The Coincidence of the Settled and the Unsettling: Urban Climate Change Adaptation in Finland and Denmark

There is little doubt about the need for climate change adaptation, particularly in cities. The majority of the world's population lives in cities, and a large part of global economic activity takes place there. People, infrastructure and key societal functions in cities are exposed and potentially vulnerable to climate change. Many cities have recognised this challenge and have begun to adapt to climate change. Urban adaptation is no longer only a necessity; it is now manifested in observable actions. At the core of this dissertation are these observable actions, the actors who perform these actions, and the societal context of these actions. It builds on empirical studies in three case cities: Helsinki and Espoo in Finland, and Copenhagen in Denmark, and seeks to provide answers to the question: How do urban context and climate change adaptation interact? The analytical frameworks applied in the four articles of this thesis include the concepts of competing paradigms and discourses, the analyses of networks, policy instruments and scales of interaction. Each article answers specific research questions. Therefore, each article has a unique set of results and answers. In the thesis' framework, the articles also provide answers to the overarching question stated above. The analysis of adaptation actions provides evidence for three conclusions. First, the existing societal context of institutions, prevailing discourses and paradigms influence–but do not determine–adaptation actions. Second, actors have different sets of values and ideas, different categories and conceptualisations of governance and policy making (e.g. welfare state models vs. neo-liberal ideas), and different perceptions of how adaptation should happen. These actors encounter each other and work together on adaptation. As a consequence, adaptation actions can be conflicting, lead to trade-offs, and can include simultaneously competing elements of market-orientation, deliberation and public sector-led adaptation. Third, the combination of the existing societal context and actors' different approaches to adaptation becomes apparent in contingency and perceived deficiency in adaptation. In other words, despite attempts to plan and implement sound adaptation, implementation is always (partly) unintended and uncontrolled and will most probably fall short of our (or anybody's) expectations for successful adaptation. Urban adaptation is never a purely technical activity, nor simply the consequence of rational decisions. It is always subject to debate and political interaction. This debate is also inherently about whether we understand adaptation as part of current urban planning and governance, as a potential driver of the reconsideration of the prevailing planning paradigms, or as a new entity in urban development all together.