The Center-Periphery Divide: Performance Auditing and Systems Thinking in Costa Rica’s Intermediate Cities
In recent years, intermediate cities have emerged as critical drivers of regional development, yet evaluating their public services poses unique challenges for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). To address this gap, Costa Rica’s SAI developed and implemented an innovative performance audit methodology specifically tailored to these distinct urban centers. This specialized framework advances traditional performance auditing by integrating a pragmatic assessment of public value, equity, and sustainable development within decentralized contexts.