Abstract
Urban physical public infrastructure is a frontline defense mechanism
to manage and mitigate climate-related impacts. Market instruments
are often cited as possible means to spread risk and reduce financial
burdens on the public sector. The authors argue that existing research
tends to focus on the technical issues of instruments and neglects
considering institutional dynamics that may enable or constrain
local market-based financing mechanisms. In this article, three core
dilemmas (values uncertainty, planning horizon, and indirect benefits)
are used to analyze the responses of practitioners to a possible
financing instrument. The findings indicate that the practitioner’s
responses to tax increment financing were largely shaped by the
adaptation dilemmas and not the characteristics of the instrument per
se. By mapping the dilemmas onto whether they would recommend
it, participants imposed a financial barrier on climate adaptation
investments. The authors conclude that a key imperative in the design
of policy instruments is to pay attention to the congruency of informal
institutions at the ‘street level’ in order to be in-step with the current
sociopolitical conditions. The findings also point to four key attributes
that a local market-based instrument would need to be aligned and
responsive to the Dutch planning and development context.
to manage and mitigate climate-related impacts. Market instruments
are often cited as possible means to spread risk and reduce financial
burdens on the public sector. The authors argue that existing research
tends to focus on the technical issues of instruments and neglects
considering institutional dynamics that may enable or constrain
local market-based financing mechanisms. In this article, three core
dilemmas (values uncertainty, planning horizon, and indirect benefits)
are used to analyze the responses of practitioners to a possible
financing instrument. The findings indicate that the practitioner’s
responses to tax increment financing were largely shaped by the
adaptation dilemmas and not the characteristics of the instrument per
se. By mapping the dilemmas onto whether they would recommend
it, participants imposed a financial barrier on climate adaptation
investments. The authors conclude that a key imperative in the design
of policy instruments is to pay attention to the congruency of informal
institutions at the ‘street level’ in order to be in-step with the current
sociopolitical conditions. The findings also point to four key attributes
that a local market-based instrument would need to be aligned and
responsive to the Dutch planning and development context.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 250-269 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Planning Practice and Research |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Climate adaptation
- finance
- neighborhood planning
- public infrastructure
- simulation gaming