Gearing Up for Competitiveness: The Role of Planning, Governance, and Finance in Small and Medium-sized Cities in South Asia

GEARING UP FOR COMPETITIVENESS

THE ROLE OF PLANNING, GOVERNANCE, AND FINANCE IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES IN SOUTH ASIA

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Asian Development Bank.

Gearing up for competitiveness: The role of planning, finance, and governance in small and medium-sized cities in South Asia.

Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2016.

1. Governance.         2. Sri Lanka.         3. Bangladesh.         4. Nepal.         I. Asian Development Bank.

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Contents

Boxes, Figures, and Tables

Foreword

While there has been a considerable focus on megacities, little research has been undertaken on the competiveness of smaller and medium-sized cities, where much of the growth is taking place. These cities often support the larger ones with their industrial zones, logistics infrastructure, and affordable housing.

For smaller and medium-sized cities to sustain growth and chart their development trajectories, they will require greater emphasis on the quality of planning and institutions and the ability to secure finance for infrastructure. This requires cities to have a deeper understanding of their competitive advantages and ability to position themselves within a regional planning framework that extends beyond municipal boundaries. They will also need to anticipate demand for land and public services, among others.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been working across South Asia to help its partners address the multitude of challenges that urbanization brings. This is being done by strengthening local government and investing in infrastructure. ADB is increasingly engaging with government partners on more complex issues through multisector solutions to help cities and regions unleash their economic potentials. These initiatives include strengthening the linkages between urbanization and regional integration and the development of economic corridors.

This ADB study uses new tools to rate city performance and provides insights into selected cities’ competitiveness through the framework of planning, governance, and finance. It provides insights into these cities’ potential to increase prosperity and quality of life. We hope these insights will be of use to policy-makers, officials, local leaders, and others interested in advancing local and regional economies; and will help to inform our future urban operations.

Acknowledgments

The study was funded through two regional capacity development assistance programs of the Asian Development Bank (ADB): Strengthening Knowledge-Driven Development in South Asia (R-CDTA 45282) and Support to Urban Infrastructure Development and Financing (R-CDTA 45102).

The authors would like to express their gratitude to a number of people for their contributions to the study concept, evolution, and review. The expert panel, which advised the authors at key phases, included Mukundan Krishnamachary from India (consultant), Nihal Samaruppuli from Sri Lanka (Board of Investment of Sri Lanka), and Earl Kessler from the United States (consultant). Brian Roberts from the University of Canberra provided early support to the national consultants to collect data and lead city-level discussions, and Marcel Pandin from Indonesia provided inputs on early concepts and direction. Archana Karvande provided support to the team throughout as the assistant planner.

The authors would also like to thank ADB staff who supported the study in different ways. These include Ghambhir Bhatta, Sekhar Bonu, Kamal Dahanayake, Saugata Dasgupta, Ma. Consuelo Garcia, Jingmin Huang, Md. Rafiqul Islam, Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Vijay Padmanabhan, Pamela Puspus, Michelle Sevilla-Ylo, Laxmi Sharma, Priyanka Sood, Ashok Srivistava, Keiichi Tamaki, and Fei Yue.

The authors would like to express gratitude to Edward Lemon of Chreod for peer