Abstract
This chapter presents a framework to analyze access to rights and services in urban settings. Following De Jong and Rizvi’s (2008) definition of access as the match between societal commitment and institutional capacity to deliver rights and services and people’s capacity to benefit from those rights and services, the chapter examines the different dimensions that underpin access in urban settings. It argues that efforts to deal with the bureaucratic dysfunction that impedes access should be grounded in an approach that looks at context, system, agency and individual levels of analysis. Such conceptual approach highlights the adaptive nature of dealing with bureaucratic dysfunction to enlarge access to urban benefits, putting an emphasis on the role of leadership in innovating to make it possible. The chapter tests these propositions by examining examples of recent innovations to manage bureaucratic dysfunction and associated lack of access from cities across the world. Some lessons are drawn from the analysis: (i) leaders who can articulate the public value proposition, can enable the necessary legitimacy and can build operational capacity are a fundamental pillar of any effort, (ii) focusing in an agency or a narrow set of agencies may leave key stakeholders out, rendering efforts to increase access unsustainable, and (iii) engaging frontline workers has to be a central part of any effort, but it cannot fail to act at the context and societal level, so that the deeper forces inhibiting access to urban benefits are deactivated in the long term.
This chapter is an adapted and expanded version of previous work by Jorrit de Jong, in particular his books Dealing with Dysfunction: innovative problem-solving in the public sector (2016), The State of Access (with G. Rizvi, 2008) and Agents of Change: Strategy and Tactics for Social Innovation (with S. Cels and F. Nauta, 2012).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In the case of the urban poor, it starts with access to even more basic assets such as housing and shelter.
- 2.
According to the World Bank (2017) such policies are particularly popular in Asia and Africa, where the majority of urban growth is projected to occur. At the same time, current political developments in the US and Europe show a trend towards more restrictive immigration policies.
- 3.
This example is based on a Harvard Kennedy School Case produced by Quinton Mayne and Patricia García-Ríos, Caño Martín Peña. Land Ownership and Politics Collide in Puerto Rico. HKS number 2082.0 (2016).
- 4.
See, for example, http://cltnetwork.org/community-land-trusts-kenya/ and http://www.hic-gs.org/document.php?pid=2548.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
References
Aars J, Fimreite AL (2005) Local government and governance in Norway: stretched accountability in network politics. Scand Polit Stud 28(3):239–256
Acemoglu D, Robinson JA (2012) Why nations fail: the origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. Random House, New York
Albrow M (1970) Bureaucracy. Palgrave, London
Altshuler AA, Behn RD, Altshuler AA (1997) Innovation in American government: challenges, opportunities, and dilemmas. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
Bogdanor V (2005) Joined-up government. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York
Borins S (2001) Leadership and innovation in the public sector. J Intellect Capital
CAF, UN-Habitat (2014) Construction of more equitable cities: public policies for inclusion in Latin America. UN and Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), New York
Cels S, De Jong J, Nauta F (2012) Agents of change: strategy and tactics for social innovation. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
Cruz NF, da Rode P, McQuarrie M (2019) New urban governance: a review of current themes and future priorities. J Urban Aff 41(1):1–19
De Jong J (2016) Dealing with dysfunction: innovative problem solving in the public sector. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
De Jong J, Rizvi G (2008) The state of access. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
De Vries H, Bekkers V, Tummers L (2016) Innovation in the public sector: a systematic review and future research agenda. Public Adm 94(1):146–166
Etzioni-Halevy E (2012) Bureaucracy and democracy. Routledge, New York
Florida R (2017) The new urban crisis. Basic Books, New York
Glaeser E (2012) Triumph of the city. Penguin Books, New York
Goldsmith S, Crawford S (2014) The responsive city: engaging communities through data- smart governance. Wiley, New York
Goldsmith S, Eggers WD (2005) Governing by network: the new shape of the public sector. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
Habitat III (2017) The new urban agenda. Retrieved 4 Feb 2019 from http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/
Hajnal Z (2009) America’s uneven democracy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Heifetz R (1994) Leadership without easy answers. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Holbrook TM, Weinschenk AC (2014) Campaigns, mobilization, and turnout in mayoral elections. Polit Res Q 67(1):42–55
Howard PK (1995) The death of common sense. Random House, New York
Kamarck E (2007) The End of government as we know it: making public policy work. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO
Katz B, Nowak J (2018) The new localism: how cities can thrive in the age of populism. Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC
Kettl DF (2002) The transformation of governance: public administration for twenty-first century America. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Kruiter AJ, De Jong J (2008) Providing services to the marginalized. Anatomy of an access paradox. In: De Jong J, Rizvi G (2008) The state of access. Success and failure of democracies to create equal opportunities. Brookings, Washington D.C.
Lipsky M (1980a) Street level bureaucracy: dilemmas of the individual in public services. Russell Sage Foundation, New York
Lipsky M (1980b) Bureaucratic disentitlement in social welfare programs. Soc Sci Rev 58(1):3–27
Moore MH (1995) Creating public value: strategic management in government. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Moretti E (2012) The new geography of jobs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, New York
Osborne D, Gaebler T (1992) Reinventing government: how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Penguin, New York
Papadopoulos Y (2007) Problems of democratic accountability in network and multilevel governance. Eur Law J 13(4):469–486
Peters BG (1995) The politics of bureaucracy: an Introduction to comparative public administration. Routledge, New York
Pollitt C, Talbot C, Caulfield J, Smullen A (2004) Agencies—how governments do things through semi-autonomous organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Portland State University (2016) Who votes for mayor?| A project of Portland State University and the Knight Foundation. Retrieved 23 Jan 2019 from http://www.whovotesformayor.org/
Ribot JC, Peluso NL (2003) A theory of access*. Rural Sociol 68(2):153–181
Sclar ED, Lonroth M, Wolmar C (eds) (2014) Urban Access for the 21st century: finance and governance models for transport infrastructure. Routledge, New York
Sørensen E, Torfing J (2011) Enhancing collaborative innovation in the public sector. Adm Soc 43(8):842–868
Sparrow MK (1994) Imposing duties: government’s changing approach to compliance. Praeger, Westport
Stoker G (2006) Public value management: a new narrative for networked governance? Am Rev Publ Adm 36(1):41–57
Strömblad P, Myberg G (2012) Urban inequality and political recruitment networks. Urban Stud 50(5):1049–1065
Torfing J, Peters BG, Pierre J, Sørensen E (2012) Interactive governance: advancing the paradigm. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Trounstine J (2018) Segregation by design by Jessica Trounstine. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
UN Women (2017) Safe cities and safe public spaces: global results report. UN Women, New York
UN-Habitat (2010) State of the world’s cities 2010–2011. UN-HABITAT, Bangkok
Wilson J (1989) Bureaucracy. What government agencies do and what they do it. Basic Books, New York
World Bank (2011) World development report 2012. Gender equality and development. World Bank, Washington DC
World Bank (2016) Evaluating digital citizen engagement: a practical guide. World Bank, Washington DC
World Bank (2017) East Asia and Pacific cities: expanding opportunities for the urban poor. World Bank, Washington DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Jong, J., Fernandez-Monge, F. (2020). The State of Access in Cities: Theory and Practice. In: Cheema, S. (eds) Governance for Urban Services. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2973-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2973-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-2972-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-2973-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)