Stewart-Weeks, M: Place Management and Social Capital New Directions in Public Policy

Place management as a framework for public
governance is not a new concept. The place
management debate reflects many of the
more durable themes in the evolution of public
management and public
policy. One of the new dimensions of the debate is
the extent to which place management can deliver a
social capital effect. If it can, its value as a
major shift in public governance will increase
dramatically.
The study situates place management in a
spectrum of possibilities. To the extent that place
management transcends an instrumental definition to
challenge the underlying system of governance, it is
more likely to deliver a social capital dividend.
The study concludes that place management, if it
reflects and reinforces the attributes of social
capital, it can made a major contribution to public
management.
A key question is the extent to which place
management can be institutionalized as a core and
consistent component of public management. The
thesis looks at the prospects for
the institutionalization process within the context
of a holistic governance framework.