Esta publicación pretende promover el liderazgo de los gobiernos locales en la formulación y ejecución de políticas orientadas alfortalecimiento del proceso de descentralización en materia de gestión del espacio público y, con ello, dar un paso adelante hacia la gobernanza urbana y la seguridad ciudadana, basada en elderecho a la ciudad como pilar de la cohesión social y la mejora de calidad de vida.

Precisamente, las Activaciones Urbanas presentadas en este documento, son ejemplos de cómo construir esos necesarios espacios de comunicación y de encuentro ciudadano donde se tejen colaboraciones, intercambios y afectos, para construir y gestionar colectivamente el espacio que habitamos.

This report presents the summary of studies carried out through a collaboration between the Government of Sudan Ministry of Physical Planning and Public Utilities and UN-HABITAT. Each section of this report presents a complementary analysis of different factors behind the growth of urban poverty in Khartoum State, taking into account five crucial sectors: land, physical planning, housing, basic urban services, and local economic development.

The guidelines outline the main principles underlying the democratic, constitutional/legal and administrative aspects of local governance and decentralization. At the same time they must be applied to specific conditions of State form (federal, regionalized or unitary), with different State traditions (for example, Napoleonic, Germanic or Anglo-Saxon, as well as traditions found in Asia, or in the Arab world).

For that reason they do not provide a uniform and rigid blueprint applicable to all Member States of the United Nations. They may be subject to national adaptations. Their main objective, however, is to support and guide legislative reform where necessary and appropriate.

Decision makers in local government face the ongoing challenge of how to provide services to the residents with limited resources. Whether drilling a new well to provide drinking water, renewing a road surface, buying new buses or issuing driving licences, municipal services require resources.

Next to skilled human resources, municipal services also require financial and natural resources. New trucks cost clean air in that their operation burns oxygen, emits carbon dioxide, creates dust, and has negative impact on human health. A new road costs biodiversity in that green space is converted into asphalt and natural habitats are split and separated. At the same time, a new road produces noise, i.e. it costs tranquillity. Similarly, new housing areas impose costs in terms of biodiversity, clean air, agricultural soil, and fresh water since the additional inhabitants will convert more fresh water into sewage. Clearly, municipal action always has both financial and natural cost implications.

Now more than ever, local governments are at the forefront of responding to growing social, economic and environmental challenges. In response to this changing context, local elected officials need to be knowledgeable about an increasingly complex set of interrelated issues. They must also develop competencies including decision making, communication, enabling, facilitating, overseeing and empowering, to effectively perform their political leadership and representation roles. Capable local leaders can greatly contribute to improved local governance

The Local Elected Leadership (LEL) series presents two roles and ten competencies essential for every elected official to effectively perform their job when serving local communities. The series contains many training exercises and tools that can be used as practical on-the-job guide long after the leadership training workshop has ended.

Now more than ever, local governments are at the forefront of responding to growing social, economic and environmental challenges. In response to this changing context, local elected officials need to be knowledgeable about an increasingly complex set of interrelated issues. They must also develop competencies including decision making, communication, enabling, facilitating, overseeing and empowering, to effectively perform their political leadership and representation roles. Capable local leaders can greatly contribute to improved local governance

The Local Elected Leadership (LEL) series presents two roles and ten competencies essential for every elected official to effectively perform their job when serving local communities. The series contains many training exercises and tools that can be used as practical on-the-job guide long after the leadership training workshop has ended. 

Now more than ever, local governments are at the forefront of responding to growing social, economic and environmental challenges. In response to this changing context, local elected officials need to be knowledgeable about an increasingly complex set of interrelated issues.

They must also develop competencies including decision making, communication, enabling, facilitating, overseeing and empowering, to effectively perform their political leadership and representation roles. Capable local leaders can greatly contribute to improved local governance

The Local Elected Leadership (LEL) series presents two roles and ten competencies essential for every elected official to effectively perform their job when serving local communities. The series contains many training exercises and tools that can be used as practical on-the-job guide long after the leadership training workshop has ended.

This policy paper forms part of UN-HABITAT’S Global Campaign on Urban Governance. The Campaign fosters the implementation of the Habitat Agenda goal of achieving sustainable human settlements in an urbanising world. Improving urban governance has been recognised internationally as one of the crucial steps towards the eradication of poverty.

The Campaign’s aim, therefore, is to raise awareness of, and advocate for, good urban governance around the world, and to increase the capacity of local governments and other stakeholders to practice good governance in urban settings.

This series of publications, "Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development Planning: A guide for Municipalities" is a consolidation of the materials initially developed as UN-HABITATs response to the specific requirements of the Balkan context.

The series has been suitably modified to be able to serve as a generic guideline for the training of urban planners in the area of urban strategic planning. This volume introduces different aspects of urban strategic planning.

This series of publications, “Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development Planning: A guide for Municipalities” is a consolidation of the materials initially developed as UN-HABITAT’s response to the specific requirements of the Balkan context .

The series has been suitably modified to be able to serve as a generic guideline for the training of urban planners in the area of urban strategic planning.