Annotation Provides a wealth of concepts and practical experience from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, suggesting ways to implement development policies for those who are left behind.
This book analyzes decentralisation, regional development paths and success factors in different governance sectors in Ghana, the Philippines, Tanzania and Chile, and discuss overarching aspects of relevance. Decentralisation, which refers to the delegation of administrative responsibilities, political decision-making and fiscal powers to lower levels of government, is now considered one of the most efficient engines of development. In Sub-Saharan Africa decentralised states have made more progress in reducing poverty than those states with lower decentralisation scores. But in many countries, decentralisation is still considered a ‘work in progress’ with unsatisfactory results. From a spatial point of view, the link between decentralisation and regional and district development is particularly interesting. Both in the North and in the South, regional or district development is seen as holding the potential for advancing social and economic development, and even more so in decentralised political settings. Space-based networks at the regional or district level are considered instrumental for responding to locally specific challenges, e.g. in areas lagging behind economically.
Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning offers a new selection of the best urban planning scholarship from each of the world's planning school associations. The award winning papers presented illustrate the concerns and the discourse of planning scholarship communities and provide a glimpse into planning theory and practice by planning academics around the world. All those with an interest in urban and regional planning will find this collection valuable in opening new avenues for research and debate. This book is published in association with the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN), and the nine planning school associations it represents, who have selected these papers based on regional competitions.
Annotation Illustrates the changing context in which regional planning now occurs, using examples from transitional, industrialized, and developing economies in Asia and the Americas.
It is widely assumed that the relationship between governance capacity and decentralization determines the success in governance, but how does this relationship function is largely contested. Does decentralization lead to an improvement in governance capacities, or are certain capacities preconditioned in order for decentralization to lead better governance? Relying on an empirical study of Turkish provincial municipalities, the book argues success in decentralization is strongly influenced by the socioeconomic conditions in the province and to a lesser extent by the local government’s capacity. The book provides a novel approach to capacity building practices and decentralization reforms by suggesting that the relationship between decentralization and governance capacity should be addressed not only on the organizational but also on the developmental level. In this way, the book proposes asymmetrical decentralization according to socio-economic development at subnational level for better governance outcomes.
The era of globalization is creating profound changes in global relationships, changes that are manifest at international, regional, national, and sub-national levels, making traditional regional development policy obsolete and irrelevant. Traditional policy needs to be redefined and reconstructed so it can capture and articulate emerging regional trends and issues. The first of four volumes based mainly on Global Forum on Regional Development Policy organized by the United Nations Centre for Regional Development in Nagoya, Japan, this book presents a broad theoretical and trend analysis of globalization and its effects on the theory and practice of regional development. The book lays out the major components that merit consideration if there is to be new regional planning in this millennium. While contributors to the volume do not agree on the effects of globalization on economic growth, there is a consensus in the volume that globalization presents a challenge to conventional development theories. The challenge for regional planners is to examine the impact and implications of recent structural changes on regional development planning and come up with viable and pragmatic regional development strategies. This volume begins to meet that challenge by laying out the major components that merit consideration. The following volumes will present detailed case studies of current regional planning practices, focusing largely on developing countries.
Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning, Volume 4 is a selection of some of the best scholarship in urban and regional planning from around the world. The internationally recognized authors of these award-winning papers take up a range of salient issues from the theory and practice of planning. The topics they address include planning and governance in Zimbabwe, rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, safety issues in urban spaces, and an analysis of French transportation policies. The breadth of the topics covered in this book will appeal to all those with an interest in urban and regional planning, providing a springboard for further debate and research. The papers focus particularly on how planning institutions can meet contemporary environmental, demographic, economic, and socio-spatial challenges. The Dialogues books are published in association with the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) and its member planning schools associations. These associations represent 360 planning schools in nearly fifty countries around the globe. They have selected these papers based on regional competitions.
This enlightening book scrutinizes the shifting governance paradigms that inform public administration reforms. From the rise to supremacy of New Public Management to new the growing preference for alternatives, four world-renowned authors launch a powerful and systematic comparison of the competing and co-existing paradigms, explaining the core features of public bureaucracy and professional rule in the modern day.
Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.