This book introduces an innovative theoretical framework to identify how different systems of government shape climate policymaking arrangements at the local level. It highlights how resource interdependencies and power relationships involving municipalities, higher tiers of government and other local actors shape urban governance in two case study cities: Newcastle upon Tyne, in England, and Gelsenkirchen, in Germany. By applying the framework to policymaking in three sectors (climate change strategy, planning and each council’s own corporate activities), the study shows how these relationships shape policy styles, objectives and outcomes at the local level. The book also reveals how urban policymaking arrangements in both Germany and England are evolving, as municipal governments seek to increase their capacity to address challenging policy problems whilst facing resource constraints.

This book was the runner-up in the 2017 Early Career Researcher Prize in German Studies, a collaboration between the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham and Peter Lang.