The role of cities as engines of economic growth has long been accepted. An estimate says that by the year 2001, the population of the urban areas will be 3 billion. This explosive growth in urban population demands a serious effort towards planning good quality of services for better living environment through professional urban management.
In this context, local bodies have a vital role to play in enabling the cities to grow. But they are faced with the mammoth task of managing the cities having scarcity of financial resources, lack of knowledge and in-house capacity to deal with the problems of urban governance.
There is a general perception that municipal authorities function poorly, and not to the satisfaction of the citizens! While this may or may not be true for all cities, in the rapidly changing urban scenario however, there are encouraging signs of leadership and innovation among both, the Corporations and small Municipalities - initiatives that are indicative of administrative and political will for improving urban management. And, this is despite the 'system' within which institutions and individuals often function!
If good urban governance is a prerequisite to sustainable urban development, then information, communication and education are tools for facilitating such a process. However, the reality is that initiatives and innovations towards good urban governance often go un-documented, and therefore un-recognized.
It was in this prevailing scenario that in 1999, CMAG saw an opportunity for documenting and disseminating Best Practices of urban local bodies in Gujarat. It recognised that there can be no better way to encourage innovations in urban management than creating learning situations between the peers.
What followed is history! For the first time in India, the Best Practice Catalogue-1999 (ICMA supported) was published that led to awards, citations and recognition for small steps but giant leaps in urban management! More importantly, it led to transfer of knowledge leading to adoption of transferable best practices by neighbouring urban local bodies in Gujarat. And above all, the catalogue started cross-border, 'Best Practice Tourism'! The process continues even today. From documentation to enabling transfer of best practices, the process served well, the primary objective of CMAG that is information dissemination towards capacity building for the member urban local bodies of Gujarat.
It is in this context that the second round of Best Practice Program was proposed. It aimed at documentation, information dissemination, selection of transferable best practices, and effecting transfers.
Documentation
The catalogue is intended to be a ready reference for all the urban local bodies of Gujarat as well as other states with regards to successful attempts made by the local bodies. It provides useful information to those, involved in urban programs.
| City | Acrobat Document | City | Acrobat Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad | Download PDF | Navsari | Download PDF |
| Mandvi | Download PDF | Kodinar | Download PDF |
| Jamnagar | Download PDF |
