An analysis of the contemporary governance of Glasgow, 1975-2000

McWilliams, Christopher (2002) An analysis of the contemporary governance of Glasgow, 1975-2000. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This research sought to investigate the effectiveness of the 'new urban governance' in addressing the problems experienced by disadvantaged communities in a deindustrialised city. This was achieved by examining the changing structure and process of contemporary urban governance in Glasgow and how this has impacted upon urban policy developments. Central to the 'new urban governance' is the pursuit of urban entrepreneurial policies, which it is claimed are in the best interest of all the city's residents. However, in the case of Glasgow, the above is debatable. This research demonstrated how Glasgow policy makers developed a strategy that favoured business in the city centre over other areas of the city. This in turn, resulted in the emergence of a 'dual urban policy'. Within this context, urban policies pursued and adopted by city decision makers still fundamentally matter to the quality of life of all citizens. In striving to provide the fullest explanation with regards to the nature of contemporary urban governance in Glasgow this study adopted a political-economy approach. While previous research attempts have investigated the emergence of a 'new urban politics', analysis to date has been far from complete or comprehensive. The exact lineaments and nature of the 'new urban governance' are open to dispute and can differ from place to place. A further key finding of this research has shown how Glasgow does not fit neatly into any ideal type of local governance. This research has shown that while regime and regulation theory can assist in improving our understanding of the 'new urban governance' they are limited in their analysis. This research argues that a fusion of both theories enables a deeper understanding of contemporary urban governance. In the case of Glasgow, while there is no shortage of research into urban regeneration, there is a lack of any comprehensive analysis regarding the governance of the city. This research has significantly contributed to the aforementioned debate in that for the first time the nature of contemporary governance in Glasgow has been contextualised. The effectiveness of social inclusion policies designed to address the problems of disadvantaged neighbourhoods has also been examined in this work. Specifically this study draws upon detailed research material obtained from a case-study of the 'Greater Pollok' social inclusion partnership. The difficulties of including the local community in urban decision making was identified and that recent top-down partnership structures only serve to legitimate and help implement policy decisions taken by powerful non locally-accountable regeneration agencies.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Political science
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Lever, Prof. Bill
• Date of Award: 2002
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2002-72373
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 24 May 2019 15:12
• Last Modified: 29 Mar 2020 15:18
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.72373
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/72373