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This Multi-level Governance Series study focuses on Ukraine’s advances in regional development, territorial reform and decentralisation since 2014. The Government launched a reform to merge local governments and strengthen the decentralisation process, giving additional power and resources to sub-national authorities. In a short period, successful steps have been taken toward achieving municipal mergers and greater fiscal, administrative and political decentralisation, complemented by the State Strategy for Regional Development 2015-2020. The first local elections have been held and more public services are being delivered by certain local authorities. Yet, important challenges remain, ranging from a need to address rising disparities and adjusting multi-level governance practices and territorial structures, to better structuring fiscal decentralisation. This report addresses regional performance and disparities in Ukraine, provides insight into Ukraine’s current territorial reform and approach to decentralisation, explores the impact of fiscal decentralisation measures, and includes a case study of the transport sector. It also provides a set of recommendations for action to support Ukraine in meeting the conditions for successful decentralisation.

Cities are places where opportunities for prosperity coexist with stark inequalities between the richest and the poorest. Cities produce and attract highly educated workers and innovative employers. It is usually easier in cities than in other parts of the country for individuals to climb up the income, education or jobs ladder. But cities, especially the largest ones, also concentrate inequalities, both in income and in other well-being aspects,  that remain remarkably high in many OECD economies. Access to opportunities seems stalled for many low-income urban residents, who often live in distressed neighbourhoods.  This report provides ground-breaking, internationally comparable data on economic growth, inequalities and well-being at the city level in OECD countries. It provides empirical evidence on how cities are diverging from, or converging with, other parts of the country, and of the extent of inequality within cities. Finally, it proposes a framework for action, to help national and local governments reorient policies towards more inclusive growth in cities – a new approach to growth that ensures that no part of society is left behind.

This report offers a comprehensive overview of decentralisation policies and reforms in OECD countries and beyond. Sometimes called a “silent” or “quiet” revolution, decentralisation is among the most important reforms of the past 50 years. The report argues that decentralisation outcomes – in terms of democracy, efficiency, accountability, regional and local development – depend greatly on the way it is designed and implemented. Making the most of decentralisation systems is particularly crucial in the context of a “geography of discontent” and growing divides between places that feel left behind by globalisation and technological change and those that may benefit from the opportunities offered by megatrends. The report identifies 10 guidelines for making decentralisation work and allowing it to be conducive to regional development. Beyond the guidelines, the report proposes concrete tools for policy-makers, including detailed sets of recommendations, checklists, pitfalls to avoid and examples of good practices, both in unitary and federal countries.

This report looks at crucial elements of reforms to growth-friendly recurrent taxes on immovable property. Tax design practices in place in OECD and partner countries are compared and analysed through the lenses of economic theory and empirical analysis. A set of good principles and options for reforming recurrent taxes on immovable property based on the latest experience of property tax reforms around the world are presented that are particularly relevant to the Chinese context, where broader use of recurrent taxes on residential properties is needed to make local public finances more sustainable. Challenges and practices related to the administration of property taxes are explored as well as their interplay with different tax designs. In addition, the main political and administrative hurdles in approving and implementing property tax reforms are discussed, and the approaches commonly employed in successfully dealing with them are examined. Although there are major challenges in designing, reforming and managing a recurrent property tax system, it is possible to overcome these in a manner that allows society to reap benefits in terms of a better allocation of resources, more stable house prices and a fairer income distribution.

This study examines the multi-level governance framework for public investment in Colombia. It provides a diagnosis of the strengths and challenges of the Colombian system and includes comparative data and a set of benchmarks to promote exchange of good practices and promote learning. It makes recommendations for how to further improve the system, make more effective use of existing resources and catch up to OECD countries in terms of infrastructure development . The review also suggests a set of indicators against which Colombia can measure its progress.

The Slovak Republic joined the European Union in 2004, the Schengen area in 2007 and the euro in 2009. These events, coupled with decentralisation reform and the creation of administrative regions, have brought significant change. While overall growth has been impressive compared to OECD countries overall, benefits have not accrued equally across the country. Public investment could potentially improve regional conditions and attract private funding, but governance bottlenecks stand in the way. This case study shows that the main obstacles to effective public investment are linked to high local fragmentation as well as the challenges national and subnational administrations face in designing and implementing investment strategies that correspond to local needs. Drawing on a detailed set of indicators, the study provides recommendations to address these challenges and make the most of public investment in the Slovak Republic.

Decentralising labour market policy is a delicate and challenging subject of political debate.  Does decentralisation really enable co-ordination of policies?  At the local level, how do we make the best use of decentralised powers?  How can greater flexibility be provided in managing policies while still guaranteeing efficiency and accountability?  To enhance responsiveness to citizens’ needs, governments increasingly decentralise the way policies are designed and implemented.  In the labour market policy area, many stakeholders, from business and local government to community groups and NGOs have been receptive.  The OECD invited leading experts and experienced policy makers and practitioners to address these questions and share their experiences in dealing with such issues. This report, supported by statistical data, summarises the lessons learnt from their experiences.  It is for researchers, leading experts, business communities, economists in government circles and NGOs.

This report offers guidance on how to prepare regions and cities for the transition towards a climate-neutral and circular economy by 2050 and is directed to all policymakers seeking to identify and implement concrete and ambitious transition pathways. It describes how cities, regions, and rural areas can manage the transition in a range of policy domains, including energy supply, conversion, and use, the transformation of mobility systems, and land use practices. It takes stock of discussions between academic and policy experts emanating from a series of high-level expert workshops organised in 2019 by the OECD and the European Commission. Bringing together frontier thinking and practical examples regarding the transition to a climate-neutral economy, the transition to a circular economy, the transition in cities, the transition in rural areas, and financing and scale-up of transition action, this report identifies cross-cutting lessons to support urban, regional, and rural decision makers in managing trade-offs and in promoting, facilitating and enabling environmental and energy transitions.

This report addresses key issues concerning managing urban traffic congestion, including defining congestion, measuring congestion, assessing its impacts, formulating a strategic vision for guiding management policies, and using technology and other operational options to ameliorate congestion.  It offers policy-oriented, research-based recommendations for effectively managing traffic and cutting excess congestion in large urban areas.

The National Dialogue on Water in Thailand was initiated in 2021 under the regional initiative with the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea (MoE), the Asia Water Council (AWC) and the OECD. The Dialogue covers two main topics selected by the Government of Thailand (ONWR). The first one is water demand management, with a focus on the Eastern Economic Corridor. The second one is financing water supply and sanitation. Both combine to support a sustainable and resilient development pathway for Thailand's fast-growing economy. The analyses and policy recommendations cover issues such as the design of economic policy instruments, water allocation regimes, increasing demand for reclaimed water, or benchmarking the performance of water utilities, and blended finance for water supply and sanitation services. They are informed by the expertise of Thai stakeholders, the OECD and the Asia Water Council. They can be a source of inspiration in other contexts in South East Asia and globally.

This report assesses the key bottlenecks within the water-energy-land-food nexus in Korea, and proposes policy recommendations and governance arrangements to future-proof environmental integrity and enhance sustainable growth. The increasing pressure caused by urbanisation, industrialisation, population growth and climate change in Korea has led to more land consumption and augmented water supply, at the expense of the environment and at a high cost for public finance. Korea has engaged with the OECD via a national policy dialogue to explore best practices from the wider international community to better manage the nexus at the river basin scale.

Social impact measurement and management is a particularly helpful practice for social economy entities to understand their contribution to society and potentially improve the achievement of their mission. Impact areas that are particularly important for the social economy, such as economic prosperity and employment, social inclusion and well-being and community, are often the hardest to translate into quantitative metrics. Current social impact measurement and management practices are largely shaped by funders and for-profits with limited focus on the social economy. This guide offers a simple, straightforward approach for social economy entities to measure, manage and ultimately maximise their impact, and to prioritise the use of findings for strategic organisational learning and improvement.

The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the “How’s Life in Your Region?” work produced by the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the behest of the Regional Development Policy Committee.

Andalusia is the largest mining producer in Spain, the second-largest copper producer in the EU and a leader in marble and gypsum production. The region benefits from two distinct mining subsectors, each with a rich network of suppliers that are relevant for local development: the metallic mining sector (e.g. copper and zinc), which accounts for most of the regional mining production, and the non-metallic sector (ornamental rocks, aggregates and industrial minerals), which is highly dispersed across the territory. The regional mining value chain has the potential to leverage the increasing global and EU demand for sustainable raw materials and thus become a frontrunner in leading technologies and circular processes for environmentally sustainable mining. This study identifies how Andalusia can build on its strengths and address current and future challenges to improve regional productivity and well-being while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and assisting EU climate goals.

Sweden’s northern region, Upper Norrland, is one of the most important mining regions in Europe and has the potential to become a global leader in environmentally sustainable mining. With the largest land surface and the lowest population density in Sweden, Upper Norrland contains two sub regions, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. Both sub regions host the greatest mineral reserves in the country, containing 9 of the country’s 12 active mines and providing 90% of the iron ore in the European Union. Upper Norrland has the potential to become a global leader in environmentally sustainable mining due to its competitive advantages, including a stable green energy supply, high-quality broadband connection, a pool of large mining companies working closely with universities to reduce the emissions footprint across the mining value chain, and a highly skilled labour force. Yet, the region must overcome a number of bottlenecks to support a sustainable future, including a shrinking workforce, low interaction of local firms with the mining innovation process and an increasing opposition to mining due to socio environmental concerns and land use conflicts. This study identifies how Västerbotten and Norrbotten can build on their competitive advantages and address current and future challenges to support a resilient future through sustainable mining.

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, notably of droughts and floods to which the agriculture sector is particularly exposed. While agricultural productivity growth and policy development have allowed to better cope with these risks and reduce overall impacts on the sector and commodity markets, there is substantial room to improve policy responses and co-ordinate across policy domains, including with respect to water rights and allocation, weather and hydrological information, innovation and education, and insurance and compensation schemes. Indeed, drought and flood risks are likely to become a major policy concern as increasing population will increase the demand for food, feed, fibre, and energy, not to mention the competition for water resources, and urbanisation will increase the demand for flood protection and mitigation, raising the issue of the allocation of flood risks across sectors and areas.