New Urban Governance
How can we build our democratic muscle?

New Urban Governance

New Urban Governance
Context

Barriers in the System

Our existing modes of governance concentrate power and constrain constructive debate about how to respond to current and future challenges. Opportunities for genuine collaboration in decision-making are limited; engaging with democracy, therefore is too often seen as simply voting in elections, rather than fully participating in civic life. Within this construct, our understanding of leadership is synonymous with formal titles and forms of influence.

Additionally, unlike many other global cities of similar size, Greater Melbourne lacks the forums and institutions to make good, holistic decisions at a metropolitan scale. As such, there is a mismatch between the complexity of issues that we face as a city and the ways in which our institutions and communities are able to come together to address them.

Our response

What We're Doing

We are experimenting with participatory, distributed and adaptive models of decision-making that go beyond traditional top-down governance systems. We're asking how stronger relationships between communities and democratic systems can enable a thriving civic life for all, especially in the face of complex social and ecological challenges. In doing so, we hope to rebuild trust in our democracy and ensure that decisions being made about the future of our city are informed by the full diversity, expertise and lived experience of its residents.

This approach recognises that existing systems often limit community voice, are slow and fail to distribute resources equitably. Our role is to help pilot new democratic tools to empower local collective decision-making, strengthen community leadership, and align resource flows with locally-defined priorities.

What we're asking

WHAT IS

To what extent do our current democratic and governance models enable Melburnians to engage in decision-making that impacts their lives and the future of our city?

WHAT COULD BE

What could it look like for our governance and democratic systems to fully enable a regenerative future to come to life?

HOW TO

How might we build democratic muscle, foster localised leadership and capability and strengthen metro-scale governance practices?

learning portfolio

Overall Portfolio

Our work in New Urban Governance is made up of a Learning Portfolio that includes projects based within our Earthshots, giving them specificity and place-based context in Melbourne. At the same time, we are exploring some governance-related questions more broadly, where working in collaboration with partners at a conceptual level is important. The Learning Portfolio responds to three interconnected themes, each underpinned by supporting how-to learning questions.

Projects

Metropolitan Governance

Melbourne is a metropolitan city without a metropolitan governance layer, which generates ongoing challenges in planning and responding to challenges that do not respect municipal borders. This theme focuses on the structures and practices that can help bring greater coherence to decision-making at a Greater Melbourne scale. Our learning questions within this theme include:

  • What might new forums or institutions look like that can allow us to make better, community-informed and systems-oriented decisions about the future of Greater Melbourne?
  • How might we scale up democratic activity at a local level to the city level, to realise the vision of a safe, just and regenerative Greater Melbourne?

Leadership & Capability

A future oriented towards regeneration requires new leadership formations and capabilities, moving beyond existing power structures and dynamics. This theme focuses on identifying and shaping new types of leaders and leadership and building connections across these to affect change at a city scale. Our learning questions within this theme include:

  • How might we identify and foster new forms of leadership required for regeneration?
  • How might we foster connection and coherence among community leaders across the city to amplify and embed new forms of leadership and the change they inspire?

Democratic Health & Participation

Our individual and collective wellbeing depends on the effectiveness of our democracy and its ability to respond to the needs of people and care for place - including and beyond elections. This theme focuses on both the health of our democratic systems and the ability of diverse people and communities to participate in them. Our learning questions within this theme include:

  • How might we work across the diversity of our communities to develop shared visions for a regenerative city?
  • How might we help people to better understand, navigate and shape our local, state and national government decision-making processes?
  • What tools, forums or institutions might make it easier for people to engage in decision-making, meeting citizens where they are?
  • How might we create opportunities for democratic participation at multiple scales (street, suburb, city) that rebuild trust in our democracy?
Large crowd at the City Portrait for Greater Melbourne launch in a heritage brick venue with purple lighting