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| In many economies, individual urban services are either partially
or fully subsidized from general tax or other revenues. For example, drinking
water may be supplied at rates far below the full cost of supplying it. Road
and street construction and maintenance may be on the general tax bill. Some municipalities are now seeking to adopt a "user-pay" approach to selected urban services, in an effort both to improve fairness to those who do not use the services and to raise revenues for improving and extending the services. This section will cover ways to secure additional revenues from specific services. While this is unlikely ever to be a popular undertaking, it can be a success. Willingness to pay for urban services, especially among industry leaders and investors, may depend in part to the extent to which cities are seen to add value to the national economy or to be a drain on it. The ranking below indicates one view of how cities are valued in the larger scheme of things. |
| CITIES DO NOT DRAIN NATIONAL RESOURCES |
| (Survey results of business executives with figures
for Selected Economies) |
| RANK: | ECONOMY: | SCORE (OUT OF 10): |
| 1. | Singapore | 8.44 |
| 2. | Hong Kong | 7.51 |
| 3. | Denmark | 7.26 |
| 4. | Canada | 6.99 |
| 5. | Germany | 6.86 |
| 6. | New Zealand | 6.81 |
| 7. | Australia | 6.56 |
| 8. | Switzerland | 6.45 |
| 9. | Malaysia | 6.23 |
| 10. | United Kingdom | 6.20 |
| 11. | USA | 5.87 |
| 12. | China | 5.41 |
| 13. | Taiwan | 5.40 |
| 14. | Japan | 5.11 |
| 15. | Russia | 4.96 |
| 16. | South Africa | 4.69 |
| 17. | Chile | 4.47 |
| 18. | Philippines | 4.14 |
| 19. | Poland | 4.14 |
| 20. | Thailand | 3.84 |
| 21. | Mexico | 3.67 |
| 22. | Korea | 3.58 |
| 23. | Argentina | 3.38 |
| 24. | Brazil | 3.29 |
| 25. | Colombia | 3.10 |
Source: World Competitiveness Yearbook, 1999 |
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