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There are also differences in the populations served by urban and rural governments. Cities often include dense concentrations of poor residents living in informal settlements. The lack of infrastructure provision to these settlements can be a challenge but, in many places, the urban poor have also organized and worked with local governments to provide solutions. Many of the social reforms that transformed the living conditions and health of low-income populations in cities in today’s high-income countries were responses to the demands of organized urban poor groups in the 19th century. Today, organizations and federations of slum-dwellers15 and other low-income groups (such as self-employed women and waste pickers) are taking on a similar role in low- and middle-income countries.16
The idea of good governance was first used by aid agencies and development banks with reference to national governments, with little attention to how it applied to local governments. However, good local governance played a central role in improving basic services in what are today’s high-income countries; in much of Europe, more effective municipal government was able to widen the quality and coverage of basic services dates from the late 19th or early 20th century.18 More recently, improvements in basic service provision resulting from democratization, decentralization and greater accountability and transparency in many countries, as will be seen in this report, have been a reminder of the importance of good governance at local level.
Governance As well as examining the role of government in service provision, GOLD III seeks to explore the nature of the relationships between levels of government, and between governments, the private sector, and civil society, i.e. the ‘governance’ of local basic services. The concept of governance includes the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens, civil society and the private sector articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights and meet their obligations.17
There is great diversity in the stakeholders involved in the governance of local basic services. The private sector alone ranges from individual entrepreneurs selling water in informal settlements to large multinational corporations working across the water, sanitation, solid waste management and public transport sectors. Civil society is equally diverse, including trade unions, NGOs, grassroots organizations, from small savings groups to national federations of slum- dwellers, and residents, professional and business associations. Civil society groups represent a range of (often competing) interests and priorities and they, too, can apply ‘good governance’ principles to their own operations.
Discussions of development for low- and middle-income countries since the 1980s have often made reference to the concept of ‘good governance’. A focus on good governance widens the scope of enquiry from institutional and legal considerations to include accountability and transparency, checks on corruption, and scope for citizen participation in decision making and service provision.
Multi-level governance As noted previously, the essentially ‘local’ nature of basic services, together with the principle of subsidiarity, suggests a primary role for local governments in the governance of basic services. Nevertheless, these services are governed within complex systems in which authority is held at multiple levels. The principles of decentralization and subsidiarity, therefore, will only func-
Governance and multi-level governance
This report uses the term ‘slum’ alongside ‘informal settlements’. While the word ‘slum’ has historically been pejorative, it has recently been reclaimed by the residents of informal settlements themselves, who have organized in self-proclaimed ‘slum-dweller’ federations. The term ‘slum’ is also used for global estimates of housing deficits collected by the United Nations. For a discussion of more precise ways to classify the range of housing sub-markets through which those with limited incomes buy, rent or build accommodation, see Environment and Urbanization 1 (2) October (1989), available at http://eau.sagepub.com/ content/1/2.toc. 15
See http://www.sdinet. org/; also David Satterthwaite and Diana Mitlin, Reducing Urban Poverty in the Global South, Routledge, London, 2014. 16
UNDP, Governance for sustainable human development, United Nations Development Programme, New York, 1997 17
Peter Clark, European Cities and Towns 400-2000, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009. 18