Policy mix factors in urban governance and their impact on community resilience

Abstract Tasikmalaya, a medium-sized city in West Java, faces rising environmental pressures straining local governance capacity. Yet how governance and policy mix jointly shape community resilience remains underexamined. Although previous studies have examined the urban policy mix, environmental dynamics, and urban governance separately, few have modeled governance as the mechanism mediating their combined effect on urban community resilience, particularly in medium-sized cities. This study aims to address this gap by developing an empirical model that clarifies the mediating role of governance between policy mix, environmental dynamics, and resilience in Indonesian cities. Data from a survey of 193 respondents in four subdistricts of Tasikmalaya City with high population density were used in this quantitative study. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to analyze the data. The findings show that environmental dynamics weaken urban governance directly, yet the same pressures push policymakers toward a more integrated urban policy mix that strengthens community resilience. In addition, the mix of urban policies has a significant impact on the mediating variable of urban governance. This suggests that governance for urban community resilience can be promoted through an adaptive urban policy mix that responds to environmental dynamics. This study contributes an integrated model that positions urban governance as the mediating mechanism linking environmental dynamics and policy mix to resilience, a relationship rarely tested empirically in medium-sized Indonesian cities. A collaborative model that encourages public participation and cross-sectoral synergy is needed for governance reform, as it is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11.