Pioneers, Imitators and Laggards: Governance of Climate Change in German Cities

"Yes, we could do something about climate change now, but if we were to find out in 50 years' time that all the scientists were wrong after all and that there is no global warming at all, then we would have ensured, for no reason at all, that the air can be breathed again even in the cities, that the rivers are no longer poisonous, that cars make neither noise nor stink and that we are no longer dependent on dictators and their oil reserves. That would make us very angry." (Marc-Uwe Kling)
For several decades, (some) cities have been involved in climate policy. Initially, they mainly focused on climate mitigation, i.e. strategies and measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the face of increasingly extreme weather events such as heat waves and heavy rain, they have also developed strategies and measures to adapt to climate change in recent years. Previous research on urban climate policy has mostly focused on internationally well-connected and high-profile larger cities (e.g. Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm) and a handful of prominent smaller pioneering cities (e.g. Bristol, Freiburg, Graz). What all these cities have in common is that they can pursue climate policy under comparatively 'comfortable' conditions and find it relatively easy to gain national and international visibility and recognition. But what about the cities in the second tier, which, unlike the leaders, usually (have to) work with very limited financial and human resources and without significant political and civil society support?
This habilitation project focuses on the widest possible range of cities, concerning both pioneers ("forerunners"), i.e. cities that have been pursuing an ambitious climate policy for a long time, and laggards, i.e. cities that have been less active in climate policy. In addition, there are numerous followers or cities somewhere in between that cannot be classified as either pioneers or laggards. However, the project is not interested primarily in classifying cities according to their climate policy activity (i.e., as pioneers, imitators or laggards) but rather the reasons that might explain why they have a particular level of ambition. Previous research on urban climate policy has established a connection between certain structural - more precisely socio-demographic, socio-economic and economic - factors and the climate policy activity of cities. Against this background, the project attaches great importance to different structural city types, such as science and university cities, industrial cities (in transition) or historic cities. The research puzzle will be examined in the context of case studies in large and medium-sized and small German cities. Qualitative methods will be used (mainly analysis of policy documents and interviews with experts). In addition, the habilitation project will investigate whether (and if so, which) possibilities might exist for transferring approaches between cities. This question will be discussed both empirically and conceptually.
The habilitation project is connected to the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (Department of Regional Planning) and is supervised by Prof. Dr. Ludger Gailing.

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