Post on 15-May-2015
Urban Transition Management
Dr. Derk Loorbach Manchester, 07-05-2009
Dr. Derk Loorbach Manchester, 07-05-2009
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Towards sustainable cities?
• Cities major contributor to CO2 emissions
• Cities places of innovation and change
• Challenge to transform cities into sustainable cities in an innovative way
system and transition approach
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Cities as social systems
City Rotterdam
Societal landscape
City subsystems (regimes)
Civil society
and citizens
Mobility subsystem
Policy substem
Energy subsystem
Industrial subsystem
Innovations and niches
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Transition dynamicscomplex, uncertain and non linear
Predevelopment
Stabilization
time
Societal development
Acceleration
Take-off
Macro-level
(landscape, trends)
Meso-level (regimes, institutions)
Micro-level (Niches,
individuals)
From: Rotmans et al, 2000 From: Geels and Kemp, 2001
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Governance framework for dealing with transitions
Strategic(emphasis on system, cultures)
Tactical(emphasis on subsystem, structures)
Operational(emphasis on niches, practices)
Monitoring, evaluating
and learning
Developing images
coalitions and transition-agendas
Mobilizing actors and executing projects and
experiments
Problem structuring, establishment of the transition arena and
envisioning
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Transition management radical change in incremental
steps • Complex system approach
– Reframing social problems and developing shared long term perspectives, interests and strategies
• Basic tenets and framework guide experimental governance strategy development– Visions, experiments, agenda’s, reflection inform one another
• Building up societal pressure on regime, and seducing regime actors to participate– Multi-actor, frontrunners, experimenting
• Framework for science-policy co-production– Iteration between theory and practice
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
City of Rotterdam
• 650.000 inhabitants, relatively young population, 50% immigrants, huge harbour/industry
• Two historic transitions: from rural to city, from national to global harbour
• Number of programs started to deal with persistent urban challenges
Three programs where TM was/is used in different ways
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Rotterdam Climate Initiative
• 50 % CO2 reduction in 2025• Harbour/industry and city• Multiple projects, strategies and
experiments, large focus on CCS
transformative evaluation: CCS, scenarios, visions, pathways, experiments, governance strategy
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
System RotterdamActors RotterdamRotterdam ClimateInitiative
Vision
Icon-projects
Vision
Innovation projects
External pressure
Spaces forexperiments
Agendas andnetworks
Agendas andnetworks
System- changes
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
Trends
Structure
Niches
Level ofgovernance
Level ofdevelopment
Monitoring and evaluation framework
basis for indicator framework
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Pact op Zuid • 1 billion Euro, 10 years, city and housing
companies• Hundreds of projects in physical, economic,
and social and cultural domain• Aim: to improve southern half of Rotterdam
up to the level of north
evaluation from transition perspective; no clear focus on social challenge, no inspiring long-term vision, fragmentation on short term, limited stakeholder involvement, dominance of physical/economic
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Tijd
Pact op Zuid
City harbors Program-
directors
Self-organisation: Supply driven, Integral,
Process oriented Innovative,/sustainable
Co-production
Fragmented Competition Individualism Distrust Short-term
GGW
Gideon
Policy new stylenwe stijl
City marines
SONS Bureau frontline
Field-academy
Activation Human centered concrete solutions
Empowering Experimenting Learning
Mono-actorGroup
portrets
Participation visions
Norm op Zuid
Roffa 5314
Artroute
Social and policy transition
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Cityharbours
• 6+ billion redevelopment of 1600 ha. harbour area towards 2025
• City and harbour cooperation• Three years of negotiation and regular
planning and visions
Active involvement through arenas and strategy/policy development; raising ambition, developing new vision, selecting core themes, developing shared discourse and creating transition experiments
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
5 strategies1. Re-inventing delta technology
2. Volume & Value
3. Crossing borders
4. Floating gentrification
5. Sustainable mobility
Long term: perspective 2040
Mid term: course 2025
Short term: action 2015
City harbours
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Urban transitions (in Rotterdam)
• Three cases in different domains with common characteristics– Long-term and experimental focus– Explicit search for innovations in governance– Struggles between optimisation and innovation/transition
• Cities ideal and most problematic level for TM– Cities as systems– Emotional attachment is high– Very concrete and relatively quick results
• Urban transition composed of multiple subsystem transitions– Mobility, energy, policy, health care, education, consumption, industry,
food provision, …
• Some can be actively ‘managed’ others can be stimulated, others need to be adapted to
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Urban transition management
• Implementation of TM raises ambition, coherence and activism
• ‘Transitionizing’ existing policies– Use of the concept of transitions to conceptualize,
analyze and identify ongoing changes towards sustainability in different domains
– Stimulation of envisioning and goal formulation on the long-term
– (re)structuring transition scenario’s and pathways– Up-scaling and initiating projects and experiments– Reflection and evaluation of progress of transitions and
(required) changes in governance
Dutch Research Institute For Transitions
Discussion
• Urban transitions to sustainability are necessary
• They require transition oriented strategies tailored to specific city
• This requires skilled and knowledgeable actors, time, money and ambitious politicians
• Focus on policy and professionals, less on citizens