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Making Cities Work is the goal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Urban Programs Team. USAID contracted PADCO|EACOM in partnership with TCG International and Georgia State University to prepare a Toolkit for USAID Mission Staff stationed around the world. The Toolkit is designed to help USAID Missions evaluate municipal & urban challenges and indicate what types of programs would be suitable interventions. Presented via the web and in published volumes, the Toolkit includes assessment methodologies, implementation tools, and other resources for three core areas: Managing Municipal Service Deliver, Municipal Finance Services, and Local Economic Development.
Managing Municipal Service Delivery
Municipal Services – water, wastewater, solid waste, heating, and transport – are the basic building blocks of efficient, healthy, and economically vital communities. Although ensuring adequate provision of these services is one of the primary responsibilities of national and sub-national governments, may fall short. Quality of municipal services support the economic development of municipalities, while poor levels of service, interruptions of supply, low coverage levels, and other problems can undermine the quality of lie in municipalities, retard economic growth, and reduce trust in local government.
Municipal Finance
One of the principal reasons that municipal services are inadequate in almost all developing countries and transitional countries is that municipalities are adequately financed. Even when local governments have been assigned clear service delivery responsibilities, lack of revenue-raising powers and predictable intergovernmental transfers often preclude them from discharging these functions efficiently in a way that is responsive to the local constituency. At the same time, underdeveloped financial markets (both weak capital markets and banking systems) are typically unable to provide long-term financing for essential municipal infrastructure. The amount of project funding that is available from central governments and development banks is almost always inadequate to meet the need.
Local Economic Development
Cities are engines of economic growth. Traditional approaches to local economic development (LED) are supplemented by other strategies, including the development of clusters, competitiveness strategies and decentralization. Informal economies in slum settlements are a significant and viable economic force, as are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This module will support USAID officers in developing innovative approaches to LED program design. The assessment tool and module will enable USAID to develop interventions that help households, including the poor, increase incomes; businesses, including those in both the formal and informal sectors, generate more profits; and municipalities augment revenues to improve the delivery of municipal infrastructure and services.
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