Capacities for urban transformations governance and the case of New York City

The narrative of urban sustainability transformations epitomises the hope that urban governance can create the conditions to plan and govern cities in a way that they contribute to local and global sustainability and resilience. So far, urban governance is not delivering: novel governance approaches are emerging in cities worldwide, yet are unable to transform conventional policymaking and planning to allow for innovative, co-beneficial and long-term solutions and actions to emerge and institutionalise. We present a capacities framework for urban transformations governance, starting from the need to fulfil distinct output functions (‘what needs to happen’) for mobilising and influencing urban transformation dynamics. The framework helps to diagnose and inform urban governance for responding to disturbances (stewarding capacity), phasing-out drivers of path-dependency (unlocking capacity), creating and embedding novelties (transformative capacity) and coordinating multi-actor processes (orchestrating capacity). Our case study of climate governance in New York City exemplifies the framework's applicability and explanatory power to identify conditions and activities facilitating transformation (governance), and to reveal gaps and barriers of these vis-à-vis the existing governance regime. Our framework thereby functions as a tool to explore what new forms of urban transformation governance are emerging, how effective these are, and how to strengthen capacities.     

The Intergovernmental Regime and Public Policy in Hartford,Connecticut

Regime theorists have not included state government as a member of urban governing coalitions even though governors and state legislatures have the constitutional authority and fiscal resources that can facilitate local governance. In this research, I analyze economic development and education policies in Hartford, Connecticut to illustrate that the governor is a leader of Hartford’s regime. Like other regime actors, the governor provides selective inducements to other coalition members to gain support for his policies. The Hartford regime came to include the governor because the city lost much of its business and political leadership, and management and accountability problems crippled public policy. Because governors have the capacity to act as a powerful regime partner, it is important to study the effect they have on urban governance.     

POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE IN NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS: INSIGHTS FROM MELBOURNE URBAN FOREST MANAGERS

Nature-based solutions can help build resilience in urban landscapes. New governance arrangements have been suggested for assisting local governments in implementing nature-based solutions. A dominant nature-based solution initiative is the activities and policies directed at the increase of the number of trees and treecanopy coverage in a city. This study explores how polycentric governance of urban forests may operate by focusing on how key decision-makers coordinate their priorities and actions in urban forestry decisions. A stakeholder-centered view on polycentric governance is taken, specifically focused on the view of municipal managers, to develop a better understanding of the social systems behind the implementation of naturebased solutions. This was done by using social data elicited from 19 in-depth interviews with urban forest managers working in nine local councils in Greater Melbourne, Australia. The data analyses show that the most important decisions that municipal managers make, and where other stakeholders have the most influence, relate to tree removal for developments, significant tree retention, tree planting for site renewal, and ageing trees removal. The most important stakeholders influencing these decisions include other municipal departmental units, developers, state actors, and residents. Non-governmental greening groups do not play a very important role. Various types of coordination, such as the ones between municipal departments, between nongovernmental stakeholders (especially developers and residents), between state government policies, as well as public consultation, are needed to better mobilize stakeholders’ influence and input. Capitalizing on greening groups that aim to retain trees in urban areas, not just planting more trees, can potentially support the current decisions made by municipal managers, which respond to urbanization pressures.     

A NEW URBAN CONSERVATISM: The Case of Hartford,Connecticut

ABSTRACT: A new urban conservatism has developed in Hartford, Connecticut, one of the US' poorest cities. Over one-quarter of its population lives below the poverty level, and every modern urban problem exists within the city. Since 1993, the local government has been controlled by a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats that has set a distinctive tone in local governance, responding heavily to business elements over the poor. Three controversies that illustrate this conservatism are analyzed: (1) an attempt at private management of the school system; (2) the utilization of zoning to curtail social services in the city; and (3) the limiting of public participation and oversight of city council activities. These developments suggest that a new type of urban conservative regime may be developing, stemming from a new ethos of privatism and the emerging global economy.     

The port–city relationships in two European inland ports: A geographical perspective on urban governance

Urban development projects involve some complex relationships between institutional public agents, who govern local territories, and economic agents, who make urban economies. These relationships between the stakeholders of the economic sectors (transport, water, housing, energy, industry…) and the territories shaped by public action thus define the type of urban governance which results from interactions. In this paper, we develop the hypothesis that the relation between these stakeholders has a major impact on the mechanisms that produce the city. In this perspective, we apply an analytical framework (sector/territory dialogues) to two river cities in order to understand how the interplay between the stakeholders modifies urban geography. Analysing the relationship between the city, the river and the port in Venlo (The Netherlands) and Strasbourg (France) provides examples of project-based urban planning that is founded on negotiation between the river stakeholders (port authorities, inland waterway managers, transport and logistics firms) and the different levels of public policies (municipal, intermunicipal, regional, national levels). Eventually, this approach allows us to consider the forms taken by the above sector-territory dialogue within the urban space in terms of tools and scales. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion about the value of a contribution from geography to an understanding of these governance issues.     

Reducing Carbon Emissions from Transport: Multi-level Governance and the Problem of Monitoring

Tackling climate change and reducing global greenhouse gas emission levels to meet the target ceiling of two degrees above pre-industrial average global temperatures will require multi-level governance. In this paper we examine the idea of multi-level governance and the role of the transport sector at city level in contributing to the global goal. We examine international examples and options for Australia. Although policy at city level is sometimes well developed, monitoring of the effect of policies is not yet carried out systematically, transparently and in such a way that would enable city governments to adjust their policies to maximise goal achievement. Without monitoring we cannot know whether policies are effective. We explore methods that have been proposed to monitor carbon emissions from urban transport and their potential application in Australia.     

Urban Regime Theory: A Normative‐Empirical Critique

Over the past 10 years, urban regime theory has become the dominant paradigm for studying urban politics in liberal democracies. Yet there is disagreement about how far it can help us to understand urban political processes. This article argues that regime theory is best understood as a theory of structuring with limits in its analysis of the market economy. These limits undermine its ability to explain the importance of political agency—the scope of individual or collective choice in political decisions and the impact of those choices in the evolution of US cities. It is further argued that there are important normative dimensions to urban regime theory, most fully articulated in Elkin’s commercial republic, which academic commentaries have not acknowledged. However, the empirical analysis developed in regime theory contradicts its normative objectives. The absence of a conceptualization of market dynamics, in the light of pessimism about the prospects for equitable regime governance, not only limits it as a theory of structuring but it also renders it unable to explain how the commercial republic can be realized. Regime theory is, therefore, unconvincing for two reasons. It cannot explain how much local politics matter, and it fails to demonstrate that its normative goal—more equitable regime governance—can be achieved, given the realities of the US market economy. Regime theory needs a more developed understanding of structuring. It may be fruitful, therefore, for regime theorists to re‐engage critically with variants of Marxism, which unlike Structuralism, recognize the possibility of agency.     

CHINESE URBANIZATION,STATE POLICY,AND THE WORLD ECONOMY

ABSTRACT: The usual Third World pattern of urbanization does not apply to Chinese urban development. China has not experienced the overurbanization and imbalances that often accompany growth in cities elsewhere. China's unique urban pattern results from national policies aimed at shaping urban growth. When those policies were relaxed, there was a tendency for Chinese urban patterns to conform with those of other Third World nations. Periods of less control corresponded with periods of experimentation with elements of a market economy and China's entry in the world economy. The authors explore the debate between urban bias theory and world system theory by considering how global structures and processes interact with local or national policies.     

The Navy and the city: conflict,cooperation and political competition in the urban governance of Toulon

This article contributes to the debate about urban governance in specialized European cities, by focusing on the interplay between changes in national defence policies and local initiatives. It is based upon qualitative research carried out in Toulon, a mid-sized French city and the biggest military port on the Mediterranean Sea. Firstly, it explains how the emergence of a new urban agenda aimed at diversifying the city from its military function challenged existing relations between the city and the Navy. As a consequence, new areas of conflict and cooperation can be observed. Secondly, it shows how political strategies adopted by elected officials respond to the need to legitimize the new agenda and to constrain the Navy to participate in it, while managing the military constituency. Despite a political discourse that proclaimed convergence of interest between the city and the Navy, the existence of a major conflict concerning the use and control of space doomed the partnership to a (partial) failure.     

From red light district to art district: Creative city projects in Yokohama’s Kogane-cho neighborhood

This article examines how a creative city project in Yokohama regenerated urban spaces before and during the 2008 financial crisis. Japanese cases can broaden our view of post-crash effects and policies. Japan avoided financial entanglements that plague the US and much of Europe. However, its export-oriented economy, which never recovered from a long period of stagnation, now suffers because of the declining purchasing power of its Western trading partners. Moreover, the direct role of the state in urban policy suggests a different context than that theorized in Western accounts of urban entrepreneurialism (or neo-liberalism): the latter stresses the role of municipal governments and developers in using creative city policies to create sanitized forms of urban redevelopment. To address the gap in knowledge about this sort of process in Japan, I use strategic informants, observations and secondary data to examine how creative city projects helped transform Yokohama’s Kogane-cho neighborhood from an enclave of brothels to an art district. In contrast to Western cases which feature local government and development interests, I show how creative city policies also were influenced by the interactions of neighborhood groups, provincial police and a national economic development policy encouraging quality of life measures, including crime control in entertainment districts. National stimulus funds have sustained the quality of life initiatives, but the art district’s homogeneity raises doubts about its status as a creative milieu.     

Regimes and Regional Governance: The Case of Chicago

Regime theory has been used extensively in community governance studies. An analysis of the urban regime theory literature and the regional governance literature reveals that urban regime theory can also be useful in the study of regional governance. Both literatures indicate the critical importance of the nongovernmental sector for effective governance. Indeed, because of the usually weak regional political constituency, the private sector often takes the lead in regional governance initiatives. However, private sector efforts are only successful to the extent that coalitions can be developed with political leaders. The author conducted a study of regionalism in the Chicago metropolitan area where leaders from both sectors have recently formed organizations to address regional issues. He analyzed the two organizations and whether a regional regime can develop given the region’s political culture of local government autonomy and the history of antagonism between the central city and the suburbs.     

REGIME BUILDING,INSTITUTION BUILDING: URBAN RENEWAL POLICY IN CHICAGO, 1946–1962

ABSTRACT: Urban regime analysis emphasizes the role of coalition building in creating a capacity to govern in cities. Through a case study of urban renewal policy in postwar Chicago, this article considers the role played by political institutions. Conceptualizing this historical period as one of regime building, I show how existing political institutions were out of sync with the city's new governing agenda of urban renewal and redevelopment following World War II. Creating a capacity to govern in urban renewal policy required both coalition building and a fundamental reworking of formal governing institutions.     

Does City Governance Matter for the Urban Poor?

Decentralization has focused attention on city government but, at the same time, the growth of civil society means that urban governance is not limited to city government. Little attention has been paid, either in the literature or in practice, to the institutional and political processes which determine whether and how the poor benefit, or how the poor can influence the agenda of city governance. Drawing on studies of nine cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper identifies three broad areas which are of importance: a political system in which the votes of the poor count; a city government system with some capacity to deliver; and a dynamic civil society which can press the case of the poor. After reviewing what is involved in each of these areas, the paper identifies a number of specific policies and practices which impact on the urban poor.     

Producing the Capacity to Govern in Global Sydney: A Multiscaled Account

Abstract Critiques of urban regime theory suggest the need for a more nuanced approach to the tangled scalar geographies that constitute urban governance. This article moves towards such an approach by adopting urban regime theory's focus on urban politics but conducts its analyses through a multiscalar lens. It demonstrates how processes operating across multiple scales intersect in the production of local governance. The article focuses on the social production of urban governance in Sydney, Australia, specifically examining the city's changing scalar context and scale politics. It suggests that scale‐sensitive regime analyses can make important contributions to theoretical development concerning the multiscalar complexities of governance.     

改革开放以来中国城市园林绿化行业 治理体系演进的回顾、思考与展望

治理体系和治理能力现代化是城市园林绿化行业在新时代必须面对的时代命题。改革开放40年来,行业基本形成了“政府主导、央地互馈、部门协同、企业主体、社团辅助、专家支持、公众参与”的多元主体治理格局;基本形成了以国家政策和行业政策为引领,法律法规体系、规划设计体系和督察监察制度为保障,园林城市创建活动为特色抓手,专业教育体系、专家咨询制度、科研创新体系和技术标准体系为支撑,国际行业交流交往活动为拓展的多元治理工具体系;并在治理意识、治理思路、顶层谋划、治理主体、治理工具等方面取得了一系列经验;市场经济发展和社会主要矛盾变迁、国家治理体系发展演进、城市化进程、社会结构及其文化特征变迁是推动和影响行业治理体系演进的重要驱动力量。当前行业治理存在治理思维尚未全面建立、目标和思路尚不清晰、体系架构尚不完善、行业主管部门作为关键治理主体日渐式微、治理工具和手段不多等问题,据此从治理意识、战略视角、主体架构、顶层谋划、工具体系5个方面提出建议。     

Reading cities: Developing an urban diagnostics approach for identifying integrated urban problems with application to the city of Birmingham,UK

For policymakers, planners, urban design practitioners and city service decision-makers who endeavour to create policies and take decisions to improve the function of cities, developing an understanding of cities, and the particular city in question, is important. However, in the ever-increasing field of urban measurement and analysis, the challenges cities face are frequently presumed: crime and fear of crime, social inequality, environmental degradation, economic deterioration and disjointed governance. Although it may be that many cities share similar problems, it is unwise to assume that cities share the same challenges, to the same degree or in the same combination. And yet, diagnosing the challenges a city faces is often overlooked in preference for improving the understanding of known challenges. To address this oversight, this study evidences the need to diagnose urban challenges, introduces a novel mixed-methods approach for doing so, applies (and critiques) the approach to the city of Birmingham, UK, and proposes a set of principles for the transferability of this new urban diagnostic methodology to other cities. The paper argues that applying a rigorous, explorative, diagnostic approach to ‘reading cities’ provides confidence that all critical challenges have been identified and, crucially, identifies how they are interdependent, both of which have implications for how policymakers and decision-makers address a particular city's combination of interlinked challenges.     

REFORMULATING URBAN REGIME THEORY: The Division of Labor Between State and Market Reconsidered

ABSTRACT: Urban regime theory has emerged as the dominant paradigm for the study of local politics. The ascendancy of regime theory has made it the subject of intense critical scrutiny. While urban scholars generally find it to be a valuable theoretical advance, many have uncovered conceptual limitations. This article develops yet another critique of urban regime theory. It argues regime theory suffers from an overly rigid and largely static conceptualization of the division of labor between state and market and identifies three alternative conceptualizations of this division. This exercise demonstrates the possibilities for building alternative urban regimes. It therefore suggests an enrichment of established urban regime typologies. Specifically, the article points to the existence of three previously unidentified regime types. These three urban regimes challenge the enduring tension in urban governance between a city's economic aspirations for vibrant development and its political aspirations for a vibrant democracy.     

Managing urban growth in the city of Amman,Jordan

The aim of this paper is to examine the practices used to manage urban growth, based on Amman, the capital city of Jordan. A qualitative method, employing in-depth face to face interviews with experts from the urban management sector was adopted to meet the research objectives. This study also utilizes extensive national and international literature to present the evolution of urban growth from 1918 to the present time, and the challenges which were faced. Findings reveal that there have been several positive transformations in the management of urban growth, by means of institutions, laws, regulations, plans and actions which have been instituted during this period. Taken together, these transformations have worked to achieve relatively sustainable development, and constituted an important framework for managing urban growth and development. Nevertheless, several gaps must be taken into account, such as the lack of policies for urban design, the lack of evaluation of the policies that do exist, the extent of appropriateness of these policies in terms of local income, the lack of public participation, and finally, institutional challenges in the fields of human, financial and technological resources. Recommendations for future action which would improve the performance of growth management, are proposed at the end of the paper.     

Embedded Tenures: Private Renting and Housing Policy in Surat,India

Over the past two decades, urban housing research in poorer countries has drawn attention to the importance and significance of rental housing. Increasingly, this is also being recognised by international development agencies such as the World Bank and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). However, the housing policies of national governments have been resilient to change–the conferring of ownership rights is preferred to attempts at fostering a range of tenure options. Drawing upon primary research in Surat, the second largest city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, this paper argues that this is in part the result of complex economic, social and political processes embedded in the relations of production, exchange and consumption of rental housing, which in turn raises questions as to how best poorer landlords are to be supported.