Opportunities for the Local Government of Bremerhaven Provided by the Project "Klimastadt Bremerhaven" in Times of Limited Municipal Room for Manoeuvre

Climate change policy is part of the voluntary tasks of local self-government in Germany. Therefore, municipal room for manoeuvre could be substantial. However, local government experts argue that local authorities lost steering capacity due to three major trends â EU liberalisation, New Public Management, and budgetary crisis. In contrast, the multi-level governance approach in EU integration theories does not predict a clear cut trend for local steering capacity, but emphasises â softâ steering instruments. Against this theoretical background, the dissertation analyses project examples in the area of buildings, construction, and remediation within the project Klimastadt Bremerhaven to examine whether the project enables the local authority to expand its scope of action and/or to develop new spheres of activity in the policy area of climate protection. This thesis uses an policy analysis approach to examine framework programmes, political processes and key decisions, core actors and their positions, as well as central administrative structures of the Klimastadt project. Apart from political and administrative documents, the thesis draws on four semi-structured interviews. Overall, the empirical findings suggest that the local government has been partially successful in increasing its spheres of (political) influence and its scope of action by using the project Klimastadt Bremerhaven as a coordination mechanism. Yet, especially the budgetary crisis has reduced municipal room for manoeuvre in the building sector. Thus, â softâ steering instruments are indeed very important for the city to encourage the implementation of specific projects.