Actor strategies in decentralized policy networks

Due to the high density and variety of organizational policy networks involved, urban renewal requires a complex decision-making process. The complexity of the process resides in its inherent uncertainty and dynamics and therefore its unpredictability, and in the interrelatedness of the interventions. In this context, a shift in responsibility has taken place in the Netherlands as a result of which urban renewal is no longer determined by national government but by local planning authorities in conjunction with public and private players. This corresponds to a situation in which the role of the public sector is becoming increasingly characterized by the notion of governance. On the basis of a confrontation of theoretical insights and empirical data, this text analyses the roles and (steering) ambitions of different actors in this new situation. Two case studies of urban renewal processes in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are used to illustrate the complexity of urban renewal processes and the way in which this can be addressed through the formulation of a common problem definition.