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Public/private partnerships are at the core of most regeneration
programmes. “It describes the cooperation of the public sector with
private developers for large urban building or infrastructure projects”
(Berlin). They are “networks between public and private partners working
with urban regeneration. Public/public partnerships are the most common
and important partnerships in Kvarterløft areas” (Copenhagen)
If
partnership is about working together to achieve a common goal, then
there can be different ways of achieving this. It can be “a formal
relationship in which there is a sharing of risk between the public
sector and a private organisation. This relationship may take the form
of a jointly owned company, or more usually, a formal written agreement.
For example, public transport where the rail companies are privately
owned by for profit companies, but receive grants from the state to
provide loss making services”.(Glasgow) Or partnership can be simply a
“short-hand way of describing the working together in an informal way of
public and private organisations.” (Glasgow).
At
the heart of a public/private partnership is the question of shared
risk. “Private-public partnership includes initiatives whereby risks are
shared between the private and public sectors.” (Malta) “…when a public
authority delegates to a private organisation the responsibility for
financing, executing and maintaining a project in return for the right
to operate the facility for an extended period. This enables its
investment to be amortised, that is, the private sector takes the
financial risk.”
Whether the partnership is formal or informal, the co-operation has the
following characteristics:
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Community of execution and responsibility, including distribution of
risk and gain. The co-operations are based on agreements regarding
the development and realisation of products or programmes. In this
regard it does not matter whether this is regulated formally or
informally – important is the substance and quality.
-
It is a convenient alliance: Each side hopes for advantages out of
the co-operation (win-win-situation)
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Equality: the co-operation is totally balanced
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Work sharing: The co-operation unfolds respective powers and
potentials
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Time frame: The partnerships are of a limited duration.[1]
There
are various ways in which the private sector participates in a
public/private partnership.
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