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Difu study provides recommendations for more effective use of funding in NRW

Staff shortages and high administrative demands are two of the reasons that prevent cities, districts and municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) from drawing down available urban development funding on time. This is an important finding of a study conducted by the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) on behalf of the then Ministry of Building, Housing, Urban Development and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia (now: Ministry of Home Affairs, Local Government, Building and Equality).

In the past ten years, about 83 percent of the municipalities in NRW used urban development funds. Due to a very high number of project applications - with a total volume of around 1.45 billion euros - four to five times more funds were applied for than were originally earmarked. This illustrates the high demand of the municipalities and at the same time the fundamental acceptance of the existing funding instruments.

However, more than 80 per cent of the cities and municipalities surveyed criticise the public procurement law, as the resulting administrative burden is a key obstacle for them in making smooth use of urban development funding. In addition, the municipalities surveyed believe that there are generally major staffing bottlenecks. Many municipalities also feel that the cost calculations for funding measures that have to be submitted with the application are too time-consuming and detailed. This is also due to the fact that multi-year forecasts are always subject to uncertainties regarding the actual time allocation by the funding agencies, price developments and possible unforeseeable developments.

Based on the results of its survey of North Rhine-Westphalian municipalities, Difu therefore recommends dispensing with new programmes in favour of merging and/or redesigning the existing federal-state programmes for urban development funding. In addition, the existing procedures should be made more flexible. This applies in particular to the application for and settlement of funding by the municipalities with the state. However, the municipalities must also make their contribution: urban development funding must be a "matter for the boss" and requires sufficient personnel resources and continuous cooperation between all the departments and treasuries involved in the cities and municipalities. However, the municipalities need support from the state to build up sufficient personnel capacities in the technical areas.

The study is available as a print version or pdf:
https://difu.de/publikationen/2018/staedtebaufoerderung-in-nrw

Keywords:
Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, News Blog NRW, Housing policy