Neighbourhood Decentralisation and the New Public Management

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide new ways of understanding the changing nature of management in local government. First we provide a context by examining the radically new approaches to the organisation of the production of goods and services which have emerged within both the public and private sectors during the last decade or so. Specifically we seek to examine some of the components of what has become known as ‘the new public management’ and to locate neighbourhood decentralisation as one strategy for giving particular shape to this. We provide a conceptual framework for neighbourhood decentralisation in which its four components — localisation, flexibility, devolution, and organisational culture change — are envisaged as interlocking and mutually reinforcing. We explore these four dimensions of decentralisation in some detail and offer numerous examples to illustrate how various models have worked in practice.