Urban finance: Strengthening an overlooked foundation of urban planning

This chapter examines the nature of the planning-finance relationship and how finance could be better tapped by urban governments. It outlines contextual factors that affect the intersection of urban planning and finance. The chapter reviews the critical role of finance in developing and implementing plans and a synopsis of key financial mechanisms commonly available, briefly characterising their use in the global South. The chapter then considers challenges faced by countries of the global South in improving their fiscal position and planning-finance linkages. Urban finance has long been dominated by public finance specialists promoting normative approaches to generating and allocating public revenues. The chapter outlines a range of urban revenue sources for recurrent and development purposes essential for development planning. The chapter closes with thoughts about how to improve finance to support urban planning.