Paper short abstract:

In this paper I address Norwegian national and local government's visions of the future sustainable city, expectations regarding responsibilities in order to make these cities, and visions of the future citizen - and how to manage and mobilize these.

Paper long abstract:

Making sustainable cities are high on the agenda in many countries, but a major challenge is to identify what actors should contribute and how. Previous literature has been concerned with how to govern the sustainable city, but in this article I highlight the importance of examining national and local government's visions of the future city, responsibilities, and how to mobilize the public.

My case study is a multi-actor program, 'Cities of the future', initiated by the Norwegian Ministry of Environment in 2008, aiming to get the largest Norwegian cities to act and learn from each other, in terms of cutting GHG emissions and developing physical urban environments. This case is supplemented by fieldwork in two planning agencies in Bergen and Trondheim, and analysis of document- and newspaper articles.

I depart from an understanding that national and local government's visions were different, and I examine what these differences consisted of. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies and Future studies, I explain that due to a lack of a collectively held vision of future cities - what Sheila Jasanoff calls sociotechnical imaginaries - conflicts emerged. Thus, I argue it is important to examine visions, and responses to these, in order to locate potential areas of conflict in urban sustainable development. I also point to an ignorance of such anticipatory practices within the multilevel governance perspective.

'The paper relates to track 9s emphasis on future making, by addressing urban governance of climate change through visions and expectations of the future.