Public–Private Partnership in Urban Regeneration: A Comparison of Dutch and Spanish PPPs

Abstract

ABSTRACT In modern forms of urban governance besides the local government, more partners are often involved in urban regeneration and ‘public–private partnerships’ (PPPs) are formed more frequently. PPPs are part of the ‘environment of actors’, which is formed by the actors involved in the urban regeneration field, the role of these actors and their share of power. PPPs can differ on a spectrum from weak (the decision rights, costs and risks are concentrated in one actor in the PPP) to strong (decision rights, costs and risks are shared between various actors). In this paper PPPs in a power-balanced situation (the Netherlands) and in a power-unbalanced situation (Spain) are examined. Differences in both environments of actors are explained by a different level of welfare state, a different tradition of democracy and differences in the general context of urban regeneration. In these different environments of actors different forms of PPP are formed. These differences are examined and explained in this paper.