Community-Led Governance for Sustainable Tourism in Emerging Destinations

Abstract

Community-led governance is increasingly recognised as pivotal for sustainable tourism, yet empirical analysis of how informal neighbourhood institutions perform governance functions is scarce. This mixed-methods study examines how mahallas—traditional neighbourhood organisations in Uzbekistan—contribute to tourism sustainability by bridging formal institutions and local communities. Using social network analysis and ethnographic interviews, we mapped 159 actors (93 in Tashkent, 66 in Bukhara) and more than 420 confirmed ties to analyse network structure, central actors, and interaction mechanisms. Results show contrasting but complementary governance models: Tashkent exhibits a polycentric, institutionally connected network where mahallas act as intermediaries between government, businesses and NGOs; Bukhara shows a smaller, denser network grounded in bonding social capital and moral legitimacy. Mahallas increase project completion and participation (joint initiatives recorded 78–82% success rates versus lower rates for municipal-only projects), mobilise hashar and cultural stewardship, and enable rapid local learning and replication of sustainability practices. The paper contributes to governance and tourism literature by demonstrating three capacities of informal institutions (relational, moral and cognitive) and argues that sustainable outcomes depend on alignment between formal policy and culturally rooted community action. Practical implications include institutionalising mahalla participation in planning, capacity-building for local leadership, and promoting inter-city knowledge exchange.