Module governance

Module politics and administration

Adapting institutions, processes and decisions to the requirements of blue-green urban development

Coach: Dr. Frank Hüesker (UFZ)

Among municipal decision-makers and experts, the necessity, objectives and potential of blue-green urban development are generally not disputed.

Rather, many cities and municipalities face challenges in implementation. This is because the requirements of a climate-adapted city encounter not only water infrastructures that have evolved over decades, but also established structures and decision-making processes in politics and administration. However, the integration of blue-green infrastructure elements significantly expands existing stakeholder constellations as well as the associated frameworks, institutions, processes and objectives.

Adapting politics and administration to the requirements of a climate-resilient city represents an enormous transformation task comparable to the introduction of public sewer systems in the 19th century. Accordingly, advising and supporting cities in this regard is of central importance within the BlueGreen City Coaching.

The political framework conditions for blue-green infrastructure are diverse; many policy areas influence the design of municipal infrastructure. At the federal level, for example, the Ministry for the Environment (water, biodiversity, climate protection, etc.) and the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development (housing construction, funded planning, etc.) play central roles. Funding for real-world laboratories, however, comes from the Federal Ministry of Research, while requirements for tariff calculations by municipal utilities fall within the remit of the Ministry of the Interior. For local stakeholders, it is strategically important to understand these framework conditions and take them into account in planning and implementation processes.

Political consensus-building on urban climate adaptation and the formal adoption of quantitative and qualitative objectives are fundamental prerequisites for successful blue-green urban development. This requires the systematic collection and provision of data, clear allocation of responsibilities, competent staff, transparent processes and clear decision-making rules.

The traditional instruments of urban planning can certainly often be used in an adapted form. Beyond this, however, new institutions and processes need to be organised in such a way that they bring together the relevant, and in some cases new, stakeholders, make conflicts of use transparent and enable decision-making. Appropriate measures are also needed to create public acceptance of the new infrastructure. In this context, new patterns of conflict over water resources, for example between cities and their surrounding areas, must also be taken into account.

As part of the coaching, we support cities in preparing the political consensus-building process towards blue-green urban development, establishing clarity regarding an appropriate allocation of responsibilities, and adapting existing stakeholder constellations, institutions and processes in ways that facilitate implementation.

To support the cities, we draw, among other things, on findings from the following publications:


The remaining modules: Law cost, benefit, financing blue-green infrastructure planning