The changing landscape for local government: A vision for 2025 (original) (raw)

Local government in a changing world: what does the future hold

It might be a truism but these are still " changing times " and if local government wishes to remain relevant to its citizens and communities and create strong and resilient places then it has to be prepared for future challenges. This chapter looks at some of the critical challenges likely to face councils in New Zealand and what might be needed to prepare for them.1

Local government 2035: Strategic trends and implications of new technologies

2015

Technological advancements increasingly disrupt and destabilize markets, institutions, and organizations around the globe. At Arizona State University’s Decision Theater Network (DTN) solutions to complex public policy and social problems are visualized and designed. The ASU Center for Urban Innovation (CUI) works with local leaders on implementing new ways to address seemingly intractable problems and developing resilient systems to help adapt to new challenges and opportunities as they arise. This report is an outcome of several research projects that are underway at the DTN and CUI that examine the role of emerging technologies in societal change, governance, engagement, and the public sphere. The authors present several examples of technological innovations and societal transformations that they believe will: (1) cause fundamental shifts in how local governments are designed and operated, and (2) require radical innovation on the part of local governments to be relevant going in...

When Tomorrow Comes, The future of local public services. (2011)

Building on the work of previous Governments, the UK Coalition has set about a bold programme of public service reform. From free schools to neighbourhood planning, service commissioning and the involvement of private and third sector providers - no citizen or public servant is immune to the Coalition’s agenda. Driven by Localism and the devolution of power the reform programme promises a dramatically different system of public services. Reform on this scale requires that we review our assumptions about public services, and, crucially who should influence them or has a right to them. At the same time longer term trends indicate increasing demands on public services and finances, challenging us to rethink and reshape established approaches to what we deliver and how. Guided by its expert Commissioners from the worlds of academia, policy and practice, and working in collaboration with the think-tank Demos, the University of Birmingham Policy Commission examined the potential impact of a localist reform agenda, drawing conclusions and making recommendations to inform current debates and offering longer-term proposals for the future of local public services. Four key questions shaped the Policy Commission’s work:  How will public service roles and relationships be redesigned and what are the implications for citizens, service users and providers?  What contribution can behaviour change approaches and techniques make to proposals for the future design of local public services?  How can we reproduce success and mitigate failure in a localist system?  What will local government’s role be? Young people were a key focus for the Policy Commission. They are an important constituency likely to be affected in multiple ways by the current reforms but their voice in public policy debates is not as strong as others’. The Policy Commission drew directly on young people’s experiences as service users, volunteers and citizens and explored their views about public services, Localism and the Big Society. It was advised by the National Youth Reference Group and worked closely with Envision – a youth empowerment charity. This report outlines the findings of the Policy Commission. It proposes a blueprint for a new system of Local Public Support' able to draw on a wide range of resources - public, private, civic or personal. It identifies four conditions for success: citizens as co-authors of their well-being; 21st C public servants; a connected and connective local government; and a new national government/community settlement.

The Future of Local Government Review: State-wide Phone Survey Report

2023

In February 2023, we conducted a phone survey of 1,000 Tasmanians from all 29 council areas to better understand what people think about the future of councils. This is the largest survey ever conducted in Tasmania on this topic. The people we spoke to were as diverse as the population of the state itself: from all genders, ages, backgrounds, stages of life, and people living in the cities, the towns and in the country. This survey forms a part of the Future of Local Government Review , which was commissioned by the Tasmanian Government to ensure the current system of local government is robust, capable, and ready for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

The 21st Century Councillor

2016

access to interviews and providing a practitioner perspective on the emerging findings. We are grateful to all the interviewees and focus group participants for giving up their time to share their experiences. We also want to thank Laura Brodrick for her illustrations, the Public Service Academy at the University of Birmingham for its support and Helen Dickinson for having the idea that got the initial research started.

Local government insights

2020

The New Zealand Productivity Commission has been asked to look into areas of local government performance by successive governments. To date, five out of its 14 inquiries have focused on various aspects of local government regulation, planning and funding: Local government funding and financing (2019); Better urban planning (2017); Using land for housing (2015); Towards better local regulation (2013); and Housing affordability (2012). This Local government insights report brings together the learnings from these five local government-related inquiries. It highlights the key lessons for both local and central government and lays down a challenge to both sectors about what they need to get right, how to do things differently and the benefits of making these changes.