GOLD Report I - UCLG

ASIA-PACIFIC88United Cities and Local Governmentsregional inequality. In Indonesia, decentralizationhas increased the resourcesgoing to the local level, but this increasehas been much greater in the resourcerichregions than elsewhere. While thismay help to redress historic differencesin the levels of development betweenregions, it may not do so in a mannerthat systematically addresses eitherpoverty or inter-regional inequality.In conclusion, it is clear that decentralizationhas become a major theme ofgovernance reform throughout the Asia-Pacific region over the past decade andthat decentralization has for the mostpart been accompanied by enhancedlocal democracy. But the forms and patternsof local governance have variedwidely, as have the outcomes, reflectingthe diversity of country contexts. Whilethere are clearly a great many weaknessesin the current arrangements fordecentralized governance in the casestudy countries, and further reforms willundoubtedly be required, it is hard toimagine that any wholesale return to acentralized system of governance wouldbe either appropriate or politicallyacceptable.