Hyderabad 14 September 2014 -The XI World Congress of Metropolis, the leading world association of major metropolises took place in the city of Hyderabad, India, last month . The theme of the Congress, Cities for All, represented the functioning of democracy for all its stakeholders and explored four broad sub themes - Urban Equity, Governance, Finance and Urban India.
UN-Habitat and its partner the GIZ co-organized a session on Unpacking Metropolitan Governance, with the objectives of: identifying the governance instruments for metropolitan governance in developing metropolises, with special attention to equity, accountability and participation; starting a needs assessment and joint reflection with the participants to support the development of policy recommendations in the field of metropolitan governance;, and exchanging on existing practices, successful experiences and innovations.
The session was facilitated by Jean-Francois Habeau, Executive Director of Fonds Mondial pour le Developpement des Villes (Global Fund for Cities Development). Three speakers from Asia, Europe and Latin America shed the light on their experiences and challenges, in setting good metropolitan governance. Dr. Janardhan Reddy, Commissioner and Director Municipal Administration, Andhra Pradesh, India explained the challenge of land use access at the metropolitan level, the need for multi-level governance and to reinforce the link between planning and financing.
On his part, Mr. Thomas Kiwitt, Managing Director of the Regional Planning and Development Department in the region of Stuttgart, Germany, presented the unique case of Stuttgart. The legitimization and acceptance of the metropolitan actions are based on participation, broad public debate and efficient decision-making and execution.
Finally Ms. Maria Lucia Camargo, Coordinator of economic studies at Emplasa, São Paulo Company for Metropolitan Planning, Brazil presented the Macrometropolis strategic plan 2040 and especially the metropolitan governance axis as the pre-condition to put the plan on the right track. The session provided an the opportunity for UN-Habitat and GIZ to announce the joint exercise they are engaging in to improve the understanding of metropolitan governance in developing countries - especially in fast growing and emerging metropolises in low income countries – with a view to developing a relevant assessment methodology, applicable tools and policy recommendations.