In the IHS PhD Colloquia, the innovative research of our PhD researchers in the field of urban development is presented. Each session explores a wide variety of topics, providing deeper insights into their academic research.
Marija de Wijn
Marija holds an MSc degree in political science and international development studies, both obtained at the University of Amsterdam. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked extensively on issues such as local governance, decentralization, and urban development. She is currently based in Beirut, Lebanon, where she manages a joint UNDP/UN-Habitat project that aims to strengthen municipal resilience.
More about her research
Using the PRISMA framework, Marija reviewed 151 articles published over two decades, to find out which conditions influence urban climate mitigation and adaptation across high-and lower-income countries.
The research focused on four key categories of influencing conditions:
- Vertical governance (across government levels)
- Horizontal governance (state and non-state actors)
- Internal municipal governance (capacity, resources, data)
- Contextual factors (city size, economy, population)
Bias towards high-income countries
- One key finding was the persistent bias in literature toward high-income country contexts, with only 41 out of 151 studies focusing on LMICs.
- Her results highlight the growing body of research on city-level climate action, the shift toward adaptation-focused studies, and the importance of considering contextual and governance factors in evaluating enabling and constraining conditions.
- The presentation sparked insightful discussions on how different governance pathways and contextual realities shape climate action trajectories, particularly in underrepresented regions.
