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Resolution 1964 (2013) Final version
Good governance of large metropolises
1. Good governance of metropolitan
areas encompasses all forms of co-ordination and regulation that contribute
to increased efficiency and transparency of the political and administrative
system and that effectively increase the quality of life of an urban
region. For many years, citizen participation has been recognised
as a particularly valuable element of good democratic governance
at the local level.
2. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Assembly is concerned about
the need to uphold high standards of democracy and to maintain social
cohesion in urban areas, especially in the current times of budgetary difficulties
and austerity programmes at all government levels, which make involving
citizens and inhabitants in decision-making processes all the more
important.
3. Confronted with the multiple challenges of urban growth and
redevelopment, large metropolises face particularly complex situations
when it comes to democratic governance and citizen participation.
Metropolitan areas are therefore among the “lighthouses” of local
democracy, where developments and innovations, but also obstacles
to participation, become more visible than elsewhere.
4. The three case studies of Berlin, Istanbul and London have
shown that public resources allocated to participation mechanisms
are under threat and that citizen consultation is sometimes sacrificed
or neglected. Moreover, many citizens confronted with unfavourable
economic situations and social exclusion have other priorities than
taking ownership of the public space surrounding them.
5. Against this background, the Assembly invites all member States
of the Council of Europe to continue to promote good governance
at all levels of government, to pay particular attention to large
metropolises as democratic “laboratories” and to create legislative
and institutional settings that facilitate and foster citizen consultation,
participation and involvement at the local level. In this context,
the Assembly welcomes the efforts of the Armenian Chairmanship of
the Committee of Ministers, in particular in organising, along with
the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of
Europe, the Conference on Participatory Democracy at Local Level
on 19 June 2013 in Yerevan, where the issue of citizen participation
in decision-making processes at local and regional level was addressed.
6. Good governance at the local level should follow the principles
set out by the “Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at the
Local Level” as adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe in March 2008. Standards related to the participation
of citizens in local public life are also provided in Committee
of Ministers Recommendation Rec(2001)19 on the participation of
citizens in local public life, as well as more recent texts aimed
at fostering participation of different social categories (young
people, people with disabilities, etc.).
7. The Assembly, for its part, has for many years underlined
the importance of citizen participation mechanisms as an essential
part of democratic processes. Most recently, the Assembly insisted
on the importance of freedom of assembly and speech by adopting Resolution 1947 (2013) on
popular protest and challenges to freedom of assembly, media and
speech.
8. With a view to consolidating and promoting good democratic
governance and citizen participation at the local level, not least
by learning from experiences made in some of the large metropolises,
the Assembly calls on member States to:
8.1. create a legislative and institutional framework for local
democratic structures and processes in a way that allows for effective
local self-government of large metropolises;
8.2. foster and promote approaches of good governance of large
metropolises, in particular by implementing existing European standards
and organising exchanges of good practice at both national and international
level (including through local government associations);
8.3. whenever there is increased national interest in the development
of metropolitan areas (as is often the case for capitals or cities
which are economic drivers), ensure that this interest is made transparent
and that local authorities and, through them, local citizens affected
by developments, are fully recognised as stakeholders in the development
process;
8.4. give priority to upholding and further developing participatory
mechanisms at the local level by allocating sufficient resources,
designing appropriate procedures, allowing for the qualification
of staff and raising awareness among citizens of the various possibilities
of getting involved;
8.5. along with organising transparent citizen consultation
concerning urban developments which are initiated by public authorities
or private stakeholders (top-down approach), foster and develop participatory
mechanisms in which citizens themselves can be actively involved
in local development by expressing their concerns, stimulating developments
that correspond to their needs and actively engaging in their local
communities (bottom-up approach);
8.6. conceive and implement specific awareness-raising and
education programmes on democratic citizenship involving young people
from an early age in order to help them become interested and active citizens
of their communities, irrespective of their level of education or
social strata;
8.7. promote the use of communication technologies and social
media in citizen participation at the local level (dedicated websites,
social networks, e-mail, local television) whenever appropriate.