Local government in 2020: challenges and opportunities
This article says:
“There are a host of challenges that face local government in the 21st century: delivering services; lack of finance; managing staff; engaging citizens; forming new partnerships; and, rapidly evolving technologies and socio-economic demographics.
So where will we be in 2020? Will we continue to see an erosion of council authority, capacity and service delivery? Will markets prove capable of filling the gaps? Or, will we see a reassertion of the importance of local government, with new models for regional integration, public finance and services that emphasise a public role? Here are some of my speculations.
In spite of the coalition government’s bold rush toward privatisation of public goods and services, the profit-driven model will prove insufficient to tackle the complexity of problems and services required. The needs of citizens and communities will require co-ordinated services that will lead to a stronger recognition of the role of local government – and the eventual need to rebuild its capacity.
However, this will require local government to rethink its revenue sources, a renegotiation of labour relations, and rebuilding citizens’ views of community and society.”
I think there is merit in all these views but I am very surprised that the author talks about local government as if it were a coherent entity. We all know that different spatial dimensions put completely different challenges and pressures on different types of authority. Do you think it is possible to talk about local government as a single entity like this? Or are there some key differences in the factors affecting for example deep rural compared to metropolitan authorities which suggest significantly different futures for each?