scholarly journals Municipal finance for housing: local government approaches to financing housing in cities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Feather
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Municipal Finance ◽  
Housing Needs ◽  
National Governments

Housing policy is usually seen as the domain of national governments, and in many countries local authorities have relinquished direct engagement in the promotion of adequate housing. High costs associated with related policies and programmes are often cited as justification for minimal involvement, leading to fewer community-level interventions on affordable formal housing. This article presents financial approaches for local government leaders and decision-makers to consider in furthering affordable access to adequate housing for their citizens. The article argues that when local governments engage on housing with innovation and financial pragmatism, the housing needs of the urban poor and vulnerable can be better served. KeywordsMunicipal finance, local government, affordable housing, fiscal policy, cities, capacity-building

scholarly journals Australian local governments and affordable housing: Challenges and possibilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-33
Author(s):  
Alan Morris ◽  
Andrew Beer ◽  
John Martin ◽  
Sandy Horne ◽  
Catherine Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Local Government Area ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Nation Wide Survey ◽  
Almost All

For an increasing proportion of Australian households, the Australian dream of home ownership is no longer an option. Neoliberal housing policy and the financialisation of housing has resulted in a housing affordability crisis. Historically, Australian housing policy has afforded only a limited role to local government. This article analyses the results of a nation-wide survey of Australian local governments’ perceptions of housing affordability in their local government area, the possibilities for their meaningful intervention, the challenges they face, the role of councillors and councils’ perceptions of what levels of government should take responsibility for housing. Almost all of the respondents from Sydney and Melbourne councils were clear that there is a housing affordability crisis in their local government area. We apply a framework analysing housing policy in the context of neoliberalism and the related financialisation of housing in order to analyse the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne. We conclude that in order to begin resolving the housing crisis in Australia’s two largest cities there has to be an increasing role for local government, a substantial increase in the building of social and affordable housing and a rollback of policies that encourage residential property speculation. JEL Codes: R31, R21

scholarly journals Making Sanitation and Hygiene a Human Security Issue: The case of Nyamagabe District, Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwizera, Maurice Kwizera, Maurice ◽  
Lambert Karangwa ◽  
Jeannette Murekatete ◽  
Gilbert Rukundo Mutabaruka ◽  
Jean Paul Mbarushimana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Security Issue ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
Government Leadership ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
National Governments

This case study was developed to inform subsequent research and analysis of local government leadership and prioritisation of sanitation and hygiene (S&H) in East Africa. Consolidated learning from across the three countries involved can be found in the Sanitation Learning Hub (SLH) Learning Brief: Strengthening sub-national systems for area-wide sanitation and hygiene. From late 2020 to early 2021, the SLH collaborated with local government actors and development partners from three sub-national areas to explore ways of increasing local government leadership and prioritisation of S&H to drive progress towards area-wide S&H. For some time, local government leadership has been recognised as key to ensuring sustainability and scale, it is an important component of the emerging use of systems strengthening approaches in the sanitation sector. It is hoped that this work will provide practical experiences to contribute to this thinking. Three case studies were developed to capture local government and development partners’ experiences supporting sub-national governments increase their leadership and prioritisation of S&H in Siaya County (Kenya), Nyamagabe District (Rwanda), and Moyo District (Uganda), all of which have seen progress in recent years. The development partners involved were UNICEF in Kenya, WaterAid in Rwanda, and WSSCC/ Uganda Sanitation Fund in Uganda. The cases were then analysed through three online workshops facilitated with staff from the local governments, central government ministries and development partners involved to explore them in further detail, review experiences and identify levers and blockages to change. Lessons from the workshops are documented in the SLH learning brief mentioned above. This is the case study developed by Nyamagabe District and WaterAid documenting their experiences and reflections from working together to increase prioritisation of S&H in Nyamagabe District, Rwanda.

Local Government and Regional Administration

2020 ◽  
pp. 186-202
Author(s):  
Nikolaos-Komninos Hlepas
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Regional Administration ◽  
Competition And Cooperation ◽  
Territorial State ◽  
State Administration ◽  
The One ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Regional Elections

This chapter addresses the issue of sub-national government, whose organization is twofold: on the one hand the democratically elected local governments and, on the other hand, territorial state authorities implementing state policies. The relationship between these two pillars is characterized both by competition and cooperation. Since the late nineties, sub-national administration has been swinging between fragmentation (in state administration) and consolidation (in local government). In 2011, regional self-governments were given the power to decide on development priorities. But the most important parts of social services remained a state domain and decentralization processes were cautious since several previous efforts were frustrated by the courts, while the Constitution ruled out regulatory, fiscal, and even planning autonomies. Under the given conditions of extreme centralism in parties, politics, and administration, the performance of local leaders is mostly related to their informal access to powerful decision-makers at higher levels of governance. This is also a factor underlining a characteristic emphasis on representation rather than participation. At the local political arena, directly elected mayors and heads of regions are the dominant figures, expressing personalization of politics and forming heterogeneous catch-all alliances, facilitated by the legal ban on political parties participating in municipal and regional elections. The crisis exposed sub-national governments to bilateral financial pressures from cutbacks and increased needs for social assistance. But finally, municipalities and regions proved to be particularly flexible and responded to the crisis through adaptation; however, they exhibited limited internal transformation and remain vulnerable.

scholarly journals Recentralization of local government chief administrative officers appointments in Uganda: Implications for downward accountability

2013 ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lazarus Nabaho
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Chief Administrative Officers ◽  
The Right ◽  
National Governments

The Uganda Constitution of 1995 spelt out the principle of decentralization by devolution. Accordingly, from 1995 to 2005, district local governments had a dejure mandate to hire and fire all categories of civil servants through their respective district service commissions (DSCs). Following the Constitutional amendment in September 2005, the right to hire and fire district chief administrative officers (CAOs) reverted to central government. Critics of recentralization of CAO appointments contend that the shift in the policy and legislation for managing CAOs runs contrary to the principles of decentralization by devolution. This paper argues that recentralization of CAOs has confused reporting, reduced the autonomy of sub-national governments in civil service management, undermined accountability of CAOs to elected councils, and shifted the loyalty of CAOs from local governments with and for which they work to central government that appoints and deploys them. To deepen accountability in local governments, the paper advocates for decentralization of CAO appointments, but for participation of central government in recruitment of CAOs within the confines of a separate personnel system. It further calls for a rethinking of the current call by the 9th Parliament to recentralize human resource in health in local governments owing to accountability challenges of managing the civil service in sub-national governments under an integrated personnel system.

scholarly journals Landlord Paternalism: Housing the Poor with a Velvet Glove

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Rosen ◽  
Philip M E Garboden
Keyword(s):  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Moral Reform ◽  
Social Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Self Reliance ◽  
Poor Families ◽  
Federal Housing

Abstract Private landlords play an important role in America’s poverty governance, with profound effects on poor families and neighborhoods. Drawing on data from interviews with 127 landlords in Baltimore, Dallas, and Cleveland, we ask how landlords understand their role as purveyors of affordable housing. We find that landlords think about their tenants in moral terms, drawing upon cultural categories to describe and define their tenants. Landlords see renting to the urban poor as a social good insofar as it facilitates housing those in need on the condition of their moral reform. We identify two components of this strategy: exclusion and reform. Landlords pursue profit through exclusionary tactics such as screening and eviction. While recent research has focused on this component, this article explores how landlords also invest resources in “training” tenants, attempting to mold them into a profitable ideal, rather than replacing them. Using both incentives and surveillance, landlords seek to create a tenant class that conforms to mainstream notions of responsibility and self-reliance. We argue that exclusion and reform are complementary components of paternalistic poverty governance. Landlord paternalism carries special salience in today’s increasingly privatized federal housing policy, where landlords have a great deal of discretion and little oversight.

A Holistic Approach to Accelerated Attainment of Open-Defecation Free Status in Moyo District

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Katwere Ssemwanga ◽  
Dominic Lomongin Aballa ◽  
Steven Amoko ◽  
Sheila Nduhukire
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
Government Leadership ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
National Governments

This case study was developed to inform subsequent research and analysis of local government leadership and prioritisation of sanitation and hygiene (S&H) in East Africa. Consolidated learning from across the three countries involved can be found in the Sanitation Learning Hub (SLH) Learning Brief: Strengthening sub-national systems for area-wide sanitation and hygiene. From late 2020 to early 2021, the SLH collaborated with local government actors and development partners from three subnational areas to explore ways of increasing local government leadership and prioritisation of S&H to drive progress towards area-wide S&H. For some time, local government leadership has been recognised as key to ensuring sustainability and scale and it is an important component of the emerging use of systems strengthening approaches in the sanitation sector. It is hoped that this work will provide practical experiences to contribute to this thinking. Three case studies were developed to capture local government and development partners’ experiences supporting sub-national governments increase their leadership and prioritisation of S&H in Siaya County (Kenya), Nyamagabe District (Rwanda), and Moyo District (Uganda), all of which have seen progress in recent years. The development partners involved were UNICEF in Kenya, WaterAid in Rwanda, and WSSCC/ Uganda Sanitation Fund in Uganda. The cases were then analysed through three online workshops facilitated with staff from the local governments, central government ministries and development partners involved to explore them in further detail, review experiences and identify levers and blockages to change. Lessons from the workshops are documented in the SLH learning brief mentioned above. This is the case study developed by Moyo District and WSSCC/Uganda Sanitation Fund documenting their experiences and reflections from working together to increase prioritisation of S&H in Moyo District, Uganda.

scholarly journals Party and Ideology in American Local Government: An Appraisal

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah F. Anzia
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Online Publication ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
National Politics ◽  
National Governments

For decades, research on US local politics emphasized the distinctiveness of local government, but that has begun to change. In recent years, new data on partisanship and ideology have transformed the study of local politics. Much of the ensuing scholarship has concluded that local politics resembles politics in state and national governments: partisan and ideological. I argue that such a conclusion is premature. So far, this newer literature has been insufficiently attentive to the policies US local governments make—and to the fact that they are mostly different from the issues that dominate national politics. Going forward, scholars should prioritize measurement of preferences on these local government issues, develop theories of when and why local political divisions will mirror national partisanship and ideology, and investigate why there are links between some local policies and national partisanship and ideology—and whether those links also exist for core local government issues. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Wyzwania współczesnej polskiej polityki mieszkaniowej

Studia BAS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (66) ◽  
pp. 9-33
Author(s):  
Anna Szelągowska
Keyword(s):  
Housing Policy ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Housing Needs ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
National Housing

The article presents the author’s insights into the Polish housing policy in the context of the country’s current housing needs and challenges. Special attention is given to the role of housing policy and citizens’ right to adequate and affordable housing, which are the main determinants of the national housing policy development. The author first defines the housing policy, the principles of its effectiveness, and describes its instruments. Next, she overviews the beginning and the achievements to date of Polish housing strategies and programmes, comparing them with the newest National Housing Programme (NHP). In the final section, the author assesses current housing needs in Poland and identifies how the NHP responds to the challenges of contemporary housing policy. The article draws on national and international statistics and the relevant literature on the subject.

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