Public–Private Partnerships for Urban Development: Stakeholder Views in Slovenia

Abstract

The Public–private partnership (PPP) is an important instrument in planning and implementation of public infrastructure projects, including urban projects that influence the dynamics of urban development. Implementation of development oriented urban projects is crucial for raising the quality of life and preserving the competitiveness of cities. City municipalities (The Local Self-Government Law (2007) defines a municipality as a city municipality if its city centre has at least 20,000 inhabitants, offers at least 15,000 jobs, and is the economic, cultural and administrative centre of the region. There are eleven city municipalities in Slovenia.) in Slovenia have adopted so-called Sustainable Urban Development Strategies (SUDS) that define the main goals of the desired development in the form of visions. Achieving these goals depends on the performance or ability to implement projects in practice. Municipalities are facing a number of challenges in this regard. One of the major issues is financing – due to fiscal constraints municipalities are unable to implement certain important projects with their own funds or are forced to extend the implementation timetables in accordance with their financial capabilities. One of the mechanisms for the development of such projects is PPP. The Public–Private Partnership Act (Public–Private Partnership Act, Official Gazette of the RS, no. 127/06, 2006.) was adopted in 2006 with the aim of enabling the use of private resources in the implementation of projects of public interest. In Slovenian practice, the PPP mechanism has not been fully implemented or has not produced the desired results in the development of urban space. On the basis of interviews conducted with representatives of city municipalities and investors, the article analyses the causes of present situation and proposes solutions for a wider expansion of PPPs.