It also constitutes a basis for decentralisation. Cooperation between government and private organisations To improve efficiency and effectiveness, cooperation between government and the commercial sector can be promoted by means of public-private partnerships , for example in the areas of housing construction, infrastructure and public amenities. Such cooperation can take many forms and involve many partners, e.g. educational establishments, local and foreign consultants, building contractors, local authorities and private organisations. As far as the situation in the Netherlands is concerned, the Council is in favour of examining the scope for cooperating with the co-financing organisations in the development of an integrated strategy for an urban development policy to be pursued by the Dutch government. The Council observes that the major cities in the North and the South are increasingly encountering the same problems and the expertise required to solve them is no longer necessarily to be found solely in the North.
Cooperation is based more and more on egalitarian principles.
Urban networks such as the Major Cities Network with its 60 or so members therefore deserve maximum support. The Council recommends that measures be taken to improve the quality of urban management, notably in the selected target cities, by helping to provide training courses for managers in amenity financing, fiscal affairs, organisation-building and the operation of utilities. If sustainable solutions to habitat problems are to be found, regulatory action at local level is not enough. National laws relating to rights of ownership and occupancy, housing security and credit policy should also be amended. Central governments need to create the legal and administrative framework that enables the private sector and the lower-tier authorities to operate efficiently.