Global-local tensions in urban green neighbourhoods: a policy mobilities approach to discursive change in Freiburg, Vancouver and Luxembourg

The ways in which green neighbourhoods have developed over recent decades has become increasingly globalized, driven by the challenges of climate change and the globalization of knowledge exchange including a shift towards quantified approaches of carbon control. As a result, cities do not only share knowledge, experiences and practices but also compare and compete with each other in their pursuit of sustainability leadership. To understand the emergence and establishment of certain approaches over others, policy mobilities research has emphasized the role of certain actors and institutions in promoting, mobilizing, adapting and mutating policy models, practices and knowledge. This paper extends the policy mobility literature by emphasizing the temporal dimension of green neighbourhood development. We reconstruct and compare trajectories of four green neighbourhood developments in Freiburg, Vancouver and Luxembourg in terms of 'extroverted' dimensions that focus beyond the city, and 'introverted' dimensions that are more localized in nature. Findings highlight the relational character of the role and meaning of these green neighbourhoods over time that reflect a global shift in how green urbanism is conceptualized and put into practice.