ABSTRACT
The science of urban management identifies three models of public management: bureaucratic, managerial and governance. This chapter compares distinctive features with those of the emerging neo-Weberian model. The neo-Weberian public management model, understood as a greater influence of the state and public administration on market and spatial planning processes, implies increased activity at its every level. The neo-Weberian approach arises from the continental culture and its strong attachment to the idea of an active, intervening state which assumes responsibility for the provision of public services, and combines it with a model based on a large administrative apparatus characterised by legalism, professionalism, hierarchy and observance of procedures. The theoretical deliberations and empirical research reveal fascinating correlations among the different approaches in public management. Such correlations emerge among the models rooted in the same ideology and among the models embedded in different ideologies.
