At a time when the whole world is looking for an effective model of good governance, it was really a pleasant surprise to come across a document from South Africa entitled, State of the Public Service Report 2008, published by the Public Service Commission of South Africa. It was further encouraging to know that this document is being published annually since the last seven years.

It is difficult to predict what the cities of the future will be like. But we can predict the future of our cities big and small because we live in them and know from one day to the next the direction in which they are headed. In a sense we are co-travellers with these cities on a journey in which we are as responsible for what happens to them as we are victims of their decay.

The way cities are created determines our quality of life and forges our behaviour, our values for centuries. If land is saved for a great park it will provide joy to millions for hundreds of years. If park land is not saved but built upon, there will be much less joy in society. Latin American urbanisation is the most recent the world has seen.