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special section - introduction
Introduction to the Special Section
BY rod macdonell
In this thematic section on Local Government and Metropolitan regions in federal countries, our experts examine how municipalities in Brazil, Canada, India, South Africa and Spain go about delivering front-line services to their clamoring, burgeoning populations.
The common thread for these five countries is that local governments are struggling as they do not have the wherewithal to provide the costly services they are obliged to deliver and must rely on other orders of government for funds.
In Brazil, economics writer Brian Nicholson tells a fascinating tale of contrasts between the municipality of Altamira, which covers 159,700 square kilometers and Diadema, a city in the grimy industrial belt around Sao Paulo. Brazilian municipalities, depending on their size, receive funds in the form of transfers from the federal government or from states’ value-added tax.
Canadian cities however are creations of provincial governments and Prof. Robert Young of University of Western Ontario recounts how municipalities are scrambling for money, as the federal government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper disapproves of Ottawa circumventing the Constitution to help fund the cities, undoing a policy his predecessor had embarked upon.
In India, there are 60 cities with populations exceeding one million people. Journalist Rashme Sehgal notes that the mayor of Delhi, India’s capital, is fuming, contending that Delhi has had its powers encroached upon by the state government. Indian cities raise the bunk of their revenues from property taxes, but require transfers from the central and state government for education, health and welfare.
South African cities are bustling with new construction as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup of Soccer. But there has been a proliferation of community protests over lack of service delivery by municipal governments, explains Annette Christmas of the University of the Western Cape.
In Spain, municipalities are also struggling with delivering services. Carlos Alba and Carmen Navarro of the Autonomous University of Madrid tell how Spaniards are counting on a general election in March to elect a government that will complete a reform meant to empower local government. 
- Rod Macdonell, Senior Editor
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