Reframing Approaches to Conceptualising Urban Governance in Melanesia: Insights from Jayapura and Port Moresby

As the government tries to meet basic public needs, people with least access to formal mechanisms for services and infrastructure have developed their own means to meet their needs by utilising their resources, social capital and kin network. Mainstream planning literature has often labeled such process, outcomes and consequences such as land allocation and housing development as illegal since they are not produced in the formal planning and development system. This paper will explore the emergence of informal types of urban governance in the provision of urban infrastructure and other needs in Melanesia by comparing the situation in the mid-sized cities of Port Moresby and Jayapura. The paper is a preliminary analysis of the nature of self-organised provision of urban infrastructure and other basic needs which has been flourishing in both cities, plus the implications for moving towards more effective arrangements in urban governance and management.