Does City Governance Matter for the Urban Poor?

Decentralization has focused attention on city government but, at the same time, the growth of civil society means that urban governance is not limited to city government. Little attention has been paid, either in the literature or in practice, to the institutional and political processes which dete...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International planning studies 2001-11, Vol.6 (4), p.393-408
Main Author: Devas, Nick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil society
Government
Low income groups
Social policy
Sociology
Urban areas
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Decentralization has focused attention on city government but, at the same time, the growth of civil society means that urban governance is not limited to city government. Little attention has been paid, either in the literature or in practice, to the institutional and political processes which determine whether and how the poor benefit, or how the poor can influence the agenda of city governance. Drawing on studies of nine cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper identifies three broad areas which are of importance: a political system in which the votes of the poor count; a city government system with some capacity to deliver; and a dynamic civil society which can press the case of the poor. After reviewing what is involved in each of these areas, the paper identifies a number of specific policies and practices which impact on the urban poor.
ISSN:1356-3475
1469-9265
DOI:10.1080/13563470120092395