I' )~ Vol. 12, No. 6 July 1988 ISSN 0163-6510 Inside: The Urben Edge is published 10 times a year in English , Spanish , and French by the World Bank. It is 3 concerned with practical approaches to urban prob- A case study in local public finance lems in developing countries. Views and interpreta- Nigerian project involves private banks 4 tions contained in the newsletter are those of its editors and contributors and should not be attributed Forum 6 to the World Bank. Address correspondance to the World Bank, Room S-10-021 , Washington , D.C. 20433. Projects, resources, training, conferences 7, 8 Telephone (202) 473-3948. Writer/editor: Alison Raphael, Associate editor : Barbara Koeppel. An Overview of Local Public Finance Paying the Bills for Urban Services ith demand for urban services and invest revenues; in others, they sources more efficiently. Local gov- W constantly rising, the question of how to pay the bills for urgently enjoy relatively little fiscal autonomy. Given the existing functions of re- ernments that have come to rely heav- ily on intergovernmental grants or equired investments figures higher gional and local governments in devel- transfers, ignoring local resource mo- and higher on every city's agenda. oping countries, World Development bilization, are finding it ever more The annual World Development Re- Report (WDR) research found that difficult to provide adequate urban port produced by the World Bank fo- they "tend to be more important as services. "Strengthening local govern- cuses this year on the issue of public providers of public services than as ment finance can improve public sec- finance , and it includes a chapter on collectors of revenues." But with cen- tor efficiency and reduce the need for "Financing Local Governments" that tral government revenues constrained transfers from central to local govern- offers local authorities a useful syn- or even shrinking in many developing ment, particularly in urban areas," the thesis of the most recent thinking of countries, it is increasingly important WDR states, noting that certain rev- experts in the field. that authorities develop new ways to enue sources, such as cost-recovery The document begins with the pre- generate revenues and allocate re- charges and property taxes, are more mise that, ideally, public services whose benefits are primarily local in nature should be provided by local government, and the resources to pro- duce these services should be raised at the local level. That way, there is not only a close match between local pre- ferences and the public services pro- vided, but also there is greater incen- tive to raise the necessary public funds and to use them efficiently. Such a situation calls for a relatively high level of decentralization, both in terms of expenditure responsibility and revenue authority. In fact, inter- overnmental fiscal arrangements in the developing world vary widely. In some countries, local governments have considerable freedom to generate ' ~· ·~ ' . 2 the Urban Edge July 1988 easily administered by local govern- penditures; although the figure has municipalities. Sales taxes, largely af- ments. dropped, the system continues to fecting commerce and industry, are The document suggests four criteria make a significant contribution to lo- ordinarily imposed by higher-level au- for efficiency in raising local revenues: cal revenues. A recent study of the thorities, who then return a portion to • The cost of providing local ser- Bogota system found that community local governments. Business licenses, vices should be covered, to the extent participation and oversight is vital to however, are easily administered by possible, from charges to the benefi- ensuring payment of the tax by local local government, and in the Philip- ciaries. Such charges should be related residents. This observation suggests pines they represent the second largest to individual consumption or, where that both urban residents and busi- source of locally raised revenues, after this is not possible, to a measure of nesses have an unsatisfied demand for property taxes. As cities grow, more- individual benefit received. urban public services and are willing over, the business tax base expands, • Services whose costs cannot be to pay for them, as long as they accu- helping to compensate for increased recovered from charges can be fi- rately reflect local needs. Sometimes, service needs. nanced from general taxes-property nonetheless, cities find that payments One form of taxation that has prov- taxes, business taxes, sales taxes-lev- lag behind; in Bogota, the problem of en lucrative and relatively easy to ad- ied within the relevant jurisdiction. payment arrears was remedied by the minister is the automobile tax, reve- • If the benefits of local services introduction of interest charges on nues from which also grow along with spill over into other jurisdictions or late payments. city size. In Jakarta, where local au- produce nationwide benefits, then thorities are empowered to tax auto- grants from higher-level governments Local taxes mobile owners, the tax accounted for should finance such services in pro- The most obvious and potentially over one-third of local current revenue portion to their outside benefits. broad-based of local taxes is the prop- in 1983-84. Amusement and entertain- • Borrowing is an appropriate way erty tax. Nonetheless, research carried ment taxes can also provide steady to finance at least some local capital out for the WDR in a sample of devel- revenues-and they represent one of investment, provided macroeconomic oping countries revealed that only 5 to the few forms of taxation that cove fiscal balance is maintained. 25 percent of local government recur- tourists and other nonresidents wH rent receipts came from property tax- benefit from urban services. User charges: often underutilized es. Many cities lack accurate property Based on a sample of 25 cities in records, or cadastres, from which to Intergovernmental transfers developing countries, WDR research work; others need updated valuations Although one of the purposes of indicates that two types of user to determine current property values. increasing local governments' capaci- charges--consumption-related and In yet other countries, the collection ty to mobilize local resources is to benefit-related-account for about system is inadequate and tax delin- alleviate the pressure on central gov- one-third of all locally raised revenue. quency is high. In addition, many lo- ernment funds , there are clearly points But, largely due to reliance on tran- cal governments lack the autonomy to at which intergovernmental grants are fers from central governments, user set tax rates, which as a result may not appropriate and even necessary. Cer- charges are often underutilized by lo- function equitably and cost-effective- tainly in countries where the authority cal authorities. ly. (For a more detailed discussion of to raise local revenues is strictly limit- Benefit-related charges, also known urban property tax reform, see Urban ed, central governments will have to as "betterment" or "valorization" tax- Edge 11.4.) transfer large amounts of funds . And, es, can be used to cover the costs of a Getting a property tax system to the as noted in the four efficiency criteria specific improvement to a given area point where it begins yielding con- listed above, when the benefits of pub- or neighborhood, such as sidewalk siderable revenue can be expensive lic services spill over to other jurisdic- paving or construction of a sewage and time consuming. But the case of tions, transfers are warranted. Finally, canal. Ordinarily, a lump-sum tax is Delhi, India, suggests that it is worth the WDR points out that grants can levied on residents whose property the effort. A series of reforms centered help adjust for disparities in resources values will be increased by the im- on improving collection procedures- among local jurisdictions, tax bases, provement. including penalties for late payments, and population. A valorization system for local in- rebates for prepayments, and an im- The potential of central government frastructure projects has been in force proved management information sys- grants for creating an atmosphere in Bogota, Colombia, since the late tem-served to increase revenue by 96 of complacency within local gover 1950s. At one point, valorization taxes percent in 1986-87. ments, however, is too large and to contributed as much as 16 percent to Other forms of taxation can also real to be ignored. When the coffers of the financing of all local public ex- yield important sources of income for the central government are full and --------------- - July 1988 the Urban Edge 3 grants are disbursed liberally, local ilar problems when faced with a sud- ities, and they reduce the accountabil- governments have little or no incen- den reduction of central government ity of local government, while giving it tive to employ funds efficiently or to funds. no assured access to funds ." expend the effort required to improve When intergovernmental grants re- Borrowing local resource mobilization. The Ni- present little more than a central gov- gerian case, outlined below, is a prime ernment subvention of local activities, Whether local authorities should be example; local authorities in other the WDR warns, they are a "drain on permitted to, or ought to, borrow countries that reaped a windfall when central activity, they encourage ineffi- funds for capital projects is a some- oil prices were high have suffered sim- ciency and worsen urban/rural dispar- ( continued on page 6) Nigeria When Transfers Replace Local Resource Mobilizat ion hen, in the 1960s, Nigeria began ing with local authorities. Moreover, ply failed to make the transfers; in W a series of changes in its system of intergovernmental fiscal relations, state governments abolished some lo- cal taxes and prevented local authori- other cases, states used the funds with- out consulting with local authorities most local authorities soon became ties from raising remaining tax rates to or insisted that local governments unable to provide adequate levels of keep up with inflation. As a result, were responsible for paying teachers' public services. Traditionally, local local services began to decline; the salaries, leaving little remaining for governments had considerable au- states responded by taking over many capital works projects or services. thority to raise revenues, and they local responsibilities. Thus, the level of local services be- layed a vital role in providing local In 1973, the federal government at- gan declining again, and the states ervices. Most of the funds required tempted to reactivate local govern- stepped in, taking over many local were raised through taxes, while ment. New laws required federal and responsibilities and collecting reve- others-such as maintaining schools, state authorities to make large trans- nues that earlier had been designated health care facilities, police, and pri- fers to local governments. As a result, as local revenue sources. State-local sons-were paid through grants from local revenues rose by as much as transfers were based on population state governments. 1,000 to 2,000 percent, and consider- rather than local efforts to improve Following independence, and par- able investments were made in social resource mobilization, thus providing ticularly after 1967, when 12 states and economic infrastructure. But by no incentive to improve revenue gen- were created to replace four regional the early 1980s, progress ceased, ac- eration at the local level. As a result, governments, transfers became unreli- cording to a study prepared for the for example, property taxes are vir- able. State governments often default- World Bank by Nigerian Prof. Dele tually nonexistent in Nigerian cities. ed on the payments without consult- Olowu. Many state governments sim- The Table indicates how heavy reli- . ance on intergovernmental transfers can undermine local resource mobili- zation. Several states abolished the Composition of Local Govermnent Revenue in Nigeria local taxes that had previously sup- (selected years) plied as much as 84 percent of local revenues, on the grounds that trans- Sources(%) 1962 1972 1978 1983 fers from the state and federal govern- ments made such taxes unnecessary. Internal revenue 15.5 94.2 29.9 19.1 Mr. Olowu thus concludes: "In Transfers from 24.5 5.8 16.8 9.2 most states, local governments have regional or state been reduced to an extension of their government state government bureaucracies." Any Transfers from 53.3 71.7 attempt to remedy the situation, he federal government adds, should begin with the pre- ) Source: Dele Olowu, "Nigeria: Federal and State Transfers to Local Governments, mise that intergovernmental tran- 1970-1987," (data compiled from several original sources). fers should aim to supplement-not replace-local revenue generation. l!li 4 the Urban Edge July 1988 for the Bank to serve as a "whole- Merchant Banks to Play Key saler" of resources, working through the merchant banks, which will serve Role in Nigerian Project a "retailing" function . The Bank will loan funds directly to the merchant banks, which will then oversee sub- project work in the states that wish to borrow for improvements to munici- W hen local governments lack funds,. the first visible sign is The extent of disrepair of urban infrastructure constitutes a major im- pal infrastructure. Several advantages are expected to likely to be deteriorating municipal pediment to economic growth in Ni- accrue from this approach: in the first infrastructure. Planned improvements geria's cities. At present, infrastruc- place, the merchant banks are much are postponed, and existing roads, ture in most cities is so weak that closer to the real situation in each sewers, drains, and water supply net- many private industries operate their state than outside lenders or investors works are not maintained. Inevitably, own water, power, and communica- are likely to be. As the project pro- economic efficiency suffers and the tions systems, according to World ceeds, the merchant banks are to take physical works and equipment derived Bank research. over more and more of the details, from previous investments begin to State investments in the 1970s and supervision, and eventually appraisal crumble. 80s have been inadequate-in part be- of new subprojects proposed by the Such was the scenario in most of cause of the national financial crisis states. Nigeria's major and secondary cities spar~ed by the drop in oil prices and "The people on the ground," notes during the 1980s, in large part because in part because the states' poor repay- Mr. Robotham, "have better insight changes in the public finance system ment history on past loans has dis- into the problems and nuances of made state and local governments couraged new lending. Most Nigerian what is going on in a state- the finan- overly reliant on transfers of federal states are heavily indebted; debt-ser- cial constraints internal to the s funds, which were reduced abruptly vice ratios are in the 70 to 90 percent tern-than anyone outside the cou when world market prices for oil fell. range, and the federal government has try, and they are better able to design The Nigerian government's recent de- placed curbs on state borrowing. Hav- projects that are appropriately target- cision to create an Infrastructure De- ing eliminated or neglected most ed and attuned to the situation. They velopment Fund (IDF)-in conjunc- forms of local revenue generation, the will be better placed than an outside tion with the World Bank and local states have been unable to muster the agency to insist on whatever changes merchant banks-is an innovative ap- funds necessary to develop the in- in financial or other practices might be proach to financing urban infrastruc- frastructure required by rapid urban required to make projects cost effec- ture that may inspire similar efforts in growth. tive and financially viable." other countries. Working alone, neither the federal Also, it is hoped that, over time, government nor the World Bank has more and more funds can be drawn The Infrastructure Development Fund the resources to bring infrastructure in from local capital markets, so that Although changes are under consid- all of Nigeria's I 9 states up to par: The Bank funding doesn't need to be a eration in Nigeria that may restore new project, therefore, will experiment critical part of the system, and federal some measure of fiscal autonomy to with an innovative approach- bring- government transfers for urban infra- local governments, state governments ing the country's merchant banks into structure can be sharply reduced. In are still responsible for most urban the process as intermediaries. addition, foreign banks or investors services (see box on page 3). Thus, the may be more willing to loan to the project recently agreed upon by the states for such projects if an experi- Nigerian government and the World Involving the merchant banks enced intermediary is involved. Bank, which aims at improving ur- "This is the first attempt," notes Finally, Mr. Robotham adds, the ban infrastructure and services and Bank Project Officer Kingsley Ro- wholesaling mechanism should permit strengthening subnational finances, botham, " to use private sector institu- the World Bank to make effective use revolves largely around state, rather tions both to cofinance such a proj- of its own resources. than local, governments. The federal ect-which means mobilizing local re- Five of Nigeria's largest mercha~ Ministry of Works and Housing, as sources from local capital markets- banks have been selected to partiW well as the Ministry of Finance, will and to help identify, manage, and pate in the project. The banks operate also continue to play key roles in se- monitor the subprojects." In a sense, on strictly commercial criteria, and curing the success of the project. Mr. Robotham continues, the idea is they have the reputation of being ------- -- July 1988 the Urban Edge 5 among the most profitable and effi- Promoting efficiency A Property Valuation and Rating ciently run organizations in the coun- Unit is to be established, and its staff Overall, the focus of the subprojects try. Their staffs are well educated and will receive training in the basics of is to rehabilitate economically vital trained; all the banks have experience establishing property tax systems. infrastructure and thus promote effi- in project lending, mostly for real es- In Benue State, four complemen- ciency. Also, it is expected that by tate and industry. They have little or tary approaches to improving revenue planning and executing the works in no experience, however, with munici- generation will be employed. A con- the project, state officials will gain pal engineering, local government fi- sultant skilled in valuation will be pro- experience that can be applied to fu- nance, property valuation and taxa- vided to the state's Ministry of Lands ture infrastructure investments. tion, or institutional development-all and Surveys to assist in the creation of Once a city is functioning more ef- of which will be required to execute a property tax. A land administration ficiently, new investment and devel- the current project. These deficiencies specialist will work closely with the opment is expected to enhance the will be overcome through a Bank-sup- Ministry to improve revenue generat- growth of productive activities and ported merchant bank staff training ed from ground rents and to develop thus provide a basis for future taxa- program, use of outside consultants, a data base to be used for the property tion, cost recovery, user fees, or what- and, where required, the hiring of ever form of local revenue generation tax. municipal engineers. Financing will also be provided is found to be most appropriate. The project will begin in two states, For example, the subprojects in the for studies of local authority revenue Benue and Gongola, covering I 0 state of Gongola will cover four sec- sources and training needs. The pro- towns and cities where subprojects ondary towns and the state capital, ceeds collected from the property tax have been preappraised by the World Yola/Jimeta. A wide variety of sub- are to be passed on to the four local Bank. As a first step, training in infra- projects is planned, including im- governments involved in the project. structure project appraisal and man- provement and rehabilitation of water They, in turn, are to use the funds to agement will be provided for officers supply networks, roads, drainage sys- improve solid waste collection opera- fthe five merchant banks. The banks tems, markets, and motor parks (used tions, for which they will resume re- ill be responsible for final approval for vehicles providing inter-urban sponsibility. of the subprojects, supervision of their transport), as well as improvement to Technical assistance will be made implementation, appraisal of future existing waste collection and disposal available to water authorities in both state subprojects, and operation of a services. The four towns in Benue that states in order to reduce water losses special line of credit for project funds. will be involved in the project are all and improve the reliability of service, They will work directly with the states, scheduled for major improvements to billing, and collection procedures. assisting them to meet eligibility re- water supply networks and roads, as Changes are foreseen in the tariffs quirements, plan feasibility studies, well as training and equipment for charged by the water authorities that write terms of reference, and so forth. improved solid waste management would move them toward greater fi- Once the merchant banks have gained and road and drainage maintenance. nancial autonomy. experience in urban infrastructure Funds will be provided to establish lending, through working on the sub- a training program for local authori- M'oblllzlng local resources ty staff, under the supervision of the projects already appraised by the World Bank, they will be in a position In addition ·to the physical works Ministry of Local Government. Just to lend to other states for other sub- component, the subprojects will en- as one overall goal of the project is to projects. courage the mobilization of local re- reduce the need for federal transfers to A World Bank loan of$69.5 million sources, mainly through property tax- state and local governments, another will help establish the IDF, which is es and improved operations and cost is to eventually improve the effective- actually a line of credit rather than a recovery by water authorities. oess of municipal governments, ena- "fund" administered by a central au- Until now, the use of property taxes bling them to assume more respon- thority. World Bank funds will go di- has been minimal in Nigeria, except in sibility and generate local revenue. rectly to the merchant banks, which Lagos State; the existing system is out- Neither the property tax nor the reve- will on-lend the funds to the states. dated and the database is practically nues from improved water manage- The state governments are to provide nonexistent. Even in Lagos, for exam- ment is expected to cover the costs of 0 percent of project funds and the ple, the most recent property valua- infrastructure improvements; rather, erchant banks will finance IO per- tion was carried out over 50 years ago. each is viewed as a long-run necessity cent of the cost of each subproject In Gongola, technical assistance will that will help local governments re- they approve. The total cost of the be provided to three state ministries: duce their dependency on transfers project is estimated at $96.8 million. local government, works, and finance. from higher levels of government. 1!11 6 the Urban Edge July 1988 World Development Report (continued from page 3) To the Editor: FORUM I am a regular subscriber to the what sensitive issue, especially in Urban Edge, from which I receive countries where indebtedness levels To the Editor: valuable information concerning my are already high. But if lending can be Though a little late, I must point profession and employment. Current- tied to cost recovery, the WDR says, out that the report on Low Cost Op- ly I am a lecturer at the National then "greater reliance on borrowing tions for Urban Sanitation and India's University of Lesotho, Department favors self-financing projects" and latrine program (December, 1987) is of Geography, Divison of Urban and "would usually mean replacing inter- woefully incomplete without reference Regional Planning. Before then, I was governmental capital grants with in- to the work of the voluntary agency the chief country planner in the De- ternal loans from central to local gov- Sulabh International and its founder, partment of Town and Country Plan- ernment." Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak. He was the ning of the Ministry of the Interior. Municipal development funds pioneer of the pour-flush, water seal, This letter is to acquire information (MDFs) can play a useful role in twinpit latrine concept as far back as on the financial assistance offered by channeling borrowing for local capital 1967. He has singlehandledly been re- the World Bank to attend conferences projects. In a paper prepared for the sponsible for the construction of a and short courses that are usually ad- WDR, Prof. Kenneth Davey of the large number of such latrines in the vertised in the Urban Edge. I believe Institute of Local Government Stud- urban areas of India. that the requested information will be ies at the University of Birmingham, While other agencies have also done very helpful to me and my colleagues in the U.K., defines an MDF as: "a technical work on this system, it was who are interested in such courses but pool of money operated at a level Dr. Pathak who was able to market it lack financing to attend and/or partic- above that of the individual munici- widely in many states of India through ipate. pality, for investment in urban in- a combination of government spon- frastructure, services, and enterprise sorship, municipal acceptance, train- Sincerely, through a municipal government or its ing of sanitary technicians, successful Jerry M. Peko subsidiaries." The dual purposes of demonstrations in the field, and inno- such funds are to channel more invest- vative financing. When necessary, his ment in urban infrastructure through organization takes up construction of *** municipal governments and to the toilets, provides post-construction strengthen local government institu- maintenance, and operates hundreds From the Editor: tions in the process. Funds are usually of remarkably clean public toilets in a channeled through a national ministry number of cities in India. We are pleased to have the opportu- or an autonomous institution, such as The UNDPfWorld Bank program nity to answer your question, as we a development bank or a mun- has no doubt made a major contribu- are sure others face similar problems. icipal "window" established at a tion in proving the feasibility of this The conferences and training ses- government-owned bank. low-cost sanitation option in a num- sions mentioned each month in the One of the key weaknesses of ber of Indian towns and promoting it Urban Edge are listed for the informa- MDFs noted in Prof. Davey's study is through IDA-assisted urban projects. tion of our readers. Most are spon- their tendency to be "passive;" that is, But it will be quite some time before sored by organizations that have no to provide financing without apply- our civil and sanitary engineers fully relationship to the World Bank, and ing rigorous technical or financial ap- accept the pour-flush water seal la- the Bank does not offer financial aid praisal techniques or offering tech- trine as an alternative to conventional to attend these events. However, fi- nical assistance to the municipal in- waterborne sewerage and our govern- nancial aid is often available for at- stitutions to which they lend. A new ment agencies work out the mechan- tendance; the best source of informa- World Bank project planned in Niger- isms to market, construct, and service tion is the sponsoring organization, ia, described in a separate article, at- the system on a large scale. whose address is listed in our descrip- tempts to overcome this problem by Meanwhile, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak tion. specifying that the merchant banks, marches on. The World Bank does provide fi- which are to oversee municipal infra- nancial assistance for training when · structure investments, provide strict Yours sincerely, is related to a specific project occ appraisal criteria and offer technical L.M. Menezes ing in a country. Information in sue assistance to local authorities in the Special Officer cases can be obtained through the rel- project preparation process. m Madras Municipal Corporation evant government ministry. July 1988 the Urban Edge 7 The project's two broad goals are: of World Bank involvement and stra- PROJECT NOTES (l) to reduce the agency's operating tegy, as well as lessons learned from costs and increase productivity, ena- past urban transport projects. bling OSE to operate without subsi- Regarding solutions, the author Indonesia: urban development. The dies, and (2) to rehabilitate and ex- stresses that cost recovery is the "first government of Indonesia has pand various components of the coun- essential step" to improve the trans- launched a $224 million project that try's water supply system. port system, as little can be done with will focus both on building its capacity To improve OSE's operations, the the level of service and infrastructure to plan and carry out integrated urban agency is obtaining technical assis- without resources. Further, he argues development as well as improving ur- tance and training through an ar- that "full cost recovery is an attainable ban transport services. The World rangement that links it with a water objective through motor vehicle and Bank will support the effort with a authority in Brazil that is particularly fuel taxes." $150 million loan. well run. Special attention will be paid Tables offer considerable detail on The bulk of the funding will be to improving customer relations and vehicle growth rates, road networks used for the construction, rehabilita- the agency's logistical and administra- and the proportion surfaced, the num- tion, and maintenance of primary and tive systems, as well as to developing ber of accidents, fatalities, and inju- secondary roads and intersections in skills for planning and coordinating ries, as well as on public bus compan- the Jabotabek metropolitan region, projects. ies (for example, size of fleet, annual which includes Jakarta, the capital, To rehabilitate the aging water sup- deficits, and number of employees). and has a population of over 9 million. ply system, a major treatment plant In Part II of the study, appendices Funds will also be used for traffic and two transmission mains will be on each of the eight countries include management improvements (such as, upgraded, deteriorated equipment in data about the transport sectors, as bus lanes, traffic signals, footpaths, the distribution systems in several cit- well as general notes on the condition and street signs) and to extend the ies will be repaired or replaced, and of the economy, the extent and rate of 1ad network, along with key infra- new equipment for the overall opera- urbanization, and population trends. ructure, into Jakarta's fringe areas, tion ahd maintenance of the system, so as to facilitate the city's growth. including water meters, will be in- The road construction and mainte- stalled. nance, which will upgrade drainage The distribution system will also be "Housing and Economic Adjust- facilities and improve road surfaces expanded in Montevideo, which will ment," Department of International and sidewalks, in turn, will reduce involve the construction of about 40 Economic and Social Affairs, United periodic flooding, traffic noise, and km. of pipelines, 5,000 house connec- Nations Document ST/ESA/204, accidents. tions, and standpipes. An overall wa- Sales No.E.88.IV.l, 1988. The project will focus heavily on ter supply and sanitation plan for pro- Because of the social and economic developing integrated five-year invest- jected needs, standards, tariff policies, effects of structural adjustment, the ment plans for infrastructure and and the like will also be developed. report argues, action is needed to ame- transport as well as improving traffic liorate shelter conditions and "invest- engineering and air quality. For both ment in housing strategies is money efforts, advisory services will be pro- well spent," since it simultaneously vided from the central govern- RESOURCES provides shelter and stimulates the ment. Technical assistance, aimed at economy. The study notes that the strengthening local finances through Richard Barrett, "Urban Transport in upgrading approach--where authori- user charges for water supplies, will West Africa," World Bank Technical ties provide infrastructure and secure also be included in the project. Paper No. 81, 1988, $10. land tenure-"is paid for out of in- Based on findings from a study of come that owner-occupants obtain Uruguay: water supply. The Repub- urban transport in the major cities in from renting part of their dwellings," lic of Uruguay has undertaken a $33.2 Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Came- as they will pay for improvements that million project to modernize the roon, Ghana, Mali, and Senegal, the allow them to expand their income. state's water supply system and the author describes the problems com- The U.N. report describes the need agency, the Administration of Sani- mon to the transport sector, such as for rental housing and the interest that ry Works (OSE), that is responsible inadequate or nonexistent mainte- property owners in informal settle- or this sector. The World Bank has nance, large operating deficits, and ments have in taking in tenants (citing approved a $22.3 million loan to assist insufficient use of traffic management figures from cities in all regions and a the effort. schemes. He also includes a discussion compelling case study from Bogota, 8 the Urban Edge July 1988 where over one-third of owner-occu- Publications Recently Received beginning in January on "Small and pants rent out single rooms and small The World Bank, Technical Paper Intermediate Urban Centers." For de- apartments). No. 54, "A Manager's Guide to Mon- tails, write to the school at the above The report explains how, through itoring and Evaluating Urban Devel- address. appropriate strategies, activity in the opment Programs: A Handbook for housing sector can reactivate growth Program Managers and Researchers," without generating inflation or requir- by Michael Bamberger and Eleanor CONFERENCES ing large infusions of public resources. Hewitt, (reviewed in UE, 10.7) is now It also describes the ways in which available in French, Spanish, and "Management of Local Govern- housing and infrastructure investment Chinese. $5. ments" will be the theme of a confer- affect income and employment: be- ence in Maputo, Mozambique, Sept sides employing semi- and unskilled Charles G. Gunnerson, "Waste- 26-30. Sponsored by the Ministry of laborers, (who are among the most water Management for Coastal Cities: State Administration of the Govern- affected by adjustment cutbacks), it Ocean Disposal Technologies," World ment of Mozambique, in collabora- promotes growth in related industries, Bank Technical Paper No. 77, 1987, tion with FiNNiDA and the World such as building materials and those $23. Bank, the conference will be attended involved in capital goods, transport, by the country's mayors and heads of and marketing for this sector. Glossary of Urban Infrastructure urban service agencies who will hear Most important, such strategies Maintenance, English-French-Span- presentations by their counterparts make few demands on the public sec- ish, World Bank, No. BK-0971, 1988, from African, Latin American, and tor, since the informal sector is well $7.50. European countries about the ways equipped to supply housing. Thus, be- This glossary defines the basic municipalities and the services they sides providing infrastructure, public terms in maintenance and lists others provide are managed. Together, par- sector actions can be limited to small relating to the delivery of services and ticipants and speakers will explore loans to informal building materials training of staff. how these experiences might apply suppliers and small credits with short Mozambique. maturities to owner-builders to stimu- I TRAINING For details, contact Sylvie Brebion, late construction and enable poorer World Bank, 1818 H St. NW, Room members of communities to withstand Development Planning Unit, Bartlett SI0-121, Washington, D.C. 20433, inducements to sell. Also, the report School of Architecture and Planning, U.S.A. adds, authorities need to review laws University College London, 9 End- that might hinder housing consolida- sleigh Gardens, London WCJH OED, World Bank papers can be obtained through World Bank Publications, Dept. 0552, tion and subdivisions in informal set- U.K. Washington, D.C. 20075-0552, U.S.A. tlements. 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