This book demonstrates that contracts, community intermediaries, and participatory processes are closely interlinked, and they can change urban politics. In participatory processes, residents negotiate with policymakers about the future of their neighborhood. In the last few decades, this happened increasingly in co-creation sessions where citizens are deemed to have an equal position vis-a-vis developers and civil servants. The goal of this book is to understand and theorize how these negotiations affect collective action. The book will scrutinize the role of contracts, community intermediaries, and participatory processes in development projects and planning policies. Using a comparative case study of Amsterdam, Hamburg, and New York, this book reveals how seemingly fresh and novel planning practices are used to justify processes of capital accumulation and reveals how morals, politics, and law can create institutional change. The book presents a novel theoretical approach to studying urban politics, putting emphasis on (private) law and the material arrangements of participatory processes. It will be of interest to researchers and students of planning, geography, sociology, public administration, and law and will provide valuable lessons for practitioners interested in understanding the effects of contractual governance on neighborhoods.

Table of Contents:
List of tables Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Urban Ordering 1.1 Participation, Community Intermediaries, and Contracts 1.2 Institutional Change in Amsterdam, Hamburg And New York 1.3 Overview of The Book Chapter 2: Research Strategy 2.1 Qualitative Strategy 2.2 Selection of Cities 2.3 Selection of Development Projects 2.4 Data Collection 2.5 Notes on Studying Contracts Chapter 3: The Shifting of Orders 3.1 Planning Orders in Amsterdam 3.2 Planning Orders in Hamburg 3.2 Planning Orders in New York 3.4 Comparing Municipal Orders 3.5 Resistance from Below Chapter 4: Institutional Contradictions and Change in Urban Politics 4.1 Institutional Contradictions 4.2 Moral Categories and Artifacts 4.3 Somewhere in Between the Private and the Public 4.4 From Rules to Enforcements 4.5 The Mechanics of Urban Politics Chapter 5: Morals in the City: True Spokespersons and Principles 5.1 The City Planners Plan 5.2 Educating the Residents 5.3 The Residents Take Charge 5.4 The Moral Thread in Urban Politics Chapter 6: Politics in the City: The Forming of Publics 6.1 Co-Option and Displacement 6.2 A Time for Compromise 6.3 The Political Thread in Urban Politics Chapter 7: Law in the City: The Many Faces of Contracts 7.1 Neue Mitte Altona 7.2 Oostenburg-Noord 7.3 Kingsbridge Armory 7.4 Codifying Residents’ Principles 7.5 The Legal Thread In Urban Politics Chapter 8: Conclusion 8.1 How Morals, Politics, And Law Shape Urban Politics 8.2 A New Register Gaining Traction 8.3 A Research Agenda 8.4 A Policy Agenda Index