URBAN GOVERNANCE IN RELATION TO THE OPERATION OF URBAN SERVICES IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

Urbanisation has become a powerful force in developing countries and i s a development which has taken place quickly and comparatively recent ly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, a review funded by the Ford Foundation, concluded that this phenomenon of urban growth has no t been recognised adequately in research and policy, or in the develop ment programmes of international assistance agencies. Certain themes c an be detected in emerging research on urbanisation: the environment a nd sustainability; poverty; finance and the economy of cities; urban s ocial structure; globalisation; and urban governance. The latter has b een identified as crucial to the management of Third World cities and can be defined as the relationship between municipal/city authorities and citizens. The importance of governance at a city level is reflecte d in the conditionality of 'good governance' imposed by most donor age ncies including the UK Overseas Development Administration. But what d oes governance mean at the city level? How is current research analysi ng governance? What is emerging from research on urban governance in o rder to identify indicators of good governance that can eventually be incorporated into a method to analyse urban governance in any Third Wo rld city? This review is descriptive, and deeper knowledge of the rela tionship between municipal authorities and citizens will be obtained o nly through in-depth observation and interviews. However, with growing discussion about urban governance this first step of clarifying defin itions and dimensions of urban governance is vital. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.