Socio-Genesis of a Private Government: Greater Lyon's Narrative of the 'Metropolitan Governance' of Economic Development Policies
Résumé
The chapter considers the case of the French city of Lyon, from which a distinctive narrative emerged centred on public-private interactions and the role of the business community in driving prosperity. We understand urban narratives as comprising a mix of material and constructed approaches; the chapter pursues the social construction of the entrepreneurial city by studying the role of organisational metaphors - such as the Spirit of Enterprise and the Pack - as providing a form of legitimisation of public-private dynamics in the Greater Lyon area. The chapter investigates the 'private government' formed between political and business elites over a period of two decades or so. It seeks out a coherent narrative to accompany the exercise of the 'private government' that has steered the fortunes of the city in the economic domain. The main paradox is expressed as follows: the relationship is peppered by symbols, practices and metaphors, but it is a highly confidential, non-transparent regime, ruled by a set of shared understandings and assumptions that are taken as self-evident, not requiring massive investment in an urban narrative.
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