Introduction

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly differentiated across and within countries. This has significant implications for crisis management and recovery-policy responses. We provide recommendations to help countries and regions address and manage the health, economic, social and fiscal challenges arising from crisis. We help all levels of government take a forward-looking perspective on the pandemic's implications for regional development, and the role of multi-level governance systems in building more resilient regions post COVID-19.

In this living policy note, we update insights into crisis management and recovery measures at the territorial level, since the onset of the pandemic. With the onset of new waves of COVID19 in many countries, governments must act on all fronts simultaneously. National, regional and local government should work together in a flexible and agile way to support the recovery, including for vaccination roll-outs across regions, and to reassess regional development priorities.

Updated in May 2021, this note offers a forward looking perspective on the crisis’ implications for multi-level governance, as well as points for policy-makers to consider as they build more resilient regions.

The COVID-19 crisis has placed significant pressure on a wide range of public infrastructure in regions and cities, including in health care, social services, education, mobility, housing, utilities, and digital connectivity. In the forthcoming OECD/G20 Implementation Handbook for Quality Infrastructure Investment, Cahpter 4 is dedicated to addressing governance and financing challenges of subnational infrastructure for a more effective COVID-19 recovery.

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The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Regional and Local Governments: Governance, Finance and Recovery Plans

Related topics

Public investment

Subnational public finance

Multi-level governance & decentralisation