Evolution of an Urban Governance Network: The Case of Center City

Abstract:     
The structural properties of the urban governance network in Center City, Philadelphia, and the centralities of its actors are investigated in a longitudinal case study. The results of the network text analyses and social network analyses of the network are interpreted from the perspective of urban governance network conceptualization. The results show that the network had consistently low densities and high total degree centralizations in the period studied. The CUSUM and EWMA control charts indicate that centralization of the network changed in two periods of time. Multiple analyses (including immediate impact analyses and sphere of influence analyses) show that the executive director of the business improvement district is the most central actor and the mayors and the city council relatively less central.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: business improvement districts, urban governance networks, social network analysis, network evolution, power in networks

JEL Classification: H79

working papers series