Who Contributes to Successful Urban Governance?

Abstract

In three subsequent studies, we identified stakeholders that are considered influential in urban governance processes and uncovered certain stakeholders’ characteristics (‘attributes’) that are regarded as more assertive in trade-off situations. We chose our research setting in Vienna, Austria, given its consistently high position in various livability rankings. Our first study consisted of a large representative survey (n= 1,787) and probed for citizens’ opinions on the stakeholders that are influential to make Vienna a livable city. To narrow our research focus, we examined in our second study thirty-nine conflicts between five stakeholder types. Using an abductive media analysis, we find certain stakeholder characteristics reemerge and win over dilemma situations. In line with stakeholder theory, we find that respondents in our third study, five choice-based conjoint experiments (n = 1,354), show a sizeable preference for stakeholders with attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of urban governance structures and stakeholder theory, and provides insights on the role of different stakeholders and their trade-off decisions.