Institutional innovation for more involving urban transformations: Comparing Danish and Dutch experiences
Maja Nilssen, Gro Sandkjær Hanssen
Abstract
Local governments are now facing a need for societal transition to meet the challenges of climate change and lack of social cohesion. Institutional innovation in urban development is needed, especially in terms of more involving processes to achieve the UN sustainable development goals. In this article we ask how institutional innovation can ensure more involving urban transformations. We also discuss what the conditions are for such institutional innovations to increase the transformative capacity of cities. The discussion departs from the collaborative public sector innovation literature, and the collaborative planning literature, and attempts to bridge these in analyzing the cases. The analysis is based upon two qualitative case studies of new institutional practices in urban development projects – in Roskilde (Denmark) and in Enschede (the Netherlands). Both projects were a response to the local governments' subjection to a critical juncture, or crisis. Findings suggest that long-term and permanent organizational changes can be achieved when local governments implement institutional innovations to remedy the critical juncture.