Economies and cities in the EBRD regions have a legacy of poor governance, which was further exacerbated after the poorly planned decentralisation that followed the collapse of centrally planned regimes. City governments in these regions tend to lack strong administrative authority, political autonomy, skills, resources, technologies and capacity to play an active role in city planning, management and development.

This has led to a limited ability to coordinate public infrastructure and service provision at the local level, as well as to weak procedures, a culture of insufficient observation and the criticism of city governments by the public.

Governments policies can bring a number of benefits beyond environmental improvements, including better social cohesion and inclusion, improved political involvement and a stronger ability to successfully change behaviours, with a long-term view to generating sustainable development.