Background
Urban growth agreements in Norway are collaborations between actors from various levels of governance. The central theme of the collaboration is how the transportation system and land development should be at the local level to achieve a reduction in CO2 from private car transport and a reduction in air pollution, congestion, and noise in urban areas.
In such collaborative processes, there may be a contradiction between the use of expert knowledge and the inclusion of affected groups. One party in the collaboration may play a central role in ordering and preparing the knowledge base. This can lead to the issue being illuminated in a specific way. However, there may be several ways to illuminate an issue, and the quality of a political solution can be influenced by the breadth or lack of breadth in the knowledge base. The knowledge base and which goal conflicts and interests are analysed there can represent affected groups in an issue, or it may be that some groups are favored. The result may be that politicians make decisions based on a deficient or biased knowledge base.
About the project
The project aims to contribute to more knowledge about the quality of decision-making processes in the urban growth agreement scheme in the four largest urban areas: the Oslo area, the Bergen area, the Trondheim area, and the Nord-Jæren area.
In-depth interviews and participatory observation are used to assess whether there is a contradiction between the use of experts and the inclusion of affected groups in land, transportation, and climate policy.
This is a doctoral project led by Kirsten Hegsvold at the Institute of Transport Economics. Supervisors are Robert Huseby, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo (UiO); Elin Lerum Boasson, Department of Political Science, UiO; and Cathrine Holst, Department of Philosophy, History of Art and Ideas, and classical languages, UiO.
Duration
2021-2025