Democratic Toolkit

Auclair, C & Jackohango, A (2009) Good Urban Governance: Towards an effective Private Sector Engagement. Background Paper- Draft 0, UN-Habitat Fung, A, & Wright, EO (2001) ‘Deepening [...]

There are numerous constraints to democratic urban governance in South Africa: Sometimes a department or official is willing to adopt more participatory methods but lacks the know-how to do so [...]

The use of a city’s resources is always contested as cities must serve the needs of various groups, many with conflicting interests. Sometimes, for example in the City of Cape Town, these [...]

No, democratic urban governance is about contestation between interest groups for the deployment of resources. The participants have different interests will be in conflict from time to time. [...]

On the contrary, democratic urban governance makes it possible for communities to adjust their expectations to what can realistically be achieved. Due to the increased transparency and [...]

The processes must be designed in such a way that they deliver tangible results and in relatively short periods so that active participation can be sustained. Without results citizens will become [...]

It’s often believed that devolution of responsibilities to the local level is needed for democratic urban governance to succeed but some studies have shown that all responsibilities need not be [...]

Participation is time-consuming and challenging and results cannot be guaranteed but when people participate in the governance of their cities there are benefits for the city and the citizens. [...]