Contrasting governance learning processes of climate-leading and -lagging cities: Portland, Oregon, and Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Abstract

The contrasting histories and political ecologies of two U.S. cities-Portland Oregon and Phoenix Arizona-shed light on their ability to learn from and influence the climate governance of their peers. Portland's populace, political leadership, and business sectors are motivated by environmental and social values , resulting in a collective sense of responsibility for fixing global problems like climate change. The city's pioneering land-use policies, green infrastructure, and multimodal transportation systems solidify its place at the climate action forefront. In contrast, libertarian Phoenix prioritizes real estate, efficient government, tourism, and protection of individual rights-the antithesis of Portland's altruism. However, because Phoenix's economic success depends on reliable supplies of water, power, and clean air, it has become an "accidental" expert in dealing with many of the worst effects of climate change: drought, heat island, and air pollution. Portland and Phoenix show that cities' reputations as environmental leaders or laggards may not reflect their ability to teach or learn. Rather, opportunities for urban climate governance learning depend on affinities between cities' political-ecological profiles. These examples illustrate how urban les son-learning and policy mobility, originally developed for cases where cities compete, can accelerate around issues like climat e change, where cities seek to cooperate.

Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands, Coasts and Communities

“…Build vertical and horizontal governance networks and linkages across policy domains and sectors to legitimise decisions, build trust and improve coordination (high confidence). (Glavovic and Smith, 2014;Colenbrander and Sowman, 2015;Dutra et al, 2015;Sowman et al, 2016;Van Putten et al, 2016;Forino et al, 2018;Lund, 2018;Pinto et al, 2018;Clar, 2019;Pittman and Armitage, 2019) In the Lesser Antilles multiple state and non-state actors are working together, building trust, and coordinating activities through decentralisation and self-organisation (Pittman and Armitage, 2019) (Dyckman et al, 2014;Glavovic and Smith, 2014;Dutra et al, 2015;Ensor and Harvey, 2015;Chu et al, 2018;McFadgen and Huitema, 2018;Mazeka, 2019;Wolfram et al, 2019) Innovation is underway to enhance social learning, reflexivity and coalition building (Chu et al, 2018;Bellinson and Chu, 2019;Wolfram et al, 2019), e.g., Surat, India (Chu, 2016a;Chu, 2016b), Santos, Brazil (Marengo et al, 2019), Portland, USA (Fink, 2019), and port cities in Europe and East Asia (Blok and Tschötschel, 2016), In Surat, for example, adaptation experiments created valuable arenas for engaging governance actors and stakeholders, understanding climate and development co-benefits, and testing new ideas (Chu, 2016b). Lessons include:…”

The many shapes and sizes of meta-governance. An empirical study of strategies applied by a well-advanced meta-governor: the case of Dutch central government in education

“…Network governance reflects horizontal coordination between mutual interdependent public, private and civil society actors. Analyses of feasible coordination and control mechanisms of these forms of horizontal coordination have led to meta-governance theory (Bell and Park 2006;Fink 2019).…”

“…In increasingly plural, networked societies, governments worldwide experiment with new forms of governance (Christensen and Laegreid 2007;Klijn 2008;Kooiman 1993;Pierre andPeters 2000, 2005;Rhodes 1997Rhodes , 2007, including indirect remote forms of central coordination and control, which has led to practices of meta-governance (Bell and Park 2006;Fink 2019). Meta-governance entails strategies by which governments seek to control indirectly and steer at a distance, in order to shape and pursue policies (Hammond et al 2019;Klijn and Koppenjan 2000;Kooiman 1993).…”

Planificación de infraestructura verde para la emergencia climática: aprendizajes desde el proyecto “Stgo+”, Santiago de Chile

“…Esto es evidente en la planificación de varias ciudades norteamericanas como Nueva York, en donde en el 2010 se adoptó un Plan de Infraestructura Verde orientado a la gestión de las aguas lluvias y mitigación de eventos extremos (nyc Environmental Agency 2010; Culligan 2019); o Portland, que desde hace varios años está promoviendo las "calles verdes" para recoger e infiltrar las aguas lluvias (Everett et ál. 2018;Fink 2019).…”