Norm domestication challenges for local climate actions: A lesson from Arizona, USA

Research on norm domestication in multi-level governance structures is overlooked in urban climate governance and policy literature. This paper conceptualizes multi-scalar interactions of norm domestication for local climate actions. The city of Phoenix, which operates under the “purple” (blue cities and red legislatures) state of Arizona, is analyzed to illustrate how a local government can take up the climate actions left in the void at the state and federal levels. The empirical findings reveal important temporal politics at the state level that influenced the local government's climate norm domestication. The period of Democratic party leadership diffused climate norms at the state-level and positioned the local government more as a climate policy-taker, adopting decisions from the state legislature. Swings in the state-level executive orders under the subsequent period of Republican leadership, however, forced the local government to seek some common ground for norm domestication, usually related to the nonpartisan goals of economic development. Consequently, local climate actions are subject to depoliticization of climate change from the higher-level governance structures. Overall, decarbonization targets are not being directed in ways that lead to a broader shift in the socio-technical system but would support short-term emission reductions if multiple institutions, both at the state and sub-state levels, created spaces for collaboration rather than competition.publishedVersio

Populist far right discursive-institutional tactics in European regional decarbonization

What rhetorical strategies are populist far-right parties using to delay regional decarbonization? This paper focuses on three populist far-right parties—the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Poland's Law and Justice (PiS)—and the discursive-institutional tactics each used from 2014 to 2021 to delay decarbonization of their carbon-intensive regions. We identify three discursive-institutional tactics used by populist far-right actors to delay decarbonization: (1) politicizing decarbonization, (2) reframing cultural values to form alliances with anti-decarbonization movements, and (3) dismantling key decarbonization institutions. We show that the populist far-right discursive-institutional tactics in European regional decarbonization are prevalent and vary widely. The politics of backlash against the EU-driven progressive public policies and anti-democratic rhetoric, including xenophobia and national sovereignty discourses are commonly used by these three populist far right parties to mobilize counternarratives against climate change and regional decarbonization. EKRE and PiS typically portray themselves as the protectors of social insurance and safety for vulnerable groups affected by regional decarbonization. PiS and AfD harness regional identity to mobilize civic engagement against decarbonization. All three parties work to empty and dismantle key decarbonization institutions. Overall, our findings suggest that carbon-intensive regions are particularly susceptible to the discursive tactics and institutional work of populist far-right parties, and may therefore provide opportunities for these parties to constrain decarbonization more broadly.publishedVersio

Nature-based solutions through collective actions for spatial justice in urban green commons

Urban climate adaptation through nature-based solutions (NBS) requires collective action that incorporates spatial justice considerations. Collective actions reveal new ways of thinking about urban green commons and spatial justice by reframing conventional understandings of NBS, space, and climate adaptation. Three urban green commons examined in Istanbul demonstrate how the grassroots-supported NBS must navigate complex land ownership arrangements, spatial justice, and opposing urban development priorities and socio-spatial reconfigurations spurred by local and national political elites. Using qualitative data collected from fieldwork carried out in 2019, we find critical relationships between activists, academics, professional organizations, and local residents collectively acting to promote urban green commons. NBS do not rely on the dominant techno-political processes that generate primarily infrastructure-based climate adaptation solutions in Istanbul. While spatial justice and collective action scholarship often pays attention to how disadvantaged communities gain recognition and involvement in decision making - such as establishing formal channels to access environmental goods and services - climate adaptation through NBS opens spaces of opportunity for these groups to promote justice and resist the dominant economic development paradigm. Further studies must pay attention to what extent collective actions create new socio-political identities that are harnessed to resist dominant techno-political processes, and when are these emergent identities co-opted by local and national governments.publishedVersio

Right-wing and populist support for climate mitigation policies : evidence from Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region

Research on environmental behaviour is often overlooked in literature on regime destabilization in energy transitions. This study addresses that gap by focusing on socio-political and demographic factors shaping support for carbon regime destabilization policies in one of the most carbon-intensive regions of Europe. Carbon-intensive industries, especially coal mining and coal-based power generation, are often concentrated in a few carbon-intensive regions. Therefore, decarbonization actions will affect those regions particularly strongly. Correspondingly, carbon-intensive regions often exert significant political influence on the two climate mitigation policies at the national level. Focusing on Poland, we investigate socio-political and demographic factors that correlate with the approval or rejection of the two climate mitigation policies: increasing taxes on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal and using public money to subsidize renewable energy such as wind and solar power in Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region. Using logistic regression with individual-level data derived from the 2016 European Social Survey (ESS) and the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), we find party-political ideology to be an important predictor at the national level but much less so at the regional level. Specifically, voting for right-wing party is not a divisive factor for individual support of the two climate mitigation policies either nationally or regionally. More interestingly, populism is a strong factor in support of increasing taxes on fossil fuel in the carbon-intensive Silesia region but is less important concerning in support of using public money to subsidize renewable energy in Poland overall. These results show the heterogeneity of right-wing party and populism within the support for the two climate mitigation policies. Socio-demographic factors, especially age, gender, education level, employment status, and employment sector, have even more complex and heterogeneous components in support of the two climate mitigation policies at the national and regional levels. Identifying the complex socio-political and demographic factors of climate mitigation policies across different national versus carbon-intensive regional contexts is an essential step for generating in situ decarbonization strategies

Right-wing and populist support for climate mitigation policies: Evidence from Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region

Research on environmental behaviour is often overlooked in literature on regime destabilization in energy transitions. This study addresses that gap by focusing on socio-political and demographic factors shaping support for carbon regime destabilization policies in one of the most carbon-intensive regions of Europe. Carbon-intensive industries, especially coal mining and coal-based power generation, are often concentrated in a few carbon-intensive regions. Therefore, decarbonization actions will affect those regions particularly strongly. Correspondingly, carbon-intensive regions often exert significant political influence on the two climate mitigation policies at the national level. Focusing on Poland, we investigate socio-political and demographic factors that correlate with the approval or rejection of the two climate mitigation policies: increasing taxes on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal and using public money to subsidize renewable energy such as wind and solar power in Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region. Using logistic regression with individual-level data derived from the 2016 European Social Survey (ESS) and the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), we find party-political ideology to be an important predictor at the national level but much less so at the regional level. Specifically, voting for right-wing party is not a divisive factor for individual support of the two climate mitigation policies either nationally or regionally. More interestingly, populism is a strong factor in support of increasing taxes on fossil fuel in the carbon-intensive Silesia region but is less important concerning in support of using public money to subsidize renewable energy in Poland overall. These results show the heterogeneity of right-wing party and populism within the support for the two climate mitigation policies. Socio-demographic factors, especially age, gender, education level, employment status, and employment sector, have even more complex and heterogeneous components in support of the two climate mitigation policies at the national and regional levels. Identifying the complex socio-political and demographic factors of climate mitigation policies across different national versus carbon-intensive regional contexts is an essential step for generating in situ decarbonization strategies.publishedVersio

Adaptation, exposure, and politics: Local extreme heat and global climate change risk perceptions in the phoenix metropolitan region, USA

Cities around the planet are facing climate change risks including (but not limited to) extreme heat, drought, wildfire, and flooding. Urbanites perceptions of the risks posed by climate change influence communities' mitigation and adaption responses, but there is limited literature on the perceptions of climate risks in cities. Urban climate change impacts are multi-scalar, but existing work isolates local versus global considerations. Adaptive capacity affects climate change impacts, yet scholarship on urban climate typically is not framed through an adaptive capacity lens. In this study, we explore how exposure to heat, place-based vs. social connections, and socio-demographics affect residents' perception that extreme heat (local extreme heat) or climate change (global climate change) seriously affects their household and way of life. Using a survey from metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (USA), an area facing increased extreme heat and rapid climate change, this study shows that urbanites' perceptions of risks posed by extreme weather conditions and global climate change are mediated in part by the existing urban infrastructure and planning (e.g., access to urban green infrastructure) and magnified by exposure to heat, but also shaped by political ideology. We also find that place attachment and Latino or Hispanic ethnic background positively affect perceptions of local extreme heat, while high income negatively influences perceptions of global climate change impacts. Heat exposure positively, whereas green infrastructure negatively affects risk perceptions of both local extreme heat and global climate change. Risk perceptions are influenced by exposure and adaptive capacity. Identifying the drivers of risk perceptions across different local contexts is an essential step for generating in-situ climate adaptation strategies for cities.publishedVersio

Governance learning from collective actions for just climate adaptation in cities

Environmental policy research fails to integrate procedural and recognitional justice perspectives and collective actions in governance learning for just climate adaptations. Drawing on the insights of two cities experiencing climate impacts differently, Bergen (Norway) and Istanbul (Turkey), this paper assesses how collective actions influence different levels of governments (local to national) to learn from these actions to implement just climate actions in their localities. Using environmental justice (specifically recognition and procedural) and policy learning literature, we contextualize a three-governance learning typology that emerges through collective actions that may trigger governance structures for policy integration: governance learning by resisting, co-opting, and expanding. We identify what kind of learning is introduced to the existing governance structures in Bergen and Istanbul, and how that learning shapes or is shaped by the governance structures, local government in Bergen and local to national governments in Istanbul, while developing climate adaptation policies and actions. Overall, this paper shows what types of knowledge and information are incorporated or ignored after collective actions and how power mediates interactions between actors across multiple urban settings for just climate adaptation.publishedVersio

Diffusion of global climate policy: National depoliticization, local repoliticization in Turkey

Although climate policy diffusion is widely studied, we know comparatively little about how these global policies and the norms that surround them are used by various political actors seeking to advance their own agendas. In this article, we focus on how global climate norms are diffused differently at national and local scales and used to repoliticize or depoliticize climate change. We focus on the case of Turkey, which carries the stark contrast of showing willingness to achieve global climate goals in the international arena but less so in domestic politics and actions. The article employs a novel methodological approach, using topic modeling and network analyses on a range of climate change–related policy documents, and interviews with high-level officers, conducted at the three jurisdictional levels in Turkey. The findings reveal that although global climate policy is diffused to both national and local governments, it is used in different ways at these levels. The national government uses climate policy diffusion to depoliticize climate change by creating ad hoc climate coalitions and limiting local climate actions to seeking external climate-related funds. Meanwhile, the metropolitan municipalities replicate nationally adopted climate goals, whereas the district municipalities domesticate ambitious climate norms and repoliticize climate change via local climate entrepreneurs and civic action. The paper contributes to understanding how climate policy diffusion and norm domestication can have different political outcomes in achieving global climate goals and argues for increased policy attention to the strategic use of climate policy diffusion for the depoliticization of climate change.publishedVersio

The green divide and heat exposure: urban transformation projects in istanbul

Extreme heat events are happening more frequently and with greater severity, causing significant negative consequences, especially for vulnerable urban populations around the globe. Heat stress is even more common in cities with dense and irregular planning and lacking urban blue-green infrastructures. This study investigates the greening and cooling effects of five selected urban transformation projects and their surrounding areas (within a 10-min walking distance) in Istanbul from 2013 to 2021, with a focus on environmental justice and climate adaptation planning perspectives. By employing temporal analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) values derived from Landsat data sets to detect changes in these five selected urban transformation projects in the megacity of Türkiye, Istanbul, this study finds that the distribution of green infrastructures (e.g., tree canopy) is only limited to project sites of long-running and state-supported urban transformation projects in Istanbul. Consequently, the unequal distribution of green infrastructures creates cooling effects only for the locals residing in the new residential projects. However, the surrounding areas have less urban green infrastructure and are exposed more to the urban heat over time. Urban development policies and planning highly contribute to increasing the climate vulnerabilities among those who do not benefit from the recently developed residential units in Istanbul. Such a trend can affect adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities and redress environmental injustices in urban planning in the megacity of Istanbul

Türkiye’de değişen bölgesel kalkınma yaklaşımları : İzmir Kalkınma Ajansı

ÖZET Türkiye’de yönetimde yeniden yapılanma sürecinde, kamu yönetimine getirilen ‘yönetişim’ mantığı ile kurgulanan bu tezde, bölgesel politikaların süreç içerisinde nasıl şekillendiği incelenmiştir. Bölge, bulunduğu dönemin koşullarına göre tanımı sürekli değişen bir kavramdır. Bu bağlamda, Türkiye’de değişen bölgesel kalkınma yaklaşımları, dönemlendirilerek incelenmiştir. Bölgesel politikaların son ayağını Bölge Kalkınma Ajansları oluşturmaktadır. Türkiye’de 2002 yılında Bakanlar Kurulu kararı ile İstatiski Bölge Birimlerinin Sınıflandırılması kabul edilmiş ve Düzey-2 kapsamında 26 bölgede Bölge Kalkınma Ajansları’nın kurulmasını öngören 5449 sayılı yasa tasarısı 2006 yılında kabul edilmiştir. Buradan hareketle, tezin başlıca amacı, Kalkınma Ajansları ile birlikte, bölgelerdeki değişim süreçlerini gözlemlemek olacaktır. Türkiye’de pilot uygulama olarak kurulan ilk iki ajanstan biri olan İzmir Kalkınma Ajansı üzerinden, İzmir bölgesindeki dönüşüm incelenecektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: 1. Yönetişim 2. Yönetimde Yeniden Yapılanma 3. Bölgesel Kalkınma 4. Türkiye’de Değişen Bölgesel Kalkınma Politikaları 5. Bölgesel Kalkınma Ajansları 6. İzmir Kalkınma AjansıABSTRACT In this thesis, we focused on how regional policy shaped in years, in Turkey. The process of restructuring in the public administration brought us to ‘governance’ logic to get explain. Region, where the ever-changing definition of a concept according to the conditions of the period. Fort this reason, we were classified to get understand varying approaches to regional development in Turkey. The last change in regional policy is Development Agencies. Turkey accepted the Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics in 2002 as a first step in accordance with the harmonization of regional development criteria of EU.Governmnet bill numbered 5449 proposing the the foundation of 26 Regional development Agencies in 26 regions within the context of Level-2 became law in 2006. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis is, getting to understand what is changing in regions after settle down Development Agencies, in Turkey. One of the first setle down Development Agencies which called İzmir Development Agency, will show us what are the changing in İzmir after Development Agency. Keywords: 1. Governance 2. Restructuring in Public Administration 3. Regional Development 4. Changing Regional Development Approaches in Turkey 5. Regional Development Agencies 6. İzmir Development Agenc