The research aims to identify the role of urban governance in the development of prosperous cities. For accomplish this goal, the research was designed to use existing methodologies to calculate the conditions of prosperity and institutional setup (seen as good urban governance) in two cities that represents the case study areas, and additionally it analyses, through regression analysis, national and international data, to bring more inputs into the discussion.
The primary data of the case study area (Cagayan de Oro City and Quezon City) was collected from different public institutions at the national, regional, and local level using 2012 as a base year. For international data, it was collected from diverse and reliable sources, using data bases of 69 cities around the globe, using the same base year.
On the basis of the results of this research, there are gathered evidence that suggest that Good Urban Governance is not only the critical factor for cities to be prosperous, in fact, in point to a lack of influence between this two variables. However, the data supports the view that perceptions of good governance matters, having implications on the decisions of the whole society.
At the same time, the research provides information about the characteristics and factors of urban governance and prosperity in the case study cities, and identifies areas of intervention and prioritization to boost the development process.