Towards effective stakeholder collaboration in building urban resilience in Phnom Penh: opportunities and obstacles

摘要

Abstract Effective stakeholder collaboration plays an integral part in addressing emerging issues concerning building the resilience of urban areas. In practice, however, stakeholder collaboration remains ineffective and insufficient. This paper argues that a pragmatic form of stakeholder collaboration is required to address issues of power imbalance in neoliberal urban governance and to effectively build robust partnerships among key actors in constructing sustainable and resilient urban areas in the Global South. Through the lens of stakeholder theory, this study aims to (1) identify key roles of the main actors for building urban resilience in Phnom Penh city, (2) explore practical mechanisms that can assist stakeholders to better collaborate, and (3) examine the main opportunities and challenges for promoting stakeholder collaboration. Using qualitative methods, key findings reveal that increasing grassroots public forums, supporting the involvement of government figures in local projects, and formulating a conducive and transparent governance system are required to underpin stakeholders’ active involvement and mobilise their inputs in constructing urban resilience. We explain how the process of stakeholder collaboration is impeded by poor local understanding, livelihood constraints, insufficient information sharing and lack of coordination.