What makes urban commons-public partnerships successful? Case studies in Switzerland on access to land

Urban environments are facing growing ecological and social pressures associated with Urban commons initiatives potential to contribute to broader urban transformations may remain limited without institutional recognition. This study examines the mechanisms through which partnerships between municipalities and UCIs, termed as public-commons partnerships (PCPs), form around the governance of land-related urban resources. Drawing on 24 semi-structured interviews and 118 questionnaire responses from UCI representatives in Switzerland, we identify four categories of PCPs: enduring and mutual-recognition-based partnership, sustained yet non-dependent partnership, temporary and conditional partnership, and limited or absent partnership. Partnerships emerge when UCIs align with municipal objectives by advancing policy goals, resonating with political priorities, or strengthening policy implementation by same time, municipalities mobilize publicly owned land through diverse property-right institutional recognition and visibility while promoting urban resource governance that prioritizes collective use value, solidarity, and ecological stewardship. We argue that authorities mobilize public resources and regulatory capacities, while commons organizations contribute grassroots innovation, collective self-governance, and social more inclusive and ecologically oriented governance on urban environments.