Local Governments as Promoters of Urban Transparency in Latin-America

Local governments and the associations that represent them have actively participated in the design of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, which has shown the important role of cities to ensure an effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS). The fact that, for the first time sustainable development is considered "urban" in its particularity, is certainly very good news for local governments around the world, because it increases visibility of the local dimension of development that has often been absent from their priorities. Habitat III will be the first major global conference since the Agenda 2030 came into force in January 2016, providing an opportunity to discuss on the development challenges for the implementation of the ODS. Latin American local governments, also the European, are in a position to address together the many challenges of Agenda 2030 and the New Urban Agenda. Cooperation between local governments in Latin America and Europe has decades of experience that has paid off in a single model of cooperation characterized by concrete results that impact on strengthening sectorial public policies.

Urban management is decentralized in almost in every country in the world. Basic services such as water and sanitation or licensing, among others, are in the hands of local governments, which play an increasingly important role in the design of urban policies and the benefit of essential public services role. In this sense, the development and promotion of policies and initiatives of transparency and accountability are key to improving the living conditions of citizens through provision of efficient and effective services and an open, competitive and fair manner.

To achieve this objective and fight against urban sprawl, particularly at the local level, many policies and strategies for sustainable urban development have been designed, where rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal and citizen participation play a decisive role.