Trusteeship in City Management

THE MORBI bridge collapse is a classic case of dereliction of duty by a municipal body. The elected body should have accepted moral responsibility and resigned collectively.

- Raghav Chandra

That the government has issued a show-cause notice for its dismissal is another matter. This colossal tragedy is a definite pointer to the need for urban governance reforms. However, on a somewhat different note, it is also a good example of defining the role of the wealthy in the management of cities and the need for enlightened and responsible corporate citizenship.

World over, big corporations have been involved with city development and management because cities are where the action is. As much as 51 per cent of the world’s 6.9 billion people, 3.5 billion souls, live in cities. By 2050 demographers think it will be 70 per cent, or 6.2 billion people. Cities are the funnels for investment, enterprise and innovation. We are already familiar with big names such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Michael Bloomberg and many others who have carved out philanthropic funds to help non-profit organisations serve the poor. There are many who have involved themselves more directly by making cities more liveable.

Ely and Edythe Broad who live in Los Angeles have founded the Broad Art Foundation which includes an art library that has lent more than 8,500 top art works to 500 museums. Donald Bren, the American real estate mogul, has given to schools, Caltech and the University of California’s Santa Barbara and Irvine campuses, besides 20,000 acres of parkland to Orange County, part of which established the Black Star Canyon Wilderness Park. George Kaiser, an American oil baron has focused on his home city of Tulsa – with nearly $1.3 billion in contributions and grants to childhood education and community health programmes in the city, including gifts to local non-profits and social service agencies.