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Interconnections between crime prevention and local governance practices are increasingly evident through the involvement of local partnerships and local government in crime prevention. The microlocal workings and the political implications of these interconnections have, however, received far less attention. This paper uses a case study from South Africa to understand the microlocal experiences of the interconnections between what is described here as 'crime management' and local governance. It is argued that the extent of interconnection is beyond that captured by the concept of 'partnership', as multiple governance structures, including local political parties, engage in crime management. Furthermore, the paper illustrates how local governance is dominated by crime management and that this domination is explicitly tied to the party political 'ambitions' of the dominant ANC party. The interconnection is theorised as the criminalisation of governance within a context of state-building [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hardcore, or long-term derelict and vacant brownfield sites which are often contaminated, form a significant proportion of brownfield land in many cities, not only in the UK but also in other countries. The recent economic recession has placed the economic viability of such sites in jeopardy. This paper compares the approaches for bringing back hardcore brownfield sites into use in England and Japan by focusing on ten case studies in Manchester and Osaka, using an 'agency'-based frame- work. The findings are set in the context of (i) national brownfield and related policy agendas; (ii) recent trends in land and property markets in both England and Japan; and (iii) city-level comparisons of brownfields in Manchester and Osaka. The research, which was conducted during 2009-10, suggests that hardcore brownfield sites have been badly affected by the recent recession in both Manchester and Osaka. Despite this, not only is there evidence that hardcore sites have been successfully regenerated in both cities, but also that the critical success factors (CSFs) operating in bringing sites back into use share a large degree of commonality. These CSFs include the presence of strong potential markets, seeing the recession as an opportunity, long-term vision, strong branding, strong partnerships, integrated development, and getting infrastructure into place. Finally, the paper outlines the policy implications of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current round of local government modernisation in England, which commenced in 1997, has focused primarily on three main areas-new council constitutions, e-government, and performance. However, a fourth strand of initiatives relates to the power of well-being and the duty to prepare a community strategy, in partnership with a local strategic partnership. Academic commentators and planners, who have been focusing on the proposed UK planning reforms as contained within the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (passed in 2004), have largely ignored the development of this strand. In this paper we explore these aspects of the local government modernisation agenda for planners and pull out some of the key issues for comparison in the ownership, role, and development of the new plans: community strategies and development plans. Opportunities and difficulties of ensuring that new development plans become the spatial expression of community strategies is assessed through an illustration of the relationship between the London Borough of Camden's community strategy and its unitary development plan. Following a review of the content of both documents, wider assessments are drawn out and we conclude by debating the implications of and challenges for a future reformed planning system at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on theories of new institutionalism to examine the consequences of partnership working for the community sector. Three normative practices which are associated with partnership working—representativeness; consensus-based decisionmaking; and bureaucratic styles of working—are examined in relation to the experiences of two UK case-study localities in receipt of Single Regeneration Budget funding. The findings reflect a complex interaction between acceptance and noncompliance with these norms by community organisations which leads to a variety of outcomes for individual community representatives and for relations between community groups and regeneration partnership boards. In conclusion, it is argued that protecting the independence of local organisations can allow for opposition to partnership-based decisions but that this risks undermining holistic or strategic approaches to social problems. The actions of some community organisations in these two localities suggests that, although some aspects of partnership working are increasingly institutionalised within community sectors, organisations remain alert to opportunities to subvert these norms to further their own aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the concepts of ‘soft spaces’ and ‘soft outcomes’ previously developed in relation to the study of local economic development and planning and applies them to the related, but not identical, field of localised welfare-to-work initiatives. The specific example of the City Strategy initiative in Great Britain provides evidence of these concepts in action. This initiative foregrounded the importance of local partnership working whereby various stakeholders joined together to operate in soft space to achieve commonly agreed goals. The article considers how local partnerships operate in soft space and the appropriate measures of success to be used when assessing the efficacy of their interventions. It is argued that both ‘soft outcomes’ and ‘hard outcomes’ can be used to understand success; but that assessment of soft spaces only in terms of ‘hard outcomes’ is far from comprehensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]