Urban Governance最新文献

{"title":"Organizational transformation for a circular economy in local governments: The case of construction and demolition in cities","authors":"Martin Visby Buchard,&nbsp;Cecilie Nadine Glarborg,&nbsp;Thomas Budde Christensen","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the global urbanisation trend continue, and with more than half of the global population living in urban areas, cities are increasingly responsible for resource consumption, environmental impacts, and greenhouse gas emissions. Circular economy strategies have promoted as a promising mitigation strategy to such problems. However, current research indicates that circular economy is widely addressed conceptually and seldom explores the implementation in city organizations. This article studies the organizational aspects of implementing circular practices in municipalities, taking point of departure from construction and demolition projects, as these are associated with huge environmental impacts. The study aims to answer the following research question: How to implement organizational changes in municipalities to facilitate circular economy in the build environment? The article is based on a participatory study in four European city organizations, namely Høje Taastrup (Denmark), Roskilde (Denmark), Seville (Spain), and Mikkeli (Finland). Through interviews and workshops, the study developed, facilitated, and evaluated organizational transformation in the studied cities, to analyse potentials and limitations in organizational transformation. Four main challenges to organizational transformation were identified namely: interdisciplinary collaboration; knowledge and skills; economy; and policy and management. To overcome these challenges the cities developed a series of actions on a strategic, tactical, and operational level that are analysed and discussed in the article. The findings suggest that organizational change must happen gradually in a dialectic relation between the operational level and the strategic level. In this process it is key to establish a common language and strategic alignment between professional siloes, to secure political mandate, and gradually formalize circular practices in procedures. Moreover, it is crucial to secure an early integration of circular parameters in the initial planning of construction projects and to establish a space for reflection to systematically aggregate learnings from the projects. The article finally presents a conceptual model, with the purpose of illustrating the dynamics of embedding circular practices in public sector organizations as a reflexive process between tangible learnings in projects and strategic development rather than a linear process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 2","pages":"Pages 136-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148532080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI and the Transformation of Accountability and Discretion in Urban Governance","authors":"Stephen Goldsmith,&nbsp;Juncheng Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in urban governance, focusing on how AI can reshape the relationship between bureaucratic discretion and accountability. Drawing on public administration theory and algorithmic governance research, the study argues that AI does not simply restrict or enhance discretion but redistributes it across institutional levels, professional roles, and citizen interactions. While primarily conceptual, this paper uses illustrative cases to show that AI can strengthen managerial oversight, improve service delivery consistency, and expand citizen access to information. These changes affect different forms of accountability: political, professional, and participatory, while introducing new risks, such as data bias, algorithmic opacity, and fragmented responsibility across actors. In response, the paper introduces the concept of <em>accountable discretion</em> and proposes guiding principles, each linked to actionable measures: equal AI access, adaptive administrative structures, robust data governance, proactive human-led decision-making, and citizen-engaged oversight. This study contributes to the AI governance literature by moving beyond narrow concerns with perceived discretion at the street level, highlighting instead how AI transforms rule-based discretion across governance systems. It also reframes the trade-off between discretion and accountability as a dynamic and evolving relationship shaped by algorithmic systems and institutional practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 2","pages":"Pages 159-171"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148532081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Making the case for climate action in cities: The role of co-benefits and monitoring systems in urban governance for net zero","authors":"Joel Terwilliger,&nbsp;Ian Christie,&nbsp;Subhes Bhattacharyya","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.05.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent efforts to mainstream climate action in urban governance have focused on a <em>co-benefits</em> approach. Cities advocate low carbon place-based investments on the basis that they can deliver wider social and economic benefits, such as access to green spaces, cheaper energy, job creation, and cleaner air or water. In parallel, recently devised climate action planning tools share these features: integrating climate-related actions (master planning); outlining the co-benefits of actions across key high emitting sectors such as energy and transport (i.e., impact pathways); seeking to generate new forms of governance, actor mobilization, and finance; and, creating a local enabling environment by convening key stakeholders and citizens.</div><div>Despite these developments, the monitoring and reporting systems and data platforms used by cities (e.g., CDP-ICLEI Track, Kausal, ClimateView, and MyCovenant) are primarily focused on measuring emissions reductions. Tracking <em>co-benefits</em> and reporting on them remain marginal activities. This, combined with a lack of a unified approach to co-benefits, methodological challenges, and city-level capacities and capabilities, has resulted in a diversity of co-benefit approaches, with cities picking which ones they can/want to measure. In this paper, we compare the designs of the C40 and NetZeroCities impact frameworks and critically reflect on their complexity, limitations, and implications for local policymaking in the context of the urban climate governance system. We conclude by highlighting the need for a more integrated view of co-benefits <em>functions</em>, ensuring a more “collective intelligence”-based approach marked by participatory feedback loops and decision-making processes rather than a narrow focus on the most readily quantifiable factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 2","pages":"Pages 211-244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148532083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban transformation towards a smart city: The ecosystem of tangerang LIVE","authors":"Forina Lestari,&nbsp;Dhea Amelia,&nbsp;Anna Karenina,&nbsp;Agung Mahesa Himawan Dorodjatoen","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2026.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The concept of smart cities has evolved beyond technological innovations to include governance, community involvement, and sustainability. While smart cities are recognized for addressing urban challenges like traffic congestion, public service inefficiencies, and environmental issues, the role of supporting ecosystems comprising governance, technological infrastructure, and community engagement remains underexplored. Tangerang City, near Jakarta, Indonesia, exemplifies how these ecosystems enable smart city initiatives, particularly through the Tangerang LIVE application. This platform integrates over 100 sub-applications addressing diverse public needs, from infrastructure reporting to health and education access. This study examines the impact of governance, technological resources, and community readiness on smart city implementation in Tangerang. Using a mixed-methods approach—including surveys of government officials and residents, interviews, and secondary data analysis—the research identifies key enablers and challenges. Findings reveal Tangerang’s governance is strongly committed to smart city development, as evidenced by its inclusion in mid-term development plans. The technological framework, featuring Tangerang LIVE Room, public Wi-Fi, and integrated applications, significantly enhances service delivery and urban management. However, inter-agency coordination remains a challenge, hindering collaboration with other local governments. The study underscores the importance of aligning governance, technology, and community readiness to effectively advance smart city initiatives. Tangerang’s experience highlights the critical role of ecosystems in realizing smart city goals, offering valuable insights for other cities pursuing similar projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 2","pages":"Pages 115-124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148546326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Governance and planning for resilient mega-sport events: Lessons learnt from FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022","authors":"Mona Al-Thani ,&nbsp;Ayman Al-Jabrah ,&nbsp;Hesham Al-Momani ,&nbsp;Adnan Mukattash","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mega-sport events are complex and high-risk undertakings that require governance systems capable of adapting to political, environmental, and operational disruptions. This study examines the resilience of governance and planning frameworks during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Resilience is defined as the capacity to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to disruptions while sustaining strategic objectives and legitimacy. A qualitative case study approach, including document analysis, policy review, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, reveals how Qatar’s governance has evolved from rigid hierarchical control to flexible, multi-level coordination. Findings demonstrate that political dynamics, international scrutiny, and the pursuit of sustainable legacies strongly shaped governance reforms. The study contributes by framing resilience as a multidimensional construct that combines operational safeguards with reputational credibility. Practical recommendations are provided to guide future event hosts in embedding adaptive capacity across planning, implementation, and legacy stages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 12-17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Actor collaboration in the implementation of business licensing integrated with the land use framework: Indonesian case study","authors":"Arditya Wicaksono ,&nbsp;Rosita Novi Andari ,&nbsp;Ulfa Sevia Azni ,&nbsp;Reza Amarta Prayoga ,&nbsp;Intan Hapsari Surya Putri ,&nbsp;Eko Wahyono ,&nbsp;Putri Andini ,&nbsp;Rahayu Nurlika ,&nbsp;Nandia Meitayusni Nabila ,&nbsp;Gustaf Wijaya ,&nbsp;Eliana Sidipurwanty ,&nbsp;Badrun Susantyo","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ease of doing business is a pillar of a nation's development. Creating fast, easy, transparent, accountable, and integrated business registration licensing services requires the collaboration of actors across sectors and government levels. This study aims to explain how actor collaboration in business licensing is integrated with the Land Use Framework in Indonesia. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach with a case study method. The results showed that integrated business licensing is a collaborative process between actors from various government institutions, both central and regional. This collaboration is shown through integrating the Online Single Submission Risk-Based Approach (OSS-RBA) system with the spatial system, as well as the active role of actors in synchronizing licensing and spatial utilization. However, implementing this policy faces challenges in the form of a sectoral ego, limited capacity, and unoptimal coordination between actors. For this reason, it is necessary to strengthen collaborative governance through role clarity, capacity building, and coordination between actors. These findings provide implications for formulating business licensing policies in Indonesia to be more adaptive to spatial dynamics and the needs of business actors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 45-57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"E-permitting in Ghana: Navigating the Sub-Saharan building regulatory environment","authors":"Nelson Wellington Biney ,&nbsp;Wilson Wellington Biney ,&nbsp;Edward Nana-Addy ,&nbsp;James Fianko Ofosu-Appiah","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the past decade, population growth coupled with the consequential rapid rural-urban transitional development has led to Sub-Saharan Africa being one of the highest emerging economies undertaking building permitting reforms. Although studies recognise Ghana as one of the four countries in the Sub-Saharan region with updated building regulatory reforms in the last decade, the manual nature of its building permit system continues to be challenging and time-consuming, often undermining compliance. This paper explores the current building permitting terrain in Ghana, highlighting systemic inefficiencies and evaluating the drivers for a shift to electronic permitting. The paper further reviews the types of e-permitting as catalogued by scholars and collects the views of 41 experts selected by the purposive and snowball sampling method to identify the most suitable type for Ghana’s regulatory environment. Findings showed that the cumbersome manual involvement in building permitting systems continues to headline the building regulatory environment. The study also revealed the availability of robust technological structure, user-friendly interface, standardisation, financing models, and aligned regulatory frameworks as primary enablers for private and public stakeholders to fully leverage the e-permitting building system. Owing to the practical realities of the building permitting system in the Sub-Saharan region, particularly Ghana, experts advise Building Information Modelling-Geographical Information System (BIM-GIS) as the most viable solution for Ghana’s regulatory environment due to its cost efficiency, scalability, and ability for real-time spatial analysis. This study informs discourses around smart governance and sustainable urbanity in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing a pathway for transitioning towards digital enablement for permitting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 88-102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of attitudinal, social, and demographic factors on perceived participation in land expropriation: Evidence from peri-urban communities in Bahir Dar","authors":"Saleamlak Getinet Tessema ,&nbsp;Tadesse Fenta Yehuala ,&nbsp;Behailu Melesse Digafe","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Effective land expropriation relies on the affected community’s perception of adequate participation. This study investigates the factors influencing this perception among peri‑urban farmers in Bahir Dar, a rapidly expanding city in Ethiopia with extensive land expropriation experience.</div><div>A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a representative sample of 335 peri‑urban farmers whose land was expropriated between 2012 and 2022. Participants were selected using a systematic random sampling technique to ensure an unbiased and proportional sample. Data was collected via a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistics (mean and percentage) were used for demographic data, while ordinal logistic regression (OLR) was used to determine the effect of various independent variables on the perceived level of participation. Model assumptions, including multicollinearity, were confirmed to be met through various tests.</div><div>The regression results revealed that several factors were significant predictors of perceived participation. Educational level, meeting attendance, expected compensation level, and the perceived timeliness of meeting calls were all negative predictors, suggesting that higher levels in these areas correlated with lower perceived participation. Conversely, a farmer’s perceived impact of expropriation on their livelihood and their attitudes towards the legal framework were found to be positive predictors of perceived participation.</div><div>Based on these findings, we recommend that Bahir Dar city government prioritize developing laws and regulations that build trust and transparency, in addition to being legally sound. It’s crucial to establish ongoing systems to monitor and respond to farmers’ perceptions and expectations. These actions, such as public orientation and training, are essential for fostering the legitimacy of the entire expropriation system. This study acknowledges potential response bias and the limitation of a cross-sectional design, recommending future longitudinal research to capture the dynamic evolution of public perception.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 33-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How digitally-mediated interactions influence the psychological foundations of civic engagement: Evidence from urban water governance in China","authors":"Jingjing Cai ,&nbsp;Xiaonan Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Citizen participation has emerged as critical to urban environmental governance, yet the micro-level mechanisms linking institutional trust to civic engagement remain underspecified. This study reconceptualizes institutional trust as a heuristic cognitive mechanism that shapes environmental behavior under uncertainty and bounded rationality. We ask: How does institutional trust activate citizens' participation in urban water governance? Drawing on integrated survey and online participation data from Chinese cities, we develop and test a behavioral framework connecting institutional trust, personal norms, outcome awareness, perceived behavioral control, and public action. Our findings reveal that trust operates through dual pathways: directly enhancing participation while strengthening personal norms and perceived efficacy. Outcome awareness and behavioral control serve as key moderating mechanisms, with stronger effects among low-trust citizens. This study advances three contributions: a micro-foundational framework unpacking psychological processes linking trust to action; evidence that local government responsiveness enhances differentiated trust structures; and demonstration of how individual trust aggregates into collective environmental action. These findings offer actionable insights for designing trust-responsive participatory policies that account for citizen heterogeneity and enhance urban governance effectiveness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 74-87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainable cities and energy transition: Unraveling the role of financial stability","authors":"Sidra Sohail ,&nbsp;Ahmed Usman ,&nbsp;Sana Ullah","doi":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ugj.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy consumption is considered vital for driving economic activities. However, the reliance on fossil fuels has created environmental degradation and energy security issues. The panacea of all these problems is to shift from dirty to clean energy sources. The role of the financial sector is vital because a stable and modernized financial industry can provide loans and funds for renewable energy consumption. Therefore, this study's main goal is to evaluate the influence of financial stability and smart urbanization on the renewable energy transition in BRICS countries from 1996 to 2023. Thus, we have resorted to the quantile ARDL model that is suitable for investigating the relationship across various quantiles. The estimated coefficient of financial stability and smart urbanization suggests that both these factors boost renewable energy consumption at most quantiles in the long run; however, in the short run, smart urbanization don’t exert any noticeable influence on renewable energy use. The model's outcomes confirm that estimated coefficients of financial stability are favorably linked to renewable energy consumption across all quantiles in the short run. Our policy recommendations aim to support the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient energy system in these countries, which will contribute to achieving global climate goals and improve citizens' quality of life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101266,"journal":{"name":"Urban Governance","volume":"6 1","pages":"Pages 1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}