TY - JOUR
T1 - Re-municipalization of local public services
T2 - incidence, causes and prospects
AU - Albalate, Daniel
AU - Bel, Germà
AU - Gradus, Raymond
AU - Reeves, Eoin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Since the turn of the century, a global trend of re-municipalization has emerged, with cities reversing earlier privatizations and returning infrastructure and public service delivery to the public sector. The reversal of privatization measures is not an entirely new phenomenon. In the US, for example, returning public services to in-house production has been a long-standing feature of ‘pragmatic public management’. However, many cases of re-municipalization that have occurred since the early 2000s represent a distinctive shift from earlier privatization policies. High-profile cases in cities including Paris and Hamburg have thrust re-municipalization into the limelight as they have followed public campaigns motivated by dissatisfaction with the results of privatization and a desire to restore public control of vital services, such as water and energy. Just as the reform of public services towards privatization spawned a vast body of scholarship, the current re-municipalization phenomenon is increasingly attracting the attention of scholars from a number of disciplinary perspectives. The articles contained in this symposium contribute to this emerging literature. They address some of the burning issues relating to re-municipalization, but they also point to issues yet to be resolved and shed light on a research agenda that is still taking shape.
AB - Since the turn of the century, a global trend of re-municipalization has emerged, with cities reversing earlier privatizations and returning infrastructure and public service delivery to the public sector. The reversal of privatization measures is not an entirely new phenomenon. In the US, for example, returning public services to in-house production has been a long-standing feature of ‘pragmatic public management’. However, many cases of re-municipalization that have occurred since the early 2000s represent a distinctive shift from earlier privatization policies. High-profile cases in cities including Paris and Hamburg have thrust re-municipalization into the limelight as they have followed public campaigns motivated by dissatisfaction with the results of privatization and a desire to restore public control of vital services, such as water and energy. Just as the reform of public services towards privatization spawned a vast body of scholarship, the current re-municipalization phenomenon is increasingly attracting the attention of scholars from a number of disciplinary perspectives. The articles contained in this symposium contribute to this emerging literature. They address some of the burning issues relating to re-municipalization, but they also point to issues yet to be resolved and shed light on a research agenda that is still taking shape.
KW - contracts
KW - local government
KW - privatization, public services
KW - re-municipalization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107694021&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00208523211006455
DO - 10.1177/00208523211006455
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107694021
SN - 0020-8523
VL - 87
SP - 419
EP - 424
JO - International Review of Administrative Sciences
JF - International Review of Administrative Sciences
IS - 3
ER -