Urban Governance Essay

It evident that urban areas are important and should be managed accordingly, the question posed by scholars is whether government or governance should be responsible for ensuring the optimal performance of an urban area. According to Stoker (1998) government refers to formal and institutional processes which aim to maintain public order and facilitate collective action at country level. Several scholars (Rakodi, 2003; Rhodes, 1996) have noted a shift from government to governance. Hendriks (2014) argues that there has been no such shift, the supposed shift is a misinterpretation of reality. Governance existed during the 17th century in the Dutch republic (Israel, 1995). Thus governance is not new, however it has been changing with time (Hendriks,

It plays a major role in the management of economic sustainability, the provision of resources and infrastructure, the delivery of basic services and the protection of the marginalized and vulnerable in society (Maharaj, 2010). Additionally, urban governance affects the ability of residents to access their local authorities and participate in the decision-making process, as well as the extent to which local authorities are accountable to their citizens and responsive to their needs (Slack and Côté, 2014). Accountability refers to the “liability to reveal, to explain, and to justify what one does” Morgan (2006: 243), to ensure democracy and transparency (World Bank, 1992). Zuena (2010) affirms that accountability is promoted in order to minimize the abuse of power by authorities. Differences in social, economic and political forces produce different urban governance approaches (Pierre, 2005). The transformation of global, national and local politics over the past decades has resulted in changing approaches to urban governance (Brenner, 2004). Furthermore urban governance has been affected by three shifts in the international scene, namely, globalisation, decentralisation and democratisation (Devas, 2014). The first section was the prefatory it reviewed the meaning of governance and the importance of governance in urban areas. The second section starts off by exploring good urban governance and it importance thereafter it discusses the four approaches (traditional, market based, participatory and third way) to urban governance with focus on the traditional and participatory approach. Case studies are used to highlight the impacts of the different approaches. The third section explores integrated urban governance and it theoretical