The co-creation of value by public and private actors in the front end of urban development projects

Abstract

This study focuses on the co-creation of value in the front end of urban development projects (UDPs) established by coalitions of public and private actors to develop specific urban premises or areas. Creating value in UDPs calls for collaboration between municipal actors and private companies, specifically in the front end phase, during which major design decisions are made. This qualitative case study builds on data collected through 27 semi-structured interviews in a middle-sized city in Finland. Our data analysis resulted in the categorisation of four value co-creation processes involving municipal actors and private companies, namely, zoning, exploring, procuring and negotiating. The study's results offer insights into how value co-creation can be facilitated in UDPs. This study contributes to recent value-creation literature by providing a novel understanding of each value co-creation process, its characteristics and its corresponding co-created values.