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URBAN
GOVERNANCE | participatory processes
The documents here presented
discuss new varieties of participatory learning, action
research, planning, and policy dialogue; community consultation,
community partnerships, social movements and civil society
association involvement.
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local level
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Boonyabancha, Somsook (1999) - "The Urban Community
Environmental Activities Project - Thailand" - Environment
and Urbanization, Vol.11 No.1, April 1999 [pdf]
Thailand - This describes the work of
an environment fund set up to support community-initiated
and managed projects within low-income settlements in urban
areas. Over a two year period, this supported 196 projects
benefitting 41,000 families. Although this was managed by
a Thai government agency (the Urban Community Development
Office) and with funds from the Danish Government agency
DANCED, it allowed low-income communities to develop their
own projects and to manage their implementation. It also
encouraged inter-community exchanges and a strengthening
of the capacity of low income communities to negotiate and
work with external agencies. |
Dahiya, Bhárat (2003) - "Hard struggle and soft
gains: environmental management, civil society and governance
in
Pammal, South India" - Environment & Urbanization,
Vol 15 No 1, April 2003 - IIED [pdf]
India - This paper analyzes the relationships
of a women-led civil society organization (the Shri Shankara
Nagar Mahalir Manram) with the local government and with
the local residents of Pammal, a small town on the periphery
of the city of Chennai in southern India. It examines these
relationships with regard to the organization’s initiative
on community-based solid waste collection and management
in a middle-income neighbourhood. This initiative began
in response to the inadequacies in the waste collection
services provided by local government and, to remain successful,
it had to change and develop in response to the changing
relationships between this organization, the residents and
local government. It also had to overcome opposition from
some of the residents and the lack of support from local
politicians. When local government stopped collecting the
waste that the organization had amassed from house-to-house
collections, composting and recycling were developed, greatly
reducing waste volumes and generating revenues that helped
cover costs. |
Driskell, David; Kanchan Bannerjee and Louise Chawla (2001)
- "Rhetoric, reality and resilience: overcoming obstacles
to young people's participation in development", Environment
and Urbanization, Vol 13 No 1, April 2001 - IIED [pdf]
India - This paper describes the difficult
relationships between those implementing an action research
project with children in a low-income settlement in Bangalore
(India), the distant and unresponsive bureaucracy of an
international funding agency, and the authoritarian management
of the NGO through which its money was channelled. This
case study highlights the difficulties that international
agencies face in operationalizing the principles of grassroots
participation that they officially endorse. The action research
was one of several projects within the Growing Up in Cities
programme. It shows the difficult circumstances under which
so many young people live, including six and seven year-olds
thrust into adult roles, and lives cut short by disease
and violence. But it also shows their astonishing resilience
and energy, self-reliance and optimism. External agencies,
from local governments and NGOs to international funders,
need to work with children to understand what does (and
what does not) work for them. |
Nieuwenhuys, Olga (1997) - "Spaces for the children
of the urban poor: Experiences with Participatory Action
Research" - Environment & Urbanization,
Vol.9 No.1, April 1997 [pdf]
This paper explains why participatory action research (PAR)
could be so important in helping the children of the urban
poor, and those who work with them, generate relevant insights
into their specific needs and priorities and help them influence
decisions that are taken about their lives. The paper begins
by discussing the problems facing children in urban areas
of the South and why more participatory research approaches
which work with children have come to the fore. It then
describes what 'participatory action research' is (and is
not) and why researchers and the institutions that fund
them have difficulty in supporting such a research approach,
especially in relation to children. |
Schusterman, Ricardo; Florencia Almansi, Ana Hardoy, Cecilia
Monti & Gastón Urquiza (2001) - Poverty reduction
in action: Participatory Planning in San Fernando, Buenos
Aires, Argentina - IIED Working Paper 6 on Poverty
Reduction in Urban Areas [pdf]
Argentina - This paper describes an initiative
to support community-directed development projects in low-income
neighbourhoods in San Fernando, one of the poorer, peripheral
municipalities in Buenos Aires. This was part of a national
programme for "vulnerable groups" in low-income
areas which sought to facilitate access to social services,
increase participation and promote transparency in the use
of government resources at local level.
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city level
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Gotz, Graeme & Abdou Maliq Simone (2001) - The Implications
of Informality on Governmentality: The case of Johannesburg
in the context of Sub-Saharan urbanisation - May 2001
ESF/N-AERUS workshop [pdf]
South Africa -Actors in fluid African
urban environments try to make collaborative action work,
collective responsibility enforceable, and instruments of
power effective and legitimate. These efforts give rise
to an uneasy tension between the adoption of normative discourses
concerning urban management and governance, the ways in
which urban residents attempt to adapt to a vast range of
new opportunities and crises, and the role of the city as
a place of experimentation.
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Montiel, René; Pérez and Françoise
Barten (1999) - "Urban governance and health development
in León, Nicaragua" - Environment &
Urbanization - Vol.11, No.1, April 1999 - IIED [pdf]
Nicaragua - This paper describes the development
of a "healthy municipality" initiative in Léon
and of the innovations in local governance that preceded
it - especially the partnerships that local government developed
with the university, bilateral agencies and the long-established
urban social movement. After first discussing why participation
and good governance are so central to "healthy cities",
the paper describes the specific conditions which fostered
the participatory approach in Léon, and the difficulties
faced. The paper also analyzes the process of citizen participation
in policy-making and the contents and results of the programme.
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UN-Habitat (2002) - Best Practice - Urban Poverty and
the City Consultation Process, Ijebu-Ode [pdf]
Nigeria - The programme was designed to
bring together all stakeholders in the affairs of the city
of Ijebu-Ode to collectively appreciate the problem of poverty
in the city, collectively look into how to solve the problems
of the city regarding poverty using the available human,
material and natural resources.
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international level
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Abbot, Jo (1999) - "Beyond tools and methods: reviewing
developments in participatory learning and action"
- Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 11 No. 1,
April 1999 [pdf]
This paper reviews recent innovations in the use of participatory
tools and methods that are relevant to urban areas. This
includes the use of participatory approaches for understanding
poverty, involving children, identifying livelihood opportunities,
and monitoring and evaluating projects. It also highlights
recent literature which discusses how participatory and
conventional research and planning methodologies can be
combined, and how institutional and policy contexts can
be changed in order to be more supportive of participatory
learning and action.
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Ainstein, Luis (2000) - Urban Sustainability within
Institutional Vacuums - May 2000 ESF/N-AERUS workshop
[pdf]
The evolutionary patterns of metropolitan
settings in the context of underdevelopment constitute in
most cases neat examples of lack of sustainability, both
social and environmental. Deregulation and, mainly, decentralization,
are normally presented as the key features associated with
the promotion of both social participation and democratization,
and, thus, of social -and eventually overall- sustainability.
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Mega, Voula (1999) - The Participatory City Innovations
in the European Union - Discussion Paper No. 32 - UNESCO-MOST
[pdf]
Europe is a kaleidoscope of unique urban cultures. It consists
of an archipelago of cities, called by Braudel "greenhouses
of civilisation", and by Levi-Strauss "objects
of nature and subjects of culture". Change is inevitable.
The challenge is how best to manage change in order to achieve
the best European future. Cities are the only places where
decision-makers, entrepreneurs, workers and citizens congregate,
at a point beyond which synergetic effects become more important
than the accumulative ones. The potential, due to their
scale and diversity, has to be reinforced; the participation
of all is leading to the optimisation of the "disorderly
order of human interaction".
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Mitlin, Diana & John Thompson (1995) - "Participatory
approaches in urban areas: strengthening civil society or
reinforcing the status quo?" - Environment &
Urbanization, Vol. 7 No. 1, April 1995 [pdf]
The paper examines current experiences with the use of
participatory methodologies in low-income urban communities.
It outlines the nature and development of participatory
approaches and describes experiences, prospects and problems
related to their use in an urban context. Three case examples
from the UK, Sri Lanka, and India and South Africa demonstrate
how innovative approaches are being used by different agencies
to strengthen and support the activities of community based
organizations. Finally, the paper concludes with a number
of broad questions about the future application of participatory
approaches in low-income urban communities.
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Satterthwaite, David (2001) - "From professionally
driven to
people-driven poverty reduction: reflections on the role
of Shack/Slum Dwellers International" - Environment
& Urbanization, Vol 13 No 2, October 2001 - IIED
[pdf]
Perhaps the single most important factor in the limited
success or
scope of so many housing and urban projects supported by
governments and international agencies over the last 40
years is the lack of influence allowed groups of the urban
poor in their conception, location, design, resource mobilization,
financing, implementation and management, and evaluation.
Or, going beyond this, the very limited support for urban
poor groups to develop their own local representative organizations
that can influence these projects or develop their own –
and for these organizations to be able to work together
in larger federations at municipal, city, regional or national
level to influence policies, laws and resource allocations
beyond the local levels.
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Streeten, Paul (2002) - Empowerment, Participation and
the Poor - UNDP [pdf]
NGOs, governments, the international financial institutions
and bilateral donors have recently placed much emphasis
on participation and empowerment of poor people. The direct
purpose of a programme may be improvements in health or
literacy or agriculture or credit, but NGOs are often more
concerned with how much these projects enhance people's
power, articulate their voice and meet their felt needs.
We now understand much better the multidimensional nature
of poverty. We know that the poor suffer not only from low
incomes but also from a sense of social exclusion, that
they have no power, nor access to power, no voice and no
security. A discussion of empowerment and participation
is therefore in order.
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Documents highlighting DFID's published
work in support of participatory processes & community
consultation in urban areas: |
Tripathi, Dwijendra (1999)
- Slum Networking in Ahmedabad: The Sanjay Nagar
Pilot Project - DPU / CLIC / DFID [pdf]
The case study traces the development of a consensus
and understanding between the partners that led to
their agreement and enthusiasm to implement a pilot
upgrading project in Sanjay Nagar, but it then reveals
how and why that consensus disintegrated leading to
the break up of the partnership. The problems that
can hamper communication and learning are therefore
explored in this case study. |
"Quality
of Life Indicators in Jacksonville" - Wakely,
Patrick; Nicholas You (2001) – Implementing
the Habitat Agenda: In Search of Urban Sustainability
– DPU [pdf]
USA - Choosing and collecting indicators
on quality of life for urban citizens is usually seen
as a technical exercise, to be carried out by government
ministries and research organisations. This does not,
however, necessarily have to be the case and many
benefits can be reaped from having a citizen-led approach
to quality of life indicators. The Jacksonville Community
Council Inc. (JCCI) is an open membership NGO that
works through 750 volunteers and aims to promote the
informed participation of citizens in community life. |
"Community Decision-making
for Basic Services in Calcutta" - Ibid. [pdf]
India - This initiative by the West
Bengal Government set
out to improve the environmental conditions of two
suburban towns in Calcutta Metropolitan Area.
Infrastructure facilities have been extended to the
slums to reduce environmental health hazards and make
the city fabric more cohesive. |
"Poverty Alleviation in Teresina"
- Ibid. [pdf]
Brazil - This programme demonstrates
how an integrated, multi-sectoral approach based on
partnerships can improve basic housing conditions
of the residents of villages, peri-urban areas and
slums, and can contribute to their socio-economic
development. Teresina City is the capital of Piaui
Province in north-eastern Brazil, one of the poorer
regions of Brazil |
"ICT and Civic Participation"
- Ibid. [pdf]
Italy - Bologna's Iperbole Civic
Network is an example of how ICT can be used to improve
governance, in an experimental approach to increasing
civic participation
through the use of information technologies. |
"Participation In Neighbourhood
Improvements in Los Hornos" - Ibid. [pdf]
Mexico - This initiative shows how
the process of developing and implementing an integrated
and participatory neighbourhood improvement programme
can contribute effectively to change traditional government
/ citizen relations. The process managed to improve
living conditions in the neighbourhood and made it
possible to propose a form of urban management that
is inclusive and plural. |
"Compatibility Matrix-Urban
Agriculture in Mexico City" - Wakely, Patrick;
Nicholas You (2001) – Implementing the Habitat
Agenda: In Search of Urban Sustainability –
DPU [pdf]
Mexico - The Compatibility Matrix
is a tool for evaluating opportunities and constraints
in any initiative. It works through identifying relationships
between actors and objectives that would otherwise
be difficult to see, and helping to recognise areas
or patterns of compatibility between the actors concerned. |
"Civil
Society Participation in Urban Governance" -
Ibid. [pdf]
Mozambique - Soon after a decentralisation
process was introduced in Mozambique, it was realised
that there was a need for new institutional structures
at the community level to support this process. Since
it started in late 1997, an initiative in Dondo created
and consolidated such structures, promoted the dialogue
between government and civil society and realised
a capacity development programme for civil society
institutions. |
"Improving
living conditions in Ougadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso"
- Ibid. [pdf]
Burkina Faso - The Project to Improve
Urban Living Conditions (PACVU) started in 1997 in
the cities of Ougadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina
Faso. It works to ensure that efforts to improve urban
living conditions are founded on the priorities of
residents, but links residents' leadership in decision-making
to the fact
that they must contribute resources to projects that
they have chosen. |
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