CITY STRATEGY

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CITY STRATEGY GOVERNANCE The Naga City Model

• Outline
• The Setting
• Governance Model
• Illustrative Examples
• Growth Programs
• Equity-Building Programs
• Participatory Mechanisms
• Insights

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THE SETTING
What Naga is Not
NOT CENTRALLY-LOCATED. Approximately 450
kilometers from both Manila and Cebu not even
Bicols regional government center
NOT A PORT CITY. Landlocked no access to the
sea and, therefore, at a disadvantage compared to
Manila, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and General Santos
NOT A BIG CITY. Of the 114 Philippine cities,
63rd in terms of land area and 53rd in terms of
population
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THE SETTING
What Naga Is
RECOGNIZED CENTER OF LOCAL INNOVATIONS. More than
40 national and international recognition
including the 1998 Dubai International Award for
having one of the Top 10 Best Practices
worldwide. LIVABLE CITY. Says Interface, the
newsmagazine of the League of Cities. STRONG
NON-GOVERNMENT SECTOR. In the form of civic,
business and peoples organizations. More than
100 are accredited with the city. TOOK ADVANTAGE
OF LOCAL AUTONOMY. The state policy to promote
local autonomy has helped Naga mainly because it
has helped itself, crafting innovations that even
antedate the Local Government Code.
But this did not happen overnight
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THE SETTING
Naga in 1988 Development Challenges

• despite a tradition of being the center of
  trade and commerce, local economy was sluggish
  and stagnating due to years of neglect
• reduced from a first- to a third-class city
• low business sector confidence with the number
  of firms plateauing at 2,000 the Central
  Business District (CBD) was overcrowded and
  remained unchanged for more than four decades
• basic services had been deteriorating
• resources required to address problems were not
  forthcoming
• crime was on the rise smut films and lewd shows
  proliferated illegal gambling was rampant
• homeless urban poor population was growing

Nagas Answer Good Urban Governance
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NAGA GOVERNANCE MODEL

• Progressive development perspective - based on
  growth with equity as a core philosophy
• Functional partnerships - vehicles that enable
  the city to tap community resources for priority
  undertakings
• Participation - mechanisms that generate
  stakeholder-ship and ownership over local
  undertakings

Progressive perspective
Good urban governance
Participation
Partnerships
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NAGA GOVERNANCE MODEL
Progressive Development Perspective

• a function of the local leadership
• In the case of Naga, given its problems in 1988,
  had to involve
• confidence-building measures
• sharing with the community a vision for the city
• leadership by example

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NAGA GOVERNANCE MODEL
CORE PHILOSOPHY GROWTH WITH EQUITY
Shows an enlightened perception of the poor. It
seeks to
Promote economic development (growth)
Sustain the implementation of pro-poor projects
(equity-building)
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NAGA GOVERNANCE MODEL
Functional Partnerships

• Multiplies the local governments capacity and
  enables it to overcome resource constraints
• May be
• for growth or equity-building strategies
• with community groups or individuals
• government-initiated or private-led

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NAGA GOVERNANCE MODEL
People Participation

• Borne out of the belief that the extent of the
  city governments success is contingent on how
  people respond to its initiatives
• Mechanisms to ensure the inclusion of
  individuals and the community in decision-making
  
• Mainstreams and engages people in governance
• Promotes long-term sustainability by generating
  broad- based ownership of initiatives
• Promotes the partner-beneficiary concept

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Partnerships in Growth Programs

• Urban Transport Traffic Management Plan
• a growth strategy for expanding the CBD only
  through the relocation of transport terminals
  outside the CBD
• expanded the commercial area by a third of its
  original size
• Satellite/District Markets
• development dispersed to areas outside the CBD
  bv encouraging the development of privately-
  owned district markets (5 currently in operation)

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Partnerships in Growth Programs

• Panganiban Upgrading Beautification
• created a new business corridor at a main
  thoroughfare leading to the CBD (formerly a
  swampy one-kilometer eyesore)
• Central Business District-II
• a 27-hectare distinct commercial area developed
  by the private sector
• has resulted in a 100 expansion of the
  commercial district, and stabilized commercial
  land prices

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Partnerships in Growth Programs

• Naga Southwest Development
• multi-billion property development covering
  approximately 90 hectares
• another private-led partnership involving one
  of the countrys leading property development
  conglomerates
• will be the area for first-class commercial and
  residential development

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Partnerships in Equity-Building Programs

• Urban Poor Program (Kaantabay sa Kauswagan)
  with urban poor organizations, landowners and
  private developers already covers 6,940
  households
• Livelihood provides livelihood assistance to
  the urban poor and other micro entrepreneurs

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Partnerships in Equity-Building Programs

• Health, Nutrition and Emergency Assistance
  brought down the number of malnourished children
  to 5.3 of the pre-school population
  institutionalized Emergency Rescue Naga with
  various community groups
• Education schools for early education and
  development, specialized high schools

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ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Participatory Mechanisms

• Naga City Peoples Council institutionalized
  the concept of NGO participation in governance
• Other Local Special Bodies participation by
  specific sectors in various policy-making bodies
  (City Development Council, Housing Board,
  Livelihood Management Council, Investment Board)
• I-Governance Program seeks to involve the
  individual Nagueño in governance through more
  avenues for information openness and transparency

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INSIGHTS
Why Partnerships?

• They can take place between and among the
  various levels of government (national,
  regional, local) between government and the
  business and NGO-PO community and between
  government and private individuals or entities
• They can be government-led or private-led (with
  the government providing the environment for
  partnerships)
• They enable LGUs to marshal untapped resources
  of the local community for local development
  initiatives
• They allow involved parties to attain
  mutually-beneficial objectives even with minimum
  individual resources
• They multiply the LGUs internal capability,
  opening doors to opportunities that are
  otherwise beyond its resources to pursue

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INSIGHTS
Operating Principles of Partnerships

• Role definition setting of rules of
  engagement minimizes potential conflicts
• Resource complementation the whole is
  greater than the sum of its parts
• Specialization moving towards ones core
  competencies

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INSIGHTS
Why Participation?

• Participatory mechanisms promotes
  accountability and transparency which lead to
  further innovations
• They can lead to more partnerships
• They are effective strategies for encouraging
  and increasing stakeholders support for local
  development programs, projects and activities

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INSIGHTS
Partnerships and Participation

• both are key components of Nagas governance
  model
• however, at the operational and practical
  level, partnerships work best among organized
  groups and institutions
• this can exclude individuals and the community
  at large from the governance process
• partnerships must be complemented by mechanisms
  that promote stronger participation at the level
  of individual citizens
• this is addressed by the citys current
  initiatives such as I- Governance

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Naga City An Maogmang Lugar

• among the countrys fastest-growing economies
  with an annual growth rate of 6.5-- a big jump
  over 1988
•  A lower unemployment rate of 5.2 compared to
  the national
• A per capita gross product which is 115 higher
  than the national average a family income that
  is comparable to other highly-urbanized areas,
  126 higher than the average family in Bicol,
  and 42 higher than the national average
• A lower poverty incidence of 29 compared to the
  regions more than 50

All a result of a concerted community effort
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