Local government and politics – facing an increased complexity of governance challenges

Cities and municipalities are currently observed to take the lead in handling multiple crises. Having, for decades, been pursuing goals of resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable urban development to address the climate crisis, they now also have to handle the many societal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the complexity of governance challenges at local level has increased, putting higher demands on the democratic governance capacity of local governments. It also spurs new debates about decentralization and central-local relations. In this section, we invite panels and papers to illuminate how local government faces the complex challenges. How are territorial restructuring and reforms affecting the institutional capacity of local government and policies to address the problems? Crisis and complex challenges often lead to increased tensions and polarizations in the local population, and require strategic leadership. Here the functioning of political leaders, political parties and party competition is essential, and it is therefore important to illuminate their role in ensuring the legitimacy of local government. The broad complexity of challenge also requires a broader engagement, interaction and coordination between a wider set of actors. Are local government including more participatory methods and democratic innovations in finding new solutions? And what is the role of institutionalized governance networks and societal actors at the local level? The section will also take a more reflexive approach, and will address the interplay between scientific research on local government, knowledge production and practice. The last panels in the section will explore the concept of geographies of knowledge regarding research on local government, and how this research is used in education and disseminated to different audiences.