Abstract:
When a new democratic government takes office in Argentina, the administration of Buenos Aires moves to end inefficiency and overstaffing in its public works department by privatizing maintenance of parks. The initiative enjoys early success when corporations agree to take responsibility for maintenance of downtown pocket parks, in exchange for advertising credit, and a major landscaping firm bids to provide maintenance for parklands in more affluent sections of the city. The government receives no private bids, however, for maintenance of the many parks in the poorer parts of Buenos Aires. The city must consider whether there are ways to refashion the ways in which it provides maintenance, notwithstanding the lack of private bidders.