Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance
Abstract Deep into the ‘Climate Decade’, radical and swift action to avert and prepare for climate disaster remains absent in cities, hindered by pervasive institutional barriers. In this perspective, we propose capacities for transformative urban governance as a lens to study the diffuse, instituti...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-08-01
|
| Series: | Urban Transformations |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-025-00081-x |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849226215892713472 |
|---|---|
| author | Katharina Hölscher Emilia Smeds Jonas Torrens Kathryn Davidson Tessa de Geus Niki Frantzeskaki |
| author_facet | Katharina Hölscher Emilia Smeds Jonas Torrens Kathryn Davidson Tessa de Geus Niki Frantzeskaki |
| author_sort | Katharina Hölscher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Deep into the ‘Climate Decade’, radical and swift action to avert and prepare for climate disaster remains absent in cities, hindered by pervasive institutional barriers. In this perspective, we propose capacities for transformative urban governance as a lens to study the diffuse, institutional impacts of local governments’ declarations of ‘climate emergency’. We aim to illustrate an alternative approach to evaluating trans-municipal policy phenomena such as Climate Emergency Declarations – one that moves beyond linear assessments of policy progress and instead focuses on changes in urban governance arrangements. Drawing on existing scholarly reviews, we explore whether and how Climate Emergency Declarations reshape underlying governance conditions to support the pursuit of transformative change. In doing so, we foster a dialogue between reviews of Climate Emergency Declarations and Urban Transitions and Transformations research. This allows us to derive strategic directions for advancing transformative urban governance through Climate Emergency Declarations. Furthermore, Climate Emergency Declarations open new research avenues within Urban Transitions and Transformations scholarship to engage with the fear, grief, and conflicts arising from the urgency and threats associated with the climate crisis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7406548ae9824717be23c0b2e9be316e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2524-8162 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Urban Transformations |
| spelling | doaj-art-7406548ae9824717be23c0b2e9be316e2025-08-24T11:33:13ZengBMCUrban Transformations2524-81622025-08-017111310.1186/s42854-025-00081-xCrisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governanceKatharina Hölscher0Emilia Smeds1Jonas Torrens2Kathryn Davidson3Tessa de Geus4Niki Frantzeskaki5Utrecht UniversityKTH Royal Institute of TechnologyUtrecht UniversityUniversity of MelbourneUtrecht UniversityUtrecht UniversityAbstract Deep into the ‘Climate Decade’, radical and swift action to avert and prepare for climate disaster remains absent in cities, hindered by pervasive institutional barriers. In this perspective, we propose capacities for transformative urban governance as a lens to study the diffuse, institutional impacts of local governments’ declarations of ‘climate emergency’. We aim to illustrate an alternative approach to evaluating trans-municipal policy phenomena such as Climate Emergency Declarations – one that moves beyond linear assessments of policy progress and instead focuses on changes in urban governance arrangements. Drawing on existing scholarly reviews, we explore whether and how Climate Emergency Declarations reshape underlying governance conditions to support the pursuit of transformative change. In doing so, we foster a dialogue between reviews of Climate Emergency Declarations and Urban Transitions and Transformations research. This allows us to derive strategic directions for advancing transformative urban governance through Climate Emergency Declarations. Furthermore, Climate Emergency Declarations open new research avenues within Urban Transitions and Transformations scholarship to engage with the fear, grief, and conflicts arising from the urgency and threats associated with the climate crisis.https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-025-00081-x |
| spellingShingle | Katharina Hölscher Emilia Smeds Jonas Torrens Kathryn Davidson Tessa de Geus Niki Frantzeskaki Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance Urban Transformations |
| title | Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| title_full | Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| title_fullStr | Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| title_short | Crisis as catalyst? Exploring cities’ climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| title_sort | crisis as catalyst exploring cities climate emergency declarations for transformative urban governance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-025-00081-x |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katharinaholscher crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance AT emiliasmeds crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance AT jonastorrens crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance AT kathryndavidson crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance AT tessadegeus crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance AT nikifrantzeskaki crisisascatalystexploringcitiesclimateemergencydeclarationsfortransformativeurbangovernance |