Informal Neighbourhood Partnerships: “With a Little Help from My Friends”
Local governments realise that efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery increasingly require partnerships among sectors, groups and individuals. Such partnerships have acquired a variety of meanings. Perhaps the most common term is “public-private partnerships”, which has been highlighted as a resource to foster urban economic development. Literacy and health programmes gain traction when government agencies partner with neighbourhood organisations. Partnerships create synergy, spread out and dilute potential risks, resulting in additional financial resources, more consensual working environments and reduced potential overload on government agencies. At the neighbourhood level, the proximity of residents could enforce local norms and reduce free rider problems. The vested interest of residents in having good living environments motivates them to cooperate with local government agencies.
There are different types of partnerships operating in the Singapore neighbourhood. There are those which are initiated by the government, which tend to be more formal involving contractual obligations to cooperate. Such partnerships usually involve the f low of funds and other resources, cover multiple sites, and often require extended periods to fulfil specific objectives. In contrast, our article focuses on informal partnerships at the neighbourhood level. These are more idiosyncratic and unique as compared to formal partnerships which are rule-bound and therefore more limited in terms of activity range. The flexible nature of informal partnerships allow for activities to grow and shrink according to need. Certainly, these arrangements should also be defined as partnerships because there is a clear reciprocity in the relationship. The exchange process may not be symmetrical but it does involve some mutuality in efforts. The sub-title of this essay, “With a little help from my friends”, taken from a Beatles’ song, captures the 78 importance of timely help among friendly relations in everyday situations. This is all the more so among neighbours because cooperative informal partnerships are enhanced by proximity.
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