Meta-governing the Co-creation of a Green and Just Transition in Urban Areas: The Role of Facilitative Leadership, Institutional Design, and Collaborative Platforms

Given the meagre results of applying more bureaucratic and market-based governance solutions, co-creation is gaining ground as a strategy for promoting a green and fair transition in deprived urban neighborhoods, and it is broadly agreed that the facilitative steering and leadership of co-creation processes is paramount to success. While extant urban planning research provides important empirical documentation and theoretical advice regarding such leadership, public governance theory also offers important insights. This conceptual article considers how the concept of meta-governance, defined as the governance of self-governance, can further contribute to our understanding of how local leaders can inspire and support efforts to co-create a socially and environmentally sustainable transition in challenged urban areas. As suggested by meta-governance theory and illustrated by case studies reported in the GOGREEN database, not only process facilitation but also the strategic design of institutions and collaborative platforms emerge as crucial for promoting local co-creation of a green and just transition in deprived urban neighborhoods.