Partnerships for Livable Cities

"This volume will get a prominent place in my bookcase in the section ‘nearly impossible but necessary’. Collaboration in multifaceted systems such as cities is difficult to accomplish but nevertheless necessary to make cities more livable. Cor van Montfort and Ank Michels have brought together an impressive number and multiplicity of contributions which distil down to some practical building blocks for successful partnerships towards more livable cities."

-   Prof. dr. Patrick Kenis, Professor of Public Governance, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
In this volume scholars from around the world discuss the innovative forms of collaboration between public and private actors that contribute to making our cities more liveable. It offers helpful insights into the practices of partnerships and the ways in which partnerships can contribute to a more liveable urban environment. 
The liveability of our cities is a topic of increasing relevance and urgency. The world’s cities are becoming congested and polluted, putting pressure on affordable housing and causing safety to become a major problem. Urban governments are unable to address these major challenges on their own, and thus they seek cooperation with other governments, companies, civil society organizations, and citizens. By focusing on examples such as greenery in the city, affordable housing, safety, neighbourhood revitalization, and ‘learning by doing’ in urban living labs, this book asks two key questions. How do partnerships between public and private actors contribute to the liveability of cities? Under what conditions are partnerships successful, and when do they fail to yield the desired results?
Cor J. van Montfort is Senior Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and research fellow at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. He has published on public-private partnerships, public accountability and good governance. From 2007 to 2015 he was Endowed Professor of ‘good governance and public private arrangements’ at Tilburg University.

Ank M. B. Michels is Associate Professor of Public Administration at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. She has published widely on democratic innovations, citizen participation, and urban governance.