UGoveRN Special Session at VSR Annual Conference 2023

The VSR (Dutch and Flemish Law and Society Association) Annual Conference offered an excellent platform for interdisciplinary discussions on governance, which is the focus of UGoveRN. Each year, the association holds a two-day conference, where experts from various disciplines within the legal field present their research findings. This year, the event was hosted by the Amsterdam School of Law, where UGoveRN members held a special session centered around adaptive law.

The session was chaired by Danielle Chevalier, Assistant Professor of Law and Society at Leiden Law School, and featured contributions from Dr. Tobias Arnoldussen, Nagwa Kady and Dr. Sara Özogul, Ebru Kurt Ozman, and Prof. Dr. Tuna Tasan-Kok, who are experts in various fields related to law, governance, and urban planning.

The session revolved around the concept of adaptive law, which also framed the subsequent panel discussion. In the context of a market-driven and rapidly changing urban development model, traditional regulatory approaches often struggle to keep up with emerging technologies, evolving societal norms, and complex economic challenges.

To address this inherent rigidity, as Tobias Arnoldussen presented how the concept of adaptive law has gained traction, particularly in tackling environmental issues that require resilient and flexible regulatory models capable of promptly responding to the problem at hand. Adaptive law entails a regulatory framework that is flexible, iterative, and capable of adapting to dynamic and unforeseen circumstances.

Tuna Tasan-Kok highlighted that this type of regulatory approach is applicable to various fields as it provides a more accessible path to finding solutions when unexpected events occur. This form of regulation necessitates the ability to adapt to change, foster innovation and experimentation, and engage stakeholders.

Ebru Kurt Ozman’s research highlighted how marginalized communities in Istanbul re-politicize themselves in suppressed areas by employing entrepreneurial strategies to resist displacement as a response to adaptive regulations on urban regeneration. However, this approach can also result in lack of coherence, implementation delays, and challenges in striking a balance between flexibility and certainty.

Nagwa Kady’s presented joint research with Sara Özogul and Tuna Tasan-Kok, detailling how the lack of coherence and fragmentation leads to polycentric regimes of spatial governance in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region.

The discussion concluded with an agreement to further explore the concept of “guided flexibility” as it seems to offer some control mechanisms.