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Institutional Capacity-building in Urban Planning and Policy-making for Sustainable Development: Success or Failure?

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  • Merritt Polk

Abstract

Local and regional governments are facing extreme challenges regarding their ability to plan for sustainable urban development. The ever-present pro-market policy agenda leaves little room regarding global considerations for long-term environmental conservation and social justice. The complexity of sustainable development also defies the traditional management and problem solving capabilities of most local municipalities. Different types of informal and formal partnerships, networks and arenas have been formed to offset such deficiencies. This paper presents an example of a cross-sector, multi-level civil servant arena and examines its ability to provide a more integrative approach to planning and policy-making in western Sweden. The results were assessed using a combination of theory on institutional capacity-building and sustainability learning. The arena increases institutional capacity by promoting relational links across organizational divisions and governance levels, and by increasing substantive knowledge. At the same time, the more radical and innovative results were either avoided or watered down, and opportunities developed through institutional capacity-building were vastly underused.

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  • Merritt Polk, 2011. "Institutional Capacity-building in Urban Planning and Policy-making for Sustainable Development: Success or Failure?," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 185-206.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cpprxx:v:26:y:2011:i:2:p:185-206
    DOI: 10.1080/02697459.2011.560461
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Howes & Liana Wortley & Ruth Potts & Aysin Dedekorkut-Howes & Silvia Serrao-Neumann & Julie Davidson & Timothy Smith & Patrick Nunn, 2017. "Environmental Sustainability: A Case of Policy Implementation Failure?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Vincent Wretling & Berit Balfors, 2021. "Building Institutional Capacity to Plan for Climate Neutrality: The Role of Local Co-Operation and Inter-Municipal Networks at the Regional Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    3. Vélez-Ramírez, Alberto & Rivera-Castañeda, Patricia & Muñoz-Pizza, Dalia M., 2022. "Institutional capacity determinants in a global south city: the case of a wastewater utility in Zacatecas, Mexico," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Terence Fell & Johanna Mattsson, 2021. "The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Housing as a Potential Contributor to Sustainable Cities and Communities: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    5. Snigdha Nautiyal, 2024. "Building capacities for transformative climate action: lessons from five fields of practice," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(6), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Vincent Wretling & Berit Balfors, 2021. "Are Local Authorities Building Their Capacity to Plan for Reduced Climate Impact? A Longitudinal Analysis of Swedish Comprehensive Plans," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Camilo A. Ramírez Rincón & João Santos & Leentje Volker & Robert Rouwenhorst, 2021. "Identifying Institutional Barriers and Enablers for Sustainable Urban Planning from a Municipal Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.

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