GOLD Report I - UCLG

METROPOLITAN GOVERNANCE276United Cities and Local GovernmentsVI. Conclusion: the emergingmetropolitan agendaTo a significant degree, the governance of21st-Century metropolitan regions poses similarquestions both for the established metropolisof the North and for the emergingones of the South. The extension and increasingdiversity of metropolitan settlement hasimposed new conditions for governance inthe metropolitan areas of both regions. Inboth, arrangements for governance presentparallel dilemmas of fragmentation andcoordination. North and South, the formalinstitutional alternatives for metropolitangovernance share similar dimensions. Metropolitangovernance presents commonproblems of accommodating an array of diverse,conflicting interests and influences. Inboth the North and the South, growing mobilityand the influence of trans-local andtrans-national connections are reshaping thepossibilities as well as the imperatives formetropolitan governance.In important respects, however, the problemsof metropolitan governance inSouthern urban regions still differ fromthose in Northern ones. The growth ofSouthern metropolitan regions has createdthe largest metropolitan areas in theworld. More compact, denser and lessgeographically fragmented, Southernmetropolises are more likely to be drivenby security concerns born of greatdisparities between affluent and poorneighborhoods. Southern metropolitanareas also have fewer economic andadministrative resources to bring to bearon far more pressing and massive problems.VI.1. Multi-level governanceAs urban regions have become increasinglyextended, and connections withtheir hinterlands have proliferated, abetter understanding is needed of thechanging dynamics of inter-governmen-