Building open, transparent, responsive andinclusive cities
White Paper on Transparency and Open Government

Urban 20 White Paper
An UCLG and OGP contribution to the U20 process

Source: OGP Flickr

Authored by:About Urban 20•

Urban 20 (U20) is a new city diplomacy initiative developed under the leadership of, Horacio
Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40). Launched on December 12, 2017 at the One Planet
Summit in Paris, the initiative is chaired by the cities of Buenos Aires and Paris, and convened by
C40, in collaboration with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
U20 seeks to highlight the expertise of cities in a range of global development challenges andto raise the profile of urban issues within the G20. U20 offers solutions and clear
recommendations for consideration by national leaders ahead of the 2018 G20 Summit. It will
culminate in the inaugural U20 Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires on October 29-30. This will be a
stepping stone towards ensuring a dialogue between cities and the G20.
In 2018, 26 cities have participated in Urban 20: Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, City of Buenos Aires,
Chicago, Durban, Hamburg, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Madrid,
Mexico City, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, São Paulo, Seoul,
Sydney, Tokyo, and Tshwane.
For more information, please consult: www.urban20.org

About the White Papers
Urban 20 is proud to present a series of White Papers from our Strategic and Advisory Partners
that highlight the most relevant topics on the cities development agenda and the forthcoming
urban trends. These papers define the challenges that local governments are currently facing
and offer open recommendations supported by relevant, up-to-date research and data. The
intention of this work is to broaden the understanding and perspective of decision makers andstakeholders as to enhance their ability to tackle these most pressing issues. The White Papers
also represent the hard work and dedication of these agencies and organizations to keep the
public well informed about the ongoing efforts to address the present and future challenges weshare as humankind.

Image: Orbon Alija

TRANSPARENCY | URBAN 20 WHITE PAPER

The White Paper on Transparency and Open Government:
Building open, transparent, responsive and inclusive cities
is a White Paper prepared by the Community of Practiceon Transparency and Open Government of United Cities
and Local Governments (UCLG) together with the Open
Government Partnership (OGP) as a voluntary contribution
to enrich the discussions of the Urban 20 process.

About the Authors
The Community of Practice on Transparency and Open
Government of the global network of United Cities and Local
Governments (UCLG)
Created within the framework of United Cities and Local
Governments (UCLG), the Community of Practice on Transparency
and Open Government is a platform to support peer learning,
networking, wider awareness and capacity development on open
governance and public integrity at the local level and to promote
the role of local and regional governments in developing andpromoting practices of transparency, participation andaccountability for the achievement of sustainable territories. It
promotes the principles of Open Government among its
members, promoting their inclusion and articulation in the local,
national and international political agendas. Led by the Spanish
Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) with the supportof the Open Government Partnership and UN-Habitat, it isconstituted by a group of local governments and local
government’s networks interested in discussing and advancing
on joint solutions, learning opportunities, collaborations and public
policy exchange on Open Government issues at the local level.
The coordination team for this paper was formed by Juana López
Pagán and María Alejandra Rico from FEMP under the supervisionof Emilia Saiz, UCLG Secretary General.

Open Government Partnership (OGP)Open Government Partnership is a multilateral initiative that brings
together government reformers and civil society leaders to create
action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive
and accountable. The Open Government Partnership was formallylaunched at the United Nations General Assembly by 8 founding
national governments and 9 civil society partners. Since 2011, 79
OGP participating countries and 20 subnational governments
have made over 3,100 commitments to make their governments
more open and accountable. The OGP Local program aims to

TRANSPARENCY | URBAN 20 WHITE PAPERharness the innovation and momentum demonstrated by local
governments and civil society partners across the world. OGP is aplatform for these governments and civil society to come together
to make their governments more open, inclusive and responsive,modeling the values and principles of the Open Government
Declaration and processes. The OGP Coordination team was led
by Brittany Giroux Lane.
Reviewer: Local Government and Decentralization Unit of
UN-Habitat
This paper has benefited from the support of the Local Governmentand Decentralization Unit of UN-Habitat that supports local
governments and their associations, working closely with both
central and territorial governments to establish mechanisms of
dialogue, to exchange best practices and to support projects for theempowerment of local and regional governments through a fair
distribution of responsibilities and resources. It works closely withlocal governments in delivering accessible, transparent, efficient andinclusive public services. Its role is to develop normative andoperational frameworks, to share experiences and disseminate bestpractices on local governance, democracy and access to basic
services. It also promotes city-to-city cooperation and advocates forthe role of local governments at global level. Diana Lopez
Caramazana, Head of Unit, was in charge of the White Paper review
and validation.

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Contents
Executive summary..................................................................................................................................... 6
Glossary......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 8
I. Open Government as a driver to achieve sustainable cities....................................................... 9
How can we describe an open government?.......................................................................... 9
Cities are key actors for the achievement of the Open Government Agenda................. 10Open Government as a platform to achieve global agendas at city level......................... 11
II. Practical experiences: How Open Government can be a catalyst for sustainable and resilient
development, economic growth, job creation and social integration and inclusion at city level..13
1. Climate action: building sustainable, inclusive and resilient cities....................................13
1.1. Paris: Co-created Climate Action Plan.................................................................... 13
1.2. Seoul: Open and Big Data on Environment.......................................................... 16
2. The future of work: preparing citizens for a shift in the labor market.............................. 17
2.1. Bogota: Attention model for the informal economy............................................. 17
3. Social integration and inclusion: delivering opportunities, safety and equality for all..20
3.1. Buenos Aires: Integrated portal for information on access to sexual andreproductive services..................................................................................................... 21
3.2. Johannesburg: Mapping informal transit to improve public transit services... 23
4. City to city cooperation on Transparency and Open Government................................ 25
4.1. Madrid: Consul Project, a global platform to enhance citizens’ participation atcity level............................................................................................................................. 25
Recommendations to advance in the open government agenda at city level........................ 28
1. Institutionalize the support, reforms and enabling environment for Transparency andOpen Government initiatives...................................................................................................... 29
2. Strengthen cities and local governments’ capacities and autonomy over key issues
related to transparency, accountability, participation and innovation................................ 29
3. Promote better multilevel governance and advance towards building an Open State.30
4. Establish better and institutional channels for engagement, interaction and synergies
with civil society, academia and private sector....................................................................... 31
5. Promote the use of open data as a key resource of transparency, accountability andopen governance......................................................................................................................... 32
6. Build, joint and support networks and spaces for local governments and community
organizations to share, learn, and exchange on advances on transparency and open
government................................................................................................................................... 32
Bibliography............................................................................................................................................... 34
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................................... 36

The views, opinions, positions and recommendations expressedin this White Paper are solely those of the individuals and theirorganisations. They do not necessarily reflect those of Urban 20
or any of its chairs, conveners, partners and participating cities.

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Executive summary
This paper approaches the concept of Open Government and the role of cities and local
governments to make it real. It emphasizes on how Open Government facilitates theachievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban
Agenda, and other global agendas with repercussions for the city level.
The paper presents a set of practical experiences linking Open Government to the main linesof action of Urban 20, such as climate action, the future of labor and social inclusion; including
cases from Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Madrid, Paris, Seoul and Johannesburg with the aim to givea view from different geographical contexts and applied to different public policies.
Finally, it proposes a number of key recommendations for city leaders and practitioners toadvance in their open government agendas and to build transparent, accountable, inclusive
and sustainable cities and territories.
This paper has been developed by the Community of Practice on Transparency and Open
Government of the global network of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) together
with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as a contribution to the Urban 20 process.
The UCLG Community of Practice was created with the objectives to support peer learning,
networking, wider awareness and capacity development on open governance and public
integrity at the local level and to promote the role of local and regional governments indeveloping and promoting practices of transparency, participation and accountability for theachievement of sustainable cities. The OGP is a multilateral initiative that counts with theparticipation of 79 countries and 20 subnational governments aiming to secure concretecommitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption,and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
This paper has benefited from the support of the Local Government and Decentralization Unitof UN-Habitat and it has been validated by city leaders, municipal teams, practitioners andcity networks.

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Glossary
CEPAD•

Centres for the
Diagnosis of HI

Prevention,

Care,

and

CESAC

Community Action and Health Centres

FEMP

Spanish Federation of Municipalities andProvinces

GHG

Greenhouse Gases

HIV

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

IPES

Institute for the Social Economy

LTP

Legal Termination of Pregnancy

OECD

Organization for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment

OGP

Open Government Partnership

NUA

New Urban Agenda

RVI

Individual Register of Informal Vendors

SDG

Sustainable Development Goals

SMG

Seoul Metropolitan Government

STD

Sexually Transmitted Disease

UCCI

Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities

UCLG

United Cities and Local Governments

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Introduction“Open Government implies a new way of governancethat favors transparency and access to public
information. It highlights the traceability of politicaldecisions, involves citizens in the cycle of public
policy development and implementation, andpromotes joint work between citizens, administrations
and the private sector. It constitutes a new alternative
for public management essential for innovation of the
public sector, while being a great platform and driver
for the achievement of global agendas”.

Cities and local governments are a natural space for advancing on the Open Government
Agenda; as they are the level of government closest to people and have a closer knowledge of
their territories and their communities, being the level of government best placed to link thedevelopment goals with local communities. Cities are laboratories to promote open innovationand collaborative work between citizens and governments and have potential to renew trust
and to improve the quality of democracy.
Open Government can be a platform to achieve the development agendas at city level because:
It can improve urban governance as it fosters transparency in municipal management
and finance, increases citizens' participation in city decisions, strengthens the communication
between governments and its citizens, promotes innovation in public management and fosters
the prevention and fight against corruption.
It supports climate action and environmental sustainability, as it fosters participationand improves access to data in the development and implementation of climate policies key tohave an impact in the reduction of pollution, the conservation of natural resources, and buildingof resilience to climate change.
It promotes economic growth and job creation by increasing trust from and of theprivate sector, making data open, available and reusable, generating different economic andbusiness opportunities and fostering innovation thanks to the use of new technologies.
It contributes to generate strategies for social cohesion, civic engagement and trust,and to the provision of transparent, fair and inclusive public services.
It can also serve as a platform for city to city collaboration: generating spaces for solidarity,
co-creation, mutual learning and networking, despite political, geographic or cultural differences.
This paper approaches the concept of Open Government and the role of cities and local
governments to make it real. It highlights how Open Government facilitates the achievement of
the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda, and otherglobal agendas with repercussions for the city level. Furthermore, it presents a set of practicalexperiences linking Open Government to the main lines of action of Urban 20, such as climate
action, the future of labor and social inclusion; and proposes a set of recommendations for city
leaders and practitioners to advance in their open government agendas and to build
transparent, accountable, inclusive and sustainable cities 1.
1

Sustainable cities is the Sustainable Development Goal number 11 of the 17th that includes the Agenda
2030 for sustainable development approved in September 2015.

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Source: OGP Flickr

I. Open Government as a driver to achieve sustainable cities
Cities, and city leaders around the world, are facing the challenge to reconnect with theircitizenship in a renewed way. This connection is essential to strengthening trust in the local
public sector as the cornerstone, not only for service provision, but for the overall rest of thegovernance system to work. Citizens increasingly demand more information about theirgovernment's action, as well as greater transparency and accountability, and new mechanismsof dialogue with local public administrations. To respond to these demands, many city leaders
are adopting Open Government strategies, in their management and political agenda, as a new
governance model which provides an incredible opportunity for local public administrations.

How can we describe an open government?
Open Government is a model of socio-political interaction based on the principles oftransparency, citizen engagement and accountability, which, fostered by new technologies andinnovation, constitutes a new alternative for public management and policy, as well as foradvancing in administrative modernization and democracy. (Cruz-Rubio).

“An open government is transparent, it provides
information and data about its actions, budgets andperformance. It is accountable to society and responsive
to citizen’s needs. It fosters the traceability of publicdecisions, allowing continuous and adequate social
control by citizens, improving public management. An
open government is inclusive and participatory,
allowing citizens to be involved in the formulation,
implementation and follow up of public policies”.

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It is the place where public administration opens to the talents emerging from citizens and otherstakeholders by co-creating ideas for better public management. It goes beyond the concept ofe-Government, by becoming a driver of innovation and value creation, and profiting from citizen
knowledge and SMART technologies as tools to transform and enhance the reach and impact
of its action. Finally, an open government recognizes the need to rethink the way the public
operates, changing values and principles governing public sector priorities and performance,
promoting trust, stronger institutions and a stronger democracy (Uraia and FEMP, 2017).
In recent years, Open Government initiatives have advanced in many countries thanks to thedevelopment and implementation of Actions Plans and commitments under the Open
Government Partnership (OGP). OGP Commitments are taken by national governments, butsome cities and local governments, in different geographical contexts, have been participatingin the formulation of national Action Plans or have formulated and implemented plans of their2
own . Besides this specific initiative, plenty of cities around the world are aware, and committed
to advance reforms in alignment with open government principles, by incorporating this new
governance model in their local political agendas, placing cities as a reference in the elaborationof open government formulas.

Cities are key actors for the achievement of the Open Government Agenda
Cities and local governments are a natural space for the development of the Open Government
Agenda. They are the level of government closest to people, they are the place where citizens
and the public sector interact on a daily basis, and often they are the first (and frequently the only)
point of access to government. Cities and local governments have a wider knowledge of theirterritories, and are the entities that directly connect national and global strategies with local
realities, and with the citizens.
Urban management has already been decentralized in many countries of the world. This
decentralization process has been accompanied, in varying forms, with the transfer of regulatory
capacities and budgetary resources, or with important issues such as the capacity of decision
over hiring civil servants. From basic services such as water and sanitation, to planning,commercial licensing, management of land, taxation, public budgets, or contracts andacquisitions, cities are playing a greater role designing policies and delivering key public
services. To face the growing challenges of urbanization, visionary city and local leaders are
opening up their administrations and working with their citizens to shape more open, responsive,
and inclusive cities. This shift has produced some of the most iconic examples of open
government initiatives.

“Mayors around the world are building cities thatco-innovate, co-create and co-design policies,
services, tools and solutions together with theircitizens; having a great impact in battling thedecrease in public trust and improving thequality of life for citizens”.

These initiatives at local level have generated more impact, have had greater visibility and areeasier to measure than in other levels of government. Additionally, they are generating knowledge
2

The Local Program of the Open Government Partnership works with 20 subnational governments and civilsociety partners that are formulating and implementing local open government action plans.

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and becoming good practices that can contribute to national open government strategies.
It is a proven fact that citizen and other stakeholders’ participation is higher at the local level andthat it contributes to a well-targeted use of limited resources and to better public service designand delivery (OECD, 2016). Therefore, cities and local governments are working to create “virtuous
circles” of engagement between local stakeholders and local institutions by promoting
participatory instruments for planning and budgeting and rights-based approaches.
Furthermore, they are developing new frameworks for the 'co-creation' of cities and territories,
based on the stronger involvement of local actors (UCLG, 2018).
Open Government initiatives have also played a critical role at city and local level in improving
transparency and accountability, and advancing in the prevention and fight against corruption.
When local leaders make relevant data and information accessible, they create new channels toshare the extent of their responsibilities and their own performance over service delivery.
Opening up to citizen engagement not only in the design and implementation, but also in themonitoring of public policies, makes it easier for citizens to see how promises transform (or not)into real outcomes, essential to hold elected representatives accountable.
City leaders are using Open Government initiatives as new platforms to improve and strengthencommunication channels between governments and its citizens. Governments that actively
engage with citizens enhance democratic governance and renew trust in the public sector(OECD, 2016). This closer interrelation between citizens and local governments is maybe one of
the reasons why trust in city and local governments is often higher than trust in the national ones.
Finally, open data and new technologies, which are frequent features of Open Government
initiatives, are changing the day-to-day lives of people in both industrialized and developing
countries. They are producing incredible repercussion in the local economy, while acceleratingsocial transformation and generating a direct impact in the lives of the poorest. Cities are
becoming laboratories to promote open innovation in public management and collaborative
work between citizens and governments, unlocking the potential to overcome different
challenges of city and municipal administrations.

Open Government as a platform to achieve global agendas at city level
The United Nations approved, in 2015 and 2016, a series of global agendas that have a significant
impact on cities: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the
New Urban Agenda (NUA). These agendas have all recognized that sustainable development is
impossible to achieve without local leadership. The process of "localization" of the global agendas
needs to go beyond the simple adaptation of global goals to the local level. It needs political will,
it entails co-creating cities and territories with communities, in order to build new relationships
with the citizens, and to explore joint solutions at the local level, if we want to achieve the global
challenges and objectives (UCLG, 2018).

“Open government offers a new platform to support
cities to implement the global agendas as it implies a
new way of governance that favors transparency andaccess to public information, highlights the traceabilityof political decisions, involves citizens in the cycle ofpublic policy and promotes joint work among citizens,
administrations and the private sector”.

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Moreover, transparency, participation and accountability are key to improve the living conditionsof citizens through the provision of services in an open, competitive and fair manner.
The nature of the goals and targets of the global developments agendas reinforce the need forcross-cutting and effective governance. They call for stronger, accountable and capable
governments and institutions at all levels, and for better service provision.
In the particular case of the 2030 Agenda, Open Government and its principles of transparency,
accountability, and participation are recognized to directly contribute to the achievement of
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 16, on peace, justice and strong institutions.
Besides supporting specific targets of the SDGs3, Open Government is also considered as thebest approach by which cities can design, implement and monitor the achievement of the SDGs
or the other development agendas as a whole (OECD, 2016).
Engaging citizens, civil society organizations and the private sector as partners in the strategies
towards the achievement of the global agendas will ensure that public needs are reflected indecisions, generating more inclusive approaches to improve living conditions of citizens. This willencourage, for example, women's participation and empowerment, social economic and politicalinclusion, inclusive services of water and sanitation, and safer cities. By using this approach, cities
also foster innovative solutions to lessen costs in the short term and to win trust and legitimacy andstrengthen good governance, effective public management and democracy, in the long term.
Open Government policies also have an impact on the achievement of the other SDGs and thegoals set by other global agendas by influencing governments to use and target resources
appropriately, increasing accountability and preventing corruption. Finally, taking into accountthat all development agendas require monitoring, evaluating and reporting, open government
initiatives can become a great strategy to advance in open and transparent data systems, as wellas in establishing closer coordination mechanisms between local governments, citizens andother stakeholders.

Source: OGP Flickr

3

Increasing access to technology, ensuring access to information for sustainable development andincreasing the availability of development data are some of the specific targets set in the SDG16 thatcan be achieved by the promotion and implementation of Open Government initiatives.

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II. Practical experiences: How Open Government can be acatalyst for sustainable and resilient development, economic
growth, job creation and social integration and inclusion atcity level
Open Government plays a critical role in improving urban governance as: a) it improvestransparency of municipal action and finances, b) increases citizens' participation in citymanagement, c) strengthens communication channels and trust between governments and its
citizens, d) promotes innovation in public management and e) helps in the prevention and fightagainst corruption. It has evolved from its initial focus on improving governance towards
becoming a platform that contributes to all socio-economic objectives at city level.
This chapter showcases different experiences where open government has served as anopportunity for cities to support and enhance policies of climate action, the future of work andsocial inclusion - thematic priorities of Urban 20 - and city to city collaboration and networking.

1. Climate action: building sustainable, inclusive and resilient cities
Open Government can accelerate climate action and environmental sustainability throughfostering transparency, accountability and citizen participation in the development andimplementation of climate policies related to the reduction of pollution, the conservation of natural
resources, the improvement of mitigation and adaptation planning and the development ofcapacities and resilience to climate change. This model of governance can also help to improveurban resilience, promote a more sustainable use of water and energy, an integrated waste
management, and participatory planning approaches that integrate risk prevention (UCLG, 2018).
Open government initiatives create enabling environments for co-creation, innovation andaccountability in climate action. It creates opportunities for civil society to be part of the
public-policy cycle, and to be able to identify risks and problems, to develop solutions and holdgovernment authorities accountable (Government of France and World Resources Institute).
Open Government initiatives can also enhance transparency and promote better access to
information and data allowing for risk evaluation, informed sectoral policy development andimproved monitoring and tracking systems on climate policies. The examples below showcase
collaborative work between government and civil society, and platforms to share open climate
relevant data showing how Open Government can generate platforms to the implementation
and achievement of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.

1.1. Paris: Co-created Climate Action PlanTitle

Co-created Climate Action Plan

City / Region

Paris (France) - Europe

Challenge &solution

Cities hold close to 60% of the world’s population andgenerate close to 70% of worldwide greenhouse gas
emissions. As such, cities hold a key role in advancing
climate action. The City of Paris has been a leader incombating climate change at the local level - creating andimplementing climate actions aimed at reducing

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greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption andincreasing the city’s climate resilience in order to advancetowards the Paris Agreement to remain under 2 degrees ofwarming of the planet.
Paris developed a Climate Action Plan in 2007 and again in
2012. However, this most recent Climate Action Plan,
adopted in early 2018, underwent a strong co-creation
process, working to engage citizens in the action plandevelopment as well as the future implementation ofprojects and actions under the plan.
The goals sought under this action plan are as follows(Mairie de Paris, 2018):
By 2020, the city will reduce GHG emissions andenergy consumption by 25% (compared to 2004 levels) andwill achieve a 25% share of renewable energy.
By 2030, the city will reduce GHG emissions by 50%,
consumption by 35%, and achieving 45% share of
renewable energy.
By 2050, the city will be carbon neutral and achievea 100% share of renewable energy.
Approach

Paris, a member of the Open Government Partnership,
regularly works to be more transparent, participatory, andaccountable through opening up decision making
processes in the planning and development of the city. For
example, Paris City Hall annually conducts a participatory
budgeting process, where citizens can propose and voteon projects to spend €100m of the city’s budget.
Recognizing the importance of citizen engagement in city
processes, Paris sought citizen input throughout theentirety of the co-creation process, from the creation of
proposals, to the approval of plan, to the implementation of
the projects. Between November 2016 and March 2017 during
the creation of the Climate Action Plan, 700 people (citizens,
experts, associations, civil servants, etc.) were mobilized tostrengthen the plan through in-person and online
convenings and discussions. 280 citizen proposals and 300
expert proposals were submitted and a synthesis of these
inputs was published in April 2017 (Mairie de Paris, 2017).
Additional consultations took place between December 2017
and February 2018, where more than 900 responses werecollected from citizens in the Paris region. These responses
helped to identify priority themes as well as introduce new
actions into the plan - such as improving interoperability
between transit systems (tramway, bus, Metro, and regionalrail) and implementing a food donation platform.
In May and June 2018, Paris sought the approval of the
Climate Action Plan by citizens through both online and offline
voting. This voting brought together 73765 Parisians with
95.95% voting for the proposed Climate Action Plan.
Additionally, over 15,000 voters signed up to be “Climate
volunteers”, willing to work with the City of Paris to advance the

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VISION

success of the Climate Action Plan and support theimplementation of the proposed projects (Blauel, 2018). On
September the 22nd a first rendez-vous gathered 1,000
volunteers in the City Hall to meet 40 organizations of theParisian green ecosystem and take part of workshops tostart working on different issues like: citizen governance,solidarity, air quality, volunteers brainstorming, zero waste
challenge, etc. Paris will now work with these volunteers toco-create their work plan - with 80% of the Climate Action
Plan objectives depending on daily action from citizens,
they will be a core group to animate to advance climate
action.
Innovation &practical
improvement

The co-creation of a Climate Action Plan has led toincreased awareness of the need for climate action in Paris.
Additionally, in the field of climate action through Paris’chairmanship of C40, Paris is leading cities in increasing theawareness of the need to engage citizens directly in policy
making around climate needs.

Did it open
government?

Along the entirety of the Climate Action Plan co-creation
process, the City of Paris has sought to engage citizens as
collaborators in the Climate Action process. By engaging
them in the identification of topics, prioritization of themes,
creation of proposed projects, the implementation of theseprojects, and the budgeting applied to these objectives via
the participatory budgeting process, Paris has showed theusefulness of extensive, robust co-creation and citizen
participation.

Lesson learned

Engaging citizens need not be one time only - in fact,
engaging them across the lifetime of a project or planning
process is a robust tactic for increase citizen participation.
Open government can act as an opportunity for democracy
between elections - empowering citizens to have a voice inthe climate city action plan was not a one-time opportunity.
Having designed the process to be long-term, the City ofParis has been able to engage over 15000 citizens beyond
voting and moving into taking action to advance climate
within the city.

Link with SDGs

SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)
SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities)
SDG 13 (Climate Action)

More information

Contact: Yann Françoise, Responsable de la division
climat-énergies et économie circulaire, Urban Ecology
Agency, Paris City Hall
(Yann.Francoise@paris.fr)
Link:
https://www.paris.fr/municipalite/action-municipale/paris-po
ur-le-climat-2148

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1.2. Seoul: Open and Big Data on Environment
Title

Open and Big Data on Environment

City / Region

Seoul (South Korea) - Asia

Challenge &solution

In recent years, air quality and water quality have been
concerns for Seoul Metropolitan Government. Air pollution
has worsened to the point that the government had to offer
free public transport and implement a mandatory alternate
no-driving program when daily density of particulate matteraverages exceeded 50 micrometers per cubic meter for
two days. As part of their efforts to advance climate action,
Seoul has additionally transformed a major elevatedthoroughfare in the city center into a park to improveaccess to the river and lower urban heat in the area, as well
as planting more than 16 million trees to improve cooling.

Approach

In order to address citizen concerns about environmental
quality, SMG has approached these concerns withtransparency, analytics, and services to citizens. They havedone this through creating an open data plaza, working
through big data to increase government responsiveness,and improve government analytics.
In transparency, SMG has opened around 4,500 datasets in
10 thematic areas such as public health, and environment
through Open Data Plaza website. The datasets average
670 thousand uses daily. Additionally, SMG has worked toopen up more data sets depending on what citizens haveexpressed as their preferred information. In 2012, citizens
accessed air pollution information more frequently than any
other information at 30% of the topics. They have worked tomake air quality and pollutant information easily accessible
and easily readable through an online portal that shows air
quality geospatially.
* The real time air quality data is the second most sought after
data by people after real-time subway data as of May 2018.
In analytics, Seoul runs what is called the “Seoul Big Data
Campus” where citizens and government officials review
the open data to analyze issues and advance policies toresolve those issues. In services and responsiveness tocitizens, SMG has opened a Digital Civic Mayor’s Office
which tracks general conditions on SMG as well as civic
complaints and the Mayor and other officials can ensure
the appropriate responsiveness of government to key
concerns of citizens.

Innovation& practicalimprovement

Enabling citizens to engage in choosing what data to releaseallows for a government that is more connected and responsive
to what citizens are concerned about and interested in.

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Did it open
government?

SMG has worked to increase transparency through releaseof data in a participatory manner, having citizens selectwhat data sets to release, works to create a more open andinclusive government. In addition, having citizens analyze
data and co-create policies to improve government
through the Seoul Big Data Campus places citizens at thecenter of policy making and decisions.

Lesson learned

Combining technology and real action from government
can be successful - allowing for smart city improvements
while placing citizens at the center of the technology prioritizing their insights, analysis, and concerns.

Link with SDGs

SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities)
SDG 13 (Climate Action)

More information

Contact: Lee Kiwan Information Planning Division Director,(kiwani@seoul.go.kr)
Link: https://bigdata.seoul.go.kr/main.do

2. The future of work: preparing citizens for a shift in the labor market
Low levels of trust, closed data and citizen apathy can have an impact on investment decisions.
Citizens and business become more risk averse, having an impact on innovation, employment
and long-term growth (Government of France and World Resources Institute). These features canalso affect the willingness of citizens and business to pay taxes, impacting city's finances and theprovision and quality of public services.
Open Government at city level can be an engine for inclusive economic growth and job creation
as it increases trust within the private sector. Moreover, making data open, available and reusable
can also generate business opportunities and foster the use of new technologies and innovationfor value creation in both private and public sectors.
Cities can use open government initiatives in order to: a) collect new revenues, b) gain insights into
what really matters to citizens, c) to avoid costs, d) to add value to the data provided bygovernments, and to e) improve how government works making economic growth more inclusive.

II.1. Bogotá: Attention model for the informal economy
Title

Attention model for the informal economy

City / Region

Bogotá (Colombia) - America

Challenge &solution

The City of Bogotá has received a significant number ofdisplaced people as a consequence of the internal armed
conflict in Colombia, as well as the recent migratory flow ofVenezuelan population. These persons arrive to Bogotá with

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3

aggravated conditions of vulnerability and a subsequentsituation of marginality (Ibáñez and Velásquez, 2008) andhave a clear disadvantage compared to the non-displaced
population to access the formal labor market. A situation
aggravated by their low educational and labor skills levels.
On the other hand, the conditions of the formal labor market
in the city have the highest unemployment rate amongst
young people 4 . These segments of the population are inrisk to enter into informal employment or resort to criminal
practices. The City Council Institute for the Social Economy(IPES), faces these challenges through actions aimed atstrengthening the capacity of income generation of
informal workers thanks to orientation, relocation, training forformal work and promotion of business and sustainable
entrepreneurship.
According to IPES’ database (HEMI), 81,275 citizens claim to
be informal sellers as of July 2018, of which only 51,781 (63%)
are registered in the City’s Individual Register of Informal
Vendors (RVI). The current challenge is to define anintervention strategy that allows to mobilize and retain agreater number of street vendors through a flexible offer oftraining and assistance that is more appropriate to thesellers' socio-economic profile and that allows them either
to become self-sustaining entrepreneurs or qualified
employees to suit the demand of the local labor market.
Supported by international cooperation (European Union'sSocieux + Program, the Union of Iberoamerican Capital Cities
and Orienta Pro), Bogotá updated its model of intervention
for informal vendors, with the aim of achieving an integral
assistance approach. The improvement was to generate astructured and systematized model that contemplates
comprehensive attention to the challenges brought by
informal economy allowing to redirect the population to theinter-institutional services offered and to trace the evolutionof beneficiaries and the attention provided.
Approach

4

The model was updated in the following phases:
Review and validation the model of attention to thebeneficiaries: The process started with the review andvalidation of methodologies and conceptual andtechnological frameworks previously used. The modalities
and tools of profiling of street vendors were refined andimproved to respond in an accurate way to people’scompetencies and to achieve better diagnosis of theattention required. The process culminated withtherevision, consolidation and updating of materials,
procedures and tools, including the system for the initial
identification of the vendors (HEMI) and with the

The unemployment rate for people under 29 years of age is 15.10%, while the rate for those over 29 yearsof age is 11.60%.

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implementation of a plan for its improvement andadaptation with the new technological platforms to beinstalled.
Development and set-up of a comprehensive
attention approach: A mapping of the most relevant entities
was carried out and a network of entities with different
social protection programs was established fosteringinter-institutional cooperation and work. Comprehensive
attention mechanisms were established and referral andcoordination systems with other entities were set for thecases of people who ask for assistance but do not meetthe requirements to be covered by IPES and present needs
that could be covered by other municipal, regional, state orcivil society entities part of the network. A Comprehensive
Attention team was structured to be responsible for the
recruitment, profiling, psychosocial care, inter-institutionalreferral and follow-up.
Implementation of Orienta Pro technology
platform: The platform, currently in implementation, will allow
to create and store the individual profiles of population
attended by the system. This will guarantee the traceabilityof all actions taken while tracking people’s evolution within
the programs offered by IPES or by other institutions part of
the Network. The implementation of this tool will allow tomove forward to the generation of statistical records,
indicators and monitoring mechanisms.
The transformation towards a systematic, comprehensive
and traceable model has been carried out based on an
open and transparent process in which the beneficiaries,
public and private entities at different levels and NGOs witha portfolio of services related to the informal economy andinternational cooperation actors (UCCI, Orienta Pro andSocieux +) actively participated.
Innovation& practicalimprovement

The good practice contributed to a greater efficiency of
IPES projects and a greater social impact due to a correct
location of the people receiving attention and an effective
distribution of social spending in those who need it mostresulting in the improvement of the quality of life of the
population served. The model addresses the problem froman integral viewpoint that seeks to promote informal
vendors’ access to an income-generating alternative,
through entrepreneurship or access to the labor market,
and to encourage alternatives for improving the socioeconomic personal and family conditions. The model has
allowed to advance in the generation of data and to have a
set of indicators so that the Administrations in general andthe IPES in particular can adjust their policies and optimize
their projects for specific groups. This model has become
an example for other institutions of the local, national andinternational level.

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.
Did it open
government?

The model enabled other entities to open government
information, including civil society, while also allowing thesharing of data information and standardized processes,
strengthening the right to information of the beneficiaries
and citizen, mobilizing them to participate in the publicdebate and make contributions that will hopefully lead to amore responsive, innovative and effective governanceprocess. Innovation processes were fostered by letting
beneficiaries to interactively participate in the creation of
their profiles, allowing the use of technology and open databy government employees and citizens alike.

Lesson learned

The main achievements of this practice is the establishmentof intra and inter-institutional cooperation and coordination
channels. The process counted with the 5 sub-directorates of
IPES, other social assistance entities at the municipal,
regional and state levels and civil society organizations.
Through fostering peer-learning and analyzing national andinternational practices, initial resistances became the engine
of constructive debates that led to the unification of strategies
and the coordination of the different portfolios of services.
This joint process generated productive exchange spaces
and allowed for accurate definition and implementation ofsolutions to help Bogotá City Council in its efforts to improve
quality of life of the informal vendors of the city.

Link with SDGs

SDG 1 (No poverty)
SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth)
SDG 10 ( Reduced inequalities)
SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities)

More information

Contact: Luz Karime Malkun - Instituto para la Economía
Social (IPES), Bogotá City Council. lkmalkunb@ipes.gov.co

3. Social integration and inclusion: delivering opportunities, safety and equality for all
Regardless of their budgetary and regulatory frameworks, cities and local governments can play
an important role as guarantor of rights, contributing to provide equal opportunities for all citizens
avoiding social fragmentation. Cities must work in the promotion of efficient, legitimate and fair
services, with institutions that fight inequality, poverty, corruption and insecurity in order toguarantee a better quality of life of its citizens, a stronger democracy, and sustainable
development (Arroyo, López, Martínez and Tornos, 2013).
Open and inclusive government policies can help ensure that the public sector responds to theneeds of all citizens, especially potentially marginalized and vulnerable communities and it is agood way to advance in the provision of transparent, fair and inclusive public services and safer
communities. By working to include these populations in the policy-making process, cities canimprove public services for all. Furthermore, by providing information on the actions of publicauthorities, preserving civic space in a closing national context and offering opportunities for
direct democracy, open government initiatives can encourage greater accountability andreinforce trust, social cohesion and institutional strengthening (OECD, 2016)..

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3.1. Buenos Aires: Integrated portal for informationon access to sexual and reproductive services
Title

Integrated Portal for Information on Access to
Sexual and Reproductive Health Services +reporting mechanism

City / Region

Buenos Aires (Argentina) - America

Challenge &solution

In Buenos Aires, young people lacked information on how toaccess sexual and reproductive health services. Closing theinformation gap presented an urgent challenge for the city
government - especially in light of the slight increase in HIV
diagnoses.
Buenos Aires, an Open Government Partnership participant,committed to ensure that all residents, and young people inparticular, could easily access information on sexual healthservices. Several ministries joined forces with civil society
organization Fundación Huésped to expand the existing
online platform for sexual health information—#DÓNDE—byadding new layers of data, as well as a reporting
mechanism allowing visitors to evaluate the quality of theservices received. Although #DÓNDE was operational
before the work under the OGP process, Fundación
Huésped previously received the data sporadically and in
paper format, which made it difficult to keep the platform up
to date. The implementation of this reform led the
responsible ministries to share information in a moreorganized and systematic way. Updated visuals on the#DÓNDE platform now map where residents of Buenos
Aires can access sexual and reproductive health services,such as HIV testing points, free contraceptives, vaccinations,and legal abortion centers. The platform’s reporting
mechanism also invites young people to review the qualityof the service received, while encouraging CSOs andgovernment to monitor and evaluate the provisions of thoseservices. Fundación Huésped can share these comments,
reports, and evaluations about the individual services andhealth centers to the City’s Coordination of Sexual Healthand STDs in order to monitor and address these concerns,
if applicable. This reporting is expected to happen monthly.

ApproachThis project was co-created through the OGP Action Planprocess for the City of Buenos Aires, which took place firstin 2016. The co-creation process consisted of 27 on-site
work roundtables, with the participation of 21 civil society
organizations, 16 government areas of the 3 branches ofState, 2 research institutions and one university. Throughthis process, five commitments were co-created aroundsectoral issues of health, transport, education, and how to.

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engage the three branches of government. The goal of thisAction Plan was to apply open government solutions toimprove public service and quality of life for the citizens of
the City of Buenos Aires.
Innovation& practicalimprovement

Women have better access to vital information related totheir sexual and reproductive health and rights, in an easy
to understand and easy to access platform that is regularly
updated. Additionally, they have gained a structured way tosubmit feedback and concerns about the health services
they receive.

Did it open
government?

As a result of this commitment, the City government of
Buenos Aires now publishes the information collected in
new datasets and georeferenced maps on its Buenos Aires
Data site and on the City Government Page. This
unprecedented access to data can now be used by theprivate, public and CSO sectors to improve health services.
It also generates new opportunities for the public to informand influence government decisions based on joint workwith Fundación Huésped and the implementation of thereporting mechanism. This work has also lead to the
updating and improving of municipal datasets of Hospitals
and Community Action and Health Centres (CESAC), withthe addition of information on the following: if they provide
sexual and reproductive health services, including specifics
on what type (i.e. IUD, condoms, pregnancy tests,
emergency contraception/the morning-after pill), if they
provide legal termination of pregnancy (LTP) services, if they
are centres for the prevention, care, and diagnosis of HIV(CePAD), and if they offer vaccination services.

Lesson learned

Working in collaboration between civil society andgovernment agencies created a stronger outcome within
this process. The role of civil society here was not limited to
input - the participation of civil society as executing andimplementing partners strengthened the overall quality ofthe project and assisted in monitoring and holding
accountable government agencies to produce what was
expected of them. The platform and this work was in adifficult social context related to sensitive issues. Having theplatform developed by Fundación Huésped, to evaluate
and qualify services in health centers related to sexual andreproductive rights, helped to prevent discretional
treatment, and produced a far-reaching platform throughthe collaborative government-civil society partnership.

Link with SDGs
More information

SDG 3 (Good Health & Well-Being)
SDG 5 (Gender Equality)
SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)
SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities).

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More information.

Contact: Alvaro Herrero - aherrero@buenosaires.gob.ar
Links: - Donde
Portal integral de provisión de información y canal dereporte sobre servicios de salud sexual y reproductiva
https://data.buenosaires.gob.ar/dataset/centros-de-salud-yaccion-comunitaria-cesac
https://data.buenosaires.gob.ar/dataset/hospitales

3.2. Johannesburg: Mapping informal transit toimprove public transit services

.

Title

Mapping Informal Transit to Improve Public Transit
Services

City / Region

Tshwane, Johannesburg (South Africa) - Africa

Challenge &solution

In many cities in the Global South, public transportation
systems are inadequate and highly informal. Where
economic opportunities and residential areas in cities are
far apart and private transit is inefficient and out of reachfinancially for many, public transportation options are
essential to urban citizen’s mobility and accessibility andsafety. Many cities are unable to provide adequate public,
regulated, and formalized transportation in cities. In South
Africa, the minibus taxi industry (informal) makes up 65% of
all public transport, with bus and trains accounting for 21
and 14% (Andersen, Booysen and Zeeman).
The South African informal minibus taxi industry is quite acommon approach in the Global South - with private
operators working to provide a public service to commuters
at a higher environmental, safety, and time cost. In someinstances, such as in the City of Cape Town, lower income
citizens can spend upwards of 46% of their income ontransport monthly. This is a large burden that falls to lower
income groups in particular as they try to access work,school, and home. Much of the informal transit networks
remain unregulated, unmapped, without set timetables andoccasionally unsafe (Jackson, 2016). In order to understandthe systems, stakeholders have set out to map the informal
networks to provide better access to information on transit
routes, headways, etc. In South Africa’s Gauteng Province,
where the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane are located,nearly 13 million people live and commute in one of thelargest urbanized regions in Africa (Where Is My Transport).
Within the province, there are 2,800 informal minibus taxi
routes, providing essential connectivity throughout theregion and the Cities of Tshwane and Johannesburg, in a

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difficult post-apartheid context of addressing racial
segregation. In order to understand and improve thesystem of public transport, there was first a need to track
and analyze the system that exists.
Approach

Tracking, using, and analyzing a complex minibus taxi
network is difficult when there is no official information onroutes, operators, costs, time schedules, etc. In order tocapture this information, an organization called Where Is My
Transport worked with local project partners to identify andtrain a team of data collectors to use their application to
map the routes. These data collectors were local users ofthe minibus taxi system and lived in the area being mapped,
so they could collect both quantitative and qualitative
information about the routes and service.
Using an application developed by Where Is My Transport,these data collectors were able to collect information routedata, frequency, fares, and common stopping points.
Following the data collection, the information is validated by
the local partners and developers. In a four-week period inGauteng, this effort captured over 2800 unique minibus taxi
routes, totaling 44,000 kilometers in length. For the cities ofJohannesburg and Tshwane this information is essential tobe able to understand the complexities of the minibus taxi
network, to analyze level of service and hopefully improve
the quality of service. Additionally, citizens can make use ofthis information to plan journeys on informal transit, perhaps
decreasing travel time, cost, and increasing accessibility
and mobility.

Innovation& practicalimprovement

Historically segregated due to the apartheid system, many
black South Africans still live in physical separation fromareas of the city where they work, making it time-consuming
and expensive to commute on informal transit networks thatare not supported by local governments. In gathering data
about routes, service quality and schedules, citizens canmake more informed decisions about their accessibility
options. Additionally, this innovative approach has been usedin other cities throughout the Global South to crowdsource
informal transit information. Doing enables developers tocreate trip planning applications, citizen service feedback
platforms (where citizens can register quality issues related
to the bus service or the road quality), or even report unsafe
conditions through applications like Safetipin.

.

Did it open
government?

Combining access to information, civic participation(through data collection) and technological innovation,
mapping the informal transit network in Gauteng Province
has improved citizens’ ability to access information abouttransit services as well as improving information for decision
making around urban mobility and planning for municipal
governments such as Johannesburg and Tshwane.

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Lesson learned

Partnerships between local stakeholders and innovativetechnology companies can help advance greater access to
information and improve service quality, even in areas wheremuch information is not held by the government, such as in
the case of informal transit.

Link with SDGs

SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)
SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities)

More information

Contact: Claire Enslin, Where
claire@whereismytransport.com

Is

My

Transport,

4. City-to-city cooperation on Transparency and Open Government
City-to-city cooperation has proven results on strengthening sectoral public policies based ontechnical cooperation (exchange of good practices, networking, generating political dialogue
and capacity building). Nowadays, this kind of cooperation has become a platform for sharedlearning and peer-network support helping cities' officials to be more transparent and inclusive.
Citizens around the world compare themselves with other cities and citizens, fostering
accountability and finding solutions to face similar and increasingly urban challenges (Ahsan,2017). City-to-city cooperation on transparency and Open Government issues can also help tobuild knowledge and solidarity networks to face the common challenges of cities.

4.1. Madrid: Consul Project, a global platform toenhance citizens’ participation at city level
Title

Consul project: global platform to enhance
citizens’ participation at city level

City / Region

Tshwane, Johannesburg (South Africa) - Africa

Challenge &solution

Faced with the challenge of establishing more open andinclusive models of governance, Madrid City Council
developed a Citizen Participation Project with an online
platform called Decide Madrid. Its objective is to promote
direct democracy and enhance citizen participation anddiscussion by providing a channel through which citizens
can directly and individually raise their ideas and needs andpropose, debate, prioritize and vote for policies to meetthem. Decide Madrid is built on the Consul tool, a digitalplatform that enables a communication system with thecurrent administration, allowing citizens to raise and support
initiatives, express their decision on significant issues ofmunicipal action, participate in the process of developing
municipal norms or decide on the destination of €100m fromthe budget of the city each year. Since 2015, 362,702 users

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have registered and participated in more than 5,000
debates, while more than 21,000 proposals have been made(Planchuelo, 2018). The fact of developing a website to ask
people about the future of the city has aroused greatinterest worldwide. Therefore and as part of thecommitments of its Action Plan with the Open Government
Partnership, Madrid facilitated the extension of the Consul
open source software so that any institution could copy andimprove it; allowing a faster growth and a less need for theuse of resources by other cities for both start-up and for thedevelopment of participatory processes.
Approach

As part of the co-created commitments made through the
OGP Action Plan for 2017 Madrid decided to put anemphasis on the extension of the Consul project to otherinstitutions. To design the Action Plan, different stages forpeople’s consultation were used, involving face-to-faceevents and digital participation where citizens were able tosend comments and proposals of change and see theevolution of the commitments. The process was open todifferent sectors and organizations of civil society and theprivate sector.
Based on this, Madrid City Council decided not just to
extend the mechanisms and participation means to other
cities and developing free software technologies but toprovide technical and legal assistance, share knowledge
about the processes and create a community network ofdifferent institutions using Consul for exchange,
improvement and support. Nowadays, many cities such as
Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paris, Turin andValencia have developed citizen participation platforms from
Consul, as well as dozens of towns and regions across theglobe. Already more than €200m has been spent on
initiatives facilitated by this mechanism in Madrid alone.
Other cities such as Guatemala, Guadalajara, Gwangju, La
Paz, Lima, Medellín, Quito, and Porto Alegre are working to
implement it. Academic institutions and entities such as
unions, political parties and even private companies areshowing their interest to use the software for their internal
participation processes. Using free licenses and software
has helped to minimize resources and maximize
intelligence. This has allowed any city interested to replicate
the process to adapt it to their needs and teams no matter
what level of financial and technical resources are available;
this expansion of a new model of participation has
increased exponentially making for a global impact.

Innovation& practicalimprovement

The success of the participative model implemented in
Madrid has allowed the creation of channels of collaborationand solidarity with other local, national and international
entities whose common objective is to generate a modelthat allows participation in the management of public affairs.

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The publication and release of the software, with a decisive
impulse to facilitate its implementation in other cities,
represents a radical change with respect to the usual
policies in public administrations. All the institutions that use
Consul are part of the same network; a community of public
servants willing to collaborate with each other, who shareexperiences, best practices and knowledge. The platform’s
community has also generated an enriching exchange ofexperiences and knowledge among all the cities andcitizens that use the tool. In addition, the fact of releasing theopen source software allows other cities to incorporatechanges and improvements, which means that the tool isconstantly growing and improving, making changes inpublic administration and enhancing citizen participation
around the world.
Did it open
government?

Through the different participatory processes facilitated by
Consul around the world, citizens are expressing theirneeds and proposals, being heard and heeded and being
informed about the municipal actions and responses;
administrations have been able to ask and be informed of
citizens’ needs and demands and have fostered open
decision making processes. Moreover, both actors havefound the space to debate about the problems of the cityand jointly find the solutions. This bidirectional perspective
allows for a better and effective communication between
these actors increasing trust and fostering transparency
and accountability and making participation evolve to be
seen as collective intelligence that has led to more
responsive, innovative and effective governance. The
platform is a great example of how technology can takeadvantage of social knowledge and collective talent andsolve the problems of cities through collaboration between
its inhabitants and institutions. Furthermore, thanks to theflexibility of the tool, more complex participation processes
have been designed.

Lesson learned

As the platform allows for consensus on a number of ideas,
public administration should make sure to advance inprocesses for making the decisions binding. Therefore,
cities need to work on their regulation and to remove
barriers to ensure the implementation of the agreement thathas been reached through the platform.

Link with SDGs

SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities)
SDG16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions)
SDG17 ( Partnership for the Goals)

More information

Contact: Miguel Arana – Madrid(aranacm@madrid.es )Link: http://www.consulproject.org/en/

City

Council

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RECOMMENDATIONS
to advance in the open government agenda
at city level

Cities are places of opportunity and economic and social progress. They are the first
responsible for ensuring that the challenges of urban life become opportunities forall. Building trust in cities and local public administration is, therefore, fundamental toadvance towards any development goal. Moreover, the development of city andlocal instruments to improve transparency, good governance, accountability andcitizen participation is a fundamental strategy to foster open governance that allows
for efficient city management and sustainable development.
Despite numerous examples of city and local governments successfully applying
open government initiatives, there are still challenges to better guarantee its full
deployment, sustainability and positive impact in citizens’ development conditions.
Hereafter, we present a few set of recommendations for national and local
governments, city leaders, associations, networks and practitioners to advance in thedevelopment of local open government agendas and the successful involvement of
cities and local governments as key actors of the national and international open
government strategies.

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1.
Institutionalize the support, reforms and enabling
environment for Transparency and Open Government
initiatives
For any Open Government initiative to have positive and lasting impacts, cities need to work on
the institutionalization of the enabling environment for reforms on transparency, accountability,
civic participation. This implies:
Putting effective instruments in place for the exercise of city and local powers regardingtransparency and open government initiatives. City and local public officials should count withclear mandate to advance on the development and implementation of open government
strategies and initiatives.
Ensuring commitment from politicians, members of councils, public managers andpublic officials, to ensure successful implementation of transparency and open government
initiatives at city level and to prevent or counteract resistance to change.
Developing a proactive analysis of cities’ regulatory contexts to identify legal challenges,
inhibitors and boosters and, propose corresponding actions to face them.
Defining and upgrading legal frameworks, including laws on citizen participation, accessand reuse of information, procurement, transparency, budgeting, anti-corruption, open data.
Legislation and regulatory frameworks should be clear and solid enough to provide clear rules,
boundaries, rights and obligations for different stakeholders and adaptable and flexible enoughto ensure room for innovation.
Ensuring that legal frameworks and regulations are formulated, built and shared withcitizens and stakeholders to guarantee its legitimacy and sustainability.
Strengthening cities’ institutional capacity to advance in local open government
agendas. This requires, among other things, organizing government and related institutions
engaged in different open government strategies’ formulation and implementation. Active
leadership from city leaders and effective internal policy-coordination coordination will beneeded to respond to the cross-cutting and interrelated nature of open government initiatives.
Promoting a management model based on open government principles andmainstreaming the concept into organizational culture of local public administration and incities’ sectorial public policies.

2. Strengthen cities and local governments’ capacities
and autonomy over key issues related to transparency,
accountability, participation and innovation
Successful implementation of open government strategies and initiatives depend on adequate
cities' capacities. Legal and institutional frameworks must be accompanied by sufficient human,
technical and financial resources to have concrete impacts at city and local level. Moreover,they must be linked to an organizational and digital government strategy. This entails:
Matching open government initiatives to correspond to the city's management capacity.
Otherwise, the failure to achieve the promised outcomes, provide feedback and ensure
follow-up, may result in frustration, loss of interest in the process and increased distrust in thecity's government.
Fostering cities and local governments' financial powers and autonomy for them to

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allocate the necessary funds to advance in local open government agendas.
Building in-house planning, policy-making and management capacities aligned with theprinciples of transparency and open government by investing in human and technicalresources and implementing modern management systems and technologies.
Strengthening policy makers and civil servants' abilities to implement transparency andopen government strategies through the development of new skills, mindsets and openorganizational culture. Capacity building and open government awareness in local
administration, and among stakeholders is needed. Public officials need to be aware of thebenefits offered by an open government strategy and how it positively affects its work, theefficiency of the local government administration and citizens' development conditions.
A big part of open government initiatives is facilitated by the use of new technologies,
such as open data portals, online tools for consultation and decision making, among others.
Cities, therefore, must pay specific attention to develop and strengthen in house competencies
and abilities regarding Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Setting up a team dedicated to the open government strategy at city level, with enoughcompetencies, autonomy and budget. Besides formulating, developing and implementing thestrategy, this team could be also in charge of the coordination and collaboration acrossdepartments. Having a dedicated team could increase impacts and efficiency and ensure thesustainability of the initiative.

3. Promote better multilevel governance and advancetowards building an Open StateAs other development agendas, the Open Government Agenda cannot be achieved only by theactions of cities and local governments, nor by central governments working in isolation. Opengovernment reforms need to be built with a wide consensus and as a shared government
policy to warrant its positive impacts and successful deployment. Therefore, a new approachmarked by institutional and inter-sectoral cooperation is needed, where the dialogue andcomplementary actions between the local and national level are constant and constructive.
Achieving this model involves:
Fostering informal and institutional spaces for policy dialogue and decision-making
among key stakeholders (central governments, regional and local governments and theirassociations as well as within the government across agency or across judiciary, legislative, andexecutive branches) to better shape up the roles, responsibilities and challenges andopportunities derived from the open government agenda.
Promoting the participation of city and local governments in the formulation,
development, implementation and monitoring of the open government national strategies. Theirrole in the achievement of the objectives of open government initiatives must be recognized.
Therefore, further actions must be taken into account from national governments andinternational organizations supporting this agenda to integrate local perspective in theabove-mentioned processes.
Establishing a single open government strategy at national level (OGP Action Plan) thatbrings together all the dispersed initiatives and the inputs from public sector entities at all levels.
Improved vertical and horizontal coordination between and within local, regional and central
governments is needed. This multilevel approach will help to address the challenges of crossmunicipal or cross-sectorial issues; as well as promoting knowledge-sharing, collaboration
among levels and institutions, and resource efficiency.
Establishing official and institutional mechanisms for multilevel coordination for theformulation, implementation and monitoring of the open government strategy and to eventually

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move towards an open state model of governance5.

4. Establish better and institutional channels forengagement, interaction and synergies with civil society,citizens, academia and private sector
The involvement of civil society and other stakeholders, such as academia, private sector andindependent state institutions, is fundamental for the development, implementation andsustainability of open government reforms. In an increasingly complex environment with agrowing number of rules and regulations, sectoral policies and multiple actors, it is vital for cities
and local governments to foster participation and engagement, to build broad coalitions and to
set the informal and institutional environment to facilitate the easy and regular interactions
between the public, private sector and civil society. This approach can be enhanced by:
Granting all stakeholders equal and fair opportunities to be informed, consulted andactively engaged in policy-cycle and public services design and delivery. Through the process,cities should pay specific attention to the promotion of participation of vulnerable andunderrepresented groups in society.
Strengthening citizens and stakeholders’ awareness, knowledge and skills regarding
participation and open government. Cities should develop capacity and awareness for citizens
and stakeholders to understand Open Government (its processes, its benefits and the tools
they would need to be effectively engaged in it).
Defining or upgrading mechanisms to promote and institutionalize civil society andother stakeholders’ engagement in city management. This could be done by developing
specific policy and legislative frameworks that favor participatory practices and by setting
formal and regular spaces of exchange with these stakeholders. The final objective should be
consolidating multi-actor partnerships at city level that have a broad representation of city’ssocial ecosystem and that can guarantee legitimacy and sustainability of the processes. For
these spaces to successfully work, cities should be conscious that this process required
adequate time, costs and adapted methodologies to minimize participation fatigue.
Strengthen current communication channels actual and embracing different andinnovative canals and ways to interact and effectively engage with civil society and otherstakeholders. Depending of the city’s contexts, local governments must choose a mix channels,
languages and tools to reach the wider range of population taking into account factors such as
literacy (academic and digital), income, gender and linguistics. Cities should take advantage ofthe opportunities provided by new technologies, including digital tools, mobile applications orsocial media. Yet, technical and human resources should be set and maintained by cities using
this approach to efficiently respond to the demands opened via interactive channels ofcommunication.
Experiment, promote and foster innovative mechanisms such as co-development andco-production of public policies, going beyond traditional forms of participation.

5

According to OECD (2017) Open State consist the model of governance "when the executive, legislature,
judiciary, independent public institutions, and all levels of government - recognizing their respective roles,
prerogatives, and overall independence according to their existing legal and institutional frameworks collaborate, exploit synergies, and share good practices and lessons learned among themselves and withother stakeholders to promote transparency, integrity, accountability, and stakeholder participation, in
support of democracy and inclusive growth". Besides promoting a broader collaboration between all key
actors in national open government agendas, this concept entails in acknowledging each institutions'
independence to create synergies to improve the overall impact of their initiatives.

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5. Promote the use of open data as a key resource oftransparency, accountability and open governanceUsing new technologies and open data can improve transparency, accountability andefficiency in city services. It can also act as a catalyst to drive collaboration between
governments, civil society, and the private sector. Most of cities and local governments are
currently developing innovation, SMART technologies and open data initiatives as effective tools
to respond to citizens’ demands and to improve the management of the city. Nevertheless, inthis bet, cities face several challenges to adapt to the ongoing changes brought by innovation.
This process can be facilitated by:
Fostering innovation and open data in government services to support public sector
decision-making processes and public services. It contributes to greater access togovernment data and user friendly and citizen driven public services.
Making available clear, complete, timely, reliable and relevant public sector data andinformation. Data should be free and available in an open format and easy to use, reuse. Datashould also come with accessible explanation of uncertainty levels to help educate, empowerand engage all stakeholders.
Using new technologies to upgrade and deepen transparency and participatory
processes with citizens and other stakeholders. New technologies and open data can be
helpful for the co-development and co-production of policies and services; where citizens andother stakeholders are not only passive actors but also active contributors and designers.
Encouraging citizens and building capacities for them to use new technologies andseek out information and support open data initiatives at all levels of government. Cities andlocal governments should engage in educational and informational campaigns in the use of
new ICT tools that target all citizens.
Combining SMART tools with other non-IT tools to ensure participation of people withdiverse backgrounds.
Establishing corresponding systems to protect personal data of the citizens, adapting
legal frameworks and adjusting to the constant evolution of technology.
Developing in-house skills and capacity building for public officials and civil servants oninnovation and new technologies and establishing strategies to counteract resistance to change.
Demanding support to national governments about the setting of legal frameworks,
guidance on data standards, and corresponding funding and technical capacity, especially for
cities with less resources.
Promoting the use of open data for reporting on SDG achievements at city and national
level. Localized data is essential to leave no one behind. Cities and local governments should
strengthen their data systems and the mechanisms to collect data on the ground.

6. Build, joint and support networks and spaces for local
governments and community organizations to share, learn,
and exchange on advances on transparency and open
government
Urban 20, to C40, Covenant of Mayors, ICLEI and United Cities and Local Government (UCGL),
just to name a few, are great examples about how cities have seen real gains in engaging
through networks. Their joint work and advocacy has led to meaningful improvements to the

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way cities are governed and to the recognition of local governments as drivers of development
and global governance. Open government initiatives can act as a catalyst to drive collaborationand co-creation between cities. In fact, cities and local governments applying open government
initiatives are more willing to share their knowledge and to improve understanding, within andbetween cities, of common social and economic problems. We call all stakeholders to:Commit and develop actions towards the localization of the 2030 and of SDG 16 as agreat opportunity for cities and local governments to be recognized as catalysts ofdevelopment and the better placed level of government to involve local communities in theachievement of the global agendas.
Joint and promote UCLG’s and other international networks advocacy strategies
regarding the need for cities and local governments to have a permanent seat at the global
table working towards a more collaborative model of global governance and defending theessential role of cities and local governments in the successful implementation of global
agendas, including Open Government Agenda.
Document and share best-practices and tools on transparency and open government
to be used both at intra-city level, and inter-city level, promoting peer-learning and international
solidarity.
Promote decentralized cooperation between local governments and engage inpublic-public partnerships to reinforce transparency and open government strategies at local level.
Become active part of networks and international initiatives such as the Local Programof OGP and the UCLG’s Community of Practice on Transparency and Open Government. Bothof the networks are a great platform for cities to exchange knowledge, learn from each otherand from civil society and jointly lead the way to incorporate open local government
perspectives into global agendas and integrate open government principles into global
agendas and partnerships.

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Acknowledgments
Co-Authors:
Open Government Partnership
UCLG’s Community of Practice on Transparency and Open
Government
Coordinators:
María Alejandra Rico and Juana López Pagán, UCLG/FEMP
Brittany Giroux Lane, Open Government Partnership
Reviewer:
Diana Lopez Caramazana, UN-Habitat

Conctacts for this report
UCGL’s Community of Practice on Transparency andOpen Government
opengov@uclg.org
Open Government Partnership Local Program
Local@opengovpartnership.org
Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces
internacional@femp.es

The views, opinions, positions and recommendations expressedin this White Paper are solely those of the individuals and theirorganisations. They do not necessarily reflect those of Urban 20
or any of its chairs, conveners, partners and participating cities.

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www.urban20.org