Partnership as a solution for neighborhood improvement? - Identifying challenges of network governance in BID Sofielund's partnership – with an emphasis on meta-governance

Abstract: This study aims to understand a swedish BID (business improvement district) partnership as a local form of urban governance in neighborhood improvement. The study explores challenges with the collaborative governance of various actors with a majority of private property owners. It highlights the need of public meta-governance and the challenges the network's public leader face in its governing of the network. As a framework for this, the study uses governance theory, which discusses the effective and democratic implications for network governance and how it can be improved by a meta-governor. It also uses various perspectives of BIDs as governance networks and its influence as urban actors. The empirical data is collected through qualitative interviews with involved network actors as well as the network leader, and focus is on their perceptions of the partnership's role and challenges with the collaborative governance. The findings of the study demonstrate the complexity of a multi-organisation partnership as well as the challenges to manage it. The results suggest that the partnership's practice of meta-governance do not live up to the definition presented by the theorists, due to a weak political accountability, and the network actors' governing are therefore left to be determined by their intentions. However, if their intentions are good, the network has the potential to create a well-functioning and committed local democracy with an effective decision-making process with less bureaucracy. Of importance for the discipline of urban studies, the identified aspects of diverging interests and the partnership's weak bond with public deliberation, BIDs as a way of managing space should be questioned in ways of who's interest is taken into consideration in the planning and development of our public spaces.