Urban Governance Processes Research Articles

Green infrastructure as understood by stakeholders in small and medium-sized towns in Poland

Motives: In urban governance processes involving local communities, green infrastructure (GI) is an important proxy for the local quality of life. In this paper, the authors focus on GI in small and medium-sized Polish towns, which attracts much less research interest than that in large cities. The study covered 97 towns, and it included desk research and a questionnaire survey of local authorities and NGOs.Aim: The aim of the study was to determine whether residents are involved in the management of urban GI, whether local authorities and communities have identified the need to develop new GI, and whether they are taking appropriate measures to maintain and preserve the existing GI resources. Another objective was to examine the priority of existing GI resources in governance policies.Results: The levels of citizen participation and GI management in small and medium-sized towns were ranked. The general observation is that green spaces are not an effective participation tool in small towns. The situation has gradually improved in medium-sized cities and towns within metropolitan regions, but this does not seem to be a determining factor.

Assessing Ecosystem Services through a multimethodological approach based on multicriteria analysis and cost-benefits analysis: A case study in Turin (Italy)

Ecosystem Services (ESs) are benefits that humans derive from nature, including climate regulation, air and water purification, soil formation, and recreation. Currently, ESs are at the center of green city policies tackling sustainability challenges. Traditionally, ESs have been assessed using monetary estimations, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). These methods are useful for integrating environmental aspects in land use planning but have practical limitations since they focus on analyzing biophysical values and economic benefits. Due to the value pluralism of the ESs concept, intangible/extra-economic elements and the plurality of perspectives of the different stakeholders involved need to be included. Within this context, Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) allows the consideration of multiple problem dimensions and accommodates value pluralism. Based on these premises and limitations, the present paper proposes the integration of CBA and MCDA to evaluate alternative project solutions for green roof installation. The multidimensional outputs from CBA and MCDA are combined in a common aggregation procedure called COSIMA. Starting from a real case in Turin (Northern Italy), this article illustrates the application of COSIMA from the point of view of the best trade-off on the preferences of users and investors. The study results show the suitability of COSIMA for integrating all ESs values (i.e., biophysical, sociocultural, and economic) in urban governance processes.

Agile development for urban digitalisation: insights from the creation of Dresden’s smart city strategy

PurposeDigitalising cities requires new urban governance processes that account for rapidly changing environments and technological advances. In this context, agile development methods have become valuable, if not necessary. However, agile development contradicts public administration practices of risk aversion and long-term planning. The purpose of this study is to discuss practical avenues for navigating these two contradictions by adapting agile development to the needs of public sector organisations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors review the collaborative elaboration of Dresden’s smart city strategy as a critical case study. Dresden’s smart city strategy was developed using agile development and quadruple-helix innovation. The year-long co-creation process involved stakeholders from various groups to conceive an integrated and sustainable vision for digitalisation-based urban development.FindingsDespite the apparent contradictions, this study finds that key aspects of agile development are feasible for public sector innovation. Firstly, risks can be strategically managed and distributed among administration and non-administration stakeholders. Secondly, while delivering value through short iterative loops, adherence to formal processes remains possible. Informal feedback cycles can be harmoniously combined with official statements, allowing iterative progress.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical material is based on a single case study and thus risks overemphasising the general applicability of the proposed methods.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines practical steps to greater agility for public administration engaged in digitalising cities. The paper conceptualises a forward and lateral momentum for the agile development of a smart city strategy that aims to reconcile formal policymaking processes with short-term loops and risk aversion with experimental value creation. This approach balanced risks, created value and enhanced the strategy‘s alignment with strategic frameworks, ultimately promoting innovation in the public sector.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a novel, empirically grounded conceptualisation of implementing agile methods that explicitly recognises the peculiarities of public administrations. It conceptualises the orchestrated and pragmatic use of specific agile development methods to advance the digitalisation of cities.

Corrigendum to Agendas, Coalitions, Resources, and Schemes of Cooperation: Using the Urban Regime Framework to Study Processes of Urban Governance

Corrigendum to Agendas, Coalitions, Resources, and Schemes of Cooperation: Using the Urban Regime Framework to Study Processes of Urban Governance

Harmonious Human Settlements in the Light of the Principles of Ekistics

Confronted with mounting challenges such as rapid urbanization, global living disparities, climate change, natural disasters, the recent upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ukrainian-Russian War, the United Nations and other international entities have redirected their focus towards fostering resilient, democratic, cohesive, sustainable, and digital societies. This paradigm shift necessitates a global partnership to conserve, protect, and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. Amid these complex issues, the Ekistics principles provide a comprehensive framework, advocating for harmonious urbanization and balanced territorial development. These principles prioritize the incorporation of ethical, social, environmental, and economic considerations into urban planning and governance processes. Nevertheless, critics argue that sustaining the capitalist system poses a challenge to achieving harmonious settlements, balanced urbanization, and the preservation of natural, environmental, and cultural values. This paper underscores the significance and relevance of Ekistics principles in shaping the discourse around Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It contends that revolutionary changes in globalization, communications technology, and industrial development mandate a reevaluation of existing approaches to address the most pressing global issues and their potential solutions. By highlighting the Ekistics principles, this article contributes to a nuanced understanding of the intricate dynamics shaping urban living in the contemporary era. The analysis aims to stimulate a reorientation of prevailing strategies and policies, fostering a more sustainable and harmonious trajectory for global urbanization.

Fight against indiscipline? The governance of street trader displacements in Oshodi Market, Lagos

This article examines the process of urban governance through the lens of street trader displacements, a common policy adopted by city authorities in Africa. Whilst some knowledge exists on how central-local government relations affect urban governance, the combined effect of the nature of sub-national governance and local political dynamics on the process of urban governance requires deeper consideration. Drawing on in-depth qualitative case study research in Lagos, Nigeria, this article analyses how urban governance processes produce street trader displacements. From the “war against indiscipline” (WAI) policy by the Nigerian government to the “kick against indiscipline” (KAI) taskforce set up by Lagos State Government to implement its zero-tolerance policy against informal economy workers, street traders in Lagos have continuously suffered under unfavourable government policies. This legacy led up to the large-scale street trader displacements around the popular Oshodi Market in Lagos in 2009. Based on an analysis of urban governance through the lens of the displacements in Oshodi, this paper reveals how the overwhelming influence of city authorities and state-society relationships combine to produce displacements, with existing market trader associations unable to contest street trader displacements due to their political co-option by city authorities. The paper furthers knowledge on how politics shapes urban development and highlights the need for a careful consideration of enduring complex underlying relationships for a grounded understanding of urban governance in the African context.

The multiple and contested worlds of urban food governance: The case of the city of Valencia

Cities are positioned as critical actors in agri-food sustainability transitions through the implementation of food policy councils and food strategies for urban policymaking. Promoting participatory arrangements in food policymaking allows multiple actors to engage in a contested process of mutual learning that helps construct a common goal. The development of these multi-actor instruments has meant that social movements have had the possibility of reclaiming power in the governance spaces of cities, contributing to urban agri-food transitions. Nevertheless, while signalling that transition governance instruments can bring more inclusive and collective change, critical studies call for the need to pay attention to power dynamics in these processes. Drawing from this notion, this paper explores how diverse governance actors mobilise and execute power within and between two urban food governance instruments – an agri-food transition platform and a food policy council – in Valencia, Spain. The study contributes to urban food governance and sustainability transitions governance literature through raising three critical points regarding the potential of urban food governance processes for sustainability transitions: the longitudinal and cross-scale evaluation of power dynamics and subsequent tensions, the acknowledgement of different kinds of power, and the possible coexistence of different but symbiotic spaces for transition governance.

Shaping smart cities: problem framing, vertical selection and governance in UK smart cities

ABSTRACT As urban governments adopt smart city strategies for delivering services, the need to understand how – and in whose interests – these strategies are formed is imperative. The selection of smart city verticals (or areas of focus for smart city programs) within processes of urban governance has implications for which aspects of the urban agenda become prioritized. Through a study of seven UK smart cities, the paper investigates the framing of city problems, selection of smart verticals, and decision-making logics. The findings highlight that the selection of smart city verticals within the case study cities is rooted in four key considerations: challenges in service delivery, pragmatism, entrepreneurialism, and broader national and global events and policy agendas. These considerations transcend different spatial scales and governance arrangements, raising questions around democratic accountability and transparency. The study concludes that caution is warranted when framing smart cities as a solution to city problems.

Using the Urban Regime Framework to Study Processes of Urban Governance: Agendas, Coalitions, Resources, and Schemes of Cooperation

One of the questions when undertaking comparative research into local politics and processes of collective organization is what frame should be used. In recent decades, many scholars have opted for the urban regime. There is however much debate about the usefulness of this concept for comparative purposes, with the urban regime accused of being theoretically both too narrow as well as too general. In three Dutch case studies, researchers have sought a middle way by applying the urban regime's four building blocks (agenda, coalition, resources, and scheme of cooperation) as a heuristic framework. The results show that this approach has several advantages, especially for comparative purposes, as it provides a clear oversight as to which agendas dominate where and when, and how certain coalitions, resources, and schemes of cooperation align. These benefits however require close attention to certain points: researchers should interpret the building blocks consistently and try to avoid overlap and repetition between them.

Geographies of COVID‐19

Geographies of COVID‐19

Philanthropic foundations as urban climate policy entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT Cities are increasingly presented as key sites of effective climate action. However urban climate governance is suffering from an implementation gap, and a democratic deficit associated with its technical focus and difficulties to address social climate justice issues. Philanthropic foundations have been heavily involved with climate issues, contributing to the positioning of cities as key actors on this front. Yet, their role in transforming urban climate governance from within is still little studied. We propose a conceptual framework to specify their contribution in solving or reinforcing the challenges of urban climate governance, and investigate their effects through a qualitative in-depth study of the processes of urban climate governance at the stages of plan making and implementation. Considering certain benefits in terms of effective field-building, but drawbacks for equity, democratic legitimacy and accountability, we argue that philanthropic foundations are urban climate policy entrepreneurs whose impact on urban governance is ambiguous.

Beyond the technology-centric and citizen-centric binary: Ontological politics of organizing in Translation of the Smart City Discourse in India

Smart city (SC) experts in India often center-stage citizens as an alternative to a technology-led transformation. A substantial body of literature on smart cities sustains this resultant binary between techno-centrism and citizen-centrism. Mobilizing ANT sensibilities, we generate an ethnographic narrative on how the smart city discourse has translated into everyday processes of city administration and urban governance in India. Our account unmutes more-and-other-than-human actants—event-stage, glossy publications, ceremonial awards, conference producers, and decision-makers—in the translation of SC discourse, with following effects: the uncertainties in the translation process are foregrounded which potentially destabilize center-staged actor identities; and the work of heterogeneous actants in articulating the citizen as the center of their efforts is revealed, thereby de-naturalizing the binarized reality. Furthermore, when unmuted, more-and-other-than-humans spell out their ongoing collaborations and negotiations and generate a nuanced reading of the clashes and accommodations made in the process of translating SC discourse in everyday settings of city administrations. These effects lead us to emphasize the translation of SC discourse as an uncertain socio-material process proceeding through episodic clashes and tentative accommodations. They also invite a conceptual expansion of translation as constitutive of the ontological politics of organizing, which insists on attending to ongoing collaborations and negotiations among more-and-other-than-humans that compose organizational realities. Thus, we address critical organization and management studies’ concerns regarding ANT’s alignment with its objectives by locating politics in the performance of, and interference into, the multiple realities that are being enacted through practices that assemble experts, decision-makers and non-humans.

Enterprise Architecture in Smart Cities: Developing an Empirical Grounded Research Agenda

ABSTRACT The concept of Enterprise Architecture is suitable for managing the complexity of heterogeneous systems and technologies in Smart Cities. However, many cities and their urban governance processes still face the challenges of digitalizing public services. This paper aims to assess the applicability of TOGAF in a real-world Smart City following a case study method. A novel research agenda with ten major directions is provided as a result of the practical observations. This contributes to the current understanding of the application of Enterprise Architecture in Smart Cities, focusing on the identified issues in practice and the need for further research.

Port Cities Dynamics in North-Western France: the Cases of Dunkirk, Le Havre and Nantes-Saint-Nazaire

The beginning of the twenty-first century has brought about multiple changes for French ports, such as increased competition and the loss of market share, as well as reforms that have reorganized the national port system. In this context, France’s western coastline constitutes a major stake for the development of the country's foreign trade. Indeed, it is located in an ambivalent position, both closely connected to and at the same time competing with the Northern-Range. Since the large port reform of 2008, the three autonomous ports of France’s western coast (Dunkirk, Le Havre, and Nantes- Saint-Nazaire) have become “Large Maritime Ports” (Grands ports maritimes), or “major seaports” in English. If their institutional governance subscribes to a general model, we can nevertheless observe local specificities which are reinforced by the contemporary merging of the ports of the Seine Axis (Le Havre, Rouen and Paris).Beyond the institutional dimension, therefore, the paper will analyse the decision-making mechanism and structuring of local leaderships according to the representations of the main stakeholders of the three port cities. For this purpose, the representatives of the stakeholders involved were interviewed during a series of consultations, aiming at defining the urban port governance processes in each territory. Thus, the articulation of the scales of power, private-public relations, opposition between port workers’ unions, port authorities or organizations defending the interests of industrial port companies, are expressed through nuances that give substance to port dynamics, as complex as it is subtle.

A Study on The Impact of Digital Transformation of Government Governance on The Efficiency of Public Services

As China's rapid urbanization enters a new phase, the digital transformation of urban governance is increasingly becoming a key move for cities, regions and even countries to shape their core competitiveness. In the traditional urban governance process, the collective action dilemma caused by fragmented departments and multiple levels of government at has invariably raised the cost of market operation and reduced the efficiency of resource allocation, while the digital transformation of governance provides another possible path to resolve the "governance dilemma". The digital transformation of urban governance uses "technology logic" as a tool and "data logic" as a carrier, and takes the "demand side" and "supply side" of the governance scenario as two paths. supply side of the governance scenario, which can contribute to the improvement of the efficiency of public services by increasing fiscal transparency and optimising the structure of fiscal expenditure.

Who Contributes to Successful Urban Governance?

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.

Entanglements in urban governance in new African cities: Appolonia City in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

ABSTRACT Large scale urban development projects, marketed as “new cities,” are emerging across the African continent. However, there is a limited empirical insight into how their partnerships, involving foreign investors and the local African landowners, are brokered, and the extent to which local communities are engaged in such projects. Using the Appolonia City project in Ghana and drawing analytical insights from the DEDA urban governance framework, this paper scrutinizes the partnership between Rendeavour, the foreign investor, and the Appolonia community, the owners of the land used for the project, to interrogate the extent to which the community has been involved, and the benefits that have accrued. We find that the traditional rulers saw the project as an opportunity to secure community lands against ongoing unauthorized encroachments, and to assist the local economy. We argue that the 99-year lease granted to Rendeavour in return for a 10% equity stake does not reflect a partnership where concessions and benefits are equally distributed. The paper concludes by reflecting on the implications of the unequal partnership arrangements and the ensuing entangled urban governance process that set in motion project outcomes that do not necessarily reflect the needs of urban citizens.

Emerging Trends and Knowledge Structures of Smart Urban Governance

The concept of smart cities peaked in 2015, bringing an increased influx of ‘smart’ devices in the form of the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors in cities. As a result, interest in smart urban governance has become more prevalent in administrative, organisational, and political circles. This is sustained by both local and global demands for an increased contribution to the goals of sustainability through urban governance processes in response to climate change urgencies. Cities generate up to 70% of global emissions, and in light of societal pressures for more inclusivity and democratic processes, the need for sound urban governance is merited. Further knowledge on the theme of smart urban governance is required to better understand the trends and knowledge structures and better assist policy design. Therefore, this study was undertaken to understand and map the evolution of the concept of smart urban governance through a bibliometric analysis and science mapping techniques using VOSviewer. In total, 1897 articles were retrieved from the Web of Science database over 5 decades, from 1968 to 2021, and divided into three subperiods, namely 1978 to 2015, 2016 to 2019, and 2020 to early 2022. Results indicate that the overall emerging themes across the three periods highlight the need for citizen participation in urban policies, especially in relation to smart cities, and for sustained innovation for e-participation, e-governance, and policy frameworks. The results of this study can aid both researchers exploring the concept of urban governance and policy makers rendering more inclusive urban policies, especially those hosting technological and digital domains.

Reaching High: Translating Emergent Practices of Street-Level Drug Users to Institute Harm Reduction in Durban—Implications for Urban Governance

Problematic drug use is a growing problem in South African urban spaces. In Durban, as in other cities in the country, the dominant response of the capital-oriented Municipality has been to make drug use invisible through prohibition and a promotion of abstinence approaches. This governance mentality and technology has failed dismally, evidenced in the rise of street-level heroin use. During the COVID-19 hard lockdown, the municipality was forced to re-examine its governance approach to drug use, taking guidance from non-state actors in an attempt to more effectively reduce the harms associated with drug use. In tracing the historical contestations around street-level drug use in Durban, this paper shares the untold story of how, when prompted by an unforeseen crisis, a municipality was able to successfully shift its mentality and technology in governing street-level drug use. Drawing conceptually on nodal governance theory and the quadruple helix approach, it reveals the complexities of urban governance processes and demonstrates the power of political opportunities, the transformative role of unexpected consequences, and the importance of informed political leadership. It also shows how multi-stakeholder partnership projects can be a useful mechanism not only to implement innovative and creative policy goals, but also to build robust relationships to navigate the manifestation of informal urbanism. It also calls for governing through harm minimisation rather than through actuarial risk management approaches that are closely associated with a neoliberal agenda.

Urban participatory planning approaches in capital cities: the Lisbon case

ABSTRACT This paper assesses participatory urban planning in Lisbon, based on the ongoing urban development plan. The results of the qualitative analysis on the urban governance and participatory process covering a two-year period (2010–2012), in which the urban development plan was discussed, suggest a highly participatory urban planning process, involving not only individual citizens but also schools, NGOs, business, academia, surrounding municipalities and several other types of stakeholders. How far the common citizen influenced the development of the final version of the urban plan is, however, open for debate. On a positive note, there is clear evidence of institutional learning and democratic openness from the presented case, which can serve as a good example for other capital cities on how to organize urban planning participatory processes.