Provision of Urban Environmental Infrastructure Services (Issues and Strategies)

Vilas Nitivattananon, Ph.D. Urban Environmental Management Asian Institute of Technology

Issues and Strategies

Main Topics
   

Introduction Issues Institutional aspects Alternative strategies

Issues and Strategies

Introduction - Infrastructure


Public infrastructure is defined as those services derived from the set of public works traditionally supported by the public sector to enhance private sector production and to allow for household consumption This includes services such as roads, mass transportation, water systems, sewer systems, solid waste management, drainage and flood protection, electric installations, and telecommunications
Issues and Strategies

Introduction - Sustainable Systems



Goals

Improve quality of life and alleviate consequences of poverty Promote economic productivity and growth Protection of environment Reinforce the effectiveness of municipal governance What infrastructure is demanded and how will it be produced? How will the investments and life-cycle costs be financed? What institutions will be used to deliver services?

Appropriate decisions

Issues and Strategies

Introduction Management Functions

     

Goal and policy formulation (conceptual planning) Long-term planning (pre-planning) Investment planning and programming (detailed planning/design) Implementation of the plans (investment/construction) Operation and maintenance Monitoring and evaluation
Issues and Strategies

Issues - Overview


Status of achievements

Inadequate infrastructure capacity in expanding urban areas results in serious constraints on (environmentally sustainable) economic growth and on poverty reduction Inefficiency of operation Inadequate maintenance Financial inefficiency and fiscal drain Unresponsiveness to user demand Neglect of the poor Neglect of environment
Issues and Strategies

Challenges

Issues - Water Supply



Cities throughout Asia report shortages of sources for raw water, and infrastructure for provision of household, industrial, and commercial water supply. Meeting the problem of water for human use will require application of macroplanning policies to improve the allocation of water among competing interests, and better microcontrols on, and technology for, water use within households, industries and commerce. Focused technological alternatives, analysis of costs and benefits on a broad scale, and consensus building through various forms of public and stakeholder participatory techniques are required to arrive at politically successful solutions. and Strategies Issues

Issues - Sanitation


 

In Asia, less than 60% of urban population had access to adequate sanitation and about 1/3 was connected to sewer systems. Where sewerage collection existed, about 90% of the wastewater was discharged w/o treatment Conveyance systems are often inadequately designed and poorly maintenance clogging from solid waste causing flooding with bad water quality Some cities suffer from persistent drainage problem related to monsoon flooding drainage and flooding may be of greater concern than sanitation especially among upper class of population Issues and Strategies

Issues - Solid Waste



The major urban centers in developing countries of Asia generate over 1 million tons of SW annually, less than half is transported to disposal Inadequate SWM gives rise to many environmental problems from disposal to open water, leaching into groundwater, production of air pollution, and from spread of insects and disease vectors Pilot efforts at waste minimization and refuse recovery are underway in a number of locations throughout Asia composting, recycling, and other community base techniques. Issues and Strategies

Issues Transport and Air Pollution



10

A key challenge in transport planning is identifying measures that are technically sound and acceptable to politicians and the public Transport or mobile sources contribute the majority of most pollutants in urban areas, particularly when viewed in terms of human exposure Environmental health risks due to inadequate waste management infrastructure are Issues and Strategies numerous in urban area

Issues Institutional


Deficiencies

Poor coordination between government agencies and with private sector Poor internal organization and management structure Deficient monitoring of sectoral performance Low morale among local government staff

Funding to meet capital and operational needs is often deficient with insufficient cost recovery mechanisms
Issues and Strategies

11

Institutional Aspects Government Responsibilities

  

Which level of government should be responsible for service delivery? A clear delineation of responsibilities across levels of government is essential for effective service delivery Although central government is responsible for infrastructure investment in most countries, the best strategy is to allocate some responsibilities to each of local government A number of factors influence the degree to which local vs.. central governments should play a role in service delivery
Issues and Strategies

12

Institutional Aspects - Decentralization



Devolution of authority to local governments

Transfer of authority and responsibilities for service delivery from central to local governments Movement of ministry offices to regional or local levels Regional or local officials are able to make many basic service delivery decisions Privatization, public sector companies, public authorities

Deconcentration of central government ministry staff

Others

13

Issues and Strategies

Institutional Aspects Decentralization



Requirements for effective devolution

Existing government structure Structure of other institutions and necessary labor skills Geographic scope of benefits Sufficient authority (legal ability and institutional capacity) to raise revenues and retain them at the local level for financing service delivery

Public sector companies and service delivery authorities

Less accountable because their linkage to public officials and consumers may be tenuous Responsive to users
Issues and Strategies

14

Community associations

Institutional Aspects - Financing

 

Adequate financing is necessary for sustainable infrastructure systems The role of finance is more than to ensure sufficient funds are in place, because financing schemes can affect incentives and other goals (such as equity) Willingness to pay an expression of the demand for service, and it is a strong-requisite for cost recovery because it is a measure of user satisfaction of a service and of the desire of users to contribute to its functioning

Community factors (participation, perceived benefits, income, etc.) Service factors (alternative sources, costs, efficiency, etc.)
Issues and Strategies

15

Institutional Aspects - Financing



Financing investments

Government funding Donor financing Private equity financing User fees appear to be best source of O&M financing General fund contributions from the government Intergovernmental transfers from the central to local governments Issues and Strategies

Financing O&M

16

Institutional Aspects - Financing



Factors in planning

Demand-driven What costs should be covered Willingness to pay analysis Institutional/legal framework Accompanying measures (e.g., education and promotion campaigns) Appropriate tariff Optimizing costs Access to other sources of funding (community, private, subsidies/taxes, credit-loan, grants, etc.) Financial management Service efficiency Issues and Strategies

Factors in practices

17

Alternative Approaches Integrated and Systems Management



Integration for sustainability

System elements


Use, transport, disposal/treatment, etc. Technical, environmental, financial/economic, sociocultural, institutional, and legal/political Central/local authorities, NGOs/CBOs, users, private formal/informal sectors, and donor agencies Drainage, energy, agriculture, etc.
Issues and Strategies

Aspects


Stakeholders


Other urban systems



18

Alternative Approaches Directions of Reform



Institutional development

Administrative decentralization Organizational capacity building Improved management functions Appropriate form of public-private partnership Mechanisms for public regulation and control Community-based service provision Decentralizing government-based process of Issues and Strategies management

Private sector participation

User participation

19

Alternative Approaches Strategies/Actions



Delivering infrastructure services to meet users demands

This must drive decisions such as what to deliver, what technologies to employ, and how prices should be set Demands differ widely across cities, countries, and industries along dimensions of accessibility, capacity, quality, price, etc.

Infrastructure is best used to accommodate economic activity

Greatest effect on economic growth when a minimum complement of services is available

Improved infrastructure must come from increased efficiency of the services

20

Deliver services at the lowest possible life cycle costs for Issues and Strategies society

Alternative Approaches Strategies/Actions



Adequate service delivery cannot occur without a proper financing system

Satisfactory system requires that services are paid

Costs can be lowered and demands more effectively met by integrating competition into service delivery

Private sector participation through devolved governments

The consequences of delivery must be fully considered

Environmental standards can be achieved with effective service delivery

Issues and Strategies

21