Investment in infrastructure three pillars of city resilience

KEY REQUIREMENTS / IMPLEMENTATION FACTORS

Availability of excess/underutilized public assets either per se or through asset consolidation / optimization

Market value of the public assets can be clearly established and have potential to generate additional value

Government must communicate effectively to citizens its rationale for disposing public assets

Public entity must have negotiating capacity on par with private sector developers to achieve fair pricing

OPPORTUNITIES
CHALLENGES

• Can result in direct cash revenue for a municipality
• Puts a vacant or underutilized asset back into productive use
• Allows quick value recycling (in certain conditions enables a city to invest in infrastructure upgrades upfront without tapping general revenue funds)
• Minimal negative fiscal impact
• Relatively straightforward two-way transaction (once value to private sector partners is established and price of property negotiated)

• Sizing and timing market demand requires special knowledge that municipality may not posses
• Regulatory /legislative limitations on public asset disposition may stall or encumber the process
• Sale of municipality-owned land may result in loss of control over future development (especially when city-level land use controls are not robust)
• Negotiated disposition price of publicly-owned assets may face public objection and raise political concerns

Leveraging Public Assets: Lessons Learned
INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE
Project Description
Aims to provide the city of Ahmedabad with an improved and accessible waterfront along the Sabarmati River, reduce erosion and exposure of the city to flood risk, upgrade sewers, and rehabilitate and resettle slums
$17 million spent on all heavy engineering works and land reclamation as well as on 22 km lower river promenade complete, upper promenade still in development. Key financing sources are loans from a local municipal corporation and a central government financial institution