The role of metropolitan actors in spatial planning for climate adaptation and resilience: insights from three European cases

Abstract

The presentation discusses the results of an ongoing research project on climate adaptation planning in metropolitan areas, with a particular focus on the role taken on by metropolitan-level institutions. Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts such as urban heat island effect, flooding, and extreme weather events. In response, cities around the world are engaging with climate adaptation, for instance by integrating this approach in their spatial planning and management of the built environment. Most adaptation plans have been carried out by municipalities (Nalau et al., 2015), which however face a series of barriers to adaptation connected to issues such as a lack of resources and capabilities, which are especially challenging for smaller municipalities (Reckien et al., 2018), as well as the transboundary nature of climate phenomena and the need to mobilize competencies which are distributed across government levels.

Subnational actors, such as metropolitan institutions, are increasingly involved in and responsible for adaptation policymaking, for instance producing specific plans or mainstreaming adaptation in their own spatial planning (Committee of Regions et al., 2016; Olazabal et al., 2019). Metropolitan institutions have also been suggested to have the coordinating and governance capacity to promote climate adaptation efforts across entire metropolitan regions (Shi, 2019), as well as to provide guidance and assistance to municipalities. However, the presence of political fragmentation and administrative boundaries, as well as the persistence of inter- and intra-municipal divergences and inequalities within metropolitan contexts, still often represent an obstacle to effective and inclusive adaptation across these regions.

Based on an in-depth exploration of three case studies (the metropolitan areas of Milan, Stockholm, and Amsterdam) and using a policy analysis approach, this research discusses current efforts to steer urban climate adaptation by metropolitan institutions through spatial planning instruments. The choice of diverse case studies (though all can be considered as “frontrunners” of adaptation) provides an account of adaptation planning processes in different institutional contexts and planning cultures. Particular attention is given to the actual and potential role that metropolitan institutions play in integrating climate adaptation and resilience in spatial planning agendas and to their capacity to steer municipalities and promote the uptake of adaptation measures. By analyzing one “flagship” adaptation planning process developed at the metropolitan scale in each case study, the research discusses the main instruments used to promote climate-proofing of the city, the outcomes of the process in terms of the effect on municipalities and on inter-institutional relationships, and persisting outstanding issues and bottlenecks.