Metropolitan governance and urban poverty

In the design of urban governance structures, there is an inherent tension between 'scale' and 'voice'. Both aspects are important considerations if city government is to address the needs of the poor. Metropolitan-scale government offers the potential for resources (notably finance but also land, natural resources and skills) to be mobilised from across the city to provide services and infrastructure for all, including the poor. But the metropolitan scale can also mean remoteness of decision-makers from citizens and hence a weakened citizen 'voice', especially of the poor. This article explores this tension, using material from recent research on urban governance and poverty in ten cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The analysis covers issues of jurisdiction boundaries, responsibilities for services and infrastructure, resource bases and mobilisation, performance in service delivery and access to services, political representation and accountability and mechanisms of citizen participation. The conclusion is that the tension between scale and voice may be best addressed by a two-tier or multi-tier structure involving both a very local level, with statutory rights and a share of resources, accessible and accountable to the poor, together with an upper level, also democratically accountable, covering the whole metropolitan area. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.