Urban Service Delivery Research Articles

A ‘PNG’ Study into Racial Difference In Contemporary Service Delivery Practices

The people of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Australia have established linkages through a history of colonisation, Christianity, corporate capitalism and development. This creates an intricate and complex environment within PNG which social relations and interactions occur, between, expatriates, especially Australians, and PNG people. A nuanced understanding of these interactions as they relate to perceived differences in service delivery is likely to generate insights into contemporary understandings of racial differences, colonial legacies and how PNG can ‘develop’ in to a modern society. At issue for PNG people delivering and receiving service, is how differences in service delivery can sometimes translate into debilitating or inequitable interactions.<br />As part of my honours thesis, I am undertaking a study based on the narrative accounts of PNG people in Cairns (Australia), Port Moresby and Lae (PNG) about their experience of PNG-expatriate interactions within the context of contemporary urban service delivery and business operations. Through the study, specific accounts will highlight the perceptions of the narrators and their remembered actions. At issue will be perceptions that Australian and other expatriates receive better or different service then the PNG narrator.<br />Undertaking this research as a Papua New Guinean, working specifically with PNG participants will have specific implications on the research process, and on my role as dually, a PNG person and researcher. This research will involve understanding perceptions of PNG people as told to a PNG researcher. I want to explore (i) how being an identified Papua New Guinean impacts research process; (ii) how being an identified researcher documenting the accounts of a known cohort, impacts participant narrative and story-telling; and (iii) the ways being an identified PNG researcher can contribute to the discussion/debate surrounding indigenous research methodologies and the implications of this for PNG specific research. Academics and institutions recognise indigenous methods in undertaking indigenous specific research. PNG people have an identity that is not easily defined as an indigenous identity, given PNG’s unique colonial and post colonial recognition of land ownership and associated forms of local power. Through this paper, I wish to discuss the implications of this in understanding what it means to be PNG, in undertaking PNG specific research.

Characterising urban growth in Tamale, Ghana: An analysis of urban governance response in infrastructure and service provision

This study sought to characterise urban growth dynamics of Tamale, Ghana, and to analyse urban governance response to the growth dynamics regarding urban infrastructure and service delivery. Analysing satellite imagery, qualitative and secondary data sources, we found that the city expanded spatially by 78% between 2001 and 2014 at an annual rate of 4.4%. Increasing human and vehicular populations added complexities to the growth experiences of the city, and collectively exact a high demand for basic infrastructure and services. The metropolis’ population had better access to water and electricity but there is a huge access gap in relation to sanitary facilities, a situation that exposes the inefficiencies of the decentralised urban governance system of the city. The article argues that the state of affairs is a recipe for poor development outcomes such as low economic performance and negative public health issues. It is recommended that urban governance systems in the metropolis devise and implement innovative measures through inclusive and participatory approaches to promote sustainable urban development.

Uncharted waters: Navigating new configurations for urban service delivery in India

Decentralization reconfigures urban water governance by transferring responsibilities for service delivery to local institutions and expanding the role for non-state actors. Consequently, community-managed water supply projects exemplify a proliferation of participatory arrangements—typically those that promise capacity building in low-income communities to enable them to partner with the state in delivering basic services. Drawing on a cross-case analysis of how three such projects unfolded on the ground in India, I examine the coproduction of water supply—a manifestation of the shift in water governance. The findings delineate its role in (re)shaping local-level state-community relations and underscore implications for urban service delivery.

A Comprehensive Sustainability Assessment Framework for Ex-Post Evaluation of Private Sector Participation in Municipal Solid Waste Management

Within the gamut of the neo-liberal economic ideology, private sector participation in urban service delivery is visualised as the ultimate solution to efficient and sustainable provision of the same. While private sector participation is being pushed vigorously in municipal solid waste management in Indian cities, there is a critical gap of literature related to its performance from a holistic dimension of sustainability. A robust study can only be conducted if the sustainability assessment criteria and indicators are expansively framed to enable critical studies to take place. Based upon a detailed analysis of existing literature on private sector participation in both generic and specific contexts of municipal solid waste, this paper elaborates on a comprehensive sustainability assessment framework for ex-post evaluation of private sector participation in municipal solid waste (MSW) management in the context of Indian cities but which is also possible to replicate or remodel as per contextual requirement in other developing countries.

An Approach to assess the Urban Management Performance of Municipalities in Sri Lanka

Urbanization tends bring out a number of problems, such as inadequate housing and urban services, increase land prices and construction costs, propagation of slums, pollution and deterioration of the urban environment. Currently, spatial development activities focusing on major cities of Sri Lanka are demanding urban infrastructure and services where municipalities are facing challenges on provision of the infrastructure and proper urban management too. This study seeks to identify the relevant criteria, indicators and a method for assessing the urban management performance of municipalities in Sri Lanka since specific measurement criteria and related indicators are not yet identified to evaluate urban management by the central government or local government levels. Based on Literature review, five criteria and 25 indicators were selected considering their applicability for the context of Sri Lanka. The Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator Method (FPPSI) was applied to synthesize indicators and the Synthetic indicator has been used to show the performance of each criterion in terms of urban service delivery. Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) and Moratuwa Municipal Council (MMC) have been selected as the case studies for this research. Although selected cases are within Colombo Metropolitan Region, none of the municipalities were achieved the “High” or “Very High” level of synthetic indicator (SR>= 0.50) that shows the standard of municipal service delivery of Sri Lanka as a whole. This research lays the platform to evaluate the functional performance of Municipal Councils to guide the future scenario and to make decisions at the grass root level for managing the urbanization related issues in the country. Also this research helps the government to know the current trends of development impact and to take necessary policy level decisions to guide the economic growth in a correct direction with the political manifestoes.

English

In recent era, rapid rate of urbanization and population explosion in developing countries like India have its direct and negative impact on existing urban infrastructure as well as public service delivery, which deteriorate the living standard of city dwellers. It is evinced that there is a wide gap between minimum entitlements of the service provisions delivered and the ever increasing demand of stakeholders. This situation is more critical in case of small urban areas and Berhampore Municipal town is no exception. This study seeks to discover an alternative way-out through analyzing the cognitive pattern of stakeholders’ response regarding status of urban amenity and service delivery and also the choice of suggestion for improvement. Perception pattern are analyzed through the basic understanding of the people in terms of their choices of suggestions and the parameters are taken as proxy elements as of sign, signal and expressions as to how they are thinking about the status and development of urban amenity and service delivery. The perceptual data are obtained by stratified random sample survey, covering all the wards of Berhampore town, and the collected data are analyzed applying statistical tools. Finally, it is evident that among various criterion garbage management followed by management of drains and sewerage are the preferable performance of Urban Local Body (ULB). On the other hand, among eight suggestions the most popular suggestion are investment and allocation of funds for the development of amenity should be on priority basis or regional demand, followed by increasing plan allocation by state and central government for the urban infrastructural development.   Key words: Amenity, service delivery, citizens’ perception, Berhampore Town, Urban Local Body (ULB).

Urban Governance and Service Delivery in African Cities: The Role of Politics and Policies

This is an introduction to a special issue sponsored by UNU‐WIDER focusing on key governance challenges related to addressing gaps in urban service delivery in sub‐Saharan Africa. First, due to decentralisation policies in much of Africa, the provision of services is often transferred to sub‐national authorities. But complex layers of administration and high levels of poverty deprive local governments of adequate resources. Secondly, opposition parties now control a number of African cities, a situation known as ‘vertically‐divided authority’. Consequently, central governments do not always have an incentive to help municipal governments improve their performance. Case studies of Senegal, South Africa and Uganda highlight how and when such dynamics become problematic for the delivery of urban services, and offer important implications for the donor community.

Urban Service Delivery in Africa and the Role of International Assistance

Sub‐Saharan African cities have been growing at historically unprecedented rates. Since the early 1970s, they have received considerable international assistance, involving a succession of major thematic objectives. The main agency involved in urban assistance has been the World Bank. But as its goals have changed, it has been obliged to operate increasingly through a decentralised, more democratically structured local‐government system. Overall, the success of this international‐assistance regime has been positive but modest, given the overwhelming needs of African cities. Still, African cities are increasingly finding solutions both co‐operatively and on their own.

Strategies of Subversion in Vertically‐Divided Contexts: Decentralisation and Urban Service Delivery in Senegal

Focusing on the case of Senegal under the former President, Abdoulaye Wade, this article examines the impact party politics has on service delivery in urban areas controlled by opposition parties. Senegal's decentralisation process provided opportunities for the central government to deliberately reduce the autonomy of local government under conditions in which the latter could be held accountable for good service delivery and increase autonomy when local government could be targeted for poor performance – actions manifested through backtracking on political decentralisation, undermining fiscal decentralisation, and augmenting administrative ambiguity. The case offers useful implications for donors involved in decentralisation and urban service‐delivery projects in opposition‐controlled cities.

Vertical Decentralisation and Urban Service Delivery in South Africa: Does Politics Matter?

Focusing on the case of South Africa, this study examines how decentralisation policies and inter‐party politics have affected urban service‐delivery responsibilities and resources. Service delivery does not appear to be worse off in Cape Town than in Johannesburg, even though the former is controlled by the opposition Democratic Alliance. While there have been political attempts to undermine the authority of its officials, the fiscal elements are protected by a relatively strong and well‐managed department of finance. Consequently, both donors and the national government steer money towards Cape Town because they know it can deliver on its obligations.

Opposition Politics and Urban Service Delivery in Kampala, Uganda

Uganda, like other African countries, has implemented reforms to decentralise political authority to local governments and reintroduce multi‐party elections. This combination creates opportunities for national partisan struggles to emerge in local arenas and influence local service delivery. This article examines service provision by Kampala City Council and recent reforms to recentralise control over the city. It finds that partisan politics undermines service delivery in Kampala in several ways, including through financing, tax policy, and even direct interference in the policies and decisions made by the City Council.

Comparative Regulatory Regimes in Water Service Delivery: Emerging Contours of Global Water Welfarism?

This paper explores one particular dimension of broader global policy issues concerning water resources: the regulatory governance aspect of delivering water services to ordinary citizens in urban contexts for domestic use. Water provision, as with many other areas of collective provision, is increasingly shaped by attempts to embed social facets into the expansion of transnational markets: part of the incremental growth of 'globalisation with a human face'. The paper first summarises nascent transnational institutional developments in policymaking and provision around urban water services delivery. It stresses that this process is still heavily dependent on national and local state institutions, particularly domestic regulatory institutions. The paper then elaborates a theoretical framework frames empirical findings from case studies of the regulatory governance of water services in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina during the 1990s and early 2000s. These case studies illustrate how transnational dynamics create a regulatory intersection of social policy and global governance. This pattern could be emblematic of potential trajectories of transnational regulatory politics in areas beyond water (most obviously other public utilities such as gas and electricity, but also health and education).

Urban ecosystem services for resilience planning and management in New York City.

We review the current state of knowledge about urban ecosystem services in New York City (NYC) and how these services are regulated, planned for, and managed. Focusing on ecosystem services that have presented challenges in NYC—including stormwater quality enhancement and flood control, drinking water quality, food provisioning and recreation—we find that mismatches between the scale of production and scale of management occur where service provision is insufficient. Adequate production of locally produced services and services which are more accessible when produced locally is challenging in the context of dense urban development that is characteristic of NYC. Management approaches are needed to address scale mismatches in the production and consumption of ecosystem services. By coordinating along multiple scales of management and promoting best management practices, urban leaders have an opportunity to ensure that nature and ecosystem processes are protected in cities to support the delivery of fundamental urban ecosystem services.

English

Urban service delivery in cities of Africa is undergoing transformation in the quest to improve access and coverage while reducing the urban infrastructure deficit. This is mainly signaled by the gradual shift to integrated urban planning functions and decision-making spheres within the institutional set-up of city authorities. This paper builds on a triangulated study in Kampala city to argue that urban planning functions should not only be integrated but also responsive to gender needs, as an inclusive pathway to sustained provision of infrastructure. The study found out that the utilization of infrastructure and the associated aspects of service delivery are socially preconditioned by socio-economic preferences that are based on gender differentials in mobility needs.  Women preferred infrastructure that offers personal security, flexible mobility, hygiene and physical comfort, whereas  men were primarily concerned about  alternative travel routes for punctuality, safety while on the road, convenience and quicker connectivity to public utilities.  But planning at city level has neither integrated nor transcended the physical, economic and environmental accounts of infrastructure and service provision to include gender responsiveness. This ultimately leads to delivery outcomes that are less aligned to variations in women’s compared to men’s end-user expectations. The paper concludes with a step-wise framework for conceptualizing how urban planning can be gender responsive together with examples on real-life applications in the context of African cities.    Key words: Infrastructure, services, gender, urban planning, African cities. &nbsp

A composed index of critical accessibility (CICA) to healthcare services in a traditional African City

While empirical works that analyse rural–urban differentials in accessibility to health services are common in the developing countries, systematic studies focusing on intra-urban variations in accessibility to overall healthcare resources remain scant. Yet, many urban dwellers especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa have to travel long distances within the urban space to access basic health services. This study employs composed index of critical accessibility (CICA) to analyse differentials in access to health resources in Ibadan, a traditional African City. Data on healthcare centre location, ownership, doctors’ population were collected through field survey while spatial data on the administrative units and populated places were obtained from archival sources. Also, data on road networks was collected. Results show that the distribution of health facilities across local administrative units varies. In terms health facilities, Ibadan South West has 26 (36 %) of the total number while Ibadan South east has only 7 (9.8 %). The Doctor-Population Ratio also exhibits similar variations as Ibadan North has 20.5 as against 2.2, 1.9 and 0.3 for Ibadan SW, Ibadan NW and Ibadan NE respectively. The CICA analysis shows that 228,938 inhabitants are in high risk of negative accessibility while 49,234 are faced with condition of low risk of negative accessibility, which implies that a significant proportion of the population still finds it difficult to access basic health services as and when needed. The variations in the distribution of this deprived population are also noteworthy as the largest proportion of this group was localized in Ibadan NW. This has grave implication for the health and wellbeing of the population and raises once again the question of spatial equity in the delivery of urban public service. Curiously, these differences in the level of accessibility cut across administrative boundaries which brings to the fore the role of jurisdictional partitioning in ensuring equity in the delivery of urban public services. This opens a vista of research opportunity into the role jurisdictional partitioning in service provision in the urban centres.

Marketisation, public services and the city: the potential for Polanyian counter movements

Marketisation of urban service delivery gained renewed intensity in the crisis. Mobilising Polanyi’s concept of double movement, we analyse how marketisation of public services both creates and constrains the potential for urban counter movements in the USA and Europe. We identify three main urban responses: ‘hollowing out’, where cities engage in service cut backs; ‘riding the wave’, where cities attempt to harness the market; and ‘push backs’, where cities and citizen movements oppose marketisation. Although the city is constrained by marketisation at national and international levels, we find evidence of push back and, in it, the potential for public service alternatives.

Competencies and urban Public Private Partnership projects in India: A case study analysis

In India, the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for project implementation has been gaining prominence as municipalities attempt to meet a growing demand for infrastructure services. However, weak competencies within urban local bodies (ULBs) present one of the primary bottlenecks to implementing PPPs in the delivery of urban services. In this paper we attempt to understand the kinds of competencies that are prevalent within ULBs in India, competencies that are often absent, strategies that are currently used to bridge these competency gaps, and approaches that ULBs should follow in order to create a more robust environment for PPPs. In order to do so, we first describe a competency framework for implementing urban PPP projects. We then adopt a case-based research approach to analyze five urban PPP projects. The case study analysis indicates that project development competencies are supplemented through the engagement of PPP coordination agencies. However, there are larger competency gaps in the area of project governance. The outcomes of this research study contribute to a growing body of knowledge on the performance of PPPs in developing countries and suggest areas for improvement in the existing institutional frameworks for urban PPP projects.

Implementing Public Private Partnerships in Africa:The Case of Urban Water Service Delivery in Ghana

The study sets out to given in-depth analysis of thePublic Private Partnership between the government of Ghana, represented by GWCL and Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd –AVRL from 2005-2011 and to generate an insight on how the implementation process faired from the perspective of implementers in particular, civil society organisations and the public utility workers union. The case study method within the qualitative approach was used for the study. The study also, made use of interview as the research instrument and respondents were purposively selected. The results of the study were subjected to an interpretative analysis combined with secondary data from the literature review. There were several grey areas in the management contract resulting in a number of ambiguities in various parts of the management contract. These ambiguities translated into delays in the implementation process. Also, there appeared to be conflict of interest on the part of GWCL, resulting in weak supervision. Political interference also weakened the structures established for the implementation of the contract. Leadership of GWCL was weakened as result of frequent changes in leadership and the fact that leaders were mostly in acting capacities. Despite the richness of the data, the study encountered a number of difficulties including the unwillingness of some senior level staff to participate in the study limits the diversity of perspectives which otherwise would have broadened the scope of the study. The findings provide deeper understanding to public policy implementation in respect of the management contract between GWCL and AVRL. The paper particularly contributes to the challenges implementers encounter in implementing management contracts from both implementers and non-implementers perspectives. It may also contain lessons for implementers in the private sector.

The Power of Participation

The uneven distribution of urban services has been the subject of debate in the urban studies literature, and yet no consensus has been reached upon its determinants. This article reexamines this puzzle by looking at variation in post-Hurricane Katrina building permit issuance in New Orleans. Focusing on the potential effect of civic competence on urban service delivery patterns, I test a hypothesis that the number of building permits and the speed of permit issuance are positively associated with the degree of community participation in local politics. Results indicate that local political participation not only contributes to increasing the number of permits but also facilitates the permit issuance process.

Authority Structures and Service Reform in Multilevel Urban Governance

Research on urban service delivery strategies lacks a multilevel approach able to account for the influence of authority structures on effective reform. A comparative analysis of efforts to increase recycled wastewater production in the United States (specifically California) and Australia is used to evaluate the effectiveness of centralized and decentralized urban governance systems in reform efforts and, more importantly, the institutional and political mechanisms underlying these differences. The results show that Australia, with a more centralized system, has more effectively set and implemented an urban water governance agenda that includes recycled urban wastewater. However, in both places local resistance has been a barrier to effective change. These findings demonstrate that reform capacity and policy success may differ between governance systems while common barriers and political dynamics persist.