Published · ScienceDirect · 2024
Governance of urban public green space
Peer-reviewed article on conflict dynamics in the governance of Bucharest’s urban public green space.
Modelling the conflict dynamics behind urban public green spaces as a Network of Action Situations: The case of Bucharest — Raluca-Ioana Mihai & Heiner Schanz, Journal of Urban Management (Elsevier), 2026. Open access (CC BY). DOI: 10.1016/j.jum.2026.03.001.
The governance of urban public green spaces (UPGS) in Bucharest is characterised by fragmented institutions, contested property regimes and persistent conflicts that have intensified since the post-communist transition. The study applies the Network of Action Situations (NAS) framework, complemented by multilevel-governance insights, to map and analyse the action situations shaping UPGS management in Romania’s capital. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across supranational, national, metropolitan and district levels, it identifies three high-connectivity, high-feasibility leverage points: (i) strengthening public-private partnerships, (ii) a comprehensive city-wide UPGS inventory linked to an updated General Urban Plan, and (iii) harmonising legal provisions with robust, updated databases.
Keywords: urban public green space · network of action situations · multi-level governance · conflict dynamics · property rights · Eastern Europe.