Creasy, A, Lane, M, Owen, A orcid.org/0000-0002-1240-9319 et al. (2 more authors) (2021) Representing ‘Place’: City Climate Commissions and the Institutionalisation of Experimental Governance in Edinburgh. Politics and Governance, 9 (2). pp. 64-75. ISSN 2183-2463
Abstract
Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article presents an analysis of the Edinburgh Climate Commission’s establishment, drawing on participatory ethnographic research carried out by a researcher embedded within the project team. The account of how this new mode of urban governance was both conceptualised and then put into practice offers a new institutional angle to the literature on urban ‘experimentation.’ Through our reflective analysis we argue that aspirations to ensure pre-defined ‘key’ industries (high carbon emitters) are accounted for in commissioner recruitment, and an over-emphasis on capturing discernible ‘impacts’ in the short term (by involving organisations already pro-active in sustainable development) hindered an opportunity to embrace new perspectives on urban futures and harness the innovative potential of cities to engage with the multifaceted nature of the climate challenge. Furthermore, new insight into the relationship between local authorities and other ‘place-based’ agents of change opens up important questions regarding how to balance the attainment of legitimacy within the political status quo, and the prospect of a new radical politics for urban transformation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). |
Keywords: | agency; cities; climate change; Edinburgh; local governance; net zero; polycentrism; Scotland |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ES/S008381/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Jan 2021 15:37 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:33 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cogitatio Press |
Identification Number: | 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3794 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:170398 |