Transition Management – the key to accelerating the decarbonisation of New Zealand’s transport system? : A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Planning at Lincoln University

Abstract

Cities are facing complex, interdependent sustainability challenges that require a deep systemic transformation. In view of an apparent inability of the current urban planning system to bring about change fast enough, this dissertation explores the opportunity for urban planning to incorporate a transition management approach. Transition management, derived from the sustainability transitions research field, is a prescriptive, complexity-based governance framework that aims to create space outside of convention planning processes to enable the social production of solutions that break with the status quo (Nevens et al., 2013). The dissertation takes the Te Ara Mua – Future Streets project in Auckland as a case study to investigate the main similarities and differences of planning approaches in practice compared to transition management. The analysis is conceptualised on the basis of a process-oriented analytical framework which follows the guidance manual for transition management in the urban context (Roorda et al., 2014). The study identified four conflict lines that, for one, confirm previous research on this topic, and add an additional aspect to Peris and Bosch’s fields of tension (Peris & Bosch, 2020). The research illustrates the limitations for urban planning to incorporate a transition management approach, while also highlighting the potential to transform existing urban planning practices to enable system innovation.