Engaging Cities

Abstract

National and international attention, both academic and otherwise, to local climate actions and policy usually focuses on large/mega-cities. However, given current progress, this represents an oversight when approaching the energy transition – in particular, due to the large proportion of the urban population living in cities smaller than 500,000 people. As a result, the main question of this study is: What are good practices for Dutch SMCs with populations between 50,000-250,000 and are there demonstrable effects linking them to achieving climate targets? In this thesis, I analyzed good practices to achieve climate mitigation targets from 13 Dutch municipalities and assessed what correlations are possible linking good practice to emissions reductions using both quantitative and qualitative indicators. I found that there are several good practices available to local governments implemented. Furthermore, the governance mode of these good practices reflected mainly ‘governing by enabling’, however it was found that within municipal climate documents that other forms of governance were also prevalent and widely used. Finally, it was found that current monitoring data is insufficient to link those implemented good practices to municipal emissions reductions.