ABSTRACT
The central message sustained in this chapter is that cities across the globe need adequate funding and good financial management in order to be able to realise the targets set in Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Informed by this context, the chapter begins by discussing how some international and African regional instruments seek to promote good financial governance. This is followed by a reflection on sources of funding that can generally be utilised by cities in developing countries for the envisaged transition to sustainability. The remainder of the chapter uses South Africa’s legal framework as an example, to demonstrate some of the complexities faced by cities in developing countries in attempting to generate and effectively manage the fiscal resources needed to transition to a sustainable future. The South African example shows that although a genuine attempt has been made in law to protect the fiscal autonomy of cities and accommodate core principles of good financial governance canvassed by international and African regional instruments, there are serious challenges experienced in the implementation of relevant laws which may affect the country’s pursuit of SDG 11 in a very direct way.
