Partnership diversity and governance culture: Evidence from urban regeneration policies in Portugal

Abstract

Debates on urban regeneration highlight the processes of mobilisation of public and private agents and the diversity of models of partnership. This paper focuses on the relationship between the diversity of partnerships and the processes of institutional change, and discusses the role played by governance culture. By looking at the case of Portugal, it explores a plurality of episodes of policy experimentation and actornetwork practices. The results show that it is dif cult to build general transformative processes when using speci c innovative experiences as a basis. Sectoral institutional agendas and practices make it dif cult to establish enduring processes of cross-fertilisation for institutional and policy learning and innovation. Governance culture has a constraining in uence. In such a context, the issue of the fragmentation of urban policy becomes crucial and the role of an urban policy that establishes the conditions in which innovation can occur seems to be particularly relevant..