{"title":"Analyzing the political impact of Real-world laboratories for urban transformation in eight German ‘Cities of the Future’","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103923","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Real-world laboratories (RwLs) provide research settings to develop and test sustainability solution options and have gained considerable attention in the field of sustainability research since the early 2010s. RwLs, especially those in which urban municipalities are involved as partners, have been linked to promises for fostering sustainable urban development, but they are also critically discussed, e.g., for being used as proof for already doing ‘enough’ in terms of sustainability and citizen participation. However, these assumptions are rarely empirically investigated. This paper applies a traceable methodological approach. We focus on long-term RwL processes in eight German cities, that were all part of the Cities of the Future funding program (2015–2022/23). Based on policy documents provided in city council information systems, we conducted a qualitative content analysis. By applying deductively and inductively developed codes, we capture the ways in which the RwL processes were a) linked to changes in urban polity, politics and policy, and b) strategically used by city officials. Our findings suggest that most of the RwLs had political impacts in several ways. Further, attempts of strategic use were particularly visible for politically highly impactful RwLs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Science & Policy","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901124002570","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Real-world laboratories (RwLs) provide research settings to develop and test sustainability solution options and have gained considerable attention in the field of sustainability research since the early 2010s. RwLs, especially those in which urban municipalities are involved as partners, have been linked to promises for fostering sustainable urban development, but they are also critically discussed, e.g., for being used as proof for already doing ‘enough’ in terms of sustainability and citizen participation. However, these assumptions are rarely empirically investigated. This paper applies a traceable methodological approach. We focus on long-term RwL processes in eight German cities, that were all part of the Cities of the Future funding program (2015–2022/23). Based on policy documents provided in city council information systems, we conducted a qualitative content analysis. By applying deductively and inductively developed codes, we capture the ways in which the RwL processes were a) linked to changes in urban polity, politics and policy, and b) strategically used by city officials. Our findings suggest that most of the RwLs had political impacts in several ways. Further, attempts of strategic use were particularly visible for politically highly impactful RwLs.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Science & Policy promotes communication among government, business and industry, academia, and non-governmental organisations who are instrumental in the solution of environmental problems. It also seeks to advance interdisciplinary research of policy relevance on environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, environmental pollution and wastes, renewable and non-renewable natural resources, sustainability, and the interactions among these issues. The journal emphasises the linkages between these environmental issues and social and economic issues such as production, transport, consumption, growth, demographic changes, well-being, and health. However, the subject coverage will not be restricted to these issues and the introduction of new dimensions will be encouraged.