Better policy to support climate change action in the built environment: A framework to analyse and design a policy portfolio

Climate change action in built environments has not been at the scale or pace required to achieve the global goal (Paris Agreement) to limit warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Action towards climate change goals can be facilitated by effective policy design, and policy reform. However, this is challenging because built environment policy contexts are complex and include policy from multiple sectors (e.g. urban planning, construction, design and property); supporting infrastructures (e.g. transport and water) and areas of cross cutting importance (e.g. climate change and sustainability). Limited guidance exists on how to design or analyse portfolios of policy instruments to meet climate change goals and challenges. The aim of this paper is to develop a framework for designing and analysing policy portfolios. The method of developing this framework was via a descriptive and explorative review of literature and a synthesis of key attributes yielded in the review. The framework is comprised of seven attributes: inclusion, prescription, discretion, legibility, vertical integration, horizontal integration, and balance. The framework can be used to analyse the appropriateness of the content of existing policy instruments and portfolios of policy instruments to address climate change goals. Additionally, the framework can be used to guide the development and design of policy portfolios for urbanising and rapidly urbanising areas, to address the challenge of climate change effectively and adequately.