IS-DAAD-Forskerutveksl. Norge-Tyskland

The idea of policy styles has never been extensively examined in either comprehensive or comparable ways as regards urban or metropolitan planning and policy making including standard operating procedures for making and implementing policies and the specific norms underlying and legitimising these policies. It is thus timely to carry out comparative research on urban policies and governance arrangements in targeted political and socioeconomic contexts. We suggest exploring and comparing the evolution and reorientation of such arrangements, focusing particularly on the development of urban and metropolitan development strategies in Oslo, Hamburg and Hannover, while discussing the results in a broader European context. As such, this project will contribute to the following innovations: a) Empirical knowledge on decision-making processes: New knowledge about policy styles and governance arrangements in urban and regional development processes can help lead to innovative approaches in decision-making related to shaping the built environment. b) New theory development: Based on state-of-the-art research in urban and metropolitan development and governance arrangements, and informed by existing and emerging policy styles and forms of governance in the above German and Norwegian contexts. c) Policy learning and innovation: A contribution to capacity-building for mutual learning in relation to policy styles and governance implications. In turn, this can help to facilitate policy experimentation and governance innovation. d) New comparative research methodologies: By establishing a comparative framework for analyzing urban or metropolitan policy styles in different national and local contexts, the project further contributes to the development of innovative comparative research strategies and methodologies. e) Advanced teaching materials: Based on the further development of theories of policy styles and through the advancement of comparative research methodology.