LEAPFROGGING WATER SYSTEMS- Policy and Institutional Pathways to Climate Adaptation and Resilience in Coastal Cities

• In Event: Panel 2: Policy Innovation for a Changing Environment

Abstract

This research seeks to explore the feasibility, readiness, and enabling conditions under which coastal cities can bypass traditional, incremental developmental stages by the process of leapfrogging in adapting water systems to address the escalating climate crisis. Coastal cities, characterized by dense populations, significant infrastructure investments, and rich natural resources, face heightened risks from climate change due to their proximity to vulnerable coastal ecosystems. These vulnerabilities necessitate urgent and innovative strategies to enhance resilience and sustainability in urban water management.
The concept of leapfrogging, often associated with advancements in technology and industrial processes, is reimagined in this research as a transformative approach applicable to urban water system transitions. Leapfrogging, in this context, represents a holistic approach to achieving efficient, accelerated, sustainable development trajectories that reduce the impacts of environmental degradation. Using theories of institutionalism and path dependency, the study explores how policy processes and institutional frameworks facilitate leapfrogging in water systems adaptation. It also examines whether the attitudes, perspectives of government stakeholders and their decision-making processes can influence cities to adopt leapfrogging strategies.
The research employs a multiple embedded case study design, focusing on two diverse coastal cities; Boston in the Global North, Cape Town in the global south to capture the complexities of urban systems, multi-layered governance structures, and stakeholder interactions across various levels. The embedded case study design will rely on archival research, content analysis of publicly available documents, survey research with bureaucrats and policymakers as participants, and in-depth interviews with key informants and other respondents from the survey. The expected outcomes from this research are the factors associated with leapfrogging behavior in coastal cities’ water systems adaptation, processes through which these outcomes are achieved, the role of institutions in adopting such policies, and policy learnings that are transferrable to other coastal cities in the Global North and the South alike. Essentially, this research analyzes how leapfrogging can serve as a viable policy objective for redesigning public infrastructure and promoting decentralized, adaptive solutions in water system management within the context of climate adaptation and resilience.

Author

• Adanna Kalejaye, University of Massachusetts, Boston