Collaborative Governance: A New Paradigm Shift for the Smart Cities

1. Introduction

No organization of government possesses sufficient authority, resources, and knowledge to effect the enactment and achievement of policy intentions. Instead, policies require the concerted efforts of multiple actors, all possessing significant capabilities but each dependent on multiple others to solidify policy intention and convert it into action. Indeed, it is often difficult for anyone actor, or group of actors, to manage, or manipulate the flow of problems and solutions onto the political agenda in the first place. (Bressers, O’Toole, & Richardson, 1995)

The concept of governance has become very fashionable development agenda over the past several decades in the political science and public administration areas. The term has been widely used by policy makers, politicians, governance practitioners, international organizations, and other different stakeholders. One of the key characteristics of using a governance lens is the recognition that there is a wide range of actors involved in governance, such as various government organizations, business sectors, civil society organizations, for example, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community groups and the private sectors (Devas, 2001). When we take a snapshot concept of governance, Yohannes (2017) has described governance as “a new process of governing or a changed condition of ordered rule or the new method by which society is governed. He has also added that governance deals with the methods by which citizens participate in decision making, how government is accountable to its citizens and how the society obliges its members to be governed by its rules and laws. From this instance, it is considered as a ruling system consisting of delegation of authority, power decentralization, people's participation, and group/stakeholder dynamism in level of participation, idea sharing and decision-making. From these all perspectives, one can infer that the issue of governance embraces all of the methods- good and bad that societies use to distribute power and manage public resources and problems. Hence, it is the relationship and collective decision-making process contracted between and/or among the civil society and the state, between rulers and ruled; the government and the governed. In a broadest sense of the term, it comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. Moreover, Aluko (2010) also defines governance as the act or process of governing a nation, state, or legal entity. It is the activity of governing a country, controlling, ruling, managing, regulating, influencing, or directing a place. Governance recognizes that power exists inside and outside the formal authority and institutions of government.

The formation of governance as a new model of arrangement recognizes government, civil society and the private sector as the key actors in the administration apparatus and providing services to citizens. At the local level, these groups can be further specified to include central government, state or provincial government (where applicable), local authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and the private sector. In the urban context, governance is the sum of many ways; individuals and institutions plan and manage the common affairs of the city (Adegun, 2011). This understanding lens consists of governance as a concept that recognizes the power existence inside and outside the formal authority and institutions of government, and governance emphasizes as a process. Besides, it recognizes that decisions are made based on complex relationships between many actors with different priorities.