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Connecting the Dots: The Politics of Governing Urban Climate Adaptation Innovations Through Transnational Municipal Networks

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Book cover Climate Change in Cities

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

Abstract

Since Agenda 21 was ratified at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, a number of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) have emerged to promote a variety of sustainability and climate change actions. Despite research on the role of TMNs in facilitating urban climate action, there have been few reflexive inquiries regarding how governance actors, institutions, and processes have transformed resulting from local governments’ participation in TMNs. In this chapter, I investigate how TMNs have promoted urban adaptation actions as well as their effects on local government climate policy processes. I first draw on the theories of multi-level governance, urban planning, and social innovation in the context of climate change to develop a framework for governing adaptation innovations through a model of contentious urban politics. I then apply this framework to explore climate adaptation processes in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and Berkeley (California, United States), and examine the actors, resources, and networks involved in motivating, sustaining, and prioritizing adaptation across competing sectoral agendas. The results note that the successful and eventual uptake of adaptive innovations requires communicating competing interests, confronting conflicts, and building cross-sectoral coalitions. I conclude by arguing that a model of contentious politics, especially as advocated by TMNs, is more appropriate to understand how governance innovations can be harnessed to promote more climate adaptive cities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Ryan G. Bellinson

Authors
  1. Ryan G. Bellinson
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Correspondence to Ryan G. Bellinson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Sara Hughes

  2. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, The Netherlands

    Eric K. Chu

  3. School of Public Service, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA

    Susan G. Mason

Appendices

Appendix A: List of Interviews

Assistant Director of Planning and Research. Association of Bay Area Governments. 15 December 2016.

Chief Resilience Officer. Department of City Development. City of Rotterdam. 24 August 2016.

Climate Action Program Manager. Energy and Sustainable Development Department. City of Berkeley. 18 August 2016.

Deputy Director of the Environment. DCMR. 9 December 2016.

Environmental Policy Advisor. Department of City Development. City of Rotterdam. 26 August 2016.

Innovation and Change Program Advisor. Department of Engineering. City of Rotterdam.17 October 2016.

Planner, Energy and Sustainable Development Department. City of Berkeley. 24 August 2016.

Resilience Planner. Association of Bay Area Governments. 6 December 2016.

Soil and Ground Water Division Manager. DCMR. 6 December 2016.

Sustainability Program Manager, Energy and Sustainable Development Department. City of Berkeley. 22 August 2016.

Appendix B: List of Public Meetings

Climate Action Plan Drafting Special Meeting. City Council Meeting. City of Berkeley. 9 January 2008.

Climate Action Plan Update & Resilience Strategy Planning Special Meeting. City Council Meeting. City of Berkeley. 9 June 2015.

Resilience Strategy Update Special Meeting. City Council Meeting. City of Berkeley. 3 November 2015.

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Bellinson, R.G. (2018). Connecting the Dots: The Politics of Governing Urban Climate Adaptation Innovations Through Transnational Municipal Networks. In: Hughes, S., Chu, E., Mason, S. (eds) Climate Change in Cities. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65003-6_10

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