KPMG report: How much is your city spending on basic services?

Anca Alexe 16/01/2018 | 14:14

A new benchmarking report by KPMG compares the efficiency and effectiveness of city services, and how capturing the right data makes all the difference. The report summarises the findings of a survey involving 35 cities around the world.

Twelve basic city services were reviewed, including road access, transit, park access, garbage collection, and drinking water supply, among others.

According to the report, city governments are spending strikingly different amounts to deliver basic city services, even within the same region.

The report reveals that some cities might be inefficient in spending too much for the services they deliver. For example, one city reported that 65 percent of its drinking water is lost from the time it enters the treatment facility to the time it is supplied. It was also found that cities are challenged in holding a clear understanding of the actual efficiency and effectiveness of their services.

The study could have included many other cities, but the authors noted that many of them dropped out when it was discovered they were unable to generate basic data critical to measuring service outputs. One city reported that 100 percent of their roads were in “good condition” – virtually impossible to achieve. Such a finding further points to the need for a common framework for measuring services.

Steve Beatty, KPMG’s Global Head of Cities, said: “We found a real lack of information at the decision-making level. And that means that city leaders are left making budget and investment decisions based on little more than a few historic trends and gut feel. In today’s fiscal environment, that’s just not good enough”.

Ciprian Negura, Director, Management Consulting, KPMG in Romania: “In recent years in particular, the modernisation and transformation of Romanian local administrative structures has been made more dynamic by the incorporation of all the existing data at the administrative system level, as part of a more holistic approach, and also through the adoption of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies within the projects comprising conversion of cities into SMART cities”.

Richard Perrin, Partner, Head of Advisory, KPMG in Romania: “Cities have the potential to become significantly more friendly with their citizens and their development can be made more lasting and sustainable through the implementation of transformation strategies across smart cities. Smart cities are more efficient and can create more jobs and city development opportunities, while encouraging social inclusion and public involvement in the active management of community issues”.

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