Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:58:25.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developing Green Cities: Explaining Variation in Canadian Green Building Policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2016

Elizabeth Schwartz
Elizabeth Schwartz*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Buildings produce a large proportion of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions and municipalities control a number of policy levers that can help to reduce those emissions. This article explains variation among Canadian cities regarding policies adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a particular focus on green building standards. By applying insights from the study of the politics of public policy to urban politics, this article finds that while electoral disincentives prevent most cities from enacting high impact green building policies, the success of some cities can be attributed to the influence of independent municipal environment departments. These departments facilitate policy learning by providing information and resources. The findings suggest that policy makers could improve the effectiveness of local climate change policy by creating municipal environment departments that have organizational capacity—funding, staff, and a cross-cutting mandate—and are insulated from interference from politicians and line departments.

Résumé

Les édifices produisent une forte proportion des émissions de gaz à effet de serre du Canada et les municipalités contrôlent un certain nombre de leviers politiques susceptibles d'aider à réduire ces émissions. Cet article explique les variations entre les villes canadiennes au regard des politiques adoptées pour réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, avec un accent particulier sur les normes de construction écologique. En transposant les enseignements issus des études portant sur la politique des mesures d'intérêt public à la politique urbaine, cet article constate que même si des facteurs dissuasifs d'ordre électoral empêchent la plupart des villes de mettre en place des politiques de construction écologique à impact élevé, le succès de certaines villes peut être attribué à l'influence de services de l'environnement municipaux indépendants. Ces services facilitent l'apprentissage des politiques en fournissant de l'information et des ressources. Les constatations suggèrent que les décisionnaires pourraient améliorer l'efficacité des politiques locales en matière de changement climatique en créant des services de l'environnement municipaux dotés de la capacité organisationnelle–budget, effectifs et mandat transversal–et soustraits de toute ingérence des politiciens et des services hiérarchiques.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 621 - 641
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aall, Carlo, Kyrre, Groven and Lindseth, Gard. 2007. “The Scope of Action for Local Climate Policy: The Case of Norway.” Global Environmental Politics 7 (2): 83–101.Google Scholar
Banting, Doug, Doshi, Hitesh, Li, James, Missios, Paul, Au, Angela, Currie, Beth Anne and Verrati, Michael. 2005. Report on the Environmental Benefits and Costs of Green Roof Technology for the City of Toronto. City of Toronto and Ontario Centres of Excellence—Earth and Environmental Technologies (OCE-ETech).Google Scholar
Beach, Derek and Pedersen, Rasmus Brun. 2013. Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, Andrew. 2010. “Process Tracing and Causal Inference.” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, ed. Brady, Henry E. and Collier, David. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Betsill, Michele M. 2001. “Mitigating Climate Change in US Cities: Opportunities and Obstacles.” Local Environment 6 (4), 393–406.Google Scholar
Brampton. Committee of Council. 2014. Minutes. May 28.Google Scholar
Bulkeley, Harriet and Betsill, Michele M.. 2003. Cities and Climate Change: Urban Sustainability and Global Environmental Governance. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
C40 Cities: Climate Leadership Group. 2011. History of the C40. www.c40cities.org/history (August 24, 2013).Google Scholar
Cahill, Geraldine. n.d. Series in Public Sector Innovation: Toronto Atmospheric Fund. Social Innovation Generation SiG). http://www1.toronto.ca/city_of_toronto/toronto_atmospheric_fund/files/pdf/taf_sig_profile.pdf (February 24, 2015).Google Scholar
Carpenter, Daniel. 2001. The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy: Networks, Reputations and Policy Innovation in Executive Agencies, 1862–1928. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dale, Ann, Dushenko, William T. and Robinson, Pamela, eds. 2012. Urban Sustainability: Reconnecting Space and Place. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Danko, Bart. 2013. Terra Communis. Film. http://terracommunis.wordpress.com/watch-the-film/ (August 29, 2016).Google Scholar
Docherty, David. 1997. Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa: Life in the House of Commons. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
EnviroEconomics. 2009. Act Locally: The Municipal Role in Fighting Climate Change. Ottawa: Federation of Canadian Municipalities.Google Scholar
Federation of Canadian Municipalities. 2016. Green Municipal Fund http://www.fcm.ca/home/programs/green-municipal-fund.htm (August 18, 2016).Google Scholar
Goertz, Gary and Mahoney, James. 2012. A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, Judith and Keohane, Robert. 1993. “Ideas and Foreign Policy: An Analytical Framework.” In Ideas and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, David. 2016. “Lament for a Network? Cities and Networked Climate Governance in Canada.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 34 (3): 529–45.Google Scholar
Gore, Christopher and Robinson, Pamela. 2009. “Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope?” In Changing Climates in North American Politics: Institutions, Policymaking and Multilevel Governance, ed. Selin, Henrik and VanDeveer, Stacy D.. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter. 1993. “Policy Paradigms, Social Learning and the State: The Case of Economic Policy Making in Britain.” Comparative Politics 25: 275–96.Google Scholar
Hanes, Allison. 2009. “Green Roof Bylaw Moves One Step Closer to Reality: ‘It's Just Taking That Quick Cash Grab from Us.’” National Post (Toronto). May 7, A15.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh. 1974. Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden: From Relief to Income Maintenance. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Horn, Murray J. 1995. The Political Economy of Public Administration: Institutional Choice in the Public Sector. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2014. “Summary for Policymakers.” In Climate Change 2014, Mitigation of Climate Change: Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ed. Edenhofer, O., Pichs-Madruga, R., Sokona, Y., Farahani, E., Kadner, S., Seyboth, K., Adler, A., Baum, I., Brunner, S., Eickemeier, P., Kriemann, B., Savolainen, J., Schlömer, S., von Stechow, C., Zwickel, T. and Minx, J.C.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kingdon, John W. 1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Koski, Chris and Lee, Taedong. 2014. “Policy by Doing: Formulation and Adoption of Policy through Government Leadership.” Policy Studies Journal 42 (1): 30–54.Google Scholar
Kousky, Carolyn and Schneider, Stephen H.. 2003. “Global Climate Policy: Will Cities Lead the Way? Climate Policy 3: 359–72.Google Scholar
Krause, Rachel M. 2011. “Symbolic or Substantive Policy? Measuring the Extent of Local Commitment to Climate Protection.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 29: 46–62.Google Scholar
Krause, Rachel M. 2012. “Political Decision-making and the Local Provision of Public Goods: The Case of Municipal Climate Protection in the US.” Urban Studies 49 (11): 2399–2417.Google Scholar
Lawlor, Gail, Currie, Beth Anne, Doshi, Hitesh and Wieditz, Ireen. 2006. Green Roofs: A Resource Manual for Municipal Policy Makers. Ottawa: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.Google Scholar
Lewis, David. E. 2003. Presidents and the Politics of Agency Design: Political Insulation in the United States Government Bureaucracy, 1946–1997. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Lindblom, Charles. 1982. “The Market as Prison.” Journal of Politics 44: 324–36.Google Scholar
Logan, John and Molotch, Harvey. 1987. Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
McDonald, Rodney C. 2012. “Sustainable Buildings: A Necessary Component of Sustainable Communities.” In Urban Sustainability: Reconnecting Space and Place, ed. Dale, Ann, Dushenko, William T. and Robinson, Pamela. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Mayhew, David. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, Lauren J. 2008. “ Green Roof Policy: A Sustainable Space to Grow? ” Master's thesis. Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Ontario. Toronto Atmospheric Fund Act, 2005 http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/private/english/2005/elaws_src_private_pr05006_e.htm (August 29, 2016).Google Scholar
Peterson, Paul E. 1981. City Limits. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Portney, Kent E. 2013. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously: Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life in American Cities. 2nd ed. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Regan, Patti. 2010. Green Building Policy: New City-owned Buildings and Major Additions. Administrative Report to the Standing Committee on Property and Development, June 28.Google Scholar
Regan, Patti and Hall, Ian. 2011. Winnipeg. Green Building Policy: Existing City-owned Buildings. Administrative Report to the Standing Committee on Property and Development, September 29.Google Scholar
Robinson, Pamela J. and Gore, Christopher D.. 2005. “Barriers to Canadian Municipal Responses to Climate Change.” Canadian Journal of Urban Research 14 (1): 102–20.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Elizabeth. 2016. Local Solutions to a Global Problem? Canadian Municipal Policy Responses to Climate Change. PhD dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia.Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda. 1985. “Bringing the State Back In: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research.” In Bringing the State Back In, ed. Evans, Peter, Rueschemeyer, Dietrich and Skocpol, Theda. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Alison and Spicer, Zachary. 2015. “A New Day or Déjà-Vu? Local Autonomy in Canada.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Ottawa ON, June 4.Google Scholar
Stone, Clarence N. 1989. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta. Lawrence KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Swainson, Gail. 2007. “City's Tough Green Plan Okay with Tridel: But Executive Says Rivals Won't Like It.” Toronto Star, Ontario Edition, May 5, M1.Google Scholar
Toronto. n.d. Better Buildings Partnership http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=6bb5136696f85410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD (May 4, 2016)Google Scholar
Toronto. 2006a. Policy and Finance Committee. Making Green Roofs Happen http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/council/cc060131/pof1rpt/cl020.pdf (August 22, 2015).Google Scholar
Toronto. 2006b. City Council. Decision Document. July 25–27.Google Scholar
Toronto. 2006c. Policy and Finance Committee. The Toronto Green Development Standard. Staff Report from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, June 5.Google Scholar
Toronto. 2006d. Roundtable on the Environment and Roundtable for a Beautiful City. Making A Sustainable City Happen: The Toronto Green Development Standard 2006. Appendix to Staff Report, June 5.Google Scholar
Toronto. 2008. Toronto Green Standard Update: Performance Measures for Sustainable Development. Staff Report to the Planning and Growth Management Committee from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, October 30.Google Scholar
Toronto. 2012. Green Roofs. http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/ (August 24, 2013).Google Scholar
Toronto. 2013. Toronto Green Standard. www.toronto.ca/planning/environment (August 24, 2013).Google Scholar
Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF). 2013. Green Condo Loan: Making Energy Efficient Condominiums the New Normal. http://www.towerwise.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Green-Condo-Loan-Fact-Sheet.pdf (February 26, 2015).Google Scholar
United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). 2012. Basic Information: Green Buildings. www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/pubs/about.htm (August 16, 2013).Google Scholar
Weaver, R. Kent. 1986. “The Politics of Blame Avoidance.” Journal of Public Policy 6: 371–98.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q. 1980. “The Politics of Regulation.” In The Politics of Regulation. New York: Basic Books, Inc.Google Scholar
Winnipeg. 2010. City Council. Council Hansard. July 21.Google Scholar
Ziblatt, Daniel. 2008. “Why Some Cities Provide More Public Goods Than Others: A Subnational Comparison of the Provision of Public Goods in German Cities in 1912.” Studies in Comparative International Development 43(3–4): 273–89.Google Scholar