Boundary spanning for governance of climate change adaptation in cities

Abstract

Adapting to climate change in the urban setting requires cooperation across scales, levels of government, organisational boundaries and policy sectors. The study presented in the paper explores governance of urban adaptation policies through the conceptual lens of multi-level governance and boundary spanning. It focuses on the South Wing of the Randstad in The Netherlands, an urban region that is heavily exposed to the negative impacts of climate change, particularly to flooding, due to its location in the Rhine-Meuse delta and concentration of population and economic activity. Yet, it is also a region with strong traditions of cooperation and a track record of pioneering urban climate change measures. The study investigates how the features of the wider institutional context, in which this urban region operates shape the governance of urban adaptation policies and how the contextual factors constrain the scope for spanning horizontal, vertical and temporal boundaries needed for delivering those policies and making the cities of that region more climate-proof.