Urban governance and social cohesion: case studies in two Dutch cities

Abstract

Problems in distressed urban neighbourhoods are nowadays often linked to a decline in social cohesion. Recently, some authors have made a link between this concept of social cohesion and the concept of urban governance. One of the important questions in their works is if urban governance can create more social cohesion in neighbourhoods. In this paper we want to add to this discussion by looking at the indirect and unmeant effects of urban governance processes. Practical arrangements of urban governance in two Dutch neighbourhoods are central in this paper. We will focus on the question to what extent processes of inter-departmental cooperation, integrality and citizen participation affect social cohesion at neighbourhood level. In doing this, we will pay attention to possible negative effects. The paper is based on a research project that has recently been carried out in two early-post-WWII neighbourhoods in the Dutch cities of Utrecht and The Hague. In both neighbourhoods urban restructuring policies are applied. In the paper we will first give a general overview of the (recent) literature on social cohesion and urban governance. This will be followed by a brief description of the research neighbourhoods. After that we will describe a selected number of policies and activities in these neighbourhoods and try to find out how these policies and activities affect the creation or maintenance of social cohesion. In the conclusion we will give some recommendations: how can the relation between urban governance processes and social cohesion be improved?