"Challenges of institutional capacity"

The issue of institutional capacity building is currently being raised in many areas of urban policy and planning throughout the world. Capable urban management and planning institutions require wise use of knowledge, skills and resources to fulfill public responsibilities. 

However, among developing countries, especially those with strong population growth, or in countries in transition, such as in the case of African, middle east and few Asian countries, the institutional framework and capacity of these institutions are insufficient to deal with accumulated problems of urban growth. (Photo credit: Google)

Haphazard growth, Kathmandu

Why is institutional capacity lacking in developing countries?

• Fragmented institutional framework: It has been long argued that plans are ignored or not implemented, mainly due to government structure, where planning is placed in a separate department and not linked to other line-function departments or the budgeting process. The institutional framework’s fragmentary nature is the result of the multiplicity of and incoherent organization of planning agencies cutting across different levels of government and geographical areas with no clearly defined, or at best, poorly defined functions and responsibilities. This leads to problems of interagency or institutional coordination, duplication of responsibilities and functions and waste of scarce resources.
• Increasingly dominant role of the informal sector: The increasingly dominant role of the informal sector in the delivery of land, housing and services implies that the responses and solutions to urban problems might in fact lie outside the official planning system. This is certainly present in informal and especially in peri-urban settlements of developing country cities, where a growing number of poor and other marginalized groups live. Poor developed institutions and markets, land claimants, developers and squatters tend to rely heavily on interpersonal relationships and traditional practices in the developing countries and do not favor planning procedures. Those cities have struggled to introduce different urban planning approaches to improve the quality of life for all, including those who live on the margins.
• Inappropriate standards and norms: In many developing countries, most regulations are based on outdated and inappropriate planning legislation or urban planning codes reminiscent of colonial times and inspired by the traditional European models. In addition, vocational curricula of academic institutions in many developing countries are based on older models developed in Europe and the United States. When applied in developing countries, where conditions are fundamentally different, these models are often criticized for both their rigidity and the high costs that they impose on the builder or developer and, ultimately, the purchaser, presenting a major barrier to poorer households accessing land legally. As a result, professional planners and technical municipal staff are often preoccupied with imposing urban development standards and norms that are inappropriate to deal with local realities. 

How can institutional capacity be strengthened?

Urban design and planning of new cities

1. Institutional reform. Countries that have been successful in integrating slums into their cities have strengthened their institutions and carried out complementary reforms, which include a broader urban poverty reduction agenda. These countries include Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey. Some countries, such as Brazil, Chile and Colombia, have implemented policies to integrate the urban poor into the legal and social fabric of cities. Others, like India, have carried out reforms in land and provision of housing. It is important for the national or state governments to develop enabling legislation related to urban planning that helps local planners understand their roles and responsibilities, and stress the need for horizontal and vertical coordination.
2. Establishing effective legislation and instruments: Because orthodox urban planning instruments to resolve major urban planning and land use problems throughout the developing world have failed, there are current attempts for reappraising old and developing new urban planning strategies. Future efforts should focus on establishing more effective and inclusive urban planning legislation and instruments to facilitate the effective formulation and implementation of plans in developing countries.  As the first step, it is important to conduct an audit of regulations, approval procedures and staffing practices. The purpose of the audit will be to review existing regulations and administrative processes to ensure that they do not present a significant barrier to accessing land by all those that need it. The audit should include: 1) identifying the regulations that protect the public interest, especially relating to health and safety, and the environment; 2) suggesting appropriate revisions to planning and building standards, regulations and administrative procedures relating to the processes of registering land or applications for development; 3) identifying and removing key constraints to more affordable land and acceptable housing; and 4) providing guidelines for incentives for professional agency staff to ensure effective administration.
3. Engaging relevant stakeholders: One of the most important shifts in urban planning in the past several decades has been from planning as an expert-driven technocratic activity, to one which includes relevant stakeholders and communities in the planning process. Successful urban planning strategies have clearly identified institutional responsibilities and incentives for each stakeholder involved in the planning process.
4. Reorganizing the role of urban planning departments: Urban planning units should be established and involved in active city management. These units are not a substitute for the line agencies involved in designing and maintaining infrastructure like roads, transport and water supply, but they should have a say in new infrastructure investments, as they affect mobility and land supply.
5. Learning from good practices: Countries and cities with weak planning systems, outdated legislation and limited manpower could learn from the successful urban planning examples in developing country cities that share their characteristics of rapid growth and limited resources. For example, the urban planning experience in Curitiba, Brazil, shows that decentralization of the planning system, encouragement of public participation in the planning process and strong city leadership, resulted in a successful, long-term implementation strategy.