Policy Through Partnerships for the Liva

Much has changed for cities in the United States and around the world. In the last five years alone, cities have faced unprecedented challenges, from the global COVID-19 pandemic to increased climate crises, affordability issues, and social and political unrest. At the same time, cities have never had more opportunities to innovate, drawing on the creative minds of visionaries from all sectors. They are exploring the future of smart cities, improved service delivery, and more precise data-driven policymaking and incident response.

As city governments confront many of these challenges, they often find themselves lacking the resources, skills, and time to tackle them independently. This has contributed to the modern-day rise of public-private partnerships (PPPs) with city governments. For more than half a century, PPPs were most commonly found in developing nations or primarily utilized for infrastructure expansion. Today, however, PPPs can be seen across virtually all major public policy areas, with the lines between the public and private sectors often blurred.

Within this context, we will examine the roles of these intersectional partnerships across three key urban policy areas: housing, education, and economic development. What are the limitations and strengths of each sector? What opportunities do multisector collaborations provide? What concerns arise regarding equitable service delivery? And what does the expansion of these partnerships mean for the future of urban policy and the development of a 21st-century livable city?