Why Cities Customize National Policy During Implementation

Cities commonly serve as implementation agencies for the state, raising questions regarding compliance and adaptation. This paper asks why cities facing similar national demands sometimes choose different implementation strategies. It argues that local implementation strategies are a function of city council interests and local implementation conditions. The argument is tested through a comprehensive study of new Danish legislation on vulnerable social housing areas introduced in 2018, which required 10 Danish cities to develop radical physical redevelopment plans for 15 designated areas. Drawing on extensive public documents, internal archives (over 13,000 pages), and 11 key elite interviews, the analysis reveals how local implementation strategies were strongly shaped by how well the new policy aligned with city council interests and local implementation conditions. In doing so, the study contributes to a theoretical integration of urban politics scholarship with the customization argument developed in U.S. federal and EU implementation research.