Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Decentralization and the Emerging Role of Municipalities in the Escwa Region

c Preface This study reviews policies that have been adopted and action taken with a view to decentralization in the various countries of the region. It addresses the issue at two levels: national or macro level and urban or micro level. At the national level, the paper reviews the policies adopted by different countries in the region which address administrative, political and fiscal decentralization. At the urban level, the paper investigates the capacity of municipalities to perform planning and urban management functions. The study builds on previous research undertaken on urban governance and urban management in the ESCWA region, where different models of partnership between local authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community groups were explored (ESCWA, Urban Governance and Participation, 1999). That research indicates that effective partnership between local authorities and civil society must be supported by serious institutional changes in which municipalities play a pivotal role. These findings prompt a new set of questions related to the optimal policy environment for implementing decentralization policies and the implications for various urban sectors, including housing, infrastructure and social services. This paper is part of a series of publications addressing trends in the ESCWA region in decentralization policy aimed at sustainable human settlements development. The information is fed into an ongoing social development policy database that monitors comparative changes in urban, social and institutional development at the national and subnational levels, with the focus on the locality in terms of urban development. In this process, the Human Settlements Section is using a set of urban indicators which permits standardized, timely comparisons to be made on a continuous basis. Special thanks are due to Mr. Aziz Hallaj and Dr. Fuad Malkawi, who contributed to the preparation of the country case studies on decentralization in the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan respectively.