Abstract
Adaptive governance is an emerging theory in natural resource management. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the potential of adaptive governance for delivering resilience and sustainability in the urban context. We explore emerging challenges to transitioning to urban resilience and sustainability: bringing together multiple scales and institutions; facilitating a social–ecological-systems approach; and embedding social and environmental equity into visions of urban sustainability and resilience. Current approaches to adaptive governance could be helpful for addressing these first two challenges but not in addressing the third. Therefore, this paper proposes strengthening the institutional foundations of adaptive governance by engaging with institutional theory. We explore this through empirical research in the Rome Metropolitan Area, Italy. We argue that explicitly engaging with these themes could lead to a more substantive urban transition strategy and contribute to adaptive governance theory.
Highlights
In an increasingly urbanized world, social inequalities, economic boom and bust, degraded environment, climate change and unsustainable resource use are all problems that are discussed in the urban context
In considering ways to embed social and environmental equity into visions of urban sustainability and resilience (Harvey 2009; Boone 2010; Bulkeley 2013), we suggest that strengthening the institutional aspects of the adaptive governance framework could help analyse some of these more political dimensions
In exploring how helpful an adaptive governance lens is in exploring transition strategies to achieve urban sustainability and resilience, we have proposed a strengthening of the institutional elements of adaptive governance through blending with institutional theory
Summary
In an increasingly urbanized world, social inequalities, economic boom and bust, degraded environment, climate change and unsustainable resource use are all problems that are discussed in the urban context (see, for example, Harvey 2009; Rydin and Kendall Bush 2009; Lancet 2012). In this paper we explore a central question: how helpful is an adaptive governance lens in exploring transition strategies to achieve urban sustainability and resilience? After firstly outlining the challenges for urban sustainability and resilience, we review adaptive governance, which has evolved within natural resource management literature. We propose blending adaptive governance and institutional theory to develop a refined conceptual framework that could address this gap. We explore this framework through analysis of urban resilience and sustainability strategies in the Rome Metropolitan Area, Italy. We reflect on the empirical analysis and how helpful the conceptual framework is in understanding complex real world processes to establish sustainable and resilient urban strategies and how our contribution can address gaps in the adaptive governance literature
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