Provision of Services in Urban Areas - What are the Challenges in Developing Countries?
Introduction

The manner in which provision of basic infrastructure services is dispensed to meet the demands of the public in general will determine the level of economic activity and, in turn, the overall development of a nation. Most sectors cannot function without electricity, telecommunications, and water; therefore, the adequate and effective provision of these services is central to the growth of an economy and the improvement of public welfare. Infrastructure can be seen as the “wheels of economic activity”1. Thus, developing infrastructure capacity:

1. Dominance of public enterprises In general, the widespread dominance of public enterprises in the provision of public goods in developing countries has been repeatedly blamed for the terrible state of these services. The monopolistic nature of the market structure has therefore lead to the absence of competition, resulting in inefficiency and the lack of pricing mechanisms to determine consumer demand and to reflect service costs. Accordingly these “below-cost prices” have contributed to the low levels of government investment and lack of service expansion.

2. Continuous government pressure. Against this backdrop, governments have been under continuous pressure to consider alternative ways of infrastructure provision. The past few years, therefore, have witnessed an upsurge in the commercialization of public services provision through building partnerships with the private sector. In general, the rationale behind involving the private sector is to avoid the potential political pitfalls of full privatization, utilize new technology and expertise, share risks and gain access to increased capital to improve operating efficiency, and, ultimately, make the sector more
Responsive to consumer needs. Progressively, government, private sector and civil society organization (CSO) roles have become more clearly defined and public-private partnership (PPP) schemes have become more popular.

3. Expensive online public delivery systems.
If indeed citizen-centered governance and e- governance were synonymous or just two sides of the same coin, then the constraints to the realization of citizen- centered public service delivery in most developing countries would be straight forward. Internet connectivity, bandwidth, networks, portals and other infrastructure for on-line communication are not as developed in African countries as they are in the developed world. The bottom line here is that most African
Governments cannot afford highly developed systems of online public service delivery as is the
Case in developed countries. But some are making commendable progress, even in the face of
Resource limitations. In Kenya, registration of taxpayers and the filing of tax returns by
Individuals and corporate bodies can now be done online, and many government documents
Previously issued across the counter in public offices can now be downloaded from the websites
Of respective governments departments. The police department and the public service
Commission is examples of government agencies that are fast adopting online service provision.
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4. Dictatorial ruling elite
In many African countries, ‘development ‘still comes to communities as a gift from the ruling elite who decide where state- financed development projects are initiated. This is the nature of politics of development under the authoritarian presidential systems that reign in most of the developing countries. However, devolution of state functions and resources is perhaps the single most important initiative towards the promotion of citizen- centered service delivery in present day developing states. The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in Kenya is a leading example of devolved development financing and implementation. In this programmed, 2.5% of all government ordinary revenue collected is shared among the country’s 210 electoral constituencies equitably using a formula that takes into consideration population and poverty levels in the constituencies.

5. Social groups. Social groups such as ethnic communities and religions are themselves determinants of the nature of services that citizens demand from their governments. Diversity is not a problem in itself if a sense of cohesion and nationalism runs through the national psyche. But where diversity amounts to polarization, as in the case of most African countries where ethnic polarization runs deep, citizen demand is not easily discernible and the discord in voices blurs the standards for public service delivery. Even in ethnically homogeneous politics, like the
Majority of constituencies, other social dividing lines impact on the service delivery process
Almost the same way. Clans and age groups are among the most common dividing lines in
Ethnically homogeneous politics in Africa.

6. Centralization.
Most developing countries have centralized governance which slows down public delivery since
Decentralization of fiscal government functions has realized plausible achievements in
Improving efficiency in public service delivery in most developed countries in the last two decades or so. Whereas this can still be improved, devolved government is now the way to achieve citizen-centered service delivery in African countries. Devolution is essentially self governance at the sub-national
Levels. We do not simply mean devolution of resources by a benevolent central authority, but
Devolution of power to sub-national authorities which will be more accountable to those them
Govern and more sensitive to their needs. Power to confer power and to remove that power
Should be vested in the people at both national and sub-national levels. The details of devolution structures can be worked out in different countries depending on their
Unique circumstances.
. 7. Congestion. Congestion occurs when transport demand exceeds transport supply at a specific point in time and in a specific section of the transport system. Under such circumstances, each vehicle impairs the mobility of others. Congestion can be perceived as an unavoidable consequence of the usage of scarce transport resources, particularly if they are not priced. The last decades have seen the extension of roads in urban but particularly in urban areas, most of them free of access. Those infrastructures were designed for speed and high capacity, but the growth of urban circulation occurred at a rate higher than often expected. Investments came from diverse levels of government with a view to provide accessibility to cities and regions. There were strong incentives for the expansion of road transportation by providing high levels of transport supply. This has created a vicious circle of congestion which supports the construction of additional road capacity and automobile dependency. Urban congestion mainly concerns two domains of circulation, often sharing the same infrastructures:
In outlying areas, restrict their potential access to public transportation. Over-investment (when investments do not appear to imply significant benefits) and under-investment (when there is a substantial unmet demand) in public transit are both complex challenges. REFERENCES. 1. Brown. K., Ryan .N. and Parker. R., (2000), ‘New modes of service delivery in the public sector Commercializing government services’ in The International Journal of Public Sector Management Vol. 13 No. 3, 2000, pp. 206-221, MCB University Press 2. Mutahaba G & Kiragu, K. (2006). Public Service Reform in Eastern and Southern Africa: Issues and Challenges. Mkuki wa Nyota, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 3. United Nations (2007). Public Administration and Democratic Governance: Governments Serving Citizens. United Nations. 4. Holzer. M and Kloby .K (2005), ‘Public performance measurement: An assessment of the stateof- the-art and models for citizen participation’ in International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 54 No. 7, 2005, pp. 517-532 , Emerald Group Publishing Limited