Agency and forms of path development along transformation processes in German cities
Résumé
The article provides elements of a theoretical framework to embed the discussion of regional path dependence and transformation into evolutionary approaches of complex adaptive systems. The evolutionary perspective avoids the focus on lock-in as a major challenge of path dependence, while allowing for more options along path-dependent processes including path plasticity and path creation. The empirical part is based on a qualitative study of transformation processes in three German cities, Stuttgart, Dortmund and Chemnitz, during the last 25 years, showing the variety of combinations between micro, meso and macro interactions as well as the diversity of relevant policies to gain influence on local transformation processes.