Weakening the Strong Mayor: Partisan Division and Presidential Intervention in Istanbul

Istanbul, the leading city of Turkey, is a good case for analyzing the conflictual relations of the mayor with the city council and the central government. Istanbul had been governed by the mayors from the ruling party, the Justice and Development Party ( Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) and its predecessor parties since 1994. In the local elections held in March 2019, which was repeated only for Istanbul after two months with a highly suspicious decision by the Supreme Election Board, the AKP lost this city. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, has harsh relations with the city council, which is dominated by the AKP and its alliance party, the Nationalist Movement Party ( Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi; MHP). What exacerbates this situation is the partisan intervention of the increasingly authoritarian central government that weakens the mayor's position. The mayor tries to counterbalance the power of the city council and central government agencies through livestreaming the city council meetings and attracting civic engagement on his side. This article is expected to contribute to the literature on mayoral leadership, partisan constraints to mayoral powers as well as the mayor's strategies against the authoritarian intervention of the central governments. Mayor İmamoğlu's strategies and measures adopted for overcoming the efforts of blocking his agenda by both the council and central government might inspire other mayors experiencing similar partisan constraints.

Mayoral Leadership in Shaping Urban Beautification in Surabaya and Aspects Influencing Its Capacity

Leadership has an expansive meaning because it is a field study that comprises several different dimensions such as psychology, management, organization, and politics. On the other hand, the study of leadership’s role on urban development issues is still relatively scarce, especially in developing countries. The literature shows that local governments under the mayor as the highest-ranking position of municipal prioritise urban development is very much a function of socio-cultural norms and leadership styles. Therefore, mayoral leadership is vital regarding local government interventions to promote urban beautification in Indonesia. It is undeniable that leadership is a significant aspect of urban governance. Taking a case study in Surabaya, evidence shows that leadership plays important roles in urban governance, especially in facilitating and advising processes. Drawing on analysis of relevant documents, literature, and interviews with key decision-makers in Surabaya, the findings indicate that the quality of mayoral leadership has played a vital role in enhancing the beautification of urban form in Surabaya as a result of the urban design process. The mechanisms underlying this role include that the mayor has a sound understanding of the urban design and has been able to intervene to insist on good urban design as policy and has the standing to approach officials and community members on the urban beautification process. The quality of mayoral leadership has played a vital role in shaping the better urban beautification of Surabaya. A Mayor who has a wide-ranging grasp of urban design has advantages for the local government.

Toronto and São Paulo: Cities and International Diplomacy

With globalization, the largest cities in the world have been growing in economic importance. And their local powers have often been enhanced as a result of decentralization reforms over the past two decades. In this context, cities—and particularly their mayors—have been reaching out to other cities and jurisdictions to pursue a variety of goals. One term for this process is “paradiplomacy,” but most of the literature on the subject gives little attention to the local political dynamics behind these initiatives. In this article, we explore these local dynamics through a comparison of two major cities, Toronto, Canada, and São Paulo, Brazil. The cases show that external initiatives, both in scope and direction, vary according to the political strategies of the elected mayors. These strategies are strongly affected by the local context and by the political logic of mayoral leadership.