executive director of 1000 Friends of Network (UK-Brazil)s Augmented Urbanity and Smart
Oregon, a non-profit organization dedicated to imple- Technologies project.
menting, defending, and improving Oregons comprehen-
sive land use planning program. He has worked as a land Sheila M. Mahoney is a Certified Copy
use hearings officer, a planning consultant, and a speaker Editor, certified by the Editors Association
on planning topics in the United States and other coun- of Canada. She has worked as a freelance
tries. He served as senior counsel to Congressman Earl editor for almost three decades, including
Blumenauer of Oregon, and in 2004 he was elected to the copy editing and proofreading books,
Metro Council, the metropolitan government in the monographs, and technical and discussion papers for the
Portland, Oregon region and re-elected in 2008. On the Inter-American Development Bank since 2009. She also
Metro Council he chaired and co-chaired committees specializes in healthcare (e.g., practice guidelines, research
considering rail transit investments, regional housing reports, and environmental scans), self-published books,
policy, and other matters. and financial research. Sheila was the copy editor for
Steering the Metropolis.
Patricia McCarney is professor of political Pedro B. Ortiz is currently a senior urban
science and director of the Global Cities planner at the World Bank in Washington, DC.
Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada, Previously, he was deputy director of the
and president and CEO of the World Council Council of Architects of Madrid and director
on City Data. Patricia received her PhD in of the Institute for Urban Renewal, a joint
international development and planning from MIT. She has venture between the public and private sectors in Madrid. He
served as associate vice president for international research was also the founder and director of the masters program of
and development at the University of Toronto. Before join- town planning of the University King Juan Carlos of Madrid.
ing the University of Toronto, she worked as a professional Pedro was a partner in the planning consultancy firm Arop &
staff member in a number of international agencies, includ- As. He previously served as mayor for Madrids Central
ing the World Bank in Washington and UN-Habitat in District (Distrito de Salamanca) (198991) and has also been
Nairobi. In addition to seven books, she is the author of a member of Madrid City Council (198795), where he was
numerous articles and papers on cities, governance, and responsible for the Urban Prospective (199395) and Culture
urbanism. She heads the work at ISO on city metrics, devel- (199193) programs. He has further served as director of the
oping the first ISO standards for city indicators on sustain- Strategic Plan for Madrid (199194) and was director general
able cities (ISO 37120) as well as two new standards on re- for town and regional planning for the Government of
silient and smart cities. Madrid Region where he authored the Regional Development
Plan (1996) and the Land Planning Law (1997).
Tim Moonen is the director of intelligence at
The Business of Cities Ltd., an advisory firm Regina Orvaanos Murgua is the coordi-
based in London. He specializes in the gover- nator of the City Prosperity Initiative at UN-
nance, leadership, and comparative perfor- Habitat. She is an architect and has an MSc in
mance of cities. Project clients and content international cooperation and urban develop-
partners include the Brookings Institution, Future Cities ment with work experience in Kenya,
Catapult, OECD LEED, and the Oslo Region. He also man- Switzerland, Venezuela, and Mexico in the fields of global
ages the bi-annual review of over 200 city benchmarks and urban monitoring, inequality, spatial planning, sustainable
indexes in partnership with Jones Lang LaSalle. Tim has a PhD urban mobility, and public space rehabilitation. Prior to UN-
in politics and international studies from the University of Habitat, Regina worked with the United Nations Environment
Bristol. He also holds degrees from the University of Programme and the United Nations Refugee Agency, as well
Cambridge and the Universidad Europea de Madrid. as with non-profit organizations on the advocacy of policies
for more sustainable cities.
Femi Olokesusi is a fellow of the Nigerian
Institute of Town Planning and professor of Efrn Osorio Lara is national consultant and
urban and regional planning at the College of projects coordinator for the UN-Habitat
Social and Management Sciences, Afe Programme Office in Jalisco. As a public
Babalola University. Previously, he was direc- servant, he served as electoral district advisor
tor of the physical development department and director during local elections, advisor to the president
general and CEO of the Nigerian Institute of Social and of the General Council of the Electoral Institute and Citizen
Economic Research. Femi conducted or participated in sev- Participation of Jalisco, and head of Sister Cities and
eral national and international studies while a 1994/95 International Affairs of the Municipal Government of
Fulbright African Senior Scholar. He also participated in Zapopan. He also has authored several publications related
preparing the Nigeria Vision 20:2020, the National to transparency, public policies, globalization, and democra-
Infrastructure Master Plan, the Abeokuta Master Plan cy. Efrn has also worked in the UN-Habitat office in
(1987), and the City Structure Plans for Lokoja and Dekina Colombia. He holds a BA in international relations from
in Nigeria. He is currently a member of the Independent ITESO University and an MA in public policy from the
Advisory Group of the World Bank-assisted Ibadan Urban Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. He also studied
Flood Management Project. He holds a PhD in geography development and civic organizations professionalization at
from the University of Ibadan, with a specialization in envi- INDESOL, and project management, protocol, and public
ronmental planning and management. relations at ITESO University.
Abhay Pethe is a senior academic who Brian Roberts is an emeritus professor
currently holds the Dr. Vibhooti Shukla and international urban management ex-
Chair Professorship in the Centre for pert. He holds qualifications in land sur-
Urban Economics & Regional Development veying, urban and regional planning, urban
in the Department of Economics at design, and business management, as well
University of Mumbai. Apart from being involved in as a PhD in urban and regional economic development.
extensive teaching and research activities, he has been a He has held senior positions with the United Nations
member of various expert committees of the Indian Centre for Human Settlements, Queensland state gov-
Government at central, state, and local levels. He has also ernment, two academic institutions, and within the
worked as a consultant to private, governmental, and consulting industry. Brian has managed large and com-
multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and plex multidiscipline projects, and overseen national and
UNDP-UNCHS, among others. regional institutional reform programs, national and
international urban management policy, higher educa-
Robin Rajack is currently lead specialist tion and training, and ministerial advice in several coun-
for housing and urban development at the tries. He has co-authored more than 100 publications
Inter-American Development Bank in and conference papers, including 10 books with contri-
Washington, DC. Previously, he spent more butions to the UN-Habitat World Cities Development
than a decade at the World Bank headquar- Report in 2011 and 2015.
ters working on land, housing, and urban development
through a variety of operations, research, and technical Francisca M. Rojas is an urban develop-
assistance programs in multiple world regions. He was ment and housing specialist at the Inter-
formerly a founding director and manager at the Land American Development Bank. Her areas of
Settlement Agency in the Government of Trinidad and expertise include sustainable urban develop-
Tobago, where he helped design and implement policy, ment, metropolitan urban governance, and
legislation, and programs to address informal settlement the role of information and communications technologies
between 1997 and 2003. He holds a PhD and a masters in urban management, transparency, and accountability.
degree in land economics from the University of Previously she was research director and post-doctoral
Cambridge. fellow with the Transparency Policy Project at the Harvard
Kennedy School of Government. She was also a research-
Purshottama Sivanarain Reddy has been in er at the MIT Senseable City Lab. In the public sector,
academia since 1980 and is currently senior Francisca has been an urban planner with the Washington,
professor in the School of Management, IT, DC, Office of Planning and an advisor to the Minister of
and Governance at the University of Kwazulu Housing and Urban Development in Chile. Francisca has
in Durban, South Africa. He previously held a PhD in urban and regional planning from MIT, a masters
a study fellowship at the former School of Public Policy of degree in city planning from MIT, and an undergraduate
the University of Birmingham, where he researched local degree from the University of Michigan. She is currently
government systems and comparative local government. He based in the IDB Argentina country office and lives in
is a local government specialist and is currently the project Buenos Aires.
director of the Working Group on Local Governance and
Development of the International Association of Schools Abel Schumann works as an economist in
and Institutes of Administration in Brussels. He also serves the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship,
on the Board of Management representing the African SMEs, Local Development, and Tourism. He
Region. He is also an alternate associate board member of is a co-author of the OECD publication The
the Commonwealth Local Government Forum. Purshottama Metropolitan Century: Understanding Urbanisation
has been the editor or co-editor of 10 books focusing on and its Consequences (2015) and he has worked extensively on
local governance and development. He is a recognized re- the determinants of regional growth. He is currently leading
searcher and currently serves on the editorial and advisory an OECD research program on land use governance that
committees of six journals in South Africa, India, Australia, analyses the relationship between planning systems, land use
the United Kingdom, and the United States. patterns, and economic outcomes.
David Sims specializes in aspects of urban exclusion, democratic innovation, civil society, multilevel
development, economics, and housing in Africa, government, and public policy analysis. He holds a PhD in
Asia, and the Middle East. Since 1971, he has economic sciences from the University of Barcelona.
worked for a wide range of multilateral and bi-
lateral development agencies, as well as host Vaidehi Tandel is senior associate at IDFC
countries. Half of his experience has been in Egypt, and he has Institute, Mumbai. She has published in
written extensively about Greater Cairos development and, in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored
particular, the growing dominance of informal settlements. His a chapter on the Indian economy. Vaidehi has
books include Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City out of Control worked on projects commissioned by the
(Cairo: AUC Press, 2012.) He was educated at Yale and Harvard. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the World Bank, the
For four decades he has been based in Cairo. Ministry of Urban Development, NITI Aayog Government
of India, and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Paul Smoke is professor of public finance She has a PhD in economics from the Department of
and planning and director of international Economics at the University of Mumbai.
programs at the New York University Wagner
Graduate School of Public Service, where he Yan Tang is associate professor in the Urban
teaches courses on public finance, develop- Design and Planning Department at the
ment planning, governance, and development assistance in school of architecture at Tsinghua University,
developing countries. His research and policy interests in- China. Her research, practice, and teaching
clude urban and regional development and the political span the intersection between architectural
economy of fiscal reform and public sector decentralization. design and urban planning, and focus on large-scale urban
He previously taught in the international development pro- design projects, spatial strategies for metropolitan regions,
gram and chaired the master in city planning program at regional governance, and creative city development. She
MIT, and he worked as a resident policy advisor with the holds a PhD in engineering in urban planning and design
Harvard Institute for International Development in Kenya from Tsinghua University, China. At MIT, she will undertake
and Indonesia. Paul is an affiliated scholar with the Center research on urban governance and urban design strategies
on International Development and Governance at the Urban for responding to climate change.
Institute in Washington, DC, and a senior research associate
at the Overseas Development Institute in London. Katerina Elias-Trostmann is a research
analyst at World Resources Institute Brazil
Richard Stren is emeritus professor of polit- and is based in So Paulo. She works closely
ical science and public policy at the University with the Climate Resilience Practice. She fo-
of Toronto and senior fellow at the Global cuses on urban climate resilience and commu-
Cities Institute in Toronto. He is the author or nity response, and has experience working closely with cities
editor of 18 books and numerous scholarly to enhance community resilience in municipal resilience
articles on subjects relating to cities and urban governance. He plans and city strategies. She led the research and develop-
has served as chair of the HS-Net Committee of UN-Habitat ment of Individual Resilience Indicators, which are being
and has worked as consultant to many international agencies, adopted by cities in Brazil. Katerina previously worked for
including Cities Alliance, the World Bank, CIDA, and USAID. the UK Green Building Council before relocating to Brazil.
She has experience working for the UK Green Building
Joan Subirats is professor of government Council and NACUE in London, for a communications
and public administration at the Autonomous technology company in Geneva, and for Ashoka in Paris.
University of Barcelona (UAB). He previous-
ly held the Prince of Asturias Chair at Victor Vergara is the coordinator for the
Georgetown University from 200203. Joan Social, Urban, Resilience and Rural practice in
was founder and director of the Institute of Government the Independent Evaluation Group of the
and Public Policy at UAB and is director of the PhD pro- World Bank. Mr. Vergara began his career in
gram at the same institution. His research focuses mainly on 1985 with the Government of Mexico as man-
the field of governance, public administration, social ager for community and regional development concentrating
on lagging coastal regions. He joined the World Bank in 1991, practitioner in an international consulting firm, working in
contributing to lending operations and policy dialogue on China and Canada. She has published in top international
sustainable urban finance and spatial development. In 1994, journals, is co-author of the award-winning book Urban
he started collaborating in the preparation of urban planning Development in Post-Reform China: State, Market and Space (2007),
and management capacity building operations in Latin and edited Governance and Planning of Mega-City Regions: An
America. In 1998, Mr. Vergara joined the World Bank Institute International Comparative Perspective (2011). She received the
(WBI) as senior urban specialist, where he led global capacity 2008 Research Output Prize of the University of Hong
building programs on urban development and municipal fi- Kong, the 2012 Research Excellence Award of the Chinese
nance focusing on sustainable finance and land use. At WBI, University of Hong Kong, and the 2014 Best Paper by the
Mr. Vergara conceived and applied institutional and techno- International Development Planning Review (with Calvin
logical innovations for distance learning capacity building King-Lam Chung).
programs including the use of community and digital radio
and eLearning. In 2009, as urban practice leader for East Asia Zhumin Xu is a post-doctoral fellow at the
Pacific Region, he led urban lending operations as well as the University of Hong Kong. Zhumin complet-
quality assurance of the operational and analytical portfolio. ed her doctoral degree in urban studies in
In 2013, he joined the Global Urban Social Unit of the World 2016 from the University of New Orleans,
Bank where he led - among other tasks, the Metropolitan Lab where she conducted research on citizen par-
for Strategic Planning and Management. Mr. Vergara holds ticipation in housing requisition in Shanghai. She received
Masters Degrees in City Planning (MIT) and in Agriculture her masters degree from Michigan State University and a BA
(Texas A&M). in Chinese literature from Fudan University. She has also
earned a graduate certificate in hazard policy studies and
Thomas K. Wright is president of Regional certificate in historic preservation from the University of
Plan Association (RPA), an independent urban New Orleans. Zhumins research focuses on affordable
planning think tank focused on improving the housing, social governance, and urban planning in China,
prosperity, infrastructure, sustainability, and with a particular focus on issues of housing requisition, ur-
quality of life of the New York-New Jersey- ban redevelopment, and participatory governance.
Connecticut metropolitan region. As a leading thinker on
urban and regional policy, Thomas is a frequent speaker, lec- Dong Yang is a masters degree student in
turer, and commentator on economic growth and develop- urban planning and design at the School of
ment, roads and transit, good governance, and other public Architecture, Tsinghua University. His re-
policy issues. He has steered many key RPA initiatives, includ- search fields are urban design, urban regener-
ing the historic Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New ation, and conservation of cultural heritage.
York following the September 11, 2001, attacks; the campaign He received the National Scholarship and Merit Student in
to create a mixed-use district at Manhattans Hudson Yards; Beijing awards during his undergraduate study. To this point,
the protection of the New Jersey Highlands; and a vision for he has finished three student research projects supported by
the revitalization for the City of Newark. He also played a key the national undergraduate program for innovation and
role in creating A Region at Risk, RPAs influential third plan entrepreneurship and the scientific research and entrepre-
for the metropolitan region published in 1996 and is guiding neurial program of Beijing for college students.
the organizations development of a fourth regional plan.
Anthony Yeh is chair and professor of the
Jiang Xu is associate professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Design
Department of Geography and Resource at the University of Hong Kong. He has
Management at the Chinese University of been dean of the graduate school, head of
Hong Kong, and president of the Hong the Department of Urban Planning and
Kong Geographical Association. Her main Design, director of the Centre of Urban Studies and Urban
research areas include intercity competition and cooperation, Planning, director of the Geographic Information Systems
urban and regional governance, urban planning systems, (GIS) Research Centre, and director of the Institute of
mega-city development, and changing state spatialities in Transport Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
transitional societies. Previously, Jiang was a planning Anthony was a member of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences in 2003, fellow of The Academy of Sciences for
the Developing World, and member of the Academy of
Social Sciences in United Kingdom. He received the 2008
UN-Habitat Lecture Award and the 2012 Dr. Gill-Chin Lim
Global Award. His focus is on urban development and
planning in Hong Kong, China, and South East Asia, and
the applications of GIS as planning supports.
The papers within contain our best understanding of the why and the how of metropolitan
governance. As a series of case studies from around the world, they should be viewed not just as
list of static best-practices but rather as a set of solutions that can be adapted and tailored to indi-
vidual metropolitan systems.
Bruce Katz
Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar at the Bookings Institution and
author of the book Metropolitan Revolution
Steering the Metropolis should be read as a living resource that provides knowledge and tools
empowering stakeholders to imagine, craft, and take action on their own metropolitan solutions.
Victor M. Vergara
Lead Urban Specialist and Coordinator, Urban, Social and Resilience
Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank
polticas pblicas
public policies