Short Project Description
This ethnographic research project investigates the role of brokerage – the social mechanism of mediation between different groups or levels in society – in participatory urban governance, and its implications for state-citizenship engagement, political representation and decision making. It asks: what is the role of brokerage in participatory urban governance, in both its formal and informal dimensions, and what is its impact on state-citizen engagement, political representation and decision making regarding the distribution of resources?
This project compares brokerage in four different cities, two in the Global North and two in the Global South, in order to develop a new theoretical framework for understanding the role and impact of brokerage in participatory urban governance. These cities are Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Manchester (UK), Medellín (Colombia) and Recife (Brazil).