Articles > Dr Mariel Snel

What is the Role of Community in Urban Management
Dr Mariel Snel, WEDC

Abstract: This paper will look specifically at one aspect of urban management, namely the concept of 'community participation' within the context of assisting in urban services such as water, sanitation and solid waste management. The focus is on the various forms and stages of community participation in such projects. Some of the main pre-conditions required for successful community participation in urban services are elaborated.

1. Introduction
Community participation has created a new dimension to the way practitioners and academics view 'urban management' in today's cities. The purpose of this brief paper is to focus on what we mean by community participation, at what stages it may be implemented and its importance in urban services. Why is community participation important? Because it provides the commitment from the communities themselves. Community participation as an approach can eventually provide project effectiveness, efficiency and empowerment. Although sustainable community participation and management alone cannot guarantee success, it can play a vital role in creating both an effective and efficient water and/or sanitation project.
This paper will be divided into a number of sections, namely: What is meant by community participation (a brief literature review), stages where 'community participation' can occur, the importance of community participation in urban services, incentives and disincentives for community participation, pre-conditions for successful community participation and finally a summary note on community participation in urban neighborhood development projects.

2. Defining community participation
In simple terms 'community participation' refers to the involvement of the people in a community in development projects (UNCHS, 1991; Sheng, 1992; Korten, 1987; Garilao, 1987). Since social, economic, educational, and other conditions differ from one community to another, the form and degree of people's involvement in development activities also vary. This makes it difficult to define community participation precisely. However, since it implies action by the people to solve their own problems, it can be understood in terms of activities performed by the communities in their own development projects.
There is a wide range of types of community participation. At one end of the scale there may be merely some community participation in an agency designed and executed project. At the other, is full community planning, implementation and management of a project with no agency involvement.

Box 1: Different forms of community involvement
The following is a list of different forms of community involvement which may include certain members or beneficiaries in the community.
• Community leaders consulted by agency;
• Whole community consulted by agency;
• Financial contribution;
• Material contribution;
• Labour and skill contribution;
• Operation and maintenance management;
• Project management;
• Women's representation in decision making;
• Involvement in health education or campaigns; and
• Providing specialised community workers such as health educators, etc.

2.1 Stages where 'community participation' can occur in the project cycle
Community participation can take place at any one of numerous stages in a development project cycle, namely:
Needs assessing- expressing opinions about desirable improvement, prioritising goals and negotiating with agencies
Planning- formulating objectives, setting goals, criticising plans
Mobilizing- raising awareness in the community about needs, establishing or actuating organisational structures within the community
Training- participating in formal or informal training activities to enhance communication, construction, maintenance and financial management skills
Implementing- engaging in administration, supervision or other management activities; contributing directly to the actual work of construction or maintenance with labour and materials; store-keeping; contributing cash towards costs, paying for services or membership fees of community organisations; deciding rules
Monitoring and evaluation- participating in the appraisal of work done, recognising improvements that can be made and redefining needs

2.2 The role of NGOs or CBOs in urban services
Experiences in many developing countries during and since the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) demonstrate that even the best run water, sanitation or solid waste management schemes cannot successfully be implemented, operated and maintained without the full involvement and commitment of the users (IRC, 1993).
Involvement and commitment of the users are usually funnelled through the assistance of Non-Governmental and Community-Based Organizations. Overall, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) have a growing importance and a new role as development organisations. One of the main reasons why NGOs have developed is because the public sector has not been able to adequately deliver services to meet the needs of the population. This is especially true for the low income areas. As a result NGOs have become major partners of the public sector in an effort to address local needs.

Box 2: Defining NGOs
NGOs and CBOs refer to intermediary non-government groups channelling financial, technical, intellectual and further support to other groups within society. They often also provide similar forms of support to government entities. We use the term 'NGO' to refer only to those organisations in society that are involved in development work.
Incentives for community participation
In many cases people will have mixed motives regarding their participation in the community. The following are some of the main reasons why people are usually willing to take part in community participation.
• Community participation motivates people to work together on a development project.
People within a community are motivated to work towards community participation for a number of reasons, such as their perception of the benefits from the project and/or a number of financial and/or social incentives to continue working on a project;
• Social, religious or traditional obligations for mutual help
Community members may find social, religious and/or traditional reasons to work on community participation in their neighbourhood.
• Genuine community participation
Individuals may be involved in the identification, planning and implementation of projects and in the use and maintenance of the development project. They see a genuine opportunity to better their own lives and for the neighbourhood as a whole.
• Remuneration in cash or in kind
Community members may find this to be one of the main motivating factors to take part in community participation in their development project
Box 3: Why participate?
The following is a list of some of the important reasons why community participation is one of the essential criteria for successful development projects:
• more will be accomplished;
• services can be provided more cheaply;
• there is an intrinsic value in participation;
• there is a catalyst for further development and a sense of responsibility is encouraged;
• there is a guarantee that a felt need is involved;
• ensures that 'things are done the right way';
• valuable indigenous knowledge is used;
• people are freed from dependence on others' skills; and
• people are more conscious of the causes of their poverty and what they can do about it.
Other additional benefits often recognised by other authors are:
projects are more likely to be self-sustaining;
• increased involvement of women; and
• it is more likely that health benefits will be maximised
Source: Narayan, 1996.
Disincentives for community participation
The following are some of the main disincentives for individuals and/or community to be involved in community participation. Some of these reasons include:
• An unfair distribution of work amongst members of the community.
Some members in the community may feel that they are asked to take on extra work tasks that provide them little financial/social or other incentives;
• A highly individualistic, movement oriented society.
Individuals may not feel a sense of community and thereby question the purpose of their involvement in a development project;
• The feeling that the government should provide the facilities.
The community may feel that the development project is simply another way of exploiting people.

3. Pre-conditions for successful community participation in urban services
For community participation to be successful it is suggested that certain pre-conditions must be met. The pre-conditions that are cited below are not exclusive but rather reflect some of the major criteria that can make a development project successful through the use of community participation.
• There must be a community demand for an improved system.
The people must WANT to solve 'their' problem.
• The information required for individuals or communities to make informed decision must be available.
Information campaigns will often be necessary to 'market' desirable water supply, sanitation and solid waste management services. Examples should be built in the locality for inspection by those who are likely to be 'customers' in the future.
• Technologies and levels of service must be compatible with the community's needs and capacity to finance, manage and maintain them.
This concept refers to providing appropriate technology that can be sustained by the community.
• The community must understand its options and be willing to take responsibility for the system.
It must be clear from the start how the system will be paid for by the community and/or with the assistance of an outside agency.
• The community must be empowered to make decisions to control the system.
The issue of community leadership training, committee training and skills training is an essential part of 'empowering' the community as a whole.
• The community should have the institutional capacity to manage the development and operation of the system and the solution must be within their means.
The community should have the human resources to manage these institutions.
• There should be a policy framework to permit and support community management. The government must frame its legislation so that community development committees and co-operatives are legal
• Effective external support services for the community must be available from governments, donors, NGOs or private sector.
The people must have faith in these supporting programme personnel. There needs to be good co-ordination between these external groups.
• The challenge of community management must be simple enough at first so that people can participate yet become increasingly complex so that they can grow in their ability to deal with problems and feel an increasing sense of accomplishment.
This idea refers to the importance of creating early recognizable success so as to create enthusiasm for the rest of the project.

4. Summary- Community participation in urban neighborhood development projects
In this brief paper we have listed some of the main reasons why community participation has and can continue to work effectively in water, sanitation and solid waste management projects at the neighbourhood level. As cities continue to grow, there is a need to look at available resources including residents who can assist in implementing, developing and undertaking neighbourhood projects.
If local governments want to focus on providing both effective and efficient urban services they have to focus more on community participation for the provision of urban services. Such operations are, however, only successful when they have the cooperation of Non-Governmental and Community-Based Organizations. These organizations play a key role since they work directly with citizens in neighbourhoods and can assist most effectively in the implementation of the schemes. However when local governments decide to cooperate with these organizations in order to obtain the participation of citizens, they have to face the dilemma of sharing some of their responsibility and power. This will require that local governments perceive their roles in a more democratic way, so that Non-Governmental and Community-Based Organizations and citizens can become partners in more effective urban services for the city as a whole.

References
Garilao, E. 1987. 'Indigenous NGOs as strategic institutions: Managing the Relationship with Government and Resource Agencies'. World Development. 15, pp. 113-121.
IRC, 1993. Community management today- The role of communities in the management of improved water supply stems. Occasional Paper 20. The Hague.
Korten, D., 1987. 'Third Generation NGO Strategies: A Key to People-Centered Development'. World Development. 15, pp. 147-150.
Narayan, D.1996. Toward participatory research. World Bank Technical Paper number 307. World Bank. Washington D.C.
Sheng Y.K., 1992. 'Community participation in Low-income housing projects: problems and prospects' Community Development Journal. 25, (1), pp. 56-65.
UNCHS (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements)., 1991. Human Settlements Development through Community Participation. UNCHS- Habitat. Nairobi.