EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
550 million or so people who live in slums are glaring proof of this inequality. In many cities, the rich enjoy modern services in gated communities, while most slum dwellers lack basic necessities. The increasing inequality may cause social unrest. Conclusions and recommendations Central governments dominate the delivery of basic services, but it is local governments that are closest to the people and local officials who are best placed to develop practical solutions. In order to support the principle of subsidiarity, however, local governments need adequate financial, managerial and technical-professional resources to deliver basic services. Governance reforms are needed, including legislation to change institutional and legal frameworks to grant more authority and power to local governments. Comprehensive regional development planning should be used to integrate the delivery of basic services in metropolitan areas to avoid fragmentation and achieve coordination and cooperation. With their autonomous status, SPAs avoid many of the problems associated with traditional city or municipal operations, such as overly bureaucratic procedures, administrative fragmentation, and over-staffing. When established as special purpose vehicles in PPP schemes, they have been shown to function as effective mechanisms for managing basic services. In many Asia-Pacific countries, the main challenge facing local governments is how to provide local basic services through traditional government departments or units. Local governments should monitor and evaluate local needs and provision options, and adopt service delivery systems
appropriate to the local context. In the more technologically advanced countries in the region, many local governments are shifting from the role of “service provider” to that of “service buyer,” while some city governments, after long experiences using private service providers, are considering the “re-municipalization” of basic services. Local governments need to adopt collaborative arrangements to increase local revenues and strengthen their abilities to finance infrastructure projects. They should coordinate tax rules and regulations on common methods of property assessment, common tax rates, common incentive schemes to attract investors and common tax collection schemes. They should pool assets to improve their credit ratings, enabling them to borrow to invest in large infrastructure projects. Local basic services need to be delivered in an equitable way, with special attention given to meeting the needs of the poor and marginalized groups. Services provided to these groups by NGOs and CBOs should be integrated into government delivery mechanisms. The active participation of all segments of society is an important factor in service provision. In many Asia-Pacific countries, consultation with citizens has proven useful, both in eliciting inputs during program formulation and in gathering feedback from the public about actual performance. The setting up of “one stop” service centres by local governments to gather information from service users and respond to complaints and suggestions should be encouraged. Experience in the Asia-Pacific region also shows that the efforts of NGOs and community organizations need to be integrated into municipal service delivery systems to reach difficult to serve communities of the urban poor.