Decentralisation and Regional Development

This book analyzes decentralisation, regional
development paths and success factors in different governance sectors in Ghana,
the Philippines, Tanzania and Chile, and discuss overarching aspects of
relevance. Decentralisation, which refers to the delegation of administrative
responsibilities, political decision-making and fiscal powers to lower levels
of government, is now considered one of the most efficient engines of
development. In Sub-Saharan Africa decentralised states have made more progress
in reducing poverty than those states with lower decentralisation scores. But
in many countries, decentralisation is still considered a ‘work in progress’
with unsatisfactory results. From a spatial point of view, the link between
decentralisation and regional and district development is particularly
interesting. Both in the North and in the South, regional or district development
is seen as holding the potential for advancing social and economic development,
and even more so in decentralised political settings. Space-based networks at
the regional or district level are considered instrumental for responding to
locally specific challenges, e.g. in areas lagging behind economically.