Co-production of urban knowledge: Context approach for effective and efficient governance of cities

Abstract

Effective and efficient governance is driven by the policies that prevails in urban contexts. Policies are usually result of the knowledge co-production but the efficacy of the process of translating knowledge into policy is still not well defined in the Kenyan context. One example of this is the city of Kisumu in Kenya, which has been the focus of knowledge co-production by researchers from Kisumu and Gothenburg in which there is active involvement of academicians, policy makers and the private sector. The creation of networks and platforms has been instrumental in knowledge production and has allowed for multi-level coproduction facilitating governance of the city at different spatial and administrative levels. Understanding of the different contexts that have been key in the knowledge production, in turn, is important in the process of determining how these have been drivers of urban knowledge for governance in Kisumu.