Transforming the border of a city: How institutional mechanisms structure conflicts around climate policy

While recent works have focused on theorizing the characteristics of policy conflict, and climate policy in particular, and on the dynamics of conflict escalation, not much explicit attention has been paid to the institutional background of policy conflicts. This paper explores how institutional mechanisms structure climate policy conflicts and the effects thereof on the way policy conflicts develop. It therewith also contributes to literature on sustainability transitions, since it provides a (policy)conflict perspective on the intersectionality of sustainability transitions, and its spatial ramifications. The analysis is based on 20 in-depth narrative interviews with stakeholders who are involved in the planning of the redevelopment of ‘Stadsrand Noord’ in Tilburg, the Netherlands, and on observations of the participatory process organized as part of this. The redevelopment of Stadsrand Noord revolves around several infrastructures that need to be (re)developed as part of the climate mitigation and adaptation agenda of the city of Tilburg. This includes building a large-scale water storage facility, expanding the electricity net and promoting nature inclusive agriculture. Meanwhile, other functions are also envisioned for the area, that should become a welcoming entrance to the city of Tilburg, a recreational area for residents of adjourning neighbourhoods and provide housing for people with behavioral problems. The area has a history of activism, amongst others against a highway that was constructed in 1996. Currently, a participatory process is being organized to develop a collective vision for Stadsrand Noord. The paper analyzes the way in which institutional mechanisms order the dimensions of conflict, for example through prioritizing the dimension of procedure over substantive dimension, and the way in which actors “talk back” to these institutions. We wonder how conflicting perspectives on climate policies develop through the interaction between stakeholders and institutions such as law and the political-administrative environment. Furthermore, we are interested to explore how such interactions influence the development of trust, that is deemed crucial to successfully let stakeholders participate in the type of structural change that is envisioned in Stadsrand Noord. We observe that trust can, somewhat counterintuitively, under circumstances be fostered through conflict. Our main argument is that conflicts in a transformative change context can only be understood as developing within a complicated and messy back-and-forth between policy contenders and the institutional structures they (feel like they are) bound to and that trust places a vital role in this process. Better understanding these back-and-forths is vital not just for academic reasons, but also to help advance insights that can contribute to waging better conflicts in the practice of climate mitigation and adaptation policy.