We hold our governments accountable for their performance, and we expect them to take responsibility for outcomes, even when private organisations operating in the market are the dominant providers of the goods and services we consume. This is particularly the case with urban services and infrastructure, because of their vital roles in modern, urbanised societies, and in the functioning not only of most of our economies but also most of our societies. This session of the workshop addresses the issue of improving the financing of metropolitan areas, and will draw on three thematic papers and one case study. The emphasis is on the way in which our systems of governance finance the delivery and management of the services and facilities we need and use in our cities. I define systems of governance as the way we choose to arrange the roles and responsibilities of governments, the private sector and communities in matters that are dealt with in the public realm.
Most urban investment is, of course, private investment.
Whether it takes the form of our own investment in our homes, or the investments of individuals or companies in commercial and industrial property, the dominant source of funds for urban development is private, not public. The emphasis in the workshop, however, is on those areas of funding which are, or traditionally have been, the responsibility of the public sector - infrastructure and municipal services in particular. In this paper I want to explore a series of propositions. First, world urbanisation will proceed on a massive scale over the next two decades. Most of the growth in urban population and hence the demand for capital for investment in new urban development will be in Asia, Africa and Latin America.