Background
The Government of Indonesia has used the Breakthrough Urban Initiatives for Local Development (BUILD) facility to help conceptualize, operationalize, and test modalities and skills of good urban governance and to put effective urban management approaches into practice. The project's objectives were to develop participatory urban management practices, introduce changes in the institutional framework and operating procedures of pilot cities, and document and disseminate examples of successful urban management initiatives, thus supporting the co-ordination and management of change following the introduction of new laws on local autonomy and fiscal decentralization.
Activities
Having completed the selection of cities and introduced the basic principles of good urban governance during a preparatory phase, which included the appointment of Urban Management Advisers in each partner city, the BUILD technical support team supported the establishment of Urban Forums, comprising representatives of civil society, NGOs, CBO, academics, professionals and local governments, who were guided through a participatory planning process to develop City Visions and Development Strategies. Issue-specific task groups were then instrumental in supporting the preparation of action plans to address selected priority issues - such as transportation, slum upgrading and environmental improvements. Before closing in mid-2003, the project team supported the pilot cities to institutionalize the lessons learned through legal reforms regarding participatory planning and management, information sharing and accounting arrangements. A Catalogue of Good Practices was prepared to facilitate future replication of lessons learned at the national level.
Results
Nine cities, their staff and more that three million inhabitants benefited from improved governance approaches. City Forums are operating regularly and are supported by operational budgets. Model guidelines and regulations have been prepared, implemented and shared as "templates" for replication nationally. Supporting institutions, such as One-stop Shops and Media Talk-shows, have been established in different cities and are financed by city budgets. Documented city experiences and lessons learned now form the basis for new project formulation to support national replication.
