Governing the Transition to a Gastronomy City: Local Government Roles, Collaborative Governance, and Institutional Challenges in Padang, Indonesia

Abstract

The transition from culinary recognition to an internationally credible gastronomy city requires more than destination branding; it requires institutions able to coordinate stakeholders, strengthen small enterprises, and preserve living food heritage. This study examines how Padang City’s Tourism Office performs these functions, which implementation barriers constrain them, and what governance arrangements could support an inclusive gastronomy-city agenda. Using an exploratory qualitative case-study design, the research draws on eight purposively selected interview participants across seven professional categories, field observations, and documentary evidence collected in Padang during November 2025–May 2026. Publicly accessible institutional documents released after fieldwork are used only for contextual updating, not as interview findings. Using role theory and collaborative governance as complementary analytical lenses, the study identifies four interdependent governmental roles—planner, facilitator, promoter, and coordinator—and five constraints: institutional transition, limited gastronomy literacy, uneven micro- and small-enterprise capabilities, weak spatial coverage of culinary assets, and undifferentiated competition. The analysis proposes an institutional-conversion perspective in which strategic commitments must be translated into coordinated implementation, enterprise capability, heritage-sensitive place-making, and monitorable public value. Padang’s 2027 UNESCO Creative Cities Network ambition is therefore treated as a policy objective, not as an achieved designation. The study contributes a role-to-capability governance framework and a set of measurable policy priorities; the conclusions are qualified by the scope and depth of the qualitative evidence.