The quest for good urban governance: theoretical reflections and international practices

This book demonstrates both successes and failures in attempts to get closer to the ideal of good urban governance in cities in North-America, Europe, and Asia. It presents a value menu and deliberately does not come up with "one best way" for improving urban governance. Good urban governance is presented as a balancing act, an interplay between government, business and civil society in which the core values need careful and timely attention. The authors address questions such as "What is deemed "good" in urban governance, and how is it being searched for?", and "What (re)configurations of interactions between government, private sector and civil society are evolving, and to what results?". Contents Reflections on Good Governance Designing Good Urban Governance Partnerships in European, Indian and Chinese Cities Multi-level Governance Citizen Participation Target Groups Lecturers and Students of Sociology, Urban Studies, Public Administration, Political Science, Development Studies Practitioners in Cities all over the World The Authors Leon van den Dool is Senior Researcher at Tilburg University and Senior Manager at PwC Advisory in the field of Local Government, the Netherlands. Frank Hendriks is Professor in Comparative Governance at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Alberto Gianoli is Senior Expert in Urban Governance at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Linze Schaap is Associate Professor Public Administration at Tilburg University, the Netherlands

Intro -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter one Good Urban Governance: Challenges and Values -- 1. The Quest for Good Urban Governance -- 2. Defining Good Urban Governance -- 2.1 The notion of governance -- 2.2 Urban governance -- 2.3 Normative approaches to urban governance -- 3. Tensions and Challenges in Good Urban Governance -- 3.1 Responsibility and accountability -- 3.2 Representation and representativeness -- 3.3 Access and power -- 3.4 Legitimacy and effectiveness -- 4. Core Values in Good Urban Governance -- 4.1 Responsiveness and effectiveness -- 4.2 Reliable governance -- 4.3 Resilience and counterbalance -- 5. What comes next? -- Chapter two Whose city is this anyway? Tensions in urban governance, good and otherwise -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Configuration and direction in urban governance -- 3. Issues in good urban governance -- 3.1 Balancing the public and the private -- 3.2 Balancing the global and the local -- 3.3 Balancing democracy and economic development -- 3.4 Balancing inclusion and leadership -- 3.5 Balancing planning and spontaneous development -- 3.6 Balancing politics and management -- 3. Concluding discussion -- Chapter three Reflections on Good Governance in Urban America -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Reform Is Variegated -- 3. Reform in Perspective -- 4. Two Illustrative Cases -- 4.1 Seattle's Neighborhood Department -- 4.2 Hampton's Youth Commission. -- 4.3 Observations about shortcomings in the market alternative as a reform strategy. -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter four Designing Good Governance: Democratic Network Reform in Los Angeles -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Background and Context -- 3. Focus and Methods -- 4. Design for Democracy? Implementing Neighborhood Governance in Los Angeles -- 4.1 Formulation of a Participatory Reform -- 4.2 System Implementation -- 5. Analysis: Design for Democracy?.

This book demonstrates both successes and failures in attempts to get closer to the ideal of good urban governance in cities in North-America, Europe, and Asia. It presents a value menu and deliberately does not come up with "one best way" for improving urban governance. Good urban governance is presented as a balancing act, an interplay between government, business and civil society in which the core values need careful and timely attention. The authors address questions such as "What is deemed "good" in urban governance, and how is it being searched for?", and "What (re)configurations of interactions between government, private sector and civil society are evolving, and to what results?". Contents Reflections on Good Governance Designing Good Urban Governance Partnerships in European, Indian and Chinese Cities Multi-level Governance Citizen Participation Target Groups Lecturers and Students of Sociology, Urban Studies, Public Administration, Political Science, Development Studies Practitioners in Cities all over the World The Authors Leon van den Dool is Senior Researcher at Tilburg University and Senior Manager at PwC Advisory in the field of Local Government, the Netherlands. Frank Hendriks is Professor in Comparative Governance at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Alberto Gianoli is Senior Expert in Urban Governance at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Linze Schaap is Associate Professor Public Administration at Tilburg University, the Netherlands