Analyzing institutionalization and materialization of adaptive governance

Following the economic and financial crisis, worldwide local governments have taken austerity measures and developed new governance approaches to reduce the role of governments, increase the role of societal parties, and deal... [ view full abstract ]

Following the economic and financial crisis, worldwide local governments have taken austerity measures and developed new governance approaches to reduce the role of governments, increase the role of societal parties, and deal with uncertainties caused by volatile markets and lack of resources. In urban development, on which this paper focuses, forms of adaptive governance (Folke et al 2005; Van Buuren et al 2015) have been introduced to address uncertainties in housing markets and financial resources. Instead of governing through large restructuring projects, adaptive governance has been applied under names such as slow urbanism or organic urban development. Characteristic for these governance approaches are high numbers of small initiatives developed adaptively in reaction to emerging opportunities. Although adaptive governance is often seen as an effective approach in permanently changing environments, there is limited empirical research on how it works and what the effects are. This paper contributes to filling that gap. The study analyses a case of adaptive governance in the restructuring of the Zomerhofarea in Rotterdam. The study focuses on the transformative effects of adaptive governance, analyzing whether the adaptive governance approach institutionalizes and transforms the governance system, and whether it materializes physically in the area thus transforming the spatial system. The research question is: does adaptive governance transform institutions in the governance system and material objects in the spatial-physical system?
The paper draws on literature on institutions and institutionalization processes (Healey, 1996; Scott 1995), and Duineveld et al (2013) to conceptualize processes materialization. With the aid of Termeer et al (2016) transformational change in governance processes is conceptualized.
The research strategy is a case study conducted during three years of going in and out the field. Data were collected through participant observation (over 50 sessions), interviews (8) and document analyses.
The preliminary results indicate that adaptive governance has had transformative effects by institutionalizing and materializing at the community level, but there was limited transformative effect at the municipal level. The temporary initiatives and small experiments which were part of the adaptive governance approach, do materialize in the area. However the initiatives regularly conflict with existing municipal policies and regulations. Actors handle this by trying to transform either the initiatives or the policies and regulations. Crucial is the strategic use of temporariness, informality, and flexible use of regulations. Most initiatives do not upscale, and have limited transformative effect in the governance system at municipal level. However, some partial and limited changes in the municipal governance system have stealthily developed.

References
Duineveld et al (2013) Making things irreversible. Object stabilization in urban planning and design. Geoforum 46: 16-24

Folke et al (2005). Adaptive governance of socio-ecological systems. Annual. Rev. Environ. Resources 30: 441–73

Scott, W.R. (2005), Institutions and organizations. Sage.

Termeer et al. (2016) Transformational change: governance interventions for climate change adaptation from a continuous change perspective, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

Van Buuren et al. 2015. Implementation arrangements for climate adaptation in the Netherlands: characteristics and underlying mechanisms of adaptive governance. Ecology and Society 20(4):11