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Based on a case study of the Stadshaven port redevelopment in Rotterdam, this paper explores whether existing spatial planning mechanisms and processes can be used to facilitate local-level investment in climate-resilient public infrastructure and/or whether new processes and mechanisms are required to encourage investment in climate adaptation. The study reveals several key findings. First, a lack of conventional funding sources or formalised regulatory framework allowed room for experimentation with existing mechanisms and flexible strategies. Second, project planners are currently ambivalent towards introducing new mechanisms as a means to overcome implementation challenges. The case provides evidence about the role of the governance process, not simply as a means of system coordination that exists in isolation from institutional norms and values, but rather as a space for innovation, which can contribute towards reducing the financial gap associated with climate adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the contemporary managerial approach in policy support 'green' community planning in rural areas? This question is addressed using the Policy Arrangements Approach (PAA). When PAA was applied to rural policy in the USA and the Netherlands, we observed an increasing effect of a managerial approach in both countries over the last 10-15 years, including the use of performance contracts and evaluation tools and the promotion of self-sufficiency and public entrepreneurship at the community level. In this paper we discuss how this managerial approach affected green community planning in rural areas in the USA and the Netherlands. Community planning is analysed using four dimensions: discourse; actor coalitions; resources and power; and rules of the game. Our analysis demonstrates that the managerial approach reinforces state power and puts efforts to address the higher-order 'green' needs of a community at risk. Different approaches for creating opportunities which encourage the emergence of public leadership, as well as new institutional designs, are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]