Stakeholder Analysis

In this section a stakeholder analysis will be performed to gain insight over the main actors that have interest in the problem. The basic stakeholder analysis technique proposed by Enserink et al (2004) will be used to identify stakeholders and their interests and clarify their view on the problem. Thereafter a stakeholder-issue interrelationship diagram has been constructed to see more in depth what relations and positions are in place. The central issue in this research and starting point in the stakeholder analysis is: the limited car accessibility of Nijmegen City Center (during peak hours)

In analyzing the car accessibility of Nijmegen, performing a stakeholder analysis can be useful for the following reason:

-  Qualitative improvements for a problem analysis, because more insight is gained on information, knowledge and core values of involved actors;

Applying a stakeholder analysis is done while performing a number of general steps[1]:

  1. Take the car accessibility problem as starting point
  2. Inventory of the arena(circle) of related actors
  3. Explaining the Stakeholder Objectives, Perceptions and Resources/instruments concerning the problem
  4. Defining Critical and Dedicated Stakeholders
  1. A critical actor is defined as an actor that has resources with which he/she can support/oppose the problem owner, in this case the Municipality of Nijmegen
  2. A dedicated actor is defined as an actor who is willing to involve himself in trying to solve the problem

After applying a stakeholder analysis it becomes clear which stakeholders are involved in the project, how their role in the project could be defined and how much power (in terms of money, position etc.) they had in this project. Eventually, with these insights, the problem owner (the Municipality of Nijmegen) can determine which parties always have a significant authority in affecting the problem (by supporting or opposing) and thus they can partly base their decisions on this information.

Table 1 gives an overview of the methodology used to perform this stakeholder analysis.

Stakeholders / Objectives / Preferred Situation/Goal / Resources
Which stakeholder is involved in the car accessibility problem of Nijmegen / Their objectives and core values / Which situation the stakeholder prefers / Which resources the stakeholder has to assist or hinder

Table 1: Stakeholder Objectives, Perceptions and Resources

Dedicated Actors / Non-Dedicated Actors
Critical / Non-Critical / Critical / Non-Critical
Same oriented perceptions,
interests and goals / Municipality of Nijmegen, Offensief Bereikbaarheid etc.
Opposing perceptions,
interests and goals / Environmental organizations, Some Political parties(etc)

Table 2: Example of critical and dedicated actors in Nijmegen car accessibility problem

Identified Stakeholders

Generally the word ‘stakeholder’ refers to persons, groups or organizations that must somehow be taken into account by policy makers, leaders, managers and front-line staff. According to Bryson stakeholder analyses are now arguably more important than ever because of the increasingly interconnected nature of the world. Choose the public problem – accessibility – and it is clear that ‘the problem’ affects numerous people, groups and organizations. At the same time many groups and organizations are involved, affected or have some partial responsibility to act. Figuring out what the problem is and what solutions might improve the situation are actually part of the problem, and taking stakeholders into account is a crucial aspect of problem solving.

Based on this also in this research attention to stakeholders related with the accessibility problem is important. In the overview below all the identified stakeholders related to the accessibility problem in Nijmegen are listed:

·  Local Government (Gemeente Nijmegen)

·  City Region (Stadsregio)

·  Province (Province Gelderland)

·  National Government

·  Kamer van Koophandel

·  Entrepreneurs City Center

·  ‘Offensief Bereikbaarheid’

·  Commuters

·  Environmental organizations

·  Inhabitants

·  Local Political parties of Nijmegen

As can be seen in the list above, the first stakeholder is the local government of Nijmegen. This actor is chosen to be the problem owner in this research. This is because they define policy in Nijmegen and have resources like capital, policy and decision power. In their policy better accessibility of the city is stated as one of the important goals. Table 1 (in Annex Stakeholder analysis) gives an overview of how these actors are related with the problem. The involved actors are defined as dedicated and non-dedicated actors. In table XX these actors can be fined.

Dedicated Actors / Non-Dedicated Actors
Critical / Non-Critical / Critical / Non-Critical
Same oriented perceptions,
interests and goals / Municipality of Nijmegen, Offensief Bereikbaarheid, Province Gelderland, Political parties( VVD, CDA) / National government, CityRegion / KVK, Entrepreneurs City Center, / Commuters, Inhabitants
Opposing perceptions,
interests and goals / Environmental Groups, Political parties (PvDA, SP, Groenlinks)

Table 3: Example of critical and dedicated actors in Nijmegen car accessibility problem

The overview of actors categorized in the table above gives the problem owner an impression about possible reactions of actors in their environment according to the accessibility problem and possible solution directions.

Conflicts of interests

Different conflicts can be indentified between the critical dedicated actors. One of the main conflicts is between the Environmental groups on the one hand and the Kamer van Koophandel and the Entrepeneurs City Center on the other. The former are against more infrastructures for cars and strive for more car reducing measures, whereas the latter claim that more infrastructure and other car oriented measures are necessary for increasing the accessibility of the city center for more infrastructure. The local government is situated somewhere in between those parties. In the Discussienota Nijmegen Betrouwbaar Bereikbaar (2009) they state that new infrastructure is not desired and that other measures should be looked at first. Van den Anker, local government representative, (Interview, 2010) confirms this in an interview. However, they also promote more parking availability around the city center which leans towards the point that the KvK and city center entrepreneurs make.

Also political parties are divided when solution directions are concerned. PvdA, SP and GroenLinks are against physical infrastructural measures in the city center while CDA and VVD are willing to consider measures of that kind when proved these contribute to accessibility.

Almost all political parties agree that parking space availability should increase, except for Groenlinks that does not mention it. Examples of conflicting measures include the possible affection of the city characteristics when new infrastructure is built and possible removal of nature and green in case of physical measures. Also, parties favoring bike and public transport conflict with the business parties (KvK, City Center Entrepreneurs) who claim that bike and public transport alternatives only have marginal effect and that car accessibility should be the focus.


Stakeholder Issue interrelationship

Stakeholder- issue interrelationship diagrams help show which stakeholders have interest in different issues (Bryson, 2004). Also this diagram shows how the stakeholders might be related to other stakeholders through their relationships with the issues. The issues came from the results of the stakeholder analysis (see Annex Stakeholder analysis, last column) derived from the interests of the dedicated actors. The main three issues are: Accessibility, Livability and Costs. Beside these issues other like Land use, City Characteristics and Economical growth are also mentioned by some actors. As we focus in this project on the issues interested by the Municipality of Nijmegen (PE), criteria will be defined according to these main issues of the problem owner. These are Accessibility, Livability and Costs. These issues are also of interests of the other stakeholders. The stakeholder-issue interrelationship diagram below represents which stakeholder find which issue important. The thicker the line between actor and issue, the more interest the stakeholder has in that issue.

Figure 1 Stakeholder – issue interrelationship diagram

Each of the issues listed above comprehends several sub issues. All the issues will be the basis for defining criteria. Criteria to generate and evaluate measures will be defined on basis of these three main issues mentioned in the stakeholder issue interrelationship diagram. Accessibility will be defined as the main criterion to generate and evaluate measures. Livability and costs are concerned to be secondary criteria. In chapter 5 can be found how these criteria are defined and how they will be assessed and evaluated.


Annex: Stakeholder Analysis

After applying a stakeholder analysis it becomes clear which stakeholders were involved within the accessibility problem, how their role and core values in the project could be defined and how much power (in terms of money, position etc.) they had in this project. Eventually, with these insights, the Municipality of Nijmegen can determine which parties always have a significant authority and thus they can partly adapt their strategy in the case they want to improve car accessibility.

The central issue in this research and starting point in the stakeholder analysis is: the Limited car accessibility of Nijmegen City Center (during peak hours), (Current/Expected situation) due to the highly congested Waalbrug route during peak hours (cause).

In the overview below all the identified stakeholders related to the accessibility problem in Nijmegen are listed:

·  Local Government (Gemeente Nijmegen)

·  City Region (Stadsregio)

·  Province (Province Gelderland)

·  National Government

·  Kamer van Koophandel (KVK)

·  Entrepreneurs City Center

·  ‘Offensief Bereikbaarheid’

·  Commuters

·  Environmental organizations

·  Inhabitants

·  Local Political parties of Nijmegen (PVDA, VVD, SP, CDA, Groenlinks)

Stakeholders / Interests / Preferred Situation/Goal / Resources/Instruments / Issues
Local Government (Municipality of Nijmegen) / -  Prosperous Municipality (welvarende gemeente)
-  Guarantee optimal(car) accessibility City Center/good livability
-  Stimulate local economy by making Nijmegen accessible for customers and employees
-  Stimulate Mobility / -  Optimal/Reliable accessibility Nijmegen city center (no road congestion)
-  increase livability Nijmegen
-  stimulate economy / -  Policy
-  Subsidy
-  Capital(Financial influence)
-  Power to develop road infrastructure / -  Accessibility
-  Livability
-  Costs
-  City characteristics
City Region (Stadsregio) / Attractive, good accessible and international competitive region / -  Growth economy city region
-  Create Employment
-  Optimal accessibility / -  City Region plans / -  Growth Economy
Province (Province Gelderland) / Sustainable development accessibility and mobility on province level (Province Gelderland) / -  Maximize employment
-  Minimize environmental damage
-  Reliable accessibility Province / -  Policy Province level
-  Provincial plans
-  Financial power / -  Livability
-  Accessibility
National Government / -  Sustainable development accessibility and mobility on national level
-  Stimulate growth of economy / -  Optimal accessibility to and from Nijmegen
-  Reliable and safe (road)transport
-  Minimal environmental damage
-  Strong economy / -  Financial power
-  National policy / -  Livability
-  Accessibility
-  Economy growth
Entrepreneurs City Center / Realizing or continuing a profitable organization/business / -  Maximum profits (Attracting maximum number of clients)
-  Low costs (Good accessible) / Interference power (Hindrance power)/ actions/protests/ no investments) / -  Profitability
-  Accessibility
Kamer van Koophandel(KvK) / Justify(civil) and safe trade/business of associated business parties / -  Low costs
-  High profits
-  Sustainable business / -  Hindrance Power
-  No investments / -  Profitability
-  Accessibility
‘Offensief Bereikbaarheid’ / Optimal accessibility of Nijmegen city center by better cooperation between public and private parties / -  Minimal congestion road network Nijmegen City Center / -  Policy
-  Hindrance power / -  Accessibility
-  Costs
Commuters / Optimal accessibility (route Waalbrug to the City center) / -  Minimal congestion route
-  Minimal Costs
-  High Safety / -  Hindrance power / -  Accessibility
-  Costs
Environmental organizations / -  Healthy and Clean environment
-  No land use
-  High values city characteristics
-  / -  Minimal environmental damage
-  Sustainable mobility / - Hindrance power
- Use of juridical procedures
- Access to media / -  Livability
-  Land use
-  City Characteristics
Inhabitants / -  Good living environment
-  Nijmegen City Center must be good accessible by car and public transport / -  Optimal livability
-  Optimal Accessibility / -  Hindrance power
-  Actions/Protests
-  Use of juridical procedures / -  Livability
-  Accessibility
PvdA / -  High quality public transport
-  High quality bike network combined with transferia
-  Increase of parking facilities
-  Parking / -  Optimal accessibility city center by PT and bike alternatives, parking
-  High Safety (bike network)
-  Livability / -  Decision power (political power) / -  Livability
SP / -  Means of transferia to improve accessibility
-  Stimulate bike and PT use
-  More parking / -  Optimal accessibility by non-car alternatives
-  High Safety
-  City characteristics / -  Decision power
(political power) / -  Livability
-  City Characteristics
Groenlinks / -  Sustainable use transport modes(bus, bike etc) / -  Optimal accessibility by non-car alternatives
-  Optimal livability / -  Decision power
(political power) / -  Livability
VVD / -  Stimulate accessibility by car, public transport, bike
-  More car infrastructure/Parking / -  Optimal accessibility by all modes
-  / -  Decision power
(Political power) / -  Accessibility
-  Livability
CDA / -  More car infrastructure/Parking
-  Improve quality public transport
-  Pricing measures / -  Optimal accessibility by all modes, especially car / -  Decision power
(Political power) / -  Accessibility
-  Livability

Table 1: Stakeholder Objectives, Perceptions and Resources

[1] Enserink, B. et. al. (2004), Analyse van Complexe Omgevingen, 4e druk, TU Delft; Ch.5