Urbanization and Urban Governance in Developing Countries

Abstract

This chapter focuses on providing the theoretical and contextual framework regarding urbanization, the complexity of urban development and the importance of urban governance in addressing urban issues and challenges. The concept of rapid urbanization with its impacts and consequences such as informal settlements is explored with a focus on developing countries and mid-sized cities, especially in Asia. The related concept of urban governance including its technical, political, cultural and institutional dimensions are disentangled, argued as a necessary component of urban management given urban governance is a wider and more encompassing concept than ‘government’. The chapter argues that the role of urban governance in providing basic urban services in developing countries is complex and multidimensional, cutting across key planning and management constructs such as formal, informal and hybrid governance arrangements. In many contexts, urban governance has co-evolved from formal arrangements led by the government, with local nuanced urban governance emerging from local stakeholders devising and using their own innovative planning, development, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.