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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 LSE Cities research and engagement project co-funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation 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: LSE Cities’ research, invited papers, a foresight seminar series (hosted in LondonBerlinNew 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 Urban Governance Survey by LSE Cities in partnership with UN Habitat and UCLG attempts to address a general lack of empirical research into urban governance. Also, as part of LSE 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 (LSE)
Alaina Harkness (MacArthur)
Dan Hill (Future Cities Catapult)
Diana Lopez (UN Habitat)
Michael McQuarrie (LSE)
Philipp Rode (LSE)
Tony Travers (LSE)

Project coordinator

Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

Researchers

Nicole Badstuber

Enora Robin

Events

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 | LSE 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 | LSE 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 LSE Cities Working Paper by Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

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

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

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

21 Jan 2015 | LSE 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 | LSE Cities’ Nuno Ferreira da Cruz joins Urban Affairs Review editorial board

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

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

21 Oct 2014 | LSE 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 LSE Cities

9 Jul 2014 | LSE Cities launches New Urban Governance Research project

Publications

Journal articles

da Cruz, N., Rode, P., McQuarrie, M., Badstuber, N. and Robin,E. (2022). 'Networked Urban Governance: A Socio-Structural Analysis of Transport Strategies in London and New York'. Urban Affairs Review. Sage. London

Nuno F. da Cruz, Philipp Rode & Michael McQuarrie (2018). New urban governance: A review of current themes and future priorities, Journal of Urban Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2018.1499416 

Rode, P., and da Cruz, N. (2018). 'Governing urban accessibility: moving beyond transport and mobility'. Applied Mobilities, in press. DOI: 10.1080/23800127.2018.1438149 

da Cruz, N., and Marques, R. (2017). 'An Application of a Multicriteria Model to Assess the Quality of Local Governance'. Urban Affairs Review. Sage. London.

Tavares, Antonio F & da Cruz, Nuno F. (2017). "Explaining the transparency of local government websites through a political market framework", In Government Information Quarterly, 2017, ISSN 0740-624X. 

Pierre, J. (2017). Multilevel governance as a strategy to build capacity in cities: Evidence from Sweden. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, May, pp. 1-14. 

Paschoal, B., and Wegrich, B. (2017). 'Urban governance innovations in Rio de Janeiro: The political management of digital innovations'. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-17. 

Pieterse, E. (2017). 'Urban governance and spatial transformation ambitions in Johannesburg'. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, May, pp. 1-19. 

Ng, M.K. (2017). 'Governing green urbanism: The case of Shenzhen, China'. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-19. 

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

Rode, P. (2017). 'Urban planning and transport policy integration: The role of governance hierarchies and networks in London and Berlin'. Journal of Urban Affairs Special Issue, February, pp.1-25. 

da Cruz, N., and Marques, R. (2016). 'Structuring Composite Local Governance Indicators'. Policy Studies, July, pp. 109-129. 

Research data

Governing Urban Futures - Data — publication details | download full PDF (37.1 MB)

Conference newspapers

Governing urban futures — publication details | download full PDF (39.4 MB)

Working papers

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

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

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

Blog posts

Robin, Enora (2016). Governance of Spatial Planning in urbangovernance.net, 18 May 2016. 

Griffiths, Peter (2016), How governance gives shape to urban form in urbangovernance.net, 9 August 2016. 

da Cruz, Nuno F. (2015), Influencing local policies in urbangovernance.net, 7 July 2015.

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: LSE 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: LSE Cities. 

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

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

McQuarrie, Michael; Nuno F da Cruz; Philipp Rode. (2018). 'Tensions of urban governance'. LSE Connect Magazine. 

Data

Governing Urban Futures - Archive Data

Download full PDF (37.1 MB)

 

 

 
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 Governance
 
Duration
2014 - 2016
 
Project Steering Group
 Ricky Burdett (LSE), Alaina Harkness (MacArthur), Dan Hill (Future Cities Catapult), Diana Lopez (UN Habitat), Michael McQuarrie (LSE), Philipp Rode (LSE), Tony Travers (LSE)
 
Project coordinator
Nuno Ferreira da Cruz
 
Researchers
Nicole Badstuber
Enora Robin
 
Project funder

MacArthur Foundation