Rethinking Leadership in Urban Planning: Administrative Practice Under Institutional Tension

Administrative leadership plays a critical role in navigating institutional complexity in urban planning, yet remains underdeveloped in planning research. This study examines how administrative leadership is practiced and articulated in public–private planning contexts under conditions of institutional tension. Drawing on 38 interviews with public- and private-sector professionals in Finland, the analysis identifies tensions and the leadership practices that navigate them. The findings show that administrative leadership is often enacted without being explicitly named, rendering it institutionally present but discursively muted. The article contributes to planning theory by foregrounding administrative leadership as an organizational dimension of statutory planning governance.