Urban Local Government Research Articles

Digital Platforms as (Dis)Enablers of Urban Co-Production: Evidence From Bengaluru, India

This article examines how digital platforms focused on citizen engagement affect urban transformation based on multiple case studies from Bengaluru, India. The research question is: What type of initiatives and designs of digital citizen platforms enable co-production? Co-production is defined as the use of assets and resources between the public sector and citizens to produce better outcomes and improve the efficiency of urban services. The study uses qualitative and quantitative approaches. Evaluative metrics of citizen engagement in digital platforms are done at two levels: platform metrics and initiative metrics. Each platform is evaluated under several variables that indicate the type of ownership, period of operation, aims and types of initiatives, and impact and levels of engagement. Then, the digital platforms are mapped for the extent of digital co-production that matches the type of digital interaction with a form of citizen–government relationship. The findings indicate that the orientation of digital co-production, where it exists, seems to be around the dimensions of co-testing and co-evaluation rather than co-design and co-financing. Furthermore, the digital platforms under study primarily view citizens as users rather than collaborators, limiting the scope of digital co-production. The involvement of urban local governments and private partners in a single platform strengthens the degree of citizen engagement, including the scope for co-production. Finally, there is a strong offline counterpart to citizen engagement through digital platforms where true co-production exists.

Structure and Functioning of Urban Local Bodies in Infrastructure and its Challenges

India's society is now characterised by widespread urbanisation. Millions of people are moving to cities in search of employment because cities are the main benefactors of globalisation and are growing in population. This shows that Indian cities must act as the engine for the country's economy's structural change. Infrastructure has to be improved and upgraded, which necessitates active cooperation from both the state and federal governments. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, which aim to establish an institutional framework for bringing about grass- roots democracy through the use of genuinely self-governing local bodies in both urban and rural areas of the nation, provide a clear mandate for democratic decentralisation in addition to the directive principle of state policy. The subjects covered in this research study include various urban local bodies, their relevance, their organisation, their tasks and responsibilities, and their problems and difficulties. Urban Local Bodies must deal with issues such financial scarcity, unplanned urbanisation, excessive state government control, and the proliferation of agencies, Low level of People’s Participation in socio-economic development. And how can the financial independence of urban local governments be increased? By incorporating technology, e-governance, financial instruments like municipal bonds, ensuring active citizen participation, and improving grievance redressal mechanisms. Keywords—urban local bodies, municipal corporation, municipal council, municipal bonds

County-level urban forms and their correlation with local governance in Jiande, China: evidence from historical records

ABSTRACT Examining the morphological evolution of ancient Jiande County (JD) over time, our research adopts a diachronic perspective to explore county-level spatial planning and its correlations with local governance during the feudal and republican eras. Utilizing historical records, including chronicles, geo-maps, and remote sensing images, to reconstruct urban ground plans, our findings unveil a historical shift in administrative management within the ancient Yanzhou region (YZ). In the Song Dynasty, feudal authority was distinctly manifested through a spatial hierarchy, diminishing in influence during the Ming-Qing Dynasty. In contemporary times, Meicheng Town (the ancient Jiande County) has departed from traditional urban layouts, relinquishing its central position in the local administrative hierarchy. JD’s historic transition in county-level urban planning and local governance paradigms provides evidence for examing its future development trajectories.

Is urban spatial expansion on track to achieve low-carbon cities? An empirical comparative study of Xi’an and Chengdu in western China

Rapidly expanding urban areas constitute places of high-intensity energy consumption and, hence, major carbon emissions. There is an urgent need to systematically review the relationship between urban spatial expansion and carbon emissions at the city level, especially for cities in western China where development lags behind compared to other parts of the country, and differences among resource availability exist. Here, we conducted a systematic comparative analysis of carbon emissions and urban expansion indicators for urban spatial development. We introduce and apply an extension of the STIRPAT model to quantify the impact of urban spatial expansion on carbon emissions for the cities of Xi’an and Chengdu located in western China. The model findings indicate that both cities have reached the absolute and relative goal of carbon emissions, although they experienced a sprawling pattern. Moreover, population density for both cities displayed a negative relationship with carbon emissions, whereas road area per capita displayed a positive relationship. Since western cities have a later starting point for development, the empirical research on influencing variables of carbon emissions for western cities is important to local and regional urban spatial planning and governance. We propose further empirical studies regarding the gaps of existing urban spatial structure and low-carbon urban areas, in order to construct a systematic and scientifically sound approach to further low-carbon strategies in urban development.

Assessing urban social sustainability with the Place Standard Tool: Measurement, findings, and guidance

This study introduces the Place Standard Tool as an instrument for assessing urban social sustainability. The Place Standard Tool was developed in Scotland as a simple framework to evaluate physical (e.g., buildings, public spaces, transport system), social (e.g., social interaction, identity and belonging, safety), and procedural (e.g., public participation, sense of control) aspects concerning places, neighborhoods, and districts. The tool was tested in three cities in Norway – Kristiansand, Stavanger, and Fredrikstad – through a transdisciplinary collaboration between researchers, municipalities, and local stakeholders. We first present the methodology we applied for testing the tool and then report some indicative findings. Next, municipal advisors present their qualitative assessment of the tool discussing its usefulness for urban planning and local governance. Finally, researchers offer theoretical and methodological guidance: they theoretically discuss the relevance of the tool for urban social sustainability, present its strengths and weaknesses, and provide methodological recommendations for future applications.

Utilisation of Fifteenth Finance Commission’s Health Grants: A Kerala Story


 This paper evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges involved in the management and utilisation of health grants in Kerala, a state renowned for its decentralised healthcare system, with the support of empirical evidence from all the urban and rural local governments in the state. It critically explores the factors that led to poor utilisation of health grants through the lens of politicisation, personalisation, corruption, post-office syndrome, capability traps, poor self-esteem, over emphasis on legalistic framework and rule-bound approaches, and relative absence of thick and thin accountability. While the 15th Union Finance Commission took inspiration from the Kerala model of decentralised healthcare to involve the rural and urban local governments in the health sector and extend additional resources to strengthen the primary health system at the grassroots level with the introduction of health grants, the shocking underutilisation of health grants in the model state is a disappointing one.

Knowledge Level of Rural Dwellers on Sustainable Utilization of Forest Resources in Peri Urban Local Government Areas of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Forest resources have been a major source of income for a sizeable number of the populace especially in the rural areas. This study therefore investigated the knowledge levels of rural dwellers on sustainable utilization of forest resources in Peri Urban Local Government Areas of Ibadan, Oyo State in which Oluyole and Akinyele Local Governments were purposively chosen. Using a multi-stage sampling procedure, 200 respondents were randomly sampled from the Study Area and data were collected using a structured questionnaire on their personal characteristics, knowledge level, accessibility and constraints faced in sustainable utilization of forest resources. Majority of the respondent 68.4% were males, had secondary education (34.7%). All the respondents (100%) were involved in forest resources utilization; majority (63.3%) sourced their information from forest workers. The high cost of forest resources (40.8%) ranked as the highest constraint faced in the utilization of forest resources. Significant relationship (x2=15.76; p≤0.05) existed between household size and the knowledge level of respondents on forest resources utilization. Also, there was a significant relationship (r=-0.712, p= 0.000) between knowledge level and constraints associated with sustainable utilization of forest resources. The paper therefore recommends the use of public-private partnerships in creating awareness on sustainable utilization of forest resources.

Measuring Financial Condition of Municipalities in Bangladesh: A Case Study on Gangni Pourashava in Meherpur District

Sufficient financing in local government institutions is the key to effectively carry out a wide range of functions at the local level. In Bangladesh, municipalities play a pivotal role in delivering various services and engaging in socio-economic activities. This research aims to assess the financial conditions of urban local government organizations in Bangladesh, with a particular emphasis on Gangni Pourashava in Meherpur District. The study adopts a comprehensive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, including a structured questionnaire survey and interviews for data collection. The findings reveal that local governments exhibit favorable financial conditions to cover their expenditures. However, a stark contrast emerges when considering citizen satisfaction, with widespread dissatisfaction attributed to the perceived lack of financial responsibility, citizen participation, and transparency. Notably, the research identifies several key challenges, including the absence of financial autonomy, dependence on government grants, and resource constraints. These findings suggest that municipalities need to engage in comprehensive financial planning that is transparent and involves greater citizen participation.

Spatiotemporal Land Use and Land Cover Changes and Associated Runoff Impact in Itaperuna, Brazil

The urban growth intricately linked to the hydrological cycle outlines a crucial dynamic in the environmental transformations of cities. Utilizing the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation model, we conducted hydrological modeling to assess the impact of urbanization on land use and land cover (LULC) changes and their subsequent effects on runoff generation in Itaperuna, Brazil, spanning the years 2015 to 2020. The analysis, performed across 17 urban sub-basins, highlights rapid urban expansion, notably in sub-basins 3 and 7, reflecting the city’s spatial dynamics and growth. Significantly, sub-basin 3 exhibited a 7.42% increase in runoff production capacity. The study meticulously documents changes in six LULC categories—water bodies, urban area, exposed soil, forest, natural pasture, and grassland vegetation—revealing that urban growth has directly amplified surface runoff in specific sub-basins, thereby impacting water resource management and flood prevention. Emphasizing the urgency of environmental conservation, especially in deforested basins, the findings hold substantial importance for urban planners and local authorities, offering relevant insights for flood risk mitigation and water security. Future research directions may explore additional facets, including water quality, advanced hydrological models, impacts on biodiversity and society, socioeconomic assessments of preventative measures, public policy considerations, and monitoring systems.

Building a “reservoir of social resilience:” A strategy for social infrastructure regeneration in shrinking cities based on social network analysis

Northeast China is generally experiencing a shrinkage phenomenon similar to that in other old industrial regions worldwide. Large-scale growth-oriented regeneration programs by the government over the long term have led to the decline of social infrastructure in inner cities, thereby causing a structural crisis at the social level, and exacerbating the negative effects of shrinkage. This study investigated Hegang as a typical shrinking city in northeastern China. Coupling analysis was conducted based on network indexes and two categories of social resilience indexes to identify the key social infrastructure that provides residents with resilience to help cope with shrinkage. Our results demonstrate the centralizing effect of large-scale retail sites, and large green spaces and squares on social resilience. We also found that these categories of social infrastructure had effects across different areas of the city, which then provided social resilience to a wider range of residents. Our results also provide evidence for inequalities in the ability of residents to cope with shrinkage. Based on these findings, we characterize China's urban shrinkage and future development trends, and discuss the limitations of the regeneration model that has long been adopted by local governments. We suggest that local governments should consider incorporating investment in resilience to shrinkage into regeneration policies. They should also consider regenerating social infrastructure and deploying funds to a holistic network to build “reservoirs” of social resilience in shrinking cities. In addition, we highlight our methodological contributions and argue that social resilience monitoring should be integrated into China's urban physical examination framework to enhance dynamic planning and the sustainable regeneration capacity of shrinking urban local governments.

The family dynamics of children on the streets of Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria.

Children roaming the streets estimated at 1 in 10 by a 2021 United Nation Children's Funds (UNICEF) report is a growing problem, in cities of lower- and middle-income African countries. Studies of street children with no family ties abound, but there is a paucity of studies on children on the street who exist within families and return home daily. We explored the family dynamics of children on the streets of Ibadan, emphasising family structure, resources and relationships. Using an exploratory design based on a qualitative approach 53 participants were interviewed, including children on the streets, parental figures, child-welfare officers and street shop owners. Participants were selected from streets in the five urban local government areas of Ibadan, Nigeria. Recorded data were transcribed, and framework analysis was performed. The family dynamics included family structural problems, poor family resources and poor parent-child relationships. The family structural problems included: broken homes, large families and ambivalence around polygamy as subthemes. Family resources comprised: poor economic resources, poor social resources, educational challenges, cultural ambivalence and spiritual backdrops. The family relationships patterns included: poor adaptability, economic-oriented partnership, poor growth support, poor emotional connection and poor family bonding. The dynamics driving a family's choice for child streetism in Ibadan, mostly to hawk, are devaluation of family life, parenting irresponsibility, and poor filial relationship, underscored by economic constraints and socio-cultural decadence. The results of this research buttress the need for family-level interventions to forestall the escalating phenomenon of child streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.Contribution:This research highlights the family dynamics of children on the streets, and buttresses family-level interventions are necessary to forestall escalating child-streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The Impact of Administrative Intensity on Financial Sustainability in Local Government: An Empirical Analysis of New South Wales

The Impact of Administrative Intensity on Financial Sustainability in Local Government: An Empirical Analysis of New South Wales

지방창생과 관계인구 확대를 위한 일본의 워케이션의 운용 방향성 고찰

Purpose: Recently, interest in workation has been increasing in Korea. Many local governments are inducing a large influx of tourists through investment and operation in the development of the workation center. Accordingly, hardware-oriented investments called workation centers are mainly developed and operated by urban local governments. Accordingly, this study was conducted to present implications for the ultimate development direction of workation linked to the region based on the understanding of the development background and application of Japan workation, which is the leading application of workation.
 Results: The characteristics of the Japanese work system are as follows. The Japanese work system has long been discussed in policy by the government, telework and work were applied as a way to expand the related population as a way to prevent local extinction and promote local creation, and work is still applied as an alternative for local revitalization, mainly in the provinces. In contrast, Korea’s intention to activate work, a new way of working that reflects the characteristics of the new MZ generation, was emphasized, and many local governments are developing work centers and operating them mainly as corporate workers through contracts with companies. Furthermore, it is believed that it is being operated as a strategy to attract another tourist. Recently, in Japan, there are doubts about whether work is a concept in which the management and operation of workers of another company and autonomous time are expanded without separation of work and leisure.
 Implications: In this study, as a direction of application of work, it is suggested that the application of Japanese-type work, which can be operated in connection with companies with areas that are difficult to develop in rural areas such as agricultural, mountain and fishing villages, should be applied in Korea. Through communication, it will be possible to become an alternative for local and urban linkage through understanding of the region and expanding opportunities for mutual exchange. In addition, it is believed that the MZ generation should be able to provide opportunities for them to understand the provinces through work.

The role of municipal digital services in advancing rural resilience

Community resilience refers to collective efforts to help improve response and recovery for the entire community in response to disasters. Municipalities that provide information and services to residents through digital platforms have more options for meeting citizen needs during crises. In this study, we examine the provision of digital services by rural municipalities in Maine, USA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on an inventory of 100 municipal websites and interviews with 20 municipal officials, we assessed the prevalence of 20 digital services, associations between municipality characteristics and digital services, and factors that spur changes in digital services. We discovered that many rural communities use digital platforms, and provide digital information, digital transactions and opportunities for digital democracy. While we found positive associations between greater levels of digital services, larger community populations, and more representative forms of government, we learned that a range of technological and cultural barriers also determine the degree to which a municipality engages with and adapts their digital services. Our findings establish a link between municipal digital services and rural resilience, confirm prior trends observed in larger and more urban local governments, and encourage future work on relatively under-studied rural areas.

Comparison Of Sewage And Solid Waste Disposal Methods Among Households In Urban And Rural Local Government Areas Of Anambra State

Improper sewage and solid waste disposal lead to environmental pollution and increased risk of communicable diseases. This study compared the sanitation and solid waste disposal facilities utilized in selected rural and urban local government areas of Anambra State, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1310 households and data was collected from household heads or a designated adult representative using of quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (KII) data collection methods. The independent variables in this study are the sociodemographic variables and the geographical location of the respondents while the dependent variables are the toilet facilities and solid waste disposal methods. Data from the questionnaire was analyzed using the SPSS version 23 and the hypotheses were tested with the inferential statistics of Chi square at 0.05 level of significance. Most respondents lie between the age group of 31-50 years. Most of the respondents in both the urban (84.4%) and rural(65.0%) areas had secondary education and above but a higher proportion in the urban compared to rural have tertiary education(41.9% versus 22.1%). The difference in educational status was statistically significant (p = 0.0001). There were more business men (46.6%) and civil servants (38.8%) in the urban area than the rural area. Most rural respondents were farmers(41.5%). Many urban household use toilet with sewer connection 152(11.7%) while pit latrine with slab is the most commonly used toilet facility 242 (18.6%). Burning was more commonly used by the rural households (n = 266, 20.5%). Open dumping of refuse and disposal into gullies and water ways were commonly done by the urban households. The gaps that exist between rural and urban areas of Anambra state may present serious health risk and environmental degradation .This issues can be addressed through health education, building more sanitary infrastructure to include the rural areas and enforcing sanitation laws.
 

‘Human rights cities’ in Africa? Rights as resources for urban governance in the Global South

AbstractThis article considers the use of human rights law as a resource for urban governance by African cities, thereby supplementing the growing literature on ‘human rights cities’ that has thus far focused on the experiences of cities in the Global North. It considers the motivations for and impact of human rights city initiatives, before taking a closer look at reported instances of rights invocation in and by African cities and pointing to factors that explain the seemingly limited traction of human rights law for urban local governments on the continent. The article shows that incomplete and politically contested devolution arrangements across African constitutional systems have combined with pressures pertaining to the domestic enforceability of socio‐economic rights to structure a somewhat cautious and fraught, but nevertheless promising, relationship between local governments in African cities and human rights law.

Assessing citizen satisfaction of urban local government service and infrastructure in Bangladesh: A case study of Pabna municipality

The provision of essential services to residents heavily relies on the infrastructure and functioning of urban local government institutions. The satisfaction citizens have with these institutions is an important indicator of the effectiveness of governance mechanisms. This study aims to assess the degree of citizen satisfaction with urban local government services and infrastructure, specifically in the context of Pabna municipality in Bangladesh. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was employed, utilizing survey data from 120 structured questionnaires and 20 interviews. The study results show that a significant proportion of municipality residents (56%) express deep dissatisfaction with basic services and infrastructure performance. The municipality has failed to effectively deliver sanitation, disaster management, waste management, roads and bridges, traffic infrastructure, and public utilities services as required. The study also identified key challenges in delivering basic services, including poor infrastructure, a lack of initiatives, adequate resources, a large workforce, and sufficient equipment. The findings suggest that the municipality should prioritize sustainable city planning through democratic participation and consideration of residents’ perceived experiences to deliver a high degree of citizen satisfaction.

The Institutionalization of Urban Communities of Major Regional Centers of the Russian Federation in the System of Political Conflict Management: Limits of Possibilities

In modern Russia, the problems of institutionalized participation of the communities of major regional centers in political conflict management and decision-making on the urban development agenda are becoming more relevant. Political institutionalization is considered by the authors in the context of the liberal theory of conflict, the neo-institutional approach, and illiberal peacebuilding. The authors draw conclusions on the growth of the subjectivity of urban communities with their lack of involvement in the system of political governance at the city level, based on the data of an empirical study conducted through semi-structured interviews with leaders and activists of urban communities in three major regional centers of Russia - Voronezh, Krasnodar, Yaroslavl, as well as an expert survey in these cities. The analysis of the “Krasnodar Tram” case reveals such problems as the low level of institutional trust in the system of interactions between urban communities and local authorities, as well as the lack of effective mechanisms for coordinating decisions in a conflict. Thus, the political institutionalization of communities is limited in scale, which is due to the state of the public policy space at the municipal level, the hybrid nature of institutional regulation, as well as the structure and characteristics of the activities of the communities themselves.

Satisfaction Level of Slum Dwellers with the Assistance of the City Corporation during COVID-19: The Bangladesh Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Bangladesh’s economic and social well-being in many ways. Slum dwellers, including day laborers, rickshaw pullers, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) drivers, housemaids, hawkers, and street vendors, were the worst victims of this pandemic. Besides the voluntary organizations, the City Corporation (urban local government), instructed by the central government, took the initiative to distribute necessary food as well as financial assistance to the city dwellers to survive during the lockdown. The objective of this study is to identify the satisfaction level of slum dwellers with the assistance received from the City Corporation and obtain an idea of whether these supports were enough for them to maintain their livelihood. This is a mixed method research consisting of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Researchers conducted a field survey in Sylhet City Corporation, in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, and collected primary data from one hundred and fifty-five respondents through a structured questionnaire along with an interview (semi-structured) schedule. Samples were selected by applying a multistage sampling technique. Researchers analyzed quantitative data using SPSS software and qualitative data using the thematic analysis method. Study findings reveal that nepotism, patron–client relation, corruption, unequal treatment, management flaws, low level of community engagement, political consideration, and lack of monitoring were the major issues in providing effective service delivery to slum dwellers during COVID-19. Citizen participation, well coordination, proper monitoring, impersonality, and good governance are indispensable for dealing with any crisis.

Planning bikeway network for urban commute based on mobile phone data: A case study of Beijing

Driven by the increasing bike-sharing programs, demand for urban cycling has increased rapidly in recent years. As one of the effective ways to encourage cycling, bikeway has been recognized to support the cycling commutes. Therefore, the rational planning of the bikeway routes and the construction of bikeway network is crucial for improving cycling commutes in urban areas. Taking Beijing as the case, this study proposes an analytical framework for selecting and optimizing bikeway routes based on mobile phone data. The cycling demand is analyzed by mining the mobile phone geographic information, followed by evaluating the available road spaces for bikeway by applying the TOPSIS approach. Finally, the study applies the least-cost path method to select the bikeway routes, which are then classified by cycling potentials and traffic volumes for two scenairos of bikeway construction, respectively. The results show that (1) In city center, the bikeway are arranged to serve for cycling commutes within the central urban area, while the bike lanes in the suburbs (e.g., Haidian, Chaoyang, and Yizhuang) primarily serve for inter-district commute travels; (2) Bikeways that meet for the demand of inter-district commutes should be given priority to construct and is suggested to be as bicycle expressways; (3) A total length of 450 km bikeways is planned to form a city-wide network, which covers more than 70% commute population and primarily connects the high-density suburbs with central areas. The results are expected to provide references for urban planners and local governments to reasonably plan the bikeway network.