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This Brief provides an integrated study of housing and climate policy at the local level. Drawing from an empirical research project across six cities in Finland and Germany, the book explores the degree of integration between housing and climate policy in local government, specifically focusing on the level of awareness of local politicians of the interdependency of the two policy areas. Using document analysis as well as extensive interviews with local politicians, the Brief explains which views local councillors hold about the responsibilities of their municipality in housing and climate policy, how the two fields influence each other and what councillors see as obstacles for joint decision making in both fields. The book looks at housing from a broader perspective, linking housing not only to the number of dwellings, zoning, or construction, but also to the environment, communities and transport. Offering policy advice on how to integrate these sectors and pursue sustainable housing from a holistic perspective, this Brief will be of use to researchers and policymakers interested in housing policy, climate policy, local politics, urban politics, and sustainability.
This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access.
List of contents
Introduction.- General Introduction.- Municipal and political setup.- Methodology.- Housing climate and their challenges.- Description of systems.- Housing related challenges in municipalities.- Connections of housing and climate in policy documents.- Politicians views on housing and climate.- Overall findings.- Reflection on the finding.- Policy advice.- Concluding discussion.- Reflections for the future.- Final conclusionsAnnex City ProfilesReferences.
About the author
Nina Tynkkynen is professor in environmental governance and policy, and head of subject in Public Leadership at Åbo Akademi University. Her research focuses on sustainability transitions and environmental policymaking particularly in multilevel contexts. She has led projects on e.g. climate politics and marine environmental governance. Her recent co-edited books include "Understanding marine changes: Environmental knowledge and methods of research" (Edward Elgar, 2023) and "Cold Waters: Tangible and Symbolic Seascapes of the North" (Springer, 2022).
Linnéa Henriksson is a university lecturer in Public Administration at Åbo Akademi University. Her main research focus is on the interplay between politics and administration, especially in the local government; municipal decision-makers and their attitudes, as well as minority governance and citizen participation. She is the chair of Norkom, the association for Nordic local government researchers. Henriksson also has 20 years of local politics behind her, as a councillor (chair of the council 2019-2021) and other elected offices. Recent articles are ‘Miles' Law in Finnish Municipalities: Where Decision-Makers Stand Depends on Where They Sit’ (with HS Christensen in Local Government Studies) and ‘Policy issues: The easy distant and the hard close’, in Grönlund, K. & Strandberg K. (Eds.) Finland turned right: Voting and Public Opinion in the Parliamentary Election of 2023.
Björn Egner is adjunct professor for Political Science at TU Darmstadt.His research focus is public policy, especially housing policy, both on the local and national level in Germany as well from a comparative European perspective. He is co-chair of the Standing Group on Local Politics of the German Association of Political Science (DVPW). His recents books include "Perspectives on Local Governance Across Europe"(Palgrave MacMillan), "The Politics of Local Innovation" (Routledge).
Viena Lahtinen is a Master of Social Sciences and research assistant at Åbo Akademi University. Her first article is “Dimensions of sustainable housing: a case study of Finland” (Focus Localis, 2024), published in Finnish and co-authored with Henriksson and Tynkkynen. >
Julia Landrock was research assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt. As part of her research, she is interested in (local) housing policy, in particular sustainable housing policy in connection with the sustainability strategy of sufficiency. Currently, she is the head of the Green Office at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
Carolina Grönberg was a research assistant at Åbo Akademi University.She is particurly interested in marine biodiversity, climate change adaptation and environmental governance and has recently published her first article ” High Biodiversity in the governance of marine biodiversity in Finland” (Nordiskt Asministrativ Tidsskrift, 2024), published in swedish and co-authored with Henriksson and Tynkkynen.Currently Carolina works as a climate adaptation and sustainability consultant.
