Multi-level deal-making: challenges and opportunities for Scottish city regions

Arno Van Der Zwet*, Julie Clark, Damian Dempsey, Sophie Mamattah, Hartwig Pautz

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    3 Citations (Scopus)
    19 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Deal-making is becoming an increasingly popular way to coordinate policy implementation between the local and central level. The analysis of the design and implementation of City Region Deals in Scotland provides a unique insight into some of the challenges and opportunities which this type of mechanism encounters. This chapter focuses on the multi-level tensions between the local, regional and central levels of government in relation to the development process and implementation of City Region Deals. It frames the analysis along four interrelated dimensions: polity, policy, programming and politics. Although City Region Deals are a policy framework that was initiated by the UK Government, the Scottish Government has had a significant influence on the way the deals are designed and implemented in Scotland. From a bottom-up perspective, deal-making has offered Scottish local authorities considerable political leverage to extract resources and support from both the UK and the Scottish governments. At the same time, deal-making within a multi-level environment has presented local authorities with considerable capacity challenges, and although the deal-making rationale has originated from a place-based understanding of urban economic development—culminating in highly technical agreements that are bureaucratically led—the chapter demonstrates that political expediency remains a key factor in the design of the deals.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationForegrounding Urban Agendas
    Subtitle of host publicationThe New Urban Issue in European Experiences of Policy-Making
    EditorsSimonetta Armondi, Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado
    PublisherSpringer International Publishing AG
    Chapter5
    Pages97-116
    Number of pages20
    ISBN (Electronic)9783030290733
    ISBN (Print)9783030290726
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2020

    Publication series

    NameThe Urban Book Series
    PublisherSpringer
    ISSN (Print)2365-757X
    ISSN (Electronic)2365-7588

    Keywords

    • Urban governance
    • Urban development
    • Deal-making
    • Multi-level policy-making
    • Scotland

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