Leading the inclusive city: Place-based innovation for a bounded planet

This book describes public service innovation and leadership that are based in and emerging from the understanding of particular places, and thus have the potential to create inclusive and sustainable cities.

Based on the claim that international knowledge exchange is an important contribution to urban policy-making and public management, the book aims to provide academics, policy makers and practitioners at the community level with a) analyses of urban trends and challenges, b) concepts of place and leadership in relation to public service provision and local governance, c) descriptions of practical experiences and d) lessons to be learnt, specifically in the realm of international exchange and the role of scholarship for planning innovative and inclusive cities.

Particular highlights of this book are the innovation stories, which feature short and inspirational narratives of good practice civic leadership in cities that underwent radical changes, often with significant support from engaged academics. These include well-known examples, such as public transport innovation in Curitiba, Brazil, the Going Green initiative in Freiburg, Germany and the strong political leadership in Bogotá, Colombia.

At the heart of the book is a moral claim for urban leaders to see inclusive societies with less inequality and higher quality of life, as well as real possibilities for universal participation, at the centre of public policies, and to revert from the current trend of “being” a market society towards “having” one. The concept of New Civic Leadership is proposed as a way forward for local political leaders to reach out to civil society in what the author calls “emotional engagement”. This requires valuing and nurturing civil society’s sense of identity and loyalty to a particular place and expanding the political space available to local communities in order to generate new and often radical solutions for public services.

This book bridges practice and academia and provides inspiration through exploring cases of urban innovation and leaders that co-created more inclusive cities together with local communities. The practical descriptions and theoretical analyses of ecological, economic and social aspects of inclusive and sustainable cities highlight the empowerment potential of place-based innovation and leadership. They also demonstrate how cities can change, if people are put at the heart of urban governance. 

Book note prepared by Julia Wesely