The most commonly expressed concerns appear to reflect the rapid growth that many cities are experiencing. More than half ranked automobile congestion as severe or very severe. Pressure to provide public transportation facilities was considered less urgent, and the growth in traffic has not yet caused air pollution to rise to the level of a major concern. Cities are struggling with the collection and disposal of solid wastes, especially disposal, and are apparently frustrated by the inability to provide adequate housing and employment for citizens. The related areas of health services and urban poverty each merit attention, according to the respondents, as do educational services. The respondents had less concern about their ability to work directly with citizen groups, ranking participation by civil society as among their least severe problems. Discrimination by sex, income or ethnic grouping is also an area that those who responded do not consider severe. The city leaders indicated that they are doing a good job of keeping their streets safe; they rated violence, crime and overall personal safety as among their least concerns.

The questionnaire also asked the participants to project the issues that they felt would be important over the next 10 years. Responses indicate an expectation of even greater growth and increased population density. A higher percentage rated traffic congestion and housing as important, while crime, air pollution and unemployment moved up in the rankings. Housing stock and land tenure, in fact, moved to the top of the list. Public transportation will remain a moderately severe concern, but a larger percentage felt that way. Air pollution and insufficient participation by the civil society will be bigger problems. Health services were rated as moderately severe, as were educational services. Collecting and disposing of solid wastes will be more manageable in the opinions of the respondents, although providing clean water will be relatively more difficult. Opinions about solid waste disposal were widely varied; approximately the same number of people believe it will be severe as feel it will be not be a major concern. Poverty problems will be less of a concern, while discrimination will remain manageable in the opinion of the respondents.

The questionnaire included space to list additional issues the respondents consider important. The range of issues was very broad, but several indicated that financial management, especially better collection of taxes, and a greater sharing of resources among local, regional and national governments should be high on the list of concerns. Better coordination among levels of government in general was frequently mentioned, with comments such as "governance: autonomy and accountability; too much government interference," and "local/central government coordination" being typical. One respondent said that privatization of services was a key issue, noting that "city government does too much with too little."

The welfare of young people also appears to concern the city officials. On the negative side, some respondents mentioned drug use among children, while on the positive side others said that recreation facilities should be built, "especially for children and young people." Other areas of concern included the environment, destruction of historic cityscapes, public information and transparency, racial integration and controlling corruption.

When the respondents looked down the road 10 years for the additional issues that would resonate with cities, several mentioned that both the age and density of their cities’ populations would increase to the point of concern. "A rising number of older people in contrast to a decrease in new-born children," wrote one. Work on city infrastructures will be needed, some said. Others said a sense of competitiveness and an international outlook will be increasingly necessary. The ability to stay abreast of technological innovation will be increasingly important, and it will be a challenge for cities to find people who are skilled in the information fields. Financial stability remained high on the list, as did the relationships between local and other governments, although those relationships were not as frequently mentioned they were in the present-day context.

The questionnaire also asked if the private sector was involved in providing services. Virtually all the officials who completed the questionnaire said their cities had relationships with the private sector. Solid waste collection and disposal were frequently included, as were utilities such as water, electricity and natural gas. Several cities said that sports complexes were run in partnership with the private sector, and maintenance of parks and other green spaces is handled in the same way. Several said that their public transportation was handled by private concerns, and one city said that a company had provided some of the construction funding for an express highway and would maintain it for 10 years. Another city uses a private firm to provide software support.

 Issues And Challenges Facing Cities Today

Severe

Solid waste disposal 54.5%

Traffic congestion 54.5

Housing stock and land tenure 48.4

Solid waste collections 46.9

Unemployment 43.7

Moderately Severe

Public transportation 54.8 %

Urban poverty 40.6

Health services 40.6

Educational services 36.4

Not Severe

Insufficient participation by the civil society 66.7 %

Discrimination (women, ethnic, poor) 63.6

Air pollution 59.4

Urban violence, crime, and overall personal safety 45.5

Water and sanitation facilities 45.4

Severe

Housing stock and land tenure 68.1%

Traffic congestion 61.3

Unemployment 60.0

Urban violence, crime, and overall personal safety 46.6

Moderately Severe

Public transportation 60.0 %

Air pollution 60.0

Insufficient participation by the civil society 60.0

Health services 56.7

Educational services 53.3

Solid waste collections 50.0

Water and sanitation facilities 48.4

Solid waste disposal* 22.6

Not Severe

Urban poverty 74.2 %

Discrimination (women, ethnic, poor) 60.0

*The variation among the respondents is high; relatively the same number of respondents believe it will be severe as those who do feel it will not be a concern.