jibgar joshi

URBANIZATION AND URBAN GOVERNANCE IN NEPAL

 Jibgar Joshi

 

Abstract

 The central concern of this paper is urban governance. It reviews urbanization in Nepal and examines the response made to face the problems it has caused.  For an emerging economy, its impact extends to the nature of governance. It deals with the evolution of urban governance in Nepal and pleads that it is due to urbanization. The general premise of the paper is that the best way to ensure good governance is to produce and distribute urban services and goods to the people in the manner they want. It thus recognizes the role of urban governance in development.

Key words: good urban governance, urbanization, local government action and urban services.

 Introduction

The purpose of this short paper is to examine how urban governance should be shaped in Nepal to cope with the challenges brought about by urbanization. It is an inevitable phenomenon and must be accepted as such. With the democratic changes of 1990, local governments are empowered. The local resource base has widened and more resources are now available for development. But there has not been a proportional change towards good governance. Expenses increased but services per capita decreased. The governance has become too costly, as people have to pay more for less. The willingness to serve the people is lacking and we have not been able to develop mechanisms to provide services in the manner the people need them.

The paper is organized in six parts. Part II gives a glimpse of urbanization in Nepal. The next part tries to depict the impacts in general and in the mode of governance in particular. It also shows how Nepal has been able to cope with it so far. Part IV tests the sustainability of the trend and argues that the strategies of the nineties will not be sustained without an added impetus towards good governance. In the next part, good governance is explored at length and strategies for it in the context of rapid urbanization is discussed. In the last part, the paper concludes that good urban governance is a key to development.

II.          Urbanization

 Although Nepal is a country of villages, she is urbanizing fast. The urban population as the percentage of the rural population has increased from 3.7 in 1961 to 16.2 in 2001. The level of urbanization is 14%. Apart from 58 municipalities, there are 132 small towns and market centres in Nepal (NPC, p. 349, 2002). If these are also considered, it will be around 23%. The change is manifested in the structure of employment as well.

 Table I.  Urban – Rural Population of Nepal, 1961 - 2001                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                           (In thousands)

Population	Census Year
	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
Urban	339	462	947	1,745	3,229
Rural	9,074	11,096	14,195	16,855	19,924
Total pop.	9,413	11,558	15,142	18,600	23,153
Urban to rural %	3.7	4.2	6.8	10.1	16.2

 

In Nepal, the process is characterized by

• rural to urban migration
  
• change from agricultural land use to non agricultural
  
• change from agricultural jobs to off-farm jobs
  
• change in the level of services and urban amenities
  
• change in values, behaviors and institutions and
  
• change form sparse settlements to dense ones.   
  

Table II. Percentage distribution of economically active population by occupation

Nepal, 2001

 

S. No.	Occupational Group	Urban	Rural
1	Legislators, Senior officials and Managers	2.2	0.3
2	Professionals	5.8	2.0
3	Technicians & Associate professionals	4.9	1.3
4	Clerks or Office Assistants.	5.1	1.6
5	Service workers and Shop and Market sales Workers	18.8	6.4
6	Skilled and semi-skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery workers	28.2	64.0
7	Craft and related trade workers	15.5	8.4
8	Plant and machine operators and assemblers	3.8	1.1
9	Elementary occupations	15.6	14.9
10	Not stated	0.1`	0.1
	Total	100.0	100.

Source: CBS 2003

A good measure of urban development is the level of urban services available therein. Production, job opportunities, urban environment, housing depend on the level of infrastructure and services. The affordability also depends on the income level. The production, distribution and use of urban services should be integrated with urban development process to be able to provide adequate services to the growing population. Despite urbanization, the level of services in our towns and cities are not adequate.

  Impacts and Response

Urbanization has created enormous wealth and the need for infrastructure and services has also increased. Land prices increased dramatically over the years. Thee number of the homeless have also increased. Planned development became rather difficult. Cost recovery for most of the services is poor. It gave rise to slum dwellers and illegal settlements. It became more and more difficult for the informal sector to get integrated with modern systems.With the development of crowded areas, the problems of pollution and solid waste management have increased. Carbon emissions and poor sanitation have caused health hazards.

Social polarization is another consequence. The poor work in an informal sector and live in slums with unhygienic environment. Transportation has become more and more difficult. The community form of development is slowly vanishing. Urbanization brings institutional changes as well. With it, the ability to provide services and urban amenities needs to be enhanced. Most rural ways of doing things need to be integrated with the modern changes.

One of the major consequences of urbanization is the change in the mode of governance. In a rural setting, most of the urban services are locally managed without any support from the State.

The role of the government in Nepal slowly changed with urbanization. Half a century ago, the function of the State was to maintain law and order and to collect some revenue. With the start of the First Five Year Plan in 1956, the government began to launch development activities. It also started to provide infrastructure and services. Over the years, the role of the national government has changed markedly.

But it was not easy to cope with urbanization. The government turned out to be a bad manager in the context of service delivery. It became too costly and unaffordable for the people to receive the services provided by the government. Then the government looked for other partners of development. The involvement of the community, joint ventures and privatization and ultimately partnership formation became the changing mode of governance.

At the same time it tried to decentralize most of the development functions. While activities are shifted to local bodies, tools and resources remained with the centre. Only during the last few years, local government had a better access to different resources. 

Despite an adequate institutional and legal back up also, Nepal has been successful to cope with urbanization. How has this been possible?

The integration of culture and rural ways of life with the modern changes are remarkable. Land development projects helped to integrate the new areas with the old cities. We have resisted the encroachment of outside influences. But we have not been able to emulate good urban governance.

Most of the changes thought to be good in the eighties have been realized. Some of these are

•  Local autonomy,
  
• Widening  local economic base
  
• Decentralized government action
  
• Community involvement
  
• Private sector involvement
  
• Partnership

Nepal has so far, somehow, coped with the urbanization.

 

IV.          Sustainability

 However it may be difficult to sustain the changes in a positive direction. Without providing services, revenue collection cannot be continued. Most projects deemed successful in the nineties are no more replicable. The cost of providing services is increasing rapidly. The problem of solid waste disposal is accentuated. The rapid disappearance of rural areas from our towns and cities has made development almost impossible.

Only a couple of decades ago, most urban services are supposed to be provided free of cost. Today, the local revenue base has increased many folds. Democracy has brought lots of resources out. Decentralization was to a large extent successful and lots of resources are now available for development. These are encouraging but we failed to be accountable. Even when services are not provided, we collect revenue.

Urban financing is a major area of public policy. Only when the municipality will operate as a development management unit to produce and sell the urban services, it becomes self-financing. City marketing helps to attract industries that can pay for the services. It is the ability of the urban government to produce and sell services that the process becomes sustainable. In doing so, it is necessary to mobilize all the sectors in the pursuit of urban development. The way the size of the cities is increasing, it will not be possible to accommodate the increasing population and provide them with sufficient shelter, jobs, infrastructure and services.

With urbanization, more and more people come to live in cities. It is becoming more and more difficult to absorb the migrants to the cities. To provide them with jobs, shelter and services is a major challenge. Access to these to the poor and vulnerable becomes limited. Through urban governance, we should make our cities inclusive, which means that everyone in the city should have access to these.

In the past, it was possible to maintain rural areas even in cities. This has helped to make towns and cities more sustainable. It is necessary to make our cities green to ensure sustainable development  V.Urban Governance

Whenever we talk of governance, the presence of a government is implicit.  And when we think of it, we presume that its function is to rule. It is not possible to rule without a government. When people at large are happy and receive necessary services, we have good governance. At the same time, it also means the access of the people to the services without any discrepancy in terms of creed, sex or religion. It is just like stewardship. Those with power talk with those without power. Stewardship depends on the willingness to be accountable for results. Urban governance is a new area of development administration. The main objective is to serve the people. It recognizes those being served as partners of development.

The goal of urban governance is to create liveable spaces with good environment. It works for a balance between the urban and rural areas. The externalities created by investments in cities have to be evenly distributed. Poor people provide environmental services that go unnoticed. The rich build bigger houses and are more wasteful. Their ecological footprints are much more. They consume more but they do not pay.

Good governance at the settlement level is essential. City administration is taking after the evils of central government bureaucracy.  It is more after financial returns than the sustainable use of resources.

Urban governance should be directed towards the creation of livable cities. Livability is the test of poverty alleviation. It should extend beyond the boundary of cities. It should harness the potentials of the associated region. It should create channels of communication among actors and stakeholders. People find ways to hold officials accountable. They learn to communicate and advocate change. Actors should be brought together for a consultative process. More transparency means better governance. It is complex in that it is collective governance. It is based on partnership. Development is not possible if we exclude any sector.

When a debate on decentralization takes place, the discussion generally centers on the issue of sharing power between the local authority and the national government. But there is no point in devolving power to the local level if power is going to be retained there only. The goal of decentralization is building sustainable partnerships. All should be empowered to act as partners in the total process of urban development. In the process, it is necessary to generate resources bound with every sector.

The ultimate goal of urban governance is to provide services to the people. It must be forward looking and build on partnerships to satisfy the needs of the ever-growing population. Being nearer to the people, it must function in a more transparent manner and be more accountable as compared to the national government. People will always be urging for the provision of services.  Cost recovery becomes possible through such strategies.

The role of the national government should be to empower the urban government and make it operational. The partners of development should be brought about under a single umbrella and through consultative mechanisms; development should be initiated under a general consensus. Stakeholders forum will give rise to collective governance. This should be the form of urban governanInstead of controlling good governance depends on the ability to influence all the actors that their actions become compatible with the agreed goals. The quality of urban governance depends on the ability to produce and distribute urban services on a sustainable manner.  This requires sustainable financing and city marketing approach. By increasing the quality of services, people can be made to pay for the services.

Local government is an elected authority with responsibility for a given area. It is a general organization formed to carry out many functions. It works beyond its statutory responsibilities covering the administration of different services. It is a political institution for the local choice and a development management unit for the provision of services. Its legitimacy depends on the nature of its representative characteristic. Its executive autonomy could be improved by

• Working on poverty alleviation programs
  
• Providing urban infrastructure, shelter and services
  
• Managing urban environment
  
• Promoting the role of the private sector and civic societies.
  
• Building partnerships at local levels. (Joshi, 1999, p. 84)
  

It has already become necessary to examine how the power the local bodies already have is being used. More power may result in the abuse of power. Through actions and by serving the people the urbann government should be made powerful. It is not the devolution of power from the centre. It is the strength derived from the bottom that is the test of good governance.

VI.       Conclusion

It is a paradox that although Nepal talks much about good governance, the concept has not been brought to the action level. Good governance is possible only when people in need of services get them. Where do the people go for services and what they need? How can we satisfy the needs of the people locally and how can we serve the people at the local level are the key issues. When people get these services, good governance is ensured. Thus urban governance is the backbone of the concept of good governance. Strategies to ensure sustainable production and distribution at the local level will enhance the people’s willingness to pay for the services. The major thrust of decentralization is also to provide services at the local level.

The evolution of local government towards a strong local action is indeed a very good response that Nepal made to urbanization. But we should understand that a fair distribution of wealth created by it is possible only through good governance. The cost of urbanization and social impacts should be fairly shared and pricing of infrastructure and services should not exclude the weaker section. It is high time that we quickly move towards good governance in order to provide

• equal access to social goods and services
  
• enhance local ability to satisfy needs over a longer period of time,
  
• entitlements for all to get integrated in the development process and
  
• access to environmental resources. 
  

References

CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) (2003). Population Census, 2001, Selected Tables, Kathmandu: National Planning Commission

Joshi, Jibgar. (1999). Housing and Urban Development in Nepal, Revised Edition, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi.

___________. (2000). Planning for Sustgainable Development urban management in Nepal and South Asia, 1997/2000, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi.

__________. “Partnership in Urban Governance” in Sahabhagita, Vol. I, No I, May 1997.

NPC (National Planning Commission) (2002). The Tenth Plan in Nepali, Kathmandu: NPC.

Van Sant, J. (1996). “Governance as Stewardship” paper prepared for the Asian Ministerial Conference on Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity, Lahore, Pakistan, 18 – 21 Nov. 1996.

 

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Deepening Decentralization for Poverty Alleviation in Nepal

 

Dr. Jibgar Joshi[1]

Abstract

 

This paper views that the level of decentralization is determined by the interplay of forces that assign the role as well as the power to agencies at the action level. The level of equilibrium is set depending on how the power is going to be shared between different levels of government. Decentralization plays a key role in the provision of goods and services in Nepal through which, it is related with poverty. This point is not well addressed as efforts towards decentralization always focused on power transfer to districts as the centre is relatively at ease to deal with the problem of power sharing with them. And there is no constitutional obligation. The result is that the modes of service provision remained centralized and the access of the poor in the process could not increase. On the other hand, the transfer of power to the municipal level can largely be explained through the direct coalition of interest between the centre and the city at the project or program level.

Nepal’s experience shows that decentralization is necessary but not a sufficient condition for the reduction of poverty. A surer way is through the empowerment of the people. It is necessary to get deeper through the involvement of the people in the service provision. Ways and means to get deeper are explored. Given the power of the centre to undermine decentralization, a federal system is likely to make governments at different levels more responsible in the process of deepening decentralization in order to alleviate poverty.

 

I.        INTRODUCTION

Community efforts are still a dominant mode of producing basic goods and services in Nepal. However, it may be difficult to sustain community actions. Most of the goods and services produced at the community level are being less and less integrated with the formal system. Poverty on the other hand, is being increasingly linked with service deficiency. The paper examines decentralization in Nepal in the context of its effectiveness in improving the service delivery system. How to make it more effective as a tool of poverty reduction is the main objective.

            The paper is organized in five parts. The remainder of this part deals with basic concepts of decentralization. It will reduce poverty if it encourages local actions as they enhance the ability of the poor to meet their needs. It also deals with the changing nature of poverty with development. Part II gives a historical review of decentralization in Nepal and deals with the centralizing tendencies. The next part tries to link decentralization with poverty reduction. It shows how the local autonomy helped to reduce poverty. Poverty is likely to increase in the future with the depletion of environmental resources as the cost of providing the service needs will be more. Part IV suggests various ways and means of deepening decentralization. These will enable markets to enhance the production of infrastructure and services in a sustainable and affordable manner. It also deals with the opportunities associated with a federal system of government in making decentralization more effective. The last part draws some conclusions.

            Decentralization is generally understood to mean the transfer of power from the centre to the local level. The success depends on the strength of the local government. The term is used here in a more comprehensive way. It also covers the dispersal of the utilities to selected locations. A pragmatic definition would be to allow the private sector or the sub national government to undertake the job when a central agency fails to accomplish it in the best possible way. It should be seen as a means and not an end. It should help to address the constraints associated with centralization. The first step of decentralization is a liberal policy implemented through deregulation.

An immediate outcome of decentralization is to ensure empowerment of all the sectors to the extent that their collective efforts will maximize the production of necessary goods and services. What matters is the performance of the economy as a whole. This in turn will depend on good and transparent governance. This is possible only through greater access of the people to institutions and resources including the produced goods and services. It should ensure better coordination and greater participation. All should be allowed freely to contribute the utmost to the desired results.

Poverty is linked with the inability to meet the needs and development means the meeting of the needs. As needs and wants are not met, there is a need to develop. Only when people feel they are poor; being deprived of something they want, they strive to get it. The poor struggle for the basic amenities of life. Given the opportunity, they work hard to get rid of poverty. It is human nature to aspire to prosper.

But the people are bound with institutions that may not allow them to meet their needs. People want to be happier and they strive to satisfy their needs. Human needs however vary, and depend on social structure. It is a relative concept. If others have something, we would like to have the same thing and in due course, it will get the status of needs to be met. We are taught to compete with others. Technological changes bring many more goods into the basket of the needs. We have become much better off in terms of consumption. We have much more amenities, some of which we could have never thought of, a couple of decades ago. Yet, we may not be happier as unmet needs are also more.

Most will be able to meet basic needs related to bare survival. But yet the majority of the people will be poor as they are not provided with services and amenities. Few people will starve or die of hunger in a city. Our pursuit for development is a function of our inability to fulfill our needs in a collective sense. The poor has more of their needs unmet. Poorer the people, the proportion of their income spent on food is higher.

 

II.               DECENTRALIZATION IN NEPAL

Decentralization has a long history in Nepal. It has remained to be an important policy of the State for a long period. The outside influence for changing the role of the government from a doer to an enabler was very much dominant in the evolution of the government policy. Many events that occurred since 1960 helped the process. Community-based programs also helped to bring about the political changes (Joshi 1991). Programs like small farmers’ development program, community forestry, land pooling and integrated action planning underscored the importance of participatory development. They played a significant role in empowering the people.

Nepal’s experience has shown that decentralization is weakened by forces to alienate people from power and resources of all kinds in different periods. During the Panchayat regime, there was a limit to it as the system was autocratic. After the change in 1990, there has been centralization on partisan lines. Privatization has favored those who have alternatives and are able to negotiate (Joshi 1999, p. 70).

It is clearly visible that the State has relied on people, community, private sector and local government all the time. The district plan was introduced in 1982 to make the Panchayat sector more comprehensive. It tried to ensure coordination among different agencies at the local level. With the enactment of Decentralization Act 1982 and its rules 1985, there was an attempt to disperse activities all over the country.

During the Panchayat regime, viable political bodies could not be formed at different levels. Most steps towards decentralization emerged from the top and reached down to district level where local bodies ranging from the ward committees to the District Assembly are formed. Despite the fact that the internal structures were made quite strong, and logical, these proved to be inadequate to ensure local autonomy as the system itself is not democratic.

After the political change of 1990, Town Development Act 1990 and local development acts were prepared. Most of the activities now taking place at the local level are following Local Self Government Act 1999. After the change, the aspirations of the people increased. People felt empowered. The outside exposure also helped. These worked towards the autonomy. Under the system, the sovereignty lies with the people. However, the government got the people’s mandate to loosely structure the internal system. 

At the institutional level, NGOs and the private sector flourished and could have been used for empowering the people and communities in order to enhance the people’s participation. The progress however was poor. The centralizing tendency increased on partisan lines. There was no need for the government to make the internal structure sound. Apparently, a democratic government can afford to ignore the internal structure as it has the capacity to absorb criticisms.

During the Panchayat system, it can be said that the internal structures were meticulously designed. It professed to be egalitarian and showed the seriousness to implement it. There was, in the constitution, the provision of local assembly.

Despite all these, the local panchayats were the local administration of the national government.

Only in 1999, LSGA made the provision for local assemblies and thus try to strengthen the internal structure. This has not been operational and there are laws in contradiction to the provision. The local government was rapidly being shaped up forming its own identity but the changes after the royal takeover in 2000 were not encouraging. At present, the primary concern is the election of the Constituent Assembly. There is a need to revisit decentralization policies in the context of poverty alleviation with a possible transformation to a federal system.

Actions on development take place at the local level. Each city is unique in terms of available resources, culture and role under the national urban system. This demands a considerable degree of local response since centrally controlled decision-making structure can seldom provide adequate solution to enhance the production of infrastructure and services on a sustainable basis.

 The local government will have autonomy when it truly represents the people and controls the fiscal resources. Its executive autonomy can be improved through working on:

·                    poverty alleviation programs

·                    providing urban infrastructure, shelter and services

·                    being involved in the management of local environment ‘promoting the role of the private sector and civil societies” and

·                    building partnership at the local level.

 

In order to sustain its autonomy, it is necessary to enhance local competence. This can be done through HRD at the local level. Otherwise, domination on the ground of incompetence will never end.

The problem to deal with poverty has increased over the years because there has been a tendency to centralize. There is a need to decentralize as these had been centralized in the past in the provision of service delivery. The centralizing tendency of the State to provide equity through uniform policies had itself deterred development most of the times. Along with the transfer of power to the local level, informal partnership between the national and the local are sometimes formed.

Areas where the government has faced problems and has failed to perform properly must be given to others. The government let the local administration and the private sector do some of the things but the transfer of power and resources are never smooth; it shifts the responsibility and works only. As a result, they do no feel accountable and the performance becomes poor. More resources are used in the process.

Decentralization in terms of district level planning and administration in fact faced no resistance, as they are hardly any activities and no conflict of interest. The private sector henceforth attached to the centre also gradually moved to the local level.

            Nepal’s experience clearly shows that it is not enough to deal with decentralization if it only deals with the sharing of the cost incurred between the levels of government. There are many ways that power becomes centralized. The process of centralization that is always taking place should also be studied.  With that, there is a central control on the production and distribution of goods and services. Activities are also placed where power is centered. Factors contributing to this are as follows:

·                    Information is not shared and disseminated.

·                    Patron client relationship is established.

·                    Technical requirements are made complex.

·                    There are frequent changes of decision-makers.

·                    Conflicts led to centralization.

 

Centralizing tendency is detrimental to democratic norms. Power should be diffused as far as possible. When leaders represent the people’s interest there is no chance of power abuse. What the poor will be given should not be based on charity or favor; these should fall under the domain of human rights. Teaching the poor to use their rights is the correct strategy. They must be made to understand. Human rights can only be established through this approach. Decisions should be taken at the level closest to citizens and only tasks, which cannot be carried out effectively at the local level alone, should be referred to higher levels.

 

III.           DECENTRALIZATION AND  POVERTY REDUCTION

Decentralization has failed to reduce poverty as desired. The governance at the local level did not turn out to be people-oriented. When people get engaged in the production of goods and service, there are more jobs, production and economic growth. With the increasing cost of the provision of services, poverty will be more linked to these in the coming days. The cost of service provision will also increase as resources get used up. While the political changes and the empowerment of the people are urged by the community efforts, with the change, the power did not devolve right up to the people. There are several reasons for this.

·        First, the change took place rather rapidly. The local government easily took after the style of the national government which itself was not good.

·        Second, there is a diminishing value of goods and services produced by the community. This has made it more difficult to get them integrated with the formal networks. As much could have been centralized, officials thought it beneficial to form partnership with local administration to use resources from outside.

·        What needs to be carried out at local level remained centralized as the centre doubts the competence of local agencies. Lower levels become less and less keen to assume power, as there is mistrust.

 

Not only should governments at different levels devise innovative techniques of engagement, they must also equip their communities to participate. The growing cost of infrastructure and services has limited the access of the poor to these. This has affected the productivity. There is no evidence to show that the government is keen to increase the efficiency of service delivery or to enhance the productivity.

            There is no alternative to decentralization. However, decentralization policy as tried in Nepal is mostly a top down approach. How much deeper down should we go? -  remained largely unexplored. Is local government really serving the interest of the poor? These are key issues to be addressed.

Being nearer to the people, it must be realized that the local government should function better as compared to the centre. People will be able to defy bad governance at this level all the more. In order to make decentralization work for reducing poverty, it is necessary to deal with the following challenges and constraints:

 

·        The ability to use resources fairly is not ensured.

·        Local capacity is enhanced not through the empowerment of the people.

·        Governance is not accountable to the people.

·        People participate through their representatives.

·        People are co-opted through legitimate channels.

·        Local governance is weak as there is not improvement in the access of the people to resources, goods and services.

·        Institutions are not people-oriented.

·        Managerial and technical capacity arte limited both at the centre and municipality level.

·        Institutional framework is complex and there is lack of inter-level coordination.

·        There is an attempt to create confusion and chaos as a means to centralize.

 

IV.            STRATEGIES FOR DEEPENING DECENTRALIZATION

Although Nepal’s experience is not bad, it has become necessary to think beyond the transfer of power from the centre to the local level. It will not be difficult to link decentralization with poverty reduction as there is no restriction for the local system to exert power. It is merely the question of local empowerment. This has to be done through capacity building and training. And local power should be sustained through empowering the people. People’s initiative helps the empowerment of the local government in several ways:

·        They exert pressure on government agencies.

·        They help to create awareness.

·        The power derived from the people is more sustainable.

 

In order to reduce poverty, it is necessary to decentralize deeper down to the level of the people and make the local political system derive the power from the people rather than from above. This requires good governance and the access of the people to resources and good and services. The involvement of the people in the decision-making process is equally important.

The provision of services should be through projects in which the people have a say. Both the private and the public sector will centralize if local actions are ignored. Their effectiveness will increase when the outputs derived from these are integrated with the formal networks. For this, the government, the market and the professionals should recognize their contribution. It should be noted that most of the existing rules and regulations work against them in different ways. There is no doubt that standards should be raised and maintained. But this also decreases the access of the poor.

The role of the government is to enable markets and deal with market failures. The influence area of any goods extends a wide range and in the delivery of the very necessities of the life, some people are left out. Richer and vocal people get services, others not; as there is always competition for scarce resources. Private sector should be mobilized. This can be done by contracting out with the local authority maintaining some control mechanisms or "getting out" of the function entirely, leaving provision of goods and services to the marketplace. The public sector should focus on the public goods only leaving the market to take care of other goods and services. The role of the State is public welfare. This role is performed by protecting the public goods. There should be collective governance and the government should also change. A new system will evolve where the government, local government, the private sector and civil societies work together. People’s groups should also have a dominant role in the governance that we are talking about.

Budgets are allocated to the local level where most taxes are collected. By the time, tax collection is taken to the centre and again allocated to the local projects, there will be leakage. If sufficient power is given to the action level, it will be possible to collect resources right there to implement the projects. If this can be done, resource mobilization will directly relate to the local level and the chances for leakages will be less. As to the cost incurred just for managing the resources of the poor, whether it is done by the market or the government, it is high. The purpose is to minimize it. Decentralization should help to increase the productivity of resources. It should help to increase the access of the poor to resources. Nearer the people, it becomes more accountable. Recovery of costs through taxes is inequitable as the poor are affected more. Incidence of tax lies on the poor.  Whenever it is feasible, taxes should be replaced by user charges. It is difficult to channel grants to the needy sectors.

            The average person does not understand most of the necessary things and we do not try to make them understand. Most of the orientation programs are also designed in a complex manner that makes more confusion. Attempts to simplify the things are generally resisted. We always try to make things complex. Legal procedures are complex. Laws are amended in the name of simplification but they remain complex for the poor. In the name of health, equity and welfare, both the private sector and the government will form rules and regulations and try to decrease their access. There is a discretionary use of law. Precedents also weaken the law. It is of utmost importance to deregulate most of the rules and regulations. Petty corruption that has hitherto helped to give access to the poor to institutions is becoming more costly and the poor can no more afford such informal services.

People organize themselves and engage in productive activities. In doing so, they have to take the help of the market and the government machinery. Both of these work on centralized systems where the access of the vulnerable group is less compared to others. The best policy is to try to integrate whatever they produce with the market system.

For a meaningful participation, people should be made aware of their roles and functions. This is critical in the formation of the social capital. HRD in particular will help to reduce poverty. Education raises people’s aspirations and needs. It should also enhance the ability to meet them. There is a widespread reluctance of the government to equip citizens to engage with it. Centrally controlled formal institutions of public participation play a potentially prominent role in the lives of the people but yet remain estranged from the people. Instead of simplifying, we make things complicated and pretend that we are empowering the people. The main reason behind making rules and regulations complex is to deter decentralization. This limits the access of the people.

The interest of the poor will not be reflected anywhere unless they themselves can make their voices loud enough. Even when the center for its own sake desires to provide needful goods and services to the poor in order to get rid of deprivation, the costs of providing and delivery these to the poor are huge. Even in relief works after massive devastation, the goods received in the charity seldom reach the poor. For example, in case of housing unless the homeless organize themselves, they will continue to be homeless. People vote during election but the elected leader is not accessible to them. Democracy can be sustained only when we can honor their votes.

People participate in democracy through representation. Democracy should therefore allow the poor to organize themselves. Once they are organized in a functional manner, the chances of their leader being co-opted will be bleak. As they organize for productive work, and not for politics, they become stronger. They will be able to sell whatever they produce at a better price. Others will hear their voice. They will strongly join together to get out of deprivation. Their leaders will no more be able to use them politically as they will have to prove their worth at the action level. The chances of cooptation will be less. Leadership quality should be shown at the action level. When the immediate leader is tied with the people, the patron client relationship will be weakened. It is possible to make decentralization work for reducing poverty through the following measures:

·        Adopt consultative mechanisms to reflect the local needs and aspirations.

·        Enhance access of the people to information, knowledge and technology.

·        Build capacity through HRD and training at the action level.

·        Ensure good governance at the local level.

·        Involve the people and their representatives in service provision,

·        Launch people’s projects instead of centre-led projects.

·        Minimize market failures through price system and enable markets to function.

 

Federal System

Nepal is at a crossroads in the process of evolving an appropriate political system. It is likely that she will go federal. This new dimension should be considered in evolving the role of the government in order to make it more effective in dealing with poverty alleviation. While the national political debates centre on other dimensions, this role should not be eclipsed.

For its own convenience, the government has made provisions several times for the regional administration. However, they were never considered as a part of the constitutional process. There is a distinct role of the State to be carried out at the regional level. A federal system will legitimize that role constitutionally. This is the most important aspect. In this context, it is necessary to use the opportunity created by the recent political development in making decentralization work more effectively.

            The local government failed to penetrate deeper. It is not likely that transfer of power from the national government to the local level will help to deepen decentralization. The reasons are:

·        The national government is too busy to deal with the local issues.

·        There are no binding obligations for the centre to give adequate attention.

 

For a long period, the need for regional administration has been felt. Federal system of the government will fill in the gap. It will allow the local government to deepen decentralization. The empowerment of the people at the local level means the power should be devolved to the action level. It is likely that under a federal system, power will be more easily devolved deeper to the grassroots. It should aim at bringing people nearer to governance and not distancing them from it. Things that need to be brought to the local level can be brought more easily with this system.

            In the process of the ongoing transformation of the Nepali society, the following points should be addressed:

·        Whether it is a federal system or a unitary system, the share of the power at the action level should not be reduced.

·        Some of the works now done at the local or national level should be directed to the federal level.

·        The sharing of power and responsibility among different levels of government is crucial.

·        Federal structure should not cause any additionality in terms of inputs and costs.

 

The risk factor is whether the central government is prepared to share power with sub national governments. The trend so far has been to resist the process through bureaucratic means. Activities that the centre cannot or should not do must be transferred to either the lower levels or the private sector. There are several ways that regional administration will foster decentralization. However the most important element is to make the centre understand that the centre simply cannot execute most of the works by itself. Once the responsibilities are devolved to lower levels, this should be strictly followed. 

            The regional level will also allow a careful scrutiny of development projects. The ability of the centre to monitor development works at the local level is increasingly questioned. Federal government will be able to better monitor the local level works and actions.

            Another advantage is related with the unwillingness of the key personnel to leave the capital. This is natural because power as well as key government functions, at present, are concentrated at the centre. The federal system will reduce the attraction of the centre with the dispersal of its power and functions.

 

V.       CONCLUSION

The dimension of poverty is changing with development. It is more related to services and amenities and it is likely that food and clothing will soon be of little concern. And access to other needs will be more and more limited. Decentralization should help to increase the access of the people to such services in both the urban and rural areas. Because rural areas serve as the markets for the urban goods, it is clear that providing services to all will be more difficult in all areas once development takes place. It is necessary to deepen decentralization. The process of centralization still goes on in Nepal. Moreover, the government continued to collect more and more revenue and sold public goods under monopoly. The cost of urban amenities is increasing at an alarming rate. The inefficiency of the centre to facilitate local action is well known. The distance between the centre and the district is all the more. The centre does not feel any sort of responsibility. Much time is wasted in making the inputs available at the local level although most resources get collected at that level. The reasons behind the failure may be summarized as follows

·        Instead of creating competitive environment, the government uses different tools to create market distortions. The centre needs to espouse participation as a basic element of democracy.

·        Even in a full fledged democratic set-up the government did little to break-up the patron client relationship between different tiers of government.

·        The legal and institutional framework has not been effective in reducing poverty.

 

A two pronged approach is suggested for deepening decentralization. From the bottom, empower the communities and the centre locate the power at an appropriate sub national level. In this way, check and balance can be maintained. The government should monitor the private sector and the federal government to see that they are delivering results. The best ways are privatization and a move to a federal system with power not concentrated at any level. The government must divest areas which can be taken care of by the market system. It monitors the contribution of the private sector and devises innovative ways to facilitate the development process and getting results. Only the public good sector remains with the national government. It should also share power with sub national governments in a constitutional way. It can monitor the function of the federal government whether the power located at that level is being properly used or not.

 

References

 

Joshi, Jibgar. “Empowerment of Local Government and Community-based Programmes: The Case of Nepal” paper presented at the International Seminar on "Basic Amenities in the context of rapid Urbanization, Nov. 1991, New Delhi, organized by Institute Of Social Studies.

 

 

__________. Housing and Urban Development in Nepal: analysis and design of participatory development process, revised edition, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi, 1999.

 

__________. Regional Strategies for Sustainable Development in Nepal, Kathmandu: Lajmina Joshi, 2006.

 

__________. “Urbanization and Urban Governance in Nepal” in Britti, Vol. I No. I, 2005.

 

Nazrul, Islam “Decentralization and Its Impact on Urban Poverty Reduction in South Asia” paper presented at Expert Group Meeting on Decentralization and its Impact on Poverty Reduction organized by UNESCAP 22-23 November 2005
Bangkok, Thailand.

 

Osborne and Gaebler, T. Reinventing Government, Reading, MA, Addison, Wesley, 1991.

 

Van Sant J. Governance as Stewardship: Decentralization and Sustainable Human Development”, paper prepared for the Asian Ministerial Conference Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity, Lahore, 18 -21, November 1996.

 

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Planning Urban Future in Nepal:

New Challenges and Measures for Adaptation

 

Jibgar Joshi

I.     Introduction

 

Cities and towns all over the world are facing the effects of climate change and resource depletion. There is a growing food insecurity, population increase, and economic instability. Other challenges include the rapid growth of many cities with the expansion of the informal sector and the climate change caused by cities. Evidence from around the world suggests that governments at all levels are largely failing to address these challenges. Urban sprawl and slums are among the most visible consequences.  In spite of lots of innovation in planning, there is far more to do. It is essential to make urban planning more equitable. Urban poor need improved tenure and access to land.  All cities need safer and more environmentally friendly public transport, housing, and social services.  There is also a need to mobilize finance for infrastructure. There are other challenges specific to the case of Nepal. The impact of the political changes and the rapid transformation to a new Nepal has not only empowered the people but has also raised their expectations. These factors will significantly reshape the physical as well as the social form of towns and cities in the near future. Nepal is experiencing rapid urbanization with the growth of slums and is unable to meet the increasing demands for services. Although, the urban centres are of direct interest to the government, it does little to make them better places for people to live and work.

The purpose of planning is to enhance the social good. In order to make planning effective, we need to turn our urban centers as locations where there are enough opportunities to enhance the social good. We need to see that they can assume roles assigned to them for the development of the entire nation. This will also mean, well functioning federal capitals to take charge of the governance function and also to lead the federal economies. To make them more self-reliant, there ought to be functional spatial linkages with other economies.

With development, there will be an increase in demand for services; and provision of services will enhance development. Economic growth will suffer in the long run if we fail to provide adequate services in a sustainable manner.

            The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness on the need to improve urban planning to deal with new challenges that Nepal is presently facing. It tries to analyze such challenges and suggest for remedial measures to make planning adapt to these. The paper is organized in six sections. Section II gives a brief account of the planning efforts made. In Section III, a brief evaluation of our planning efforts is made. Section IV deals with the newly emerging challenges, such as climate change, transformation to a federal structure, and so on. Section V shows how planning should adapt to the challenges and emerging changes. Section VI concludes the paper with some observations.

 

II.                Planning Efforts

 

In the past, towns of Kathmandu Valley were built as compact settlements with designated land use. During the early 1960s, modern planning started.  Planning based on master plans and physical development plans were prepared. But they were seldom implemented and Plans generally failed.

Until the early 1980s, we believed that we could control the growth rate of Kathmandu using the conventional physical planning tools. During the 1980s and the 1990s, we some how managed planning to steer the development process using innovations such as IAP, GLD and land pooling, urban upgrading, affordable standards for housing, and so on. Planning has delivered many planned outputs such as urban land with access roads, finance, planning skills etc. These helped in making towns and cities more attractive places to bring more people and money.

Urban planning efforts in Nepal have made impacts on the public policy. Although our priority had been on rural development, most of the investments in the past were made in Kathmandu Valley and to a lesser degree in other major towns. Although, there were attempts to encourage the growth of terai towns and foothill towns in the 1980s, relative competitiveness of Kathmandu has increased. There is no change in the trend as of now.

Although the federal system is in the offing, there is still a tendency to concentrate activities in Kathmandu. When we talk of urban future in Nepal, we need to consider towns and cities outside the metropolis. They did not grow as expected. As Kathmandu is the seat of government and as there is heavy government spending here, the developments in other areas have been eclipsed. In the context of balanced urbanization, the population of terai towns did not increase as expected. Kathmandu continues to grow. With more openness and recent changes, its primacy has increased all the more.

Investments in urban areas, Kathmandu in particular, increased due to two reasons: the success of planning and their relative attractiveness due to conflicts. The attractiveness is also due to the negligence of the government in making the polluters pay; and there is no need for the rich and the strong to pay for the environmental damage. They do not see any risk in defying rules as they think that they could manage it through grafts. The financial sector is relying heavily on land and land speculation; and the prices of real estates are increasing. Recently, the government has become weaker to adopt measures to protect from the evils of urbanization. As a consequence, there is a lack of political will to make planning more innovative.

 

III        Impacts of Planning: Achievements and Failures

 

Planning efforts have greatly influenced the development in Nepal. These have succeeded in attracting capital to urban areas. New resources are opened up and urban land is more easily available. There is an adequate increase in human resources in planning. People have become more aware and empowered. They participate in planning. The absolute poverty level in urban areas has dropped significantly. Lots of financial resources have been drawn to urban centres. Other achievements include:

 

·         People are empowered as they become engaged in community action on the provision of urban services. This has also urged political changes. There is an immense increase in awareness.

·         Land pooling projects opened up lots of resources and made them more accessible to people.

·         Enormous investments were made in housing and real estates. Savings are mobilized through housing finance and infrastructure investments.

 

The current policy is to continue business in the usual way and “let environment take care of itself”. The people have become empowered and if their surroundings are changed, they will adapt to new circumstances. Both in politics as well as in planning, people have demonstrated a high degree of participation. The government is slow in recognizing this.

There is no doubt that Kathmandu has grown with more people and it has lots of financial resources. However, planning has failed to improve the environment and sustain the social inclusion. The national income could not be raised to the desired extent. And planning failed to make investments more productive as these were made on real estates and land. Outside dependency has increased in relative terms. The ability of cities to provide services is decreasing. There is a declining productivity of capital and natural and human resources and other factors of production. If we fail to redefine planning, it will be more difficult to use resources that were made accessible through planning in a more productive way. There will be more conflicts as the people will no more tolerate corruption and the irregular provision of services. The tendency for land speculation will further increase.

In terms of implementation, one can observe what is known as “urban bias”. The flexible and weak governance has made cities like Kathmandu a very attractive place for investments in land and real estates. The large proportion of the population can still be called slum dwellers as there is overcrowding and lack of basic sanitation.     

It is a fact that slums are the worst manifestation of urban poverty, deprivation, and exclusion in the modern world. However, the government does not perceive the problems of slums. There is a limit to what urban planners and planning can do to get rid of the evils of urbanization. Due to the cleavage between the interest of the politicians and the goals of planning, their job may not result in a better living environment for all. In Nepal, planning has not been very assertive; and developers including the government, are relatively free in their activities and ignore to enhance the social good. Politicians need to have a better sense of the public interest and plans should reflect their priorities as well, of course without compromising the public good.

Slums are multiplying; urban crime is rampant; transport efficiency is declining with increasing road accidents; energy costs are rising; and health problems are increasing. New problems have cropped up but urban planning systems have changed very little.

 

IV.     New Challenges

 

It is necessary to understand that the transformation that Nepal is going through at the present moment has implications on our urban future as well as planning. Building what we call to be New Nepal leads to two fundamental changes. They are federal capitals and empowered people under a basically inclusive system of governance.

Planning will have to address the need of federal capitals and also to alleviate the growing pressure on Kathmandu. Today, the whole nation is busy discussing on the federal structure. There is a growing concern for its administrative implications as well. In absence of planning for the would-be federal capitals, we may have problems in implementing the federal structure. Due to lack of space and amenities for executing the governance function, the willingness of the leaders to be located in the center might persist. It is a paradox that we vision for a federal Nepal but we do not feel it necessary to deconcentrate activities.

Planning helped to create lots of wealth. There is no doubt that making urban land and finance available is a great achievement of planning. But we should realize that the productivity of different types of resources is declining. There is an increasing need of services for housing, manufacturing, and tourism. With more people there will be more consumption and government spending is increasing, but the way we provide services is not coping with the changes. This shows that we failed to be sufficiently innovative. The attractiveness in terms of selling services and goods did not catch up with the availability of urban land and capital. The provision of services failed to meet the increasing needs. The cost of services also increased due to the depletion of resources.

Business in Nepal has not prospered only on fair means; and there is no healthy competition.  It does not believe in the necessity to satisfy customers. To sustain any business, clients should be satisfied and this is not happening. By providing services, we have to make our cities more competitive. However, we are not serious in making business sustainable. Despite the fact that planning has made enormous impact, we have not been able to harness the opportunities created through planning. Only the short run and speculative businesses have thrived. Most investments are made in real estates for making returns in a short period. One major challenge before us is: how to use the resources that we have in more productive ways.

Some of the issues and challenges we face are as follows:

·         Increasing deprivation, exclusion, and conflicts;

·         Exposure to middle class unsustainable culture out side influences;

·         Adverse impacts of globalization in terms of livability and poverty reduction;

·         Rapid urbanization has caused sprawl growth with environmental and commuting problems;

·         Climate Change;

·         Population growth;

·         Regional imbalances;

·         Decreasing productivity due to lack of adequate services; and

·         Worsening condition of environment with depletion of environmental resources.

 

Despite many success stories that have come about due to planning’s ability to reinvent itself, planning function must change to cope with the new challenges. Planning should be able to align all the actors to the realization of the vision for a better urban future.

 

V.        Measures for Adaptation

 

Unfortunately, current urban planning system in Nepal has not yet considered the new challenges mentioned above. Failing to consider these on time, there will be further problems of exclusion in rapidly growing towns and cities. This is why urban planning needs to be not only improved but reinvented assigning new roles to it. The best way to start reinventing it is to make it adapt to the challenges that Nepal is facing in her transformation.

Why reinventing planning is so critical can be understood if we make a study of the changes taking place in the Kathmandu Valley. We could clearly see two contradictory sets of forces working at the same time. First there is a growing transfer of assets to Kathmandu; lack of deconcentration and persisting conflicts elsewhere have drawn investments to the Valley. Land prices are increasing in a dramatic way. The shift towards a more consumption oriented society is a phenomenon of recent origin. The features of a typical metropolis such as food plaza and fast food chains; shopping malls and departmental stores; and high-rise and apartment buildings are coming up recently. There is a rapid transition to unsustainable life styles with high energy use. The other set of forces is linked with primitiveness, deprivation, and poverty. The large majority depends on traditional ways. There is a severe lack of investment opportunities in sectors other than real estate. There is a need to strike a balance between these diverging sets of forces. Although the achievements have been substantial as discussed in an earlier section, it is simply not enough to pursue with the old approaches. Unless the created wealth and opening up of resources as well as human resources are properly used in a sustainable way, it may be difficult to ensure a better urban future. It is clear that we have failed to optimize the use of factors of production. For instance, earnings from tourism will greatly increase if the quality of the services the tourists need, can be assured. People are not able to afford to pay for services because the impact of these on their income is not significant. Cost recovery is difficult also due to rapid depletion of resources. The following will help planning to adapt to the changing needs:

 

·         Urban planning ought to be integrated with other national policies. It should influence other policies for ensuring sustainable provision of goods and services in a fair manner. This will help to make economic centres and city regions more competitive.

·         Sustainability is the key issue. Eco-innovations and eco-designs will make buildings and cities more sustainable It is necessary to use acceptable indicators to test sustainability of our buildings and urban design. Otherwise, more profitable but unsustainable developments will persist to occur. There is also the danger of sticking to traditional ways without any reforms even when they cease to be sustainable.

·         Planning should be integrated with the concept of good governance based on effective delivery of services. Planning will work only where there is good urban governance and where the urban poor are brought into the decisions that affect their lives.

·         Land development projects have enhanced the access to resources including urban land. These areas should be further developed as eco-towns using eco-innovation and sustainable designs with massive use of community-based resources. These should help to encourage people to be engaged in productive activities and create employment.

·         Planning should urge the corporate sector to be more enterprising with more social responsibility and more investments in R and D.

·         Planning should help the urban government to produce and sell services and recover costs. Sustainable urban financing should be the focus of public policy. City marketing helps to attract industries that can pay for the services.

·         Planning should be backed by environmental assessments as well as by research findings on adaptation to climate change. It should also help to ensure that cities contribute less to GHG emission.  On one hand, it is necessary to transform the traditional ways making them more sustainable. On the other hand, it is necessary to assess the sustainability of the modern alternatives before their adoption. Such measures will help to find sustainable ways of providing services and ensure sustainability of building and urban design.

 

Planning should create inclusive cities composed of safe neighbourhoods with a range of dwellings to accommodate diverse needs. There should be access for all to space for diverse uses such as eating places and groceries at convenience, open space and parks, places for meditation, sports and recreation, etc. Housing and building codes should focus more on health, safety and community quality of life. In order to enhance access and mobility, viable public transit system should be developed. Cities can create incentives and promote policies that favour mass transit. Safe, functional and green connections will help to restore the public realm and make them more inclusive. Pedestrian streets will reactivate the public realm. Heritage sites, temples, and well-maintained and usable open space are virtually the only urban places where people of different income level have equal access. Parks and open space are instrumental for improved air and water quality, for preserving rivers, and for city greening.  They provide community facilities and gathering spaces. Public events, such as street fairs and dramas, make neighbourhood life vibrant. In short, planning should aim at a better, greener, more inclusive and sustainable future. It is required to help making decisions with a view to balance social good with the right to develop. Each project must be checked against the following:

·         Does it lead to form a real neighborhood?

·         Has the community been involved?

·         Does it actually help to fulfill the community's vision?

·         Does it respect social and cultural preferences?

·         Does it help to create a cohesive community?

·         Is it environmentally sustainable?

·         Will it allow all residents to make progress?

 

VI.       Conclusion

 

Nepal’s recent changes make it clear that no section of the society, especially the poor, can be excluded. And dealing with the empowered citizens under a federal republic system will be something new and unusual for many in Nepal. The people are watching and supporting the leaders for making a transition. This does not mean that the government can sustain providing services in the way it is doing now. Planning should be used to ensure the access of the people to different services in a fair and environmentally sound manner. Otherwise, it will be difficult to sustain the provision of services.

Planning ought to be innovative; and continuing research is necessary to make it more relevant. It should be effective in changing behaviors to sustainable ones. It should lead to more sustainable cities. It should manage urbanization in a sustainable way.

On one hand, in the wake of global recession, it is becoming difficult to create jobs. On the other hand, the production of environmental services through conventional ways has become more costly and more unsustainable. The government should own planning as a powerful tool to channel the people-bound resources for shaping the urban future. Land pooling sites should be further developed to create inclusive communities and eco-towns by using the on-site resources. People are to be encouraged to invest in the settlement and use their resources, talents, and skills. It should be realized that the cost of getting services through other means is costly and will be still more costly in the future. It will also mean wastage of time and resources.  It is necessary to adopt inclusive designs in order to create livable cities through the use of more sustainable designs.

For shaping urban future in Nepal, we need to consider a multitude of future cities and towns that cater to the needs of the entire nation. They should provide services to their hinterland areas and the resources should be used in a sustainable way. It is necessary to develop city regions. We find inclusiveness only in Kathmandu; there is increasing conflict in other cities.  Resources made available through planning efforts in the past should be used in building a New Nepal. It is necessary to revisit the urban system in the context of federal structure.

Planning is a function that results from our ability to anticipate consequences. There will be no planning if we fail to respond to changes that we foresee. As the world grows more and more urban, it is vital that, planning fulfils its proper role in guiding urban development when it comes to improving access to services, and economic and social opportunities. Planning should be linked with a functioning and thriving community. An ideal society is the one where human needs are satisfied through the community efforts; and where they are inspired to add value to the community they belong to and they identify themselves with. Here, the people live in harmony with their environment; and are less vulnerable to different types of risks. As they do not have to worry much to satisfy their own needs, they are enabled to contribute as much as they can. Their happiness depends on the services they are able to provide to their community. They find convenient environment to work. For emulating such a society, it is necessary to think of manageable communities. Planning should create eco-towns or healthy cities where such communities would thrive. People being tied with their community are likely to be happier as they have a purpose to make their place a better one and they are not allured to outside gold and glory.  Most of the services that are provided locally are likely to satisfy them more because they can be tailored to their needs.