ppp in urban design

Public-Private Partnership in Urban Design


The public sector provides most water, waste, sanitation, and energy services. Experience demonstrates, however, that municipalities alone cannot meet the continually growing demand for services. While traditional development assistance plays a vital role in enabling some governments to meet these challenges, it provides only a fraction of the needed investment. New partnerships for sustainable growth – sources of financing, technology, capacity building and management – are urgently needed.


Following the 1992 Earth Summit, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiated a global programme in collaboration with the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD), to promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) to improve urban environmental services in the developing world. UNDP's Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment programme (PPPUE) became operational in 1995.


The end of the 20th century witnessed unprecedented change in the pattern of human settlements. For the first time in history, more people are living in cities and towns than in rural areas. This urbanisation has been accompanied by an alarming growth in the incidence of poverty. The result is a radical transformation in the structure of cities, accompanied by complex social, economic, and environmental changes. Urbanisation has placed an extraordinary strain on governments, both national and local, to meet their citizens’ basic needs.


The term “public–private partnership” describes a range of possible relationships among public and private entities in the context of infrastructure and other services.

PPPs present a framework that—while engaging the private sector—acknowledge and structure the role for government in ensuring that social obligations are met and successful sector reforms and public investments achieved.

PPP is one tool available to decision makers in reforming infrastructure or service delivery. It is most effective when it is accompanied by other reform activities to underpin and reinforce the PPP and to support sustainable improvement.


The public partners in a PPP are: -government entities, -including ministries, -departments, -municipalities, -or state-owned enterprises.

The private partners can be local or international and may include: -businesses or investors with technical or financial expertise relevant to the project.

PPPs may also include nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and/or community-based organizations (CBOs) who represent stakeholders directly affected by the project.


The public partners in a PPP are: The government also provides social responsibility, environmental awareness, local knowledge, and an ability to mobilize political support.

The private sector’s role in the partnership is to make use of its expertise in commerce, management, operations, and innovation to run the business efficiently. The private partner may also contribute investment capital depending on the form of contract..

The structure of the partnership should be -designed to allocate risks to the partners who are best able to manage those risks and thus -minimize costs while improving performance.


Sectors in which PPPs have been completed worldwide include: • power generation and distribution, • water and sanitation, • refuse disposal, • pipelines, • hospitals, • school buildings and teaching

facilities, • stadiums, • air traffic control, • prisons, • railways, • roads, • billing and other information technology systems, and • housing.

Rapid population growth throughout the developing world has created desperate conditions in urban centres, as citizens, particularly the poor, lack access to basic water, sanitation, waste and energy services.


The three main needs that motivate governments to enter into PPPs for infrastructure are: 1. to attract private capital investment (often to either supplement public resources or release them for other public needs); 2. to increase efficiency and use available resources more effectively; and 3. to reform sectors through a reallocation of roles, incentives, and accountability.


The basic PPP contract types are: • service contracts; • management contracts; • lease contracts; • build–operate–transfer (BOT) and similar arrangements; • concessions; and • joint ventures. In which cities and businesses pool their resources, expertise, and approaches to solving problems in order to tackle urban challenges in a sustainable manner.


Advantages of PPP: (1) Reduces public debt (2) Promotes innovation (3) Benefits from coordinated decision (4) Creation of new services

Disadvantages of PPP: (1) Loss of influence in the investment (2) Creation to public monopoly (3) Accusation of corruption (4) Demonstrations against price increase


The joint venture PPP process main steps: (1) project identification and the “reality check”; (2) partner identification; (3)working group formation and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU); (4) Project design and development; (5) formation of the joint venture business; and (6) assessment for replicability.

Public-Private Partnership in Urban Design EXAMPLES

ppp in urban design

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