Agency and governance in green infrastructure policy adoption and change

ABSTRACT

Green Infrastructure (GI) is being adopted in cities all around the world as a key piece of climate change adaptation and water management for local governments. Recognizing that there is increasingly a diversity of actors engaged in designing, implementing, and fostering GI policies, we aim to better understand how urban GI policies take shape over time. We draw from two bodies of scholarship – – agency in Earth System Governance and entrepreneurs in public policy scholarship -- to study the agents who come to exercise authority to shape GI governance. We trace the trajectory of urban GI practices and policy over the past two decades, keenly observing how GI policies are adopted and change over time. We focus on Tucson, Arizona and combine document analysis, key informant interviews, and participation in stakeholder meetings with an innovative timeline method we collaboratively developed with stakeholders to identify the key events and actors in GI policy adoption. Our findings suggest diverse yet, interconnected roles for entrepreneurs highlighting how agency is exercised, how learning occurs and takes shape across entrepreneurs and scales, and how inequities are realized and addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Green infrastructure
• agency
• governance
• cities
• entrepreneurs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation: [Grant Number Award Number:1518376 Project Title:CNH-L: Linking Ecosystem Services and Governance of Water Resources in Urbanized Landscapes].

Notes on contributors

Andrea K. Gerlak

Andrea K. Gerlak is a Professor in the School of Geography and Development and Research Professor at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Her work addresses institutions and governance of environmental challenges.

Alison Elder

Alison Elder is a PhD student in the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include water solutions, sustainable development, and environmental governance.

Mitch Pavao-Zuckerman

Mitch Pavao-Zuckerman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. His work addresses the functional ecology and decision-making processes of nature-based solutions.

Adriana Zuniga-Teran

Adriana Zuniga-Teran is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Planning Department and the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Her research addresses issues related to urban resilience and environmental justice.

Andrew R. Sanderford

Andrew R. Sanderford is the Robert M. White Bicentennial Professor of Real Estate Finance at the University. His work engages sustainability and innovation in real estate.