Integrating climate change and urban regeneration: success stories from Seoul

Abstract

Urban regeneration offers extensive opportunities for tackling climate change. However, in the Republic of Korea, successful examples of such policy integration are rare. Whereas many studies have analysed inhibiting factors of policy integration, the perspective of this paper is different. It investigates enabling factors that promote policy integration in the cases of climate change and urban regeneration policies under non-supportive politico-administrative framework conditions. Two good practice examples from Seoul (<em>i.e.</em> the neighbourhoods of Jangwi-dong and Sangdo 4-dong) provide a basis for analysing: (1) which topics facilitated integration; (2) which stakeholders promoted the integration of climate change and urban regeneration policies and how; and (3) whether and how long-term community effects could be generated. A mixed-methods approach is used: document analysis, content analysis, interviews (<em>n</em> = 50) and process-tracing methods. The results show the significance of local promoters and their politico-administrative skills to frame distinct subjects comprehensively which facilitates support from different programmes. Second, open and flexible regulatory frameworks as well as the readiness of higher level authorities to learn from local experiments are conducive to innovation. Third, the institutionalisation and mainstreaming of new topics, <em>e.g.</em> climate change, is a precondition for creating lasting effects in urban regeneration areas. <strong><em><br /></em></strong> <strong><em>Practice relevance</em></strong> <strong><em></em></strong>The study is relevant for urban regeneration practice because it highlights the role and qualifications of promoters of policy integration, the level of readiness to allow and learn from local experiments in urban living laboratories, and the necessity to mainstream new topics such as climate change as soon as they are integrated to generate lasting effects.