Advisor in Urban Development Leader
Urban Partnership Transport
Water and Urban Development Department
The World Bank

Decentralization and democratization in Latin America and the Caribbean are creating a new institutional environment for local authorities and have triggered spontaneous reforms in governance in many large cities. A new generation of reform mayors has produced a wave of innovations--upgrading professional staffs, raising taxes and user fees, delivering better services, and mobilizing participation in public choice-making. This presentation reviews the range of content and structural similarities in these innovations. With supportive interventions from national and international sources, city leaders can build upon this groundwork and strengthen the prospects for long term change.