The second key challenges lies at the systemic level. It refers to the existing regulatory framework that has not served as a supportive environment for good urban practices. For example, functional decentralization has not generally been adequately followed by fiscal and technical decentralization. When local governments still rely heavily on their national government to generate revenue, the ability toEffectuate urban sustainability is certainly very limited. This is especially so in Southeast Asian countries where governments still struggle with unbalanced budgets and an insufficient provision of vital expenditures for services (see Gonzales and Mendoza 2002, p. 211)