Public-Private Joint Ventures in Urban Area Development: Identifying and Governing Value Tensions

Abstract

Public-Private Partnerships have been widely applied across Europe. However, critical perspectives question whether PPPs can safeguard public values or prioritize private interests over societal goals. Public-Private Joint Ventures (PPJVs) face particular criticism for governance designs that benefit efficiency while potentially undermining transparency and accountability. This paper examines Dutch PPJVs in area development. By adopting theoretical perspectives on contractual and relational governance, the study explores how these shape value tensions. Evidence from interviews suggests that although value tensions are not explicitly governed as such, they are affected by contractual and relational governance aimed at securing interests, mitigating risks, and managing opportunism, indicating reciprocity: underlying values give rise to diverging interests, which actors manage through contractual and relational governance—that, in turn, shapes how value tensions emerge and are addressed throughout the collaboration.