Delivering lower carbon urban transport choices: European ambition meets the reality of institutional (mis)alignment.

Gray, David; Laing, Richard; Docherty, Iain

Abstract

Reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector has become a critical imperative for public policy as our understanding of the impacts of the mobility system on the environment has developed. This paper contrasts policy development in three cities (Aberdeen, Bremen and Malmö) that collaborated as part of a European Union knowledge exchange programme designed to share innovative approaches to carbon reduction in the transport sector. We identify a number of critical aspects of governance, including the approach to policy formulation and implementation, and the status of consensus and cohesion, as key determinants of transport outcomes. We conclude that the degree of institutional alignment evident in each city’s governance network is crucial in explaining their appetite for the pursuit of low carbon policies, and in turn the real potential for policy transfer to occur as envisaged by European Union collaboration frameworks.

Citation

GRAY, D., LAING, R. and DOCHERTY, I. 2017. Delivering lower carbon urban transport choices: European ambition meets the reality of institutional (mis)alignment. Environment and planning A: economy and space [online], 49(1), pages 226-242. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X16662272

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 29, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 29, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 7, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 7, 2016
• Journal: Environment and planning A: economy and space
• Print ISSN: 0308-518X
• Electronic ISSN: 1472-3409
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 226-242
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X16662272
• Keywords: Transport; Carbon reduction; Governance; Policy transfer
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1612
• Contract Date: Sep 7, 2016