CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Heller, Nils Ole |
|---|---|
| Title | Drivers of Policy Transfer? Exploring the role of private micro-mobility providers in international city-to-city knowledge exchange |
| Summary | In recent years, urban areas have experienced a new phenomenon: Shared, electric, and freefloating micro-mobility. From early 2018 onwards, private-run e-scooter sharing models rapidly spread across the globe. While they enriched cities’ mobility ecosystems, governing this novel form of mobility proved challenging. In many cases, existing policies failed to encompass the numerous regulatory challenges that e-scooters posed. In trying to find appropriate and quick regulatory responses, many local policymakers resort to drawing lessons from policies in other cities. At the same time, leading e-scooter providers, oftentimes globally operating firms, increasingly present themselves as ‘pro-regulation’ and actively participate in best-practice sharing. This situation suggests a puzzle that the literature has not yet introduced: What is the role of these providers in the processes of city-to-city policy transfer? Taking an exploratory approach, this thesis builds an interpretative model on the role of these actors and examines the case study of Vienna. It finds that e-scooter providers do, indeed, have a role to play in urban policy transfer. However, the complex processes of knowledge exchange mean that their role is more nuanced than simply engaging in lobbying. They can have an indirect impact on transfer processes, act as brokers of policy ideas, and provide cities with relevant insights on technical aspects. Building on the exploratory insights of this thesis, further research is recommended to increase the academic scrutiny of the topic. |
| Supervisor | Batory, Agnes; Jordana, Jacint |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/heller_nils-ole.pdf |
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