Modelling the conflict dynamics behind urban public green spaces as a Network of Action Situations: The case of Bucharest

The governance of urban public green spaces (UPGS) in Bucharest is characterised by fragmented institutions, contested property regimes, and persistent conflicts that have intensified since the post-communist transition. This study applies the Network of Action Situations (NAS) framework, complemented by multilevel-governance (MLG) insights, to map and analyse the complex action situations shaping UPGS management in Romania's capital. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across supranational, national, metropolitan, and district levels, a timeline of perceived critical events and an empirical NAS model of the current governance system is constructed. The analysis identifies three high-connectivity, high-feasibility leverage points: (i) strengthening public-private partnerships, (ii) establishing a comprehensive city-wide UPGS inventory linked to an updated General Urban Plan, and (iii) harmonising legal provisions with robust, updated databases. An improved NAS model incorporating these interventions demonstrates how targeted coordination can break stalemates and enhance the resilience of green-space governance. The findings highlight the utility of NAS for uncovering systemic deficiencies in urban environmental governance and provide transferable guidance for other metropolitan contexts facing similar green space conflicts. Implications for policy, planning practice, and future research on integrated urban green infrastructure are discussed. • Network of Action Situations is useful when dealing with systemic issues such as governance of urban public green space. • Urban space is a contested arena where users compete for its limited resources such as the green space. • Governance of urban public green space is complex in conflictual legal contexts such as propertyrestitution in Eastern Europe. • Conflicts navigate across multiple level of governance. • Studying conflict dynamics helps to better understand the source and the impact of those conflicts.