Municipal Innovation in Democratic Public Ownership

The previous decade witnessed a wave of innovative approaches to democratic public ownership at the municipal scale.

Rather than a paternalistic provider of services, such approaches diverse in both form and application variously recast the (local) state in a more facilitatory or partnership role, promoting participatory co-governance and/or co-ownership of resources and assets.

This research aims to establish whether such innovations embody a new form of 'prefigurative state thinking' that is fundamentally reworking, and requires new theories of, the relationship between civil society and the state.The objectives of the research include:1. To develop an evidence-led typology of municipalist innovations in democratic public ownership 2.

To determine (if and) how innovations in public ownership contribute to a feminisation and democratisation of urban life3. To provide theoretical understandings of the changing relationship between civil society and the state4. To identify and elaborate upon evidence-led design principles for feminised and democratised public ownership 5.

To return and disseminate results to stakeholders and policy-makers, and pursue policy orientated impactThe project will utilise a qualitative comparative research approach across two phases.

The first phase is a secondary analysis of the Transnational Institute's (TNI) 'International Database of De-privatised Public Services', with a focus on developing a) a propositional typology of democratic municipal innovations; and b) identifying exemplar cases for primary research. The second phase will include primary research of exemplar cases, including co-identified cases in the host city.

The fellowship includes a 6-month secondment at TNI as an integral part of the research.

The fellowship will deliver policy impact in-line with the European Commissions 2019-2024 priority areas and the UNs New Urban Agenda commitment to expanding meaningful participation in decision-making'.