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Why are designs for urban governance so often incomplete? A conceptual framework for explaining and harnessing institutional incompleteness

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  • Catherine Durose
  • Vivien Lowndes

Abstract

This article asks why institutional designs for urban governance are so often incomplete and what a critical perspective on incompleteness may offer. We develop a novel conceptual framework distinguishing between incompleteness as description (a deficit to be ‘designed-out’), action (‘good enough’ design to be worked with and around), and prescription (an asset to be ‘designed-in’). An extended worked example of city regional devolution in England illuminates the three types of incompleteness in practice, whilst also identifying hybrid forms and cross-cutting considerations of power, time and space. Perceiving institutional incompleteness as a design logic in its own right, held in tension with completeness, could help augment institutional design repertoires and even enhance democratic values.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Durose & Vivien Lowndes, 2021. "Why are designs for urban governance so often incomplete? A conceptual framework for explaining and harnessing institutional incompleteness," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(8), pages 1773-1790, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:39:y:2021:i:8:p:1773-1790
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654421990673
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maximilian Lemprière & Vivien Lowndes, 2019. "Why did the North East Combined Authority fail to achieve a devolution deal with the UK government?," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(2), pages 149-166, March.
    2. O'Brien, Peter & Pike, Andy, 2015. "City deals, decentralisation and the governance of local infrastructure funding and financing in the UK," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 233, pages 14-26, August.
    3. Daniel Bailey & Matthew Wood, 2017. "The metagovernance of English devolution," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 966-991, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liz Richardson & Catherine Durose & Paul Cairney & John Boswell, 2025. "How should policy actors respond to buzzwords? Three ways to deal with policy ambiguity," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 58(4), pages 819-834, December.

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