Abstract The aim of this article is to summarise and draw out potential synergies across the contributions that preceded it to help chart potential future areas of research interest, and to acknowledge some of the persistent challenges that can hinder future research on the topic of African urban sexualities—and specifically non-heteronormative sexualities. As the second half of this article makes clear, it is vital that various challenges are acknowledged and hopefully addressed if the topic of African urban sexualities is to reach its fuller potential within the academy. First, however, I turn to the question of synergies and potential areas of future research interest. 

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Charting Directions for—and Challenges at Being Able to Undertake—Future Research on African Urban Sexualities

Abstract Municipalities across the globe are seeking to adapt to increasing climate change impacts, such as heavy rainfall, drought, heat waves, and floods. An important question is how to support the diffusion of innovations in local adaptation policy-making. Responses often lack consideration of the diversity of municipalities and their varying needs and capacities. This article addresses this gap by analysing how internal and external motivations for and barriers to adaptation policy and diffusion vary across municipalities of different sizes in the federal State of Hessen in Germany and in Finland. Hessen and Finland have comparable population sizes and settlement structures, but their municipalities are embedded in different multilevel governance architectures and climatic geographies. The analysis builds on quantitative data from two independent surveys among Hessian and Finnish municipalities. The results show that while there are similarities and some differences among the motivations, with municipalities in Hessen focusing more on extreme weather events and Finnish municipalities more on well-being, the barriers are strikingly similar, focusing on lack of resources as well as unclear responsibilities of different governance levels and within municipalities. Size is an important factor determining the adaptation needs and capacities of municipalities in both surveys. The findings highlight the need for a clearer adaptation governance framework, support from the closest governance level and more resources, but also context-sensitive policy support that has been discussed in theory and practice. 

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What motivates and hinders municipal adaptation policy? Exploring vertical and horizontal diffusion in Hessen and Finland

Abstract Cities increasingly recognize the importance of furthering social equity in their climate adaptation planning. Such efforts are often in response to grassroots mobilizations, yet it is not clear to what extent they translate into urban coalitions, policy designs, and implementation efforts within city governments. In this paper, we respond to this knowledge gap by assessing how equity-thinking is translated into cities’ adaptation decision-making and governance arrangements, especially in ways that can lead to more inclusive and just climate adaptation outcomes for historically marginalized communities. We analyze adaptation plans for the 25 largest US cities using deductive and inductive coding strategies to uncover the ideas, rhetoric, and processes that guide equitable plans. We then map these outcomes of equity-thinking across procedural, distributive, and recognitional categories. Our analysis lends support to the operation of two social constructivist mechanisms of equity-thinking in adaptation planning—namely ideology and recognition. In an ideology-driven pathway, where beliefs are shared, adaptation efforts are mobilized through local actors and within public agencies who decide on the appropriateness of social equity definitions. Recognition-driven pathways occur when climate equity rhetoric is reflected and normalized through adaptation planning procedures, where cities strive to be early adopters of equitable climate strategies. This result therefore highlights the multiple ways urban leaders, decision-makers, and planners can have in steering policies and designing different planning and implementation processes. 

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Translating and embedding equity-thinking into climate adaptation: an analysis of US cities

Institutional Drivers of Planning for Cascading Disaster Risks: The Case of Wildfire-Induced Air Pollution in California

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Correction to: Translating and embedding equity-thinking into climate adaptation: an analysis of US cities

This research examines the extent to which the presence of the creative class (CC) is associated with the promotion of sustainability, particularly as reflected in development regulations adopted by cities in Southern California. Conducted in two phases, this study employed a mixed-methods approach. Considerable variation was found in the promotion of sustainability among cities. Generally, cities with a higher proportion of the CC integrated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design at the neighborhood level sustainability principles to a greater extent; however, not all cities with a higher proportion of the CC addressed more sustainability principles and to a stronger extent than those with a lower proportion.

Asiya Natekal

Papers

Translating and embedding equity-thinking into climate adaptation: an analysis of US cities

Institutional Drivers of Planning for Cascading Disaster Risks: The Case of Wildfire-Induced Air Pollution in California

Correction to: Translating and embedding equity-thinking into climate adaptation: an analysis of US cities

Sustainable Urban Form and the Creative Class: Insights from Southern California