Practice Area: Local Government

Good governance is increasingly recognized as essential to sustained, equitable economic growth and stability. Local government, in particular, by “bringing government closer to the people,” can create a platform for democratic and institutional development. Efficient, responsive and accountable local governments, coupled with participatory systems that create a demand for better government services, improve prospects for cities and towns to become attractive places to live, raise children, and invest.

UI works to foster a culture of partnership between local governments and the communities they serve in order to develop active citizen engagement, accountability, and a customer service orientation that becomes ingrained in the day-to-day workings of local government. We have worked in over 70 developing and transition countries with national and local governments, civil society and private sectors actors. The core of our work is improving performance and accountability in these areas: Decentralization, Service Delivery and Local Economic Development.

1. Decentralization: As more and more countries around the world begin to decentralize, it becomes apparent that building capacity in local governments is essential to the effectiveness of decentralization to live up to its promise of improving municipal services and responsiveness to citizen needs. Decentralization results in new roles and responsibilities for sub-national levels of government, but also for national governments as they shift from day-to-day control to a more regulatory role. Our approach to successful decentralization requires well-thought out policy, capacity building and training at all levels, and an ongoing dialogue between the central and sub-national governments on implementation.
2. Government Service Delivery: Our approach to service delivery is to create a system of governance that better represents citizen preferences and provides improved services. We work to improve capacity to manage resources and deliver quality municipal services. Our technical assistance is based on a results-focused and participatory approach that leads to better government performance and increased citizen satisfaction.
3. Local Economic Development: While there are many ways in which Local Economic Development (LED) can be approached, Urban Institute understands and enhances the role local governments play in adding value to and directing community resources toward improving the economic viability of cities.  The Urban Institute’s commitment to transparent decision making, through an engaged and informed civil society, mitigates the inevitable tensions that result when making decisions that affect the economic well being of individuals and firms.
   
   Urban Institute’s LED work is grounded in recognizing that markets, not government, drive economic growth, but that the role of local government—how it delivers services, how it manages its assets, and how it interacts and forms partnerships with the private sector—improves market conditions.