ABSTRACT
The provision of urban basic/civic services assumes importance in cities, as these services support economic growth. Urban service delivery is, therefore, vital for the cities to act as transformative spaces and to leverage the advantages of a large working population and agglomeration. This chapter presents an assessment of urban service delivery in two large Indian cities – Pune and Hyderabad – through a pilot survey of the citizens by comparing with service delivery norms. The findings suggest that in Pune more water was supplied than required, while in Hyderabad the supply was not enough compared to the need. There is a need to improve quantitative as well as qualitative dimensions of the urban civic services in these cities – especially in sewerage, waste management, roads and drainage when the norms for these services are taken into account. These findings strongly suggest that improvements are necessary not only in the levels of urban services in these cities but also in the setting of norms itself, especially in the case of water supply. Therefore, institutions and governance are important in the delivery of urban civic services so as to ensure the access of urban services to the citizens in a legitimate, transparent and accountable manner along with public participation.
