Abstract
UN HABITAT in 1999 launched “Global Campaign on Urban Governance” in order to support the implementation of the Habitat agenda goal of “sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world”. Under this campaign Urban Governance Index (UGI) was developed in 2004 to assess the level of governance at global and local level. The research has been undertaken to evaluate the existing situation of urban governance in local governments particularly Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs) in Punjab, Pakistan using the urban governance index. Data was collected through structured interviews, surveys and secondary sources regarding four sub-indexes of UGI comprising Effectivity, Equity, Participation and Accountability involving total 26 number of indicators. The results revealed the average UGI of the TMAs in Punjab as 0.40 on a scale of 0 to 1 which transpires quite poor condition of urban governance in Pakistan. The detailed results depicted the average Effectiveness and Equity sub index values as 0.32 and 0.31 respectively. A meagre value was recorded in case of Participation sub index as 0.02 which was primarily due to the absence of elected local governments. The Accountability Sub Index secured highest value and was recorded as 0.97 which shows strong prevalence of accountability in the TMAs. The highest UGI value was observed in cities of Attock and Murree in Northern Punjab which was calculated as 0.45. When Compared with UGI of 24 different cities of developing world, these cities stand at 22nd position which shows quite poor situation with regard to the urban governance. Research has also highlighted some key urban governance issues across TMAs of Punjab such as low revenue generation, absence of elected local government, lack of public and women participation and poor service delivery.
Highlights
IntroductionIn 1950, 30% of world population was residing in urban areas which increased to 54% by 2014
World is witnessing huge urbanization since the beginning of 20th century
Furtermore, the average ratio of actual recurrent and capita budget in 2013-14 was observed as 0.86 with minimum ratio observed in case of Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs) DG Khan and Sahiwal whereas maximum ratio of 8.96 observed in case of TMA Yazman of District Bahawalpur
Summary
In 1950, 30% of world population was residing in urban areas which increased to 54% by 2014. Urbanization besides having some advatages such as economic development, social and cultural integration, comparative advantage of cities, high income levels, more productivity and richer market structures posses very serious threats to cities such as overburdened infrastructures, shifitng of rural poverty to urban poverty, slums formation and environmental degradation [2]. Development agencies in large cities are often confronted by a lot of challenges like large urban densities, transport, traffic congestion, energy inadequacy, unplanned development and lack of basic services, illegal construction both within the city and in the fringe, informal real estate markets, poor natural hazards management in overpopulated areas, crime, water, soil and air pollution leading to environmental degradation, climate change and poor governance arrangements [3].
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