The explosive growth of urban populations places a huge strain on the ability of governments and municipal agencies to meet the needs of city dwellers. Urban growth creates demands for housing, transport, water, sanitation, power, education and health facilities. Yet public services typically lack the resources, the skilled managers, the trained personnel and the technical capability. It hires local consultants to prepare and implement all phases of these projects. Making urban finance work better.
Resources are scarce in the cities of developing countries.
This fact is made worse by tremendous inefficiencies in the way resources are mobilized and used. For example, the poor pay water vendors many times the price of piped water in countless developing country cities. In Lagos, Nigeria, one-quarter of the capital costs of small enterprises is devoted to investments to make up for failures in the power supply provided by the state monopoly utility. In many cities, tax assessment and collection is entirely inadequate. Making urban finance work is a complex business.