Struggles for Sustainable Urban Development in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Conflicts also exist between government agencies and the decentralisation process has
created overlaps between provincial and municipal authorities. Government environmental
agencies are still too weak, and integrating them into a broader field of decision-making has
not yet been successful. Bolivia has created some accountability instruments, but it may take
time for them to function properly. The municipality of Cochabamba has undertaken some
environmental initiatives, but the results, so far, are merely cosmetic. It is difficult to say
whether the environmental agenda has been just for image building and voter support. There
are two potential reasons why an agenda of sustainable urban development has not yet
emerged with the most important sectors of the society: there is a lack of true interest in
sustainability issues and implementing such policies is difficult in the prevailing political
context as discussed above.
This dissertation has highlighted reasons why government legitimacy and institutional
effectiveness are important when planning for sustainable urban development. Implementing
technical solutions without regard to the social and political context in which they are being
implemented can lead to failure and can be even downright dangerous to local development.
Economic theories are also subject to these characteristics of the society and thus perfectly
free-markets, as found in the economic textbooks, do not materialise. In an environment
where different stakeholders do not trust each other they tend to use their power in self-
interested and conflicting ways. If the government has weak legitimacy it loses power to
other stakeholders and that power tends to be distributed unevenly, having the potential of
benefiting elite minorities. This pattern needs to be broken to create more equitable
development. Thus, attempts to promote sustainable urban development need to incorporate
governance aspects as well. Creating a solid foundation for sustainable urban development by
strengthening government institutions and local democracy, might be more efficient and
sustainable in the long-run than directly addressing the environmental problems of urban
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