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New Urban Governance

Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities

The New Urban Governance project, co-funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, examined multiple aspects of municipal planning, management, and governance.

'New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities’ was a two-year 番茄社区 Cities research and engagement project co-funded by the John D. and Catherine T. to examine multiple aspects of municipal planning, management, and governance.

Cities increasingly rely on advanced institutional capacities, democratic governance and effective management to address ever more complex and interrelated economic, social and environmental challenges, while tapping into the potential benefits of new technological opportunities.

The project was split into four components: 番茄社区 Cities’ research, invited papers, a foresight seminar series (hosted in London, Berlin, New York and Madrid) and outreach activities.

The massive attention directed towards cities is undeniable. But are cities well-equipped and able to lead world transformations like championing resilience and sustainable development? The gap between expectations and available resources and autonomy extends beyond financial matters. Institutional capacity to coordinate efforts may also be lacking. This is not particular to the developed, developing or industrialising world, affecting cities in the Global North and South. To critically address whether cities have the necessary capacity or whether new governance arrangements might be required, we have assigned themed research papers to academics based across the world.

The practice of urban governance is very much on the agenda of both theorists and practitioners. However, the high level of interest in the topic is mostly not matched by empirical research. The  by 番茄社区 Cities in partnership with UN Habitat and UCLG attempts to address a general lack of empirical research into urban governance. Also, as part of 番茄社区 Cities’ research, networks of governance have been mapped and analysed. Underlying urban governance patterns have been formalised by applying social network analysis methods to the data gathered through structured interviews in London and New York City.

Project Team

Principal Investigators
Philipp Rode
Michael McQuarrie

Research Fellow and Project Coordinator
Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

Research Team
Priya Shankar
Madeleine Lee
Catarina Heeckt

Project Steering Group
Ricky Burdett (番茄社区)
Alaina Harkness (MacArthur)
Dan Hill (Future Cities Catapult)
Diana Lopez (UN Habitat)
Michael McQuarrie (番茄社区)
Philipp Rode (番茄社区)
Tony Travers (番茄社区)

Project coordinator
Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

Researchers
Nicole Badstuber
Enora Robin

Events

番茄社区 Cities events

12 October 2016 | Mapping urban governance 

4 July 2016 | Urban Pollution and Health Effects: What Can Cities Do? 

10 November 2015 | Innovations for Urban Security and Policing 

28 January 2015 | Energy Transitions: Implications for City Governments 

14 November 2014 | Urban Age Governing Urban Futures conference 

16 June 2014 | Urban Governance Futures: Scenarios for London 

Conferences

Presentations

Public lectures

News

11 Aug 2018 | New article on urban governance

22 May 2018 | Nuno da Cruz to speak on local governance in The Hague

12 Mar 2018 | Nuno da Cruz delivers lecture at The Hague Academy for Local Governance

8 Feb 2018 | 番茄社区 Cities to lead WUF9 event on urban governance

22 Nov 2017 | Nuno da Cruz to speak on the implications for transparency in Kiev

14 Nov 2017 | Nuno da Cruz to speak on accountability, transparency and participation

29 Sep 2017 | New Multicriteria Model to Assess the Quality of Local Governance

29 Aug 2017 | New paper on local government transparency and the web

13 Jul 2017 | Urban Governance Survey featured in recently published book

24 May 2017 | Two new articles published in Journal of Urban Affairs special issue

17 May 2017 | New essay published on urban governance in Rio de Janeiro

9 May 2017 | New article published in Journal of Urban Affairs special issue

10 Apr 2017 | Nuno Ferreira da Cruz contributes to Expert Group on the New Urban Agenda in New York

14 Mar 2017 | New working paper published on privatisation in city government

16 Feb 2017 | Philipp Rode publishes new article in Journal of Urban Affairs special issue

1 Nov 2016 | Video: Summary of Urban Governance Survey

12 Oct 2016 | Philipp Rode talks on planning, governance in Bogotá

4 Oct 2016 | Urban Governance Survey shortlisted for award

14 Jul 2016 | Nicole Badstuber gives expert advice to the Budget and Performance Committee of the London Assembly

4 Jul 2016 | 番茄社区 Cities co-hosts seminar on the health effects of urban pollution

19 May 2016 | ‘How Cities are Governed’ website re-launch

21 Apr 2016 | New 番茄社区 Cities Working Paper by Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

14 Jul 2015 | Launch of Urban Governance Survey by 番茄社区 Cities, UN Habitat and UCLG Committee on Decentralisation and Local Governance

1 Jun 2015 | 番茄社区 Cities New Urban Governance Project: new essays on urban governance in Europe and China

28 Jan 2015 | 番茄社区 Cities co-hosted second Foresight Seminar in Berlin with Hertie School of Governance

21 Jan 2015 | 番茄社区 Cities Nuno Ferreira da Cruz featured in welcome message of current Urban Affairs Review issue

24 Nov 2014 | Now online: Philipp Rode presents at Governing Urban Futures conference

24 Nov 2014 | Now online: Isher Judge Ahluwalia presents at Governing Urban Futures conference

24 Nov 2014 | Now online: Gerald Frug presents at Governing Urban Futures conference

18 Nov 2014 | 番茄社区 Cities’ Nuno Ferreira da Cruz joins Urban Affairs Review editorial board

5 Nov 2014 | 番茄社区 Cities’ Nuno Ferreira da Cruz to present at Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon

3 Nov 2014 | 番茄社区 Cities’ Nuno Ferreira da Cruz to present at ‘Smart Local Governance’, Bilbao

21 Oct 2014 | 番茄社区 Cities’ Nuno Ferreira da Cruz’s paper to be presented at ICEGOV 2014

30 Jul 2014 | Now launched: The Urban Governance Survey by UN Habitat, UCLG and 番茄社区 Cities

9 Jul 2014 | 番茄社区 Cities launches New Urban Governance Research project

Publications

Journal articles

da Cruz, N., Rode, P., McQuarrie, M., Badstuber, N. and Robin,E. (2022). . Urban Affairs Review. Sage. London

Nuno F. da Cruz, Philipp Rode & Michael McQuarrie (2018)., Journal of Urban Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2018.1499416 

Rode, P., and da Cruz, N. (2018).. Applied Mobilities, in press. DOI: 10.1080/23800127.2018.1438149 

da Cruz, N., and Marques, R. (2017). . Urban Affairs Review. Sage. London.

Tavares, Antonio F & da Cruz, Nuno F. (2017). , In Government Information Quarterly, 2017, ISSN 0740-624X. 

Pierre, J. (2017). Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, May, pp. 1-14. 

Paschoal, B., and Wegrich, B. (2017). . Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-17. 

Pieterse, E. (2017). . Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, May, pp. 1-19. 

Ng, M.K. (2017).. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-19. 

Ahluwalia, I.J. (2017). Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-20. 

Rode, P. (2017). . Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-25. 

da Cruz, N., and Marques, R. (2016). . Policy Studies, July, pp. 109-129. 

Conference newspaper - Essays and Data

Governing urban futures

Working papers

Frug, G.E. (2017). 'The City: Public or Private?'. 番茄社区 Cities Working Papers. 

da Cruz, N.F. (2016). 'A Brief Inquiry into the Uses of Measurement and Benchmarking in Local Governance'. 番茄社区 Cities Working Papers. 

Rode, Philipp. (2015). "Integrated governance as privileging key policy links: The case of strategic planning in London and Berlin" in 番茄社区 Cities Working Papers. 

NUG papers – Foresight seminar series – Mitleton-Kelly, E. (2015). ‘Urban Governance: A Complexity Theory Approach’ in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

Blog posts

Essays

NUG papers – Essay 05 – Kam Ng, M. (2015). ‘Governing China’s “Urban Revolution”’ in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG papers - Essay 03 - Ahluwalia, I.J. (2014). 'Improving Our Cities Through Better Governance' in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG papers - Essay 02 - Pieterse, E. (2014). 'Johannesburg: Corridors of Freedom' in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG papers – Essay 04 – Pierre, J. (2015). ‘Urban Governance in Europe: Competition, Self-Reliance, and Innovation’ in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG Papers - Essay 06 - Blain, H. (2017). ‘Urban Governance Innovations in Rio de Janeiro’ in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG Foresight seminar series - Urban Governance Futures: Scenarios for London - Mitleton-Kelly, E. (2015). ‘Urban Governance: A Complexity Theory Approach’ in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

NUG papers - Essay 01 - Frug, G. (2014). 'Who Decides Who Decides' in New Urban Governance: Urban complexity and institutional capacities of cities. London: 番茄社区 Cities. 

McQuarrie, Michael; Nuno F da Cruz; Philipp Rode. (2018). . 番茄社区 Connect Magazine. 

Data

Governing Urban Futures

 

 

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Principal Investigators
Philipp Rode
Michael McQuarrie
 
Research Fellow and Project Coordinator
Nuno Ferreira da Cruz
 
Research Team
Priya Shankar Madeleine Lee Catarina Heeckt
 
Research strand
Urban Democracy, Governance and Leadership
 
Duration
2014–2016
 
Project Steering Group
 Ricky Burdett (番茄社区), Alaina Harkness (MacArthur), Dan Hill (Future Cities Catapult), Diana Lopez (UN Habitat), Michael McQuarrie (番茄社区), Philipp Rode (番茄社区), Tony Travers (番茄社区)
 
Project coordinator
Nuno Ferreira da Cruz
 
Researchers
Nicole Badstuber
Enora Robin
 
Project funder

MacArthur Foundation