Two key challenges are observed with cities and regions/provinces when it comes to their fund readiness.
1. No prior preparation in place.Starting to gear up to receive or prepare for funds when a scheme or fund is announced is already too late. The result, many times, is a makeshift proposal rushed through, leading to an action plan with only average ambition.
It's not that cities should do SWOT analysis only when funds are available. It's not that they should only engage citizens to ask about their priorities when fund arrives. It's not that cities should create an ecosystem of service providers, conduct due diligence, and empanel them only when funds surfaces. This groundwork needs to be done upfront to chase or embrace funding opportunities on opportune time.
2. Lack of confidence in the ability to maintain infrastructure created by new funds and sustain the pilot once the funding program ends. Result, many take a step back.
This works both way, a city that has not already built capacity to manage infrastructure created through a sudden surge of funds and to sustain efforts once the program ends. At the same time, funds often lack instruments to help build the capacity of municipalities or regional agencies, augment resources and skills, or create a pool of maintenance/sustainance fund. These provisions should either be embedded in the fund itself or enabled through a PPP ecosystem within the funding mechanism.
It's not that cities should only think about how to maintain infrastructure once created with new fund. It's also not that cities should only come up with strategies to sustain the efforts and impact, when fund arrives. The quest for new and innovative revenue stream, not just for capital expenditure but also for O&M expenditure, is a must, whether new funds are available or not.
Many cities are already ahead of the curve, focusing on urban innovation for a decade or half, testing new concepts, partnering with known market players and emerging startups, developing internal knowledge, resources, and skills, and engaging with the community unlike others. These cities get funds, and they get repeat funds, year after year. Not that other cities and regions can't do the same.
Funds will keep coming, one way or another, but the development funds will go to those municipalities and regional authorities that are fund-ready!
Author: Anoop Jha
Founder, Urban Tenets, Netherlands
https://urbantenets.nl/
