Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together

As the tier of government closest to people, local government plays a key role in answering local needs and aspirations. However, local governments are often under-resourced, leaving them inadequately responsive to many of these critical local demands. Moreover, accountability to their citizens, whi...

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Main Authors: Jua Cilliers, Ana Maria Vargas Falla, Gareth Wall, Paula Barros
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cogitatio 2024-10-01
Series:Urban Planning
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Online Access:https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9344
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author Jua Cilliers
Ana Maria Vargas Falla
Gareth Wall
Paula Barros
author_facet Jua Cilliers
Ana Maria Vargas Falla
Gareth Wall
Paula Barros
author_sort Jua Cilliers
collection DOAJ
description As the tier of government closest to people, local government plays a key role in answering local needs and aspirations. However, local governments are often under-resourced, leaving them inadequately responsive to many of these critical local demands. Moreover, accountability to their citizens, which is the core of a well-functioning local democracy, is often lacking because the necessary formal laws and informal norms do not enable citizens to influence the decision-making process in a collaborative, creative, and evidence-based process that promotes collective learning. Through innovative case study analyses from around the world, the 12 contributions in this thematic issue delve into the multifaceted ways in which local governments can bridge the gap between people and politics, offering innovative perspectives on participatory governance, co-creation, and collaborative decision-making for inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. The cases showcase innovations and challenges in the urban environment, capturing different ways to bring people and politics together in an attempt to co-create solutions for a sustainable and resilient urban future. The insights provided by this plethora of cases provides lessons that can help revolutionise international, national, and local urban policy to empower local authorities and their local communities to address the increasingly urgent challenges faced by municipalities around the world, ensuring an inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable future for the generations to come.
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spelling doaj-art-348d231641ec493dbc17e9b4b8faeb452025-08-20T01:47:43ZengCogitatioUrban Planning2183-76352024-10-019010.17645/up.93443784Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics TogetherJua Cilliers0Ana Maria Vargas Falla1Gareth Wall2Paula Barros3School of Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney, Australia / Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South AfricaDepartment of Sociology of Law, Lund University, SwedenSchool of Government, University of Birmingham, UKDepartamento de Projetos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, BrazilAs the tier of government closest to people, local government plays a key role in answering local needs and aspirations. However, local governments are often under-resourced, leaving them inadequately responsive to many of these critical local demands. Moreover, accountability to their citizens, which is the core of a well-functioning local democracy, is often lacking because the necessary formal laws and informal norms do not enable citizens to influence the decision-making process in a collaborative, creative, and evidence-based process that promotes collective learning. Through innovative case study analyses from around the world, the 12 contributions in this thematic issue delve into the multifaceted ways in which local governments can bridge the gap between people and politics, offering innovative perspectives on participatory governance, co-creation, and collaborative decision-making for inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. The cases showcase innovations and challenges in the urban environment, capturing different ways to bring people and politics together in an attempt to co-create solutions for a sustainable and resilient urban future. The insights provided by this plethora of cases provides lessons that can help revolutionise international, national, and local urban policy to empower local authorities and their local communities to address the increasingly urgent challenges faced by municipalities around the world, ensuring an inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable future for the generations to come.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9344accountabilityinclusive citieslocal democracylocal governmentlocalisationparticipatory democracysustainable developmenturban transformationvulnerable groups
spellingShingle Jua Cilliers
Ana Maria Vargas Falla
Gareth Wall
Paula Barros
Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
Urban Planning
accountability
inclusive cities
local democracy
local government
localisation
participatory democracy
sustainable development
urban transformation
vulnerable groups
title Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
title_full Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
title_fullStr Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
title_full_unstemmed Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
title_short Transformative Local Governments: Addressing Social Urban Challenges by Bringing People and Politics Together
title_sort transformative local governments addressing social urban challenges by bringing people and politics together
topic accountability
inclusive cities
local democracy
local government
localisation
participatory democracy
sustainable development
urban transformation
vulnerable groups
url https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9344
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AT garethwall transformativelocalgovernmentsaddressingsocialurbanchallengesbybringingpeopleandpoliticstogether
AT paulabarros transformativelocalgovernmentsaddressingsocialurbanchallengesbybringingpeopleandpoliticstogether