Download or read book Improving Municipal Management for Cities to Succeed written by Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009-07-15 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities now house half the world s population and produce 70 percent of its GDP. Managing them well helps development. Strengthening municipal management of planning, finance, and service provision has been at the core of World Bank support through municipal development projects (MDPs). This book reviews how, worldwide, nearly 3,000 municipalities have benefitted from 190 World Bank-supported MDPs over the past decade, three quarters of which achieved satisfactory outcomes. The finance dimension of MDPs computerized accounting, revenue generation, and municipal credit produced some of the best results, but weaker outcomes came from attempts to stimulate private finance of municipal services. City planning, used by municipalities worldwide, was not a strong priority for MDPs. But building municipal information systems, for example in Chile, were successful. Monitoring and evaluation rarely worked well, except when municipalities themselves were convinced of its usefulness, such as in Russia, Tunisia, and Colombia. Results in managing service provision were mixed. The poverty focus of MDPs was strikingly weak across the portfolio. Cost-benefit analysis rarely prioritized municipal investments. But MDPs helped municipalities strengthen their procurement function. MDPs helped municipalities manage services more effectively. Better results still can come from a stronger poverty focus, more attention to planning and prioritizating investments, and more effective operation and maintenance of such investments.
Download or read book Strong Towns written by Charles L. Marohn, Jr. and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.
Download or read book Modernising solid waste management at municipal level written by Christine Majale Liyala and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-09-04 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The performance of local authorities is vital for high quality flow of key public services such as solid waste collection and treatment. This publication discusses and analyses in-depth the institutional arrangements for the management of domestic solid wastes in three urban centres bordering the lake Victoria Basin in East Africa: Kisumu, Jinja and Mwanza. It presents research on the different (public and private) systems for municipal waste service delivery in this region. It makes use of existing theories on network governance and on developmental state and multi-level governance and applies the concept of 'modernised mixtures' when studying centralised and decentralised configurations for handling urban solid waste. It is shown that for solid waste management, arrangements for service provision in the urban centres have evolved in direct response to locally specific conditions. It is argued that 'modernised mixtures' are important for improving the performance of local authorities in waste service provision since they offer flexible perspectives which build upon existing practices and (state) capacities in the particular East African contexts.
Download or read book Municipal Finances written by Catherine D. Farvacque-Vitkovic and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-06-27 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells a fascinating story on municipal finances for local government practitioners with rich examples, global practices, and good and bad experiences the authors gained in decades of field work.
Download or read book Approaches Advances and Applications in Sustainable Development of Smart Cities written by Tan Yigitcanlar and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-04-03 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to contribute to the conceptual and practical knowledge pools in order to improve the research and practice on the sustainable development of smart cities by bringing an informed understanding of the subject to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. This book seeks articles offering insights into the sustainable development of smart cities by providing in-depth conceptual analyses and detailed case study descriptions and empirical investigations. This way, the book will form a repository of relevant information, material, and knowledge to support research, policymaking, practice, and transferability of experiences to address aforementioned challenges. The scope of the book includes the following broad areas, with a particular focus on the approaches, advances, and applications in the sustainable development of smart cities: • Theoretical underpinnings and analytical and policy frameworks; • Methodological approaches for the evaluation of smart and sustainable cities; • Technological developments in the techno-enviro nexus; • Global best practice smart city case investigations and reports; • Geo-design and applications concerning desired urban outcomes; • Prospects, implications, and impacts concerning the future of smart and sustainable cities.
Download or read book Finances municipales written by Catherine D. Farvacque-Vitkovic and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-04-25 with total page 911 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: De Detroit à Lahore, la plupart des villes du monde sont confrontées à des difficultés financières, alors même qu’elles doivent assumer des responsabilités de plus en plus complexes. Le présent ouvrage, Finances municipales : manuel à l’usage des collectivités locales, prend parti — le parti des maires et des gestionnaires municipaux. Rares sont les publications consacrées à cette question qui ciblent de façon aussi directe et pragmatique les responsables de l’action publique et le personnel financier à l’échelon local. Le contenu et les principaux messages de ce manuel ont été conçus de manière à répondre aux questions et préoccupations auxquelles les villes et les municipalités sont quotidiennement confrontées dans le cadre de la gestion de leurs finances. Le manuel Finances municipales prend position. Les auteurs de ses huit chapitres examinent les enseignements observés dans divers domaines : relations entre administrations, finances des métropoles, gestion financière, gestion des recettes, des dépenses et du patrimoine public, financements extérieurs et évaluation de la performance des finances municipales. L’ouvrage traite de sujets allant de la decentralisation à la transparence et à l’obligation de rendre compte. Il explore aussi des domaines moins balisés tels que la gestion du patrimoine, la solvabilité, la réponse aux crises financières. Le manuel Finances municipales appelle a l’ action. En plus de partager avec le lecteur un savoir très pointu sur de nombreux sujets techniques, il guide les autorités locales dans le labyrinthe des instruments existants. L’outil d’auto-évaluation des finances municipales (MFSA), décrit au chapitre 8, devrait tout particulièrement aider les municipalités à évaluer leur situation et à progresser sur la voie des réformes.
Download or read book Decentralization and Infrastructure in the Global Economy written by Jonas Frank and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-07-03 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subnational dimension of infrastructure has emerged as one of the greatest challenges in contemporary public finance policy and management. Ensuring the efficient provision of infrastructure represents a challenge for all countries irrespective of their level of centralization or decentralization. This book proposes an innovative approach for the strengthening of decentralized public investment and infrastructure management. Decentralization and Infrastructure in the Global Economy: From Gaps to Solutions covers the most important aspects of infrastructure investment in a decentralized setting. It discusses infrastructure gaps and the quality of subnational spending; how functional responsibilities, financing and equalization can be designed; sector-specific arrangements in high expenditure areas, such as health, education and roads; key steps of the public investment cycle and management; and analyses the political economy and corruption challenges that typically accompany decentralized infrastructure projects. This book challenges some of the well-accepted principles of intergovernmental fiscal relations and will be useful to researchers and practitioners of public finance policy and management.
Download or read book Climate Change and the World Bank Group written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-01-26 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study from the Independent Evaluation Group draws lessons for development and climate change mitigation from the World Bank Group's far-reaching portfolio of projects in energy, forestry, transport, coal power, and technology transfer. Reviewing what has worked, what hasn't, and why, the evaluation's key findings include: Energy efficiency can offer countries direct economic returns that dwarf those of most other development projects, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forest protected areas, on average, significantly reduce tropical deforestation, preserving carbon and biodiversity. Deforestation rates are lower in areas that allowed sustainable use by local populations than in strictly protected areas. Deforestation rates were lowest of all in indigenous forest areas. For renewable energy projects, long-duration loans have been important in making projects financially viable.. But at prevailing carbon prices, carbon offset sales had little impact on most renewable energy projects rate of returns, and did not address investors need for up-front capital. Technology transfer broadly understood to include diffusion of technical and financial innovations related to low-carbon development has worked well when the logic of piloting and demonstration is well thought out, and when grants are used to mitigate the risk of pioneering efforts.
Download or read book Analyzing the Effects of Policy Reforms on the Poor written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-05-05 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This IEG evaluation, requested by the World Bank s Board of Executive Directors, represents the first independent evaluation of the PSIA experience. The evaluation finds that: The PSIA approach has appropriately emphasized the importance of assessing the distributional impact of policy actions, understanding institutional and political constraints to development, and building domestic ownership for reforms PSIAs have not always explicitly stated their operational objectives (i.e., informing country policies, informing Bank operations, and/or contributing to country capacity) PSIAs have had limited ownership by Bank staff and managers and have often not been effectively integrated into country assistance programs Quality assurance and Monitoring and Evaluation of the overall effectiveness of PSIAs have been weak The evaluation recommends that the World Bank: Ensure that Bank staff understand what the PSIA approach is and when to use it Clarify the operational objectives of each PSIA and tailor the approach and timeline to those objectives Improve integration of the PSIA into the Bank s country assistance program by requiring that all earmarked funding for PSIAs be matched by a substantial contribution from the country unit budgets Strengthen PSIA effectiveness through enhanced quality assurance
Download or read book The Living City written by Roberta Brandes Gratz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1995-07-19 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE LIVING CITY "An intelligent analysis. Sensible, undoctrinaire, evengood-humored. An appealing mixture of passion and clinicaldispassion." -Washington Post Book World "The best antidote I've read to the doom-and-gloom propheciesconcerning the future of urban America." -Bill Moyers "This is fresh and fascinating material; it is essential forunderstanding not only how to avoid repeating terrible mistakes ofthe past, but also how to recover from them." -Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great AmericanCities From coast to coast across America there are countless urbansuccess stories about rejuvenated neighborhoods and resurgentbusiness districts. Roberta Brandes Gratz defines the phenomenon as"urban husbandry"-the care, management, and preservation of thebuilt environment nurtured by genuine participatory planningefforts of government, urban planners, and average citizens.
Download or read book Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries written by Roy Bahl and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2018-03-30 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.
Download or read book Water and Development written by The World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-06-30 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development patterns, increasing population pressure, and the demand for better livelihoods in many parts of the globe all contribute to a steadily deepening global water crisis. Development redirects, consumes, and pollutes water. It also causes changes in the state of natural water reservoirs, directly by draining aquifers and indirectly by melting glaciers and the polar ice caps. Maintaining a sustainable relationship between water and development requires that current needs be balanced against the needs of future generations. The development community has transformed and broadened its approach to water since the 1980s. As stresses on the quality and availability of water have increased, donors have begun to move toward more comprehensive approaches that seek to integrate water into development in other sectors. This evaluation examines the full scope of the World Bank s lending and grant support for water activities. More than 30 background papers prepared for the evaluation have analyzed Bank lending by thematic area and by activity type. IDA and IBRD (the Bank) have supported countries in many water-related sectors. The evaluation, by definition, is retrospective, but it identifies changes that will be necessary going forward, including those related to strengthening institutions and increasing financial sustainability. Lessons and results from nearly 2,000 loans and credits, and work with 142 countries are identified.
Download or read book City Manager Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1924 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning in 1925, the March issue contins the association's proceedings.
Download or read book Improving Municipal Solid Waste Management in India written by P U Asnani and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007-11-30 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Solid Waste Management (SWM) is a matter of great concern in the urban areas of developing countries. The municipal authorities who are responsible for managing municipal solid waste are unable to discharge their obligations effectively because they lack the in-house capacity to handle the complexities of the process. It is heartening to see that the World Bank has prepared this book covering all important aspects of municipal SWM in great depth. The book covers very lucidly the present scenario of SWM in urban areas, the system deficiencies that exist, and the steps that need to be taken to correct SWM practices in compliance with Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 ratified by the Government of India. The book shares examples of best practices adopted in various parts of the country and abroad, and very appropriately covers the institutional, financial, social, and legal aspects of solid waste management, which are essential for sustainability of the system. It provides a good insight on how to involve the community, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to help improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the service, and shows how contracting mechanisms can be used to involve the private sector in SWM services. This book will be a very useful tool for city managers and various stakeholders who deal with municipal solid waste management in the design and execution of appropriate and cost-effective systems.
Download or read book Better Cities Better World written by Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The planet is becoming increasingly urban. In many ways, the urbanization wave and the unprecedented urban growth of the past 20 years have created a sense of urgency and an impetus for change. Some 54 percent of the world population—3.9 billion people—lives in urban areas today; thus, it has become clear that “business as usual†? is no longer possible. This new configuration places great expectations on local governments. While central governments are subject to instability and political changes, local governments are seen as more inclined to stay the course. Because they are closer to the people, the voice of the people is more clearly heard for a truly democratic debate over the choice of neighborhood investments and city-wide policies and programs, as well as the decision process on the use of public funds and taxpayers’ money. In a context of skewed financial resources and complex urban challenges—which range from the provision of basic traditional municipal services to the “newer†? agenda of social inclusion, economic development, city branding, emergency response, smart technologies, and green investment—more cities are searching for more effective and innovative ways to deal with new and old problems. Better Cities, Better World: A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments is at the heart of this debate. It recognizes the complex past, current, and future challenges that cities face and outlines a bottom-line, no-nonsense framework for data-based policy dialogue and action; a common language that, for the first time, helps connect the dots between public investments programming (Urban Audit/Self-Assessment) and financing (Municipal Finances Self-Assessment). It helps address two key questions, too often bypassed when it comes to municipal infrastructure and services financing: Are we doing the right things? Are we doing things right? Better Cities, Better World: A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments offers a bit of everything for everyone. • Central governments will be attracted by the purposefulness and clarity of these tools, their impact on local government capacity and performance building, and how they improve the implementation of transformative actions for policy change. • City leaders and policy makers will find the sections on objectives and content instructive and informative, with each issue placed in its context, and strong connections between data and municipal action. • Municipal staff in charge of day-to-day management will find that the sections on tasks and the detailed step-by-step walk through the process give them the pragmatic knowhow that they need. • Cities’ partners—such as bilateral and multilateral agencies, banks and funds, utility companies, civil society, and private operators—will find the foundations for more effective collaborative partnerships.
Download or read book Yearbook of the City Managers Association written by International City Managers' Association and published by . This book was released on 1925 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Public Ownership of Public Utilities written by and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 798 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
