Formal Political Participation and Urban Climate Governance: The Case of the Clean Transport Zone in Kraków

The implementation of climate policies in cities increasingly depends on effective stakeholder engagement and participatory governance. This paper examines the development of the Clean Transport Zone (CTZ) in Kraków as a case of formal political participation supporting urban climate transition. The study was conducted within the Horizon Europe CO-SUSTAIN project and combines a historical case study with stakeholder and context analyses. The analytical framework is based on the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), which explains socio-technical transitions through interactions between landscape, regime, and niche levels. The research applies qualitative methods, including document analysis, stakeholder mapping, and expert interviews with representatives of the Public Transport Authority of Kraków responsible for CTZ implementation. The findings demonstrate that the evolution of the CTZ was driven by the interaction of environmental pressures, institutional change, and local innovation. Public consultations, legal disputes, and stakeholder negotiations substantially influenced the final policy design. The stakeholder analysis identified local government institutions as key actors, while non-governmental organizations played a crucial role in shaping public debate and strengthening policy legitimacy. The Kraków case demonstrates that the successful implementation of urban climate policies depends not only on technical and legal solutions but also on inclusive governance, transparent decision-making, and sustained stakeholder participation. This study contributes to the literature by integrating the Multi-Level Perspective with stakeholder analysis to explain how participatory governance shapes the implementation of urban climate policies. This paper presents the results of research conducted within the EU-funded CO-SUSTAIN project (2024–2026) (which is funded by the European Union; views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency, and neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them), which aims to explore new democratic pathways for a sustainable transition. The historical development of the Clean Transport Zone in Kraków was analysed as a case study to examine the participatory process and identify its key stakeholders within the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework.