Urban Governance 
Good Urban Governance in South Asia (GUGSA)

GUGSA was initiated by RUDO/SA in collaboration with the region’s bilateral USAID Missions. GUGSA initiated a three-year, three-location (Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) activity in October 2001 to promote good urban governance in South Asia. GUGSA activities document, disseminate and demonstrate best practices from local government bodies to improve the response capacity of local urban governments within the country and will culminate in a Regional Conference for dissemination. The five principles that define good governance are Transparency, Predictability, Accountability, Rule of Law and Participation.

In the aftermath of the tsunami the GUGSA scope was modified to include Post-Tsunami initiatives in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The study involves local institutions advocating/practicing Good Governance and Disaster Mitigation practices. It will also help to create relationships among cities for facilitating the exchange of information that can continue well beyond the tenure of the project. The ultimate outcome of the activities would be to publish literature in print and electronically so that the dissemination benefits are available globally. The scope is also extended to include India, Indonesia, and Thailand.

A regional conference,  Good Urban Governance in South Asia (27-28 June 2007), was organized to share the examples of good urban governance practices in Asia documented under the GUGSA initiative. The conference was organized by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) with the Government of India and the partnership of USAID and TCGI, Program Coordinator for the Good Urban Governance South Asia Project.  This conference was followed by a workshop, Good Governance - Building Resilient Cities (29-30 June 2007

The documented experiences are in the GUGSA Compilation of Case Documents more>>, and are also separated by country.

• GUGSA Compilation of Case Documents

• GUGSA Cases: Overview

• GUGSA Cases: Bangladesh

• GUGSA Cases: India

• GUGSA Cases: Indonesia

• GUGSA Cases: Nepal

• GUGSA Cases: Sri Lanka

• GUGSA Cases: Thailand

The Patong Case Study and the Inventory have been prepared under the support provided by the Good Urban Governance in South Asia project of the USAID’s Regional Urban Development Office for South Asia (RUDO/SA). The GUGSA is now managed by the Economic Growth office of USAID, India.

• Topical Inventory of Good Municipal Practices in Tsunami Perspective in Thailand

• Patong Case Study (in English and Thai)

ADPC wishes to express its gratitude to USAID, India and the GUGSA project in particular for providing support that enabled the study. We hope the “Thailand” case study will add immense value to the overall Good Governance knowledge base and provide “Lessons-learnt” and opportunities to replicate.