Study title

Interviews were conducted in two phases, an initial exploratory phase (November 2015) and a principal phase (May–October 2016). Initial-phase semi-structured respondent interviews (11 total) were conducted using a shared interview guide. The guide elicited perceptions of state–society relations in how the city is governed; understandings of and the extent of collaboration and austerity; key actors; and how public spending decisions are made, managed, and contested and their spatial and policy realm effects. Exploratory phase findings were tested in the principal phase (31 interviews) using a refined shared interview guide that retained the focus on collaboration and conflict in the state–society relationships of city governance but also elicited respondents’ own practices, experiences, and examples and incorporated questions regarding the governance of neighborhoods and future prospects for the city. The range of actors interviewed enables a nuanced and rounded understanding of the city’s governance. Of the 42 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted, respondents included elected city politicians, public officials of city or state government or agencies, locally based/ operating philanthropic foundation staff, staff of education and medical (“ed and med”) anchor institutions, staff of nonprofit (including neighborhood-based) organizations, members of informal community groups (including neighborhood associations), and citizen activists (members of social movements or organizations with an explicit transformative mission). Austerity governance, defined as a sustained agenda for reducing public spending, poses new challenges for the organisation of relationships between government, business and citizens in many parts of the world. This project compares how these challenges are addressed in eight countries: Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, Spain, the UK and the USA. Governments have long sought effective ways of engaging citizen activists and...