Urban Development and Civil Society: The Role of Communities in Sustainable Cities by Michael Carley & Harry Smith & Paul Jenkins

Author:Michael Carley & Harry Smith & Paul Jenkins [Carley, Michael & Smith, Harry & Jenkins, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781853837173
Goodreads: 2762422
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2000-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

CONCLUSION

This chapter has explored some unique organizational arrangements for local governance in the megacity of Metro Manila. Of course such a city-region faces enormous problems, not least from dramatic population growth, due to rural to urban migration, coupled with explosive urbanization: no institutional arrangements, however strategically organized and based on principles of democratic empowerment and management efficiency, can be a panacea for such problems. Appropriate institutional arrangements are necessary, but not sufficient without attention to overall social objectives, strategic planning functions and the empowerment of citizens at all levels. As we have suggested, the MMDA has all the necessary strategic functions - it looks good on paper, but it faces major constraints on its ability to govern such a sprawling city- region effectively.

The 42,000 barangays are unique in constituting a formal level of local governance, and there is some preliminary evidence that they are making positive contributions to local development in the Philippines and in Metro Manila. They are also making one other positive contribution to governance in the Philippines: like all local government units, barangays are federated into a national association. With its elected leadership, it is able to put neighbourhood-level issues on the political table by raising a common voice on issues in national debate. Recently, this channel has been used by barangays in partnership with other local government units, in demanding a higher share of the national IRA, as well as sufficient funds for the exercise of devolved functions.

Carley (1999) argued that neighbourhoods must be the ‘building blocks’ of national sustainable development efforts. If that is the case, then it can be said that the Philippines, for all its problems, may be at the forefront of organizing its society locally to work towards sustainable development. If it could also bring regional planning and national urban and transport policies into line in this effort, real achievement would be possible.

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