Public Private Partnerships (PPP), a term which refers to a wide spectrum of possible relationships between public and private actors for the cooperative provision of urban infrastructure services, has been proven to be a feasible and attractive development modality.

In PPPs the advantages of private sector innovation, access to finance, technological knowledge, managerial efficiency and entrepreneurial spirit are combined with the social responsibility, social justice, public accountability, and the grasp on local knowledge characteristic of the public sector. The cooperative functioning of the two allows for potent and effective solutions to solve, or at least address, pressing urban environmental challenges.

Now in its second phase, the Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Environment (PPPUE) project builds on the achievements and accomplishments made during the first phase (2002-2004). Since the project's launch in March 2002, PPPUE together with its partners have worked towards raising awareness of the potential of PPPs at both local and national levels and creating an enabling environment for PPPs in local urban service delivery with continued capacity building and policy/legislative interventions. Also in the second phase, PPPUE expanded its coverage from five partner municipalities to ten.