Tightly Bound, Loosely Interpreted: MetaGovernance and Local Institutional Adaptation in the Implementation of the Smart Cities Mission India

Greg Marsden; Louise Reardon; Morgan Campbell; Sanjay Gupta; Ashish Verma

doi:10.1177/00953997241237531

Tightly Bound, Loosely Interpreted: MetaGovernance and Local Institutional Adaptation in the Implementation of the Smart Cities Mission India

Greg Marsden^*
, Louise Reardon
, Morgan Campbell
, Sanjay Gupta
, Ashish Verma

^*Corresponding author for this work

Public Administration and Policy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This paper explores the implementation of the Indian Government’s Smart Cities Mission in four cities. The Mission was to be delivered through a tightly specified governance form, known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), although its function (smart urban renewal) was left more open. The national reform was, however, silent on how the SPV would work within the pre-existing network of actors. Using interviews and documentary analysis, the paper shows how the embedding of SPVs within pre-existing governance networks was strongly shaped by state-level decisions and local institutional dynamics. These insights open up new avenues for research into multi-level meta-governance.

Original language	English
Number of pages	27
Journal	Administration & Society
Early online date	21 Mar 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997241237531
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 21 Mar 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Newton Fund, administered by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [grant number ES/R006741/1]; and the Indian Council of Social Science Research [grant number ICSR0002].

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

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AU - Verma, Ashish

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Tightly Bound, Loosely Interpreted: MetaGovernance and Local Institutional Adaptation in the Implementation of the Smart Cities Mission India

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

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