An examination of the transformation of South Africa's apartheid local government system into a development-oriented system of municipal governance, requiring, however, continuing short and long-term interventions on the part of both the central and provincial governments if it is to deliver its desired outputs.

The primary purpose of this edited collection is to evaluate critically the relationship between local government and national economic development. It focuses on how the relationship between local government and development is structured, and the specific institutional arrangements at national and subnational levels that might facilitate local government's assumption of the role of development agent. In light of the contradictory outcomes of development and implied experimentation with new modalities, post-development discourse provides a useful explanatory framework for the book. Schoburgh, Martin and Gatchair's central argument is that the pursuit of national developmental goals is given a sustainable foundation when development planning and strategies take into account elements that have the potential to determine the rate of social transformation. Their emphasis on localism establishes a clear link between local government and local economic development in the context of developing countries.

The quality of local governance matters more than ever before. To many citizens, their local government is the most tangible form of government, and it is also the layer of government with which they have most contact in their everyday life. The power of the local administration is that it represents ordinary citizens. People eat, drink, work, play and socialise with others in towns and cities. To be fully effective, local government management and service delivery capacity needs to be strong, and resources need to be adequate. Civil society and businesses are essential actors in ensuring local governments have the capacity to meet the needs of its citizens. There are a host of challenges that confront local government in the 21st century: delivering quality services; lack of finance and local fiscal autonomy; engaging citizens and communities in meaningful and authentic ways; forming effective partnerships which incentivize local actors to find solutions to the many complex and intractable issues facing communities; generating inclusive and sustainable development; implementing strategies for disaster risk reduction; managing transparent communications; and, rapidly evolving technologies and socio-economic demographics. The Governance of Local Communities: Global Perspectives and Challenges is about the role that ideas, institutions, and actors play in structuring how people govern local communities and, more specifically, the types of adaptations necessary in local government roles and responsibilities, structures, and processes to effectively respond to a changing local government environment. Global changes require that we rethink local governance. A wide net of international experts on local governance was assembled for this volume to stimulate frank conversations around the many contemporary challenges facing local government.

Amidst growing awareness over the past half century that human activity threatens our natural environment, many of the world’s largest cities have played a role in the sustainability movement, as seen by such initiatives as Day of Cities sponsored by the United Nations. And now local governments in towns and smaller cities are beginning to play a more prominent role in the green movement. This book, inspired by the author’s own experience as a citizen activist and local candidate, is a guide for local governments and citizens wishing to launch sustainability campaigns and programs that make a lasting difference in our world. Alexandra Reed Lajoux addresses the popular "green city" topic but focuses on smaller municipalities, which are more numerous than big cities, and in greater need of guidance. With a visionary foreword by Ben G. Price, National Organizer, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and author of How Wealth Rules the World, the book discusses the most critical environmental, economic, and engineering realities of municipal life and leadership in our times, ranging from rights of nature, to rollback tax rates, to green infrastructure, to gentrification. It will appeal to a broad range of town or city government employees and elected officials, as well as local activists, contemplating the issues of managing and funding sustainability that all localities worldwide face at some level.

'Development' is what most people see as progress in the places where they live and in the ways they live. It has to do with public services, the ways to complain when these are not delivered properly, and the spaces to change power structures. It is related to the economy, the opportunities to access a secure job, a sustainable livelihood and increased welfare while caring for the planet and others. It is also linked to the institutions that allow people to live life well, using resources ethically and doing business responsibly in relation to other communities and future generations. This edited collection examines the interconnections between local governance, economic development and institutions, by focusing on what initiatives work and under what conditions they do so. Based on a variety of theories and empirical data, it presents evidence from current experiences around the world, revealed by researchers across different continents and several generations.

Communities need a holistic approach to address the problems that affect the people at the grass root. The planning of the direct beneficiaries involves decentralization in order to allow the lower power centers to widely take part in the development of society. Concerns of the grass root people form the need for decentralization and local governance. People’s involvement in the planning on the village level and all local government units, makes the identification and solving of the problem easier. High participatory levels of all the people especially the marginalized, encourages innovation to source for the appropriate solutions to the common problems that face society. It therefore calls a decentralized system that caters for the voters’ preferences while providing for their services. The people’s concerns call for local planning and the transfer of power to the public so that services are brought nearer to the people. This study will cover the aspects of local government and decentralization such as good governance, democratization, civil society, deconcentration, devolution and delegation, and its relation to the development of societies.