Metropolitan government and governance in western countries: a critical review

Christian Lefèvre

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 1998, vol. 22, issue 1, 9-25

Abstract: The failure of top‐down imposed institutional reform for metropolitan areas in the western world has called for new conceptions of institution‐building. A bottom up, governance type approach is now considered in various countries which focuses on flexible, voluntary and partnership elements of collective action through which institution is no longer considered as a ready‐made object but as a process. A large part of the literature insists upon the effectiveness of this approach through the search for consensus and highlights its internal elements as conditions of success. However, this conception forgets the political and ideological dimensions of institution‐building and, consequently, the likely conflicts and obstacles unresolved by governance. This article discusses the relationships between metropolitan government and governance taking a few western urban areas as examples and questions the apparent success of the ongoing metropolitan experiences. L’échec des réformes institutionnelles imposées d’en haut dans les régions métropolitaines du monde occidental appelle une nouvelle conception de la formation des institutions. Une approche de type gouvernement, par le bas, centrée sur les éléments d’action collective flexibles, volontaires et en association, dans laquelle l’institution n’est plus considérée comme un objet tout fait mais comme un processus est maintenant envisagée dans certains pays. Une grande partie de la littérature insiste sur l’efficacité de cette approche par une recherche du consensus et souligne que les éléments internes sont la clef du succès. Néanmoins, cette théorie oublie les dimensions politiques et idéologiques de la formation des institutions et, conséquemment, les conflits probables et les difficultés non résolues par le gouvernement. Prenant quelques régions urbaines comme exemples, cet essai discute des relations entre gouvernement métropolitain et gouvernance et questionne le succès apparent des expériences métropolitaines en cours.

Date: 1998
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