Overcoming under-adaptive innovation and maladaptation in urban heat governance
- 1School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland
- 2School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland; Corresponding author at: University College Dublin (UCD), School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin D14 E099, Ireland.
Abstract
As climate change intensifies, urban adaptation has become a pressing policy priority, especially for vulnerable communities facing rising temperatures and institutional rigidity. This study examines urban heat adaptation in Xi'an, China, using insights from adaptive governance theory, the Pressure and Release (PAR) model, and institutional logics, conceptualising maladaptation not as an isolated policy failure, but as a historically embedded process shaped by dominant governance structures. Based on 31 stakeholder interviews, eight months of fieldwork, and analysis of policy and community documents, the study identifies three institutional mechanisms: minimalist governance, responsibility displacement, and capacity compression. They reflect China's tight-loose coupling dynamic, where vertical delegation and procedural fragmentation redirect adaptation toward visible compliance. We introduce the concept of 'under-adaptive innovation' to explain how experimental practices are structurally preconditioned to reproduce bureaucratic inertia, where adaptive instruments are embedded within existing compliance structures. Innovation shortfalls stem from governance infrastructures that suppress feedback and adaptive learning. To advance transformative capacity, we outline three institutional transitions: from performative pilots to embedded experimentation, from legibility under control to a discretionary grey zone, and from execution innovation to iterative, participatory, legitimated adaptation. Such transitions may recalibrate innovation under constraint and embed protected discretion, iterative learning, and feedback legitimacy.
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BibTeX
@article{lao2026overcoming,
title = {{Overcoming under-adaptive innovation and maladaptation in urban heat governance}},
author = {Xiaolin Lao and Aura-Luciana Istrate},
journal = {Climate Risk Management},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.crm.2026.100895},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2026.100895},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Overcoming under-adaptive innovation and maladaptation in urban heat governance
AU - Xiaolin Lao
AU - Aura-Luciana Istrate
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Climate Risk Management
DO - 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100895
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2026.100895
AB - As climate change intensifies, urban adaptation has become a pressing policy priority, especially for vulnerable communities facing rising temperatures and institutional rigidity. This study examines urban heat adaptation in Xi'an, China, using insights from adaptive governance theory, the Pressure and Release (PAR) model, and institutional logics, conceptualising maladaptation not as an isolated policy failure, but as a historically embedded process shaped by dominant governance structures. Based on 31 stakeholder interviews, eight months of fieldwork, and analysis of policy and community documents, the study identifies three institutional mechanisms: minimalist governance, responsibility displacement, and capacity compression. They reflect China's tight-loose coupling dynamic, where vertical delegation and procedural fragmentation redirect adaptation toward visible compliance. We introduce the concept of 'under-adaptive innovation' to explain how experimental practices are structurally preconditioned to reproduce bureaucratic inertia, where adaptive instruments are embedded within existing compliance structures. Innovation shortfalls stem from governance infrastructures that suppress feedback and adaptive learning. To advance transformative capacity, we outline three institutional transitions: from performative pilots to embedded experimentation, from legibility under control to a discretionary grey zone, and from execution innovation to iterative, participatory, legitimated adaptation. Such transitions may recalibrate innovation under constraint and embed protected discretion, iterative learning, and feedback legitimacy.
SN - 2212-0963
ER -