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Evaluating the potential for justice in urban climate change adaptation in the U.S.: The role of institutions
Citation:
Hughes, S. Evaluating the potential for justice in urban climate change adaptation in the U.S.: The role of institutions. Urban Affairs Association, San Antonio, TX, March 19 - 22, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this presentation is to evaluate the role that institutions play in encouraging or supporting local government climate change adaptation policy actions. Adapting cities to climate change is an important policy challenge, and the results presented identify the social and political drivers of policy action. In this way the research provides important insights for researchers and practitioners.
Description:
Global climate change requires that cities adapt to new conditions such as changing precipitation patterns, temperature extremes, and frequency of natural disasters. Adapting cities to climate change will have consequences for urban populations as it requires a reconfiguration of urban infrastructures, services, and decision making processes. It is critical that urban adaptation is just, meaning that decision making processes involve all groups, the adaptation needs of vulnerable groups are prioritized, and adaptation actions are implemented where they are most needed and have tangible benefits for vulnerable groups. Adaptation is a complex or “wicked” policy problem, which means it requires collaborations and new partnerships; this comes with challenging politics of institutional change. At the same time, adaptation has unique qualities such as uncertainty and collective action barriers that require adjustments to existing theories. This presentation draws on urban governance theory and theories of democracy to outline a useful framework for evaluating the drivers of urban adaptation policies, and in particular the role that institutions and institutional capacity may play in supporting policy action. Second, the presentation explores empirically the extent to which over 1,600 local governments are currently undertaking adaptation actions and supporting disadvantaged populations by using the ICMA 2010 Local Government Sustainability survey. The frequency and distribution of actions taken by local governments that are adaptive and/or that address justice concerns are catalogued and described. Statistical techniques are used to explain patterns in their adoption. The theoretical and empirical results highlight the extent to which institutions shape local adaptation policies, the implications this has for encouraging justice in climate change adaptation, and what next steps academics and practitioners can take to move the agenda forward.