Governance of Climate Adaptation through Urban Regimes: The Cases Bogotá and Frankfurt

Climate adaptation strategies have gained importance both in Cities in the Global South and the Global North (Birkmann et al 2010). A crucial aspect of these strategies are so-called climate adaptation plans. These plans show the actions which should be taken in order to reduce the negative effects of climate change on urban population. My presentation analyzes the climate adaptation strategies of Bogotá, Colombia and Frankfurt (Main) Germany and evaluates the political processes beyond these plans. Even though the context of both cities is very different, similar results can be traced: In both cities „climate adaption urban regimes“ exist which determine the content and the implementation of the plans. These „urban regimes“ - an „informal yet relatively stable group with access to institutional resources that enable it to have a sustained role in making governing decisions“  (Stone 1989) are not locally bounded but consist of multi-level actors constellation and consist of private and public actors. The existence of these regimes does not guarantee the implementation of the climate adaptation plans. On the contrary profound changes regarding the future urban development are precluded by these regimes. These results are compared with the older discussions on Urban Growth Machines (Logan & Molotch 1987), Urban Regimes (Stone 1989, Stoker 1995) and the questions „Who governs?“. From a theoretical point of view my presentation tries to provide insights on the  construction of capacity to act regarding climate change on an urban level: How are climate adaptation plans elaborated, who participates in their elaboration and who not?