From environmental policy consensus to socio-environmental policy controversy: Discursive network dynamics of the Ghentian Low Emission Zone

Contemporary socio-ecological conditions are giving rise to a wide range of environmental policy controversies. One of them is the implementation of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in a number of European cities. As a controversial policy measure against air pollution, LEZs can be understood as discursive struggles where polarisation and conflict arise from the different discourses that actors adopt towards it. In the city of Ghent (Belgium), the implementation of a LEZ initially constituted an apparent policy consensus before developing into a policy controversy. This article explores how the Ghentian LEZ developed into a policy controversy using a discourse network analysis in two phases: first, the discursive structure of the controversy is dissected in order to identify the different discourses and coalitions; second, the argumentative structure of the discourses is dissected in order to uncover the types of arguments used and how they contributed to intensify the controversy. Drawing on the Ghentian case, this article discusses air pollution policy in light of post-politicisation processes and explores implications for the study of environmental discourses, just urban mobility and environmental policy before concluding.