Keeping Cities Afloat: Climate Change Adaptation and Collaborative Governance at the Local Level

The lack of a federal strategy in the United States for climate change adaptation leaves state and city governments with broad discretion to undertake appropriate measures. Yet, cities may be unable to adapt to climate change without external assistance. Fragmentation of authority in a federalist system has largely resulted in small jurisdictions that may be incapable of efficiently delivering public services. Collaboration allows cities to pool resources and work across boundaries to ameliorate problems, such as climate change. However, little is known about why and how collaborative governance may lead to better outputs and outcomes. Using the case of climate change adaptation in U.S. cities, this study seeks to understand collaborative governance better and its effects on sea level rise preparedness. Findings suggest that level of collaborative activity is positively associated with higher policy outputs and outcomes.