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Collaborative dynamics in street level work: Working in and with communities to improve relationships and reduce deprivation

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  • Koen PR Bartels

Abstract

Joint service delivery is a well-established aspect of urban governance but does not necessarily improve interagency collaboration or reduce socio-spatial deprivation. What happens in interactions between street level workers has a large influence on collaborative processes and outcomes but is remarkably underexplored. This article develops an understanding of the nature and impact of the relational practices enacted in street level collaboration. I argue that community-centred working can foster effective and authentic collaborative processes and, as a result, generate better societal outcomes. Based on a participatory evaluation conducted in Amsterdam, I critically appraise how working in and with communities moved collaborative dynamics in street level work away from habitual routines and power relations that sustained exclusion and inequality of local disadvantaged youngsters towards better internal relationships and less socio-spatial deprivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Koen PR Bartels, 2018. "Collaborative dynamics in street level work: Working in and with communities to improve relationships and reduce deprivation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(7), pages 1319-1337, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:36:y:2018:i:7:p:1319-1337
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654418754387
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Clare Rigg & Noreen O'Mahony, 2013. "Frustrations in Collaborative Working," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 83-108, January.
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