Advancing Sustainability at the Sub-National Level

Advancing Sustainability at the Sub-National Level
Author: Eran Feitelson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351960644

Sustainability notions have been widely embraced by planners. However, the question of what can planners contribute to the advancement of such notions has not received much attention until now. This volume examines the potential contribution of planning to the advancement of sustainability at sub-national level, and the limitations it faces in doing so. Bringing together case studies from the US, UK, Poland, Israel, South Africa, The Netherlands and Italy, it covers a wide range of issues and contexts, ranging from the metropolitan to the community level. On the basis of these case studies, the book shows that planners do indeed have a variety of options to advance sustainability notions at these levels, and appear to be doing so. The book proposes that planners should operate at two levels: firstly to change institutional structures, and secondly to advance sustainability notions incrementally in the meantime, within the existing institutional constraints.

Governing Urban Sustainability

Governing Urban Sustainability
Author: Lisa Pettibone
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317125436

In her study of the interactions between tools of urban sustainability governance in key cities, Lisa Pettibone argues that a new factor-sustainability-minded groups-may be critical to building momentum for sustainability. The book presents in-depth case studies of six cities in the USA and Germany: New York, Portland, Seattle, Berlin, Hamburg, and Heidelburg. Drawing on 75 interviews, document analysis, and a bilingual literature review, the book analyzes how sustainability is politically constructed in city strategic plans and sustainability indicators. The volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles of sustainability, discusses the key governance instruments relevant to urban sustainability, and delivers new empirical and theoretical material on their role in a sustainability transition. It concludes that despite the national-level differences, cities’ experiences in both countries are similar. Political sustainability at the city level differs in several important ways from academic principles of sustainability. Finally, it proposes that sustainability-minded groups may be a key link to connect urban sustainability in practice to theoretical concepts.

Policy, Planning, and People

Policy, Planning, and People
Author: Naomi Carmon
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2013-05-31
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0812207963

The contributors of Policy, Planning, and People argue for the promotion of social equity and quality of life by designing and evaluating urban policies and plans. Edited by Naomi Carmon and Susan S. Fainstein, the volume features original essays by leading authorities in the field of urban planning and policy, mainly from the United States, but also from Canada, Hungary, Italy, and Israel. The contributors discuss goal setting and ethics in planning, illuminate paradigm shifts, make policy recommendations, and arrive at best practices for future planning. Policy, Planning, and People includes theoretical as well as practice-based essays on a wide range of planning issues: housing and neighborhood, transportation, surveillance and safety, the network society, regional development and community development. Several essays are devoted to disadvantaged and excluded groups such as senior citizens, the poor, and migrant workers. The unifying themes of this volume are the values of equity, diversity, and democratic participation. The contributors discuss and draw conclusions related to the planning process and its outcomes. They demonstrate the need to look beyond efficiency to determine who benefits from urban policies and plans. Contributors: Alberta Andreotti, Tridib Banerjee, Rachel G. Bratt, Naomi Carmon, Karen Chapple, Norman Fainstein, Susan Fainstein, Eran Feitelson, Amnon Frenkel, George Galster, Penny Gurstein, Deborah Howe, Norman Krumholz, Jonathan Levine, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Enzo Mingione, Kenneth Reardon, Izhak Schnell, Daniel Shefer, Michael Teitz, Iván Tosics, Lawrence Vale, Martin Wachs.

Local Government and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Local Government and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author: Carlos Nunes Silva
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 799
Release: 2022-05-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030911128

The book provides a global perspective of local government response towards the COVID-19 pandemic through the analysis of a sample of countries in all continents. It examines the responses of local government, as well as the responses local government developed in articulation with other tiers of government and with civil society organizations, and explores the social, economic and policy impacts of the pandemic. The book offers an innovative contribution on the role of local government during the pandemic and discusses lessons for the future. The COVID-19 pandemic had a global impact on public health, in the well-being of citizens, in the economy, on civic life, in the provision of public services, and in the governance of cities and other human settlements, although in an uneven form across countries, cities and local communities. Cities and local governments have been acting decisively to apply the policy measures defined at national level to the specific local conditions. COVID-19 has exposed the inadequacy of the crisis response infrastructures and policies at both national and local levels in these countries as well as in many others across the world. But it also exposed much broader and deeper weaknesses that result from how societies are organized, namely the insecure life a substantial proportion of citizens have, as a result of economic and social policies followed in previous decades, which accentuated the impacts of the lockdown measures on employment, income, housing, among a myriad of other social dimensions. Besides the analysis of how governments, and local government, responded to the public health issues raised by the spread of the virus, the book deals also with the diversity of responses local governments have adopted and implemented in the countries, regions, cities and metropolitan areas. The analysis of these policy responses indicates that previously unthinkable policies can surprisingly be implemented at both national and local levels.

Energy, Governance and Sustainability

Energy, Governance and Sustainability
Author: Jordi Jaria i Manzano
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2016-05-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 178536846X

'In summary, the book provides an interesting mix of energy topics and perspectives that appears somewhat eclectic at first glance. . . . the book is a very useful and scholarly addition to the literature on energy governance and is recommended reading for all those who need to be better informed on the challenges and some of the solutions available at the current time.' - David Grinlinton, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law This timely book makes an original and in-depth contribution to the debate about how to transform our energy governance systems into ones that support a fair, safe and sustainable society. It combines perspectives from leading scholars to provide a global outlook on alternative approaches to energy governance and innovative experiences. Taken as a whole, it offers a unique overview of some of the innovative and novel ways in which law can support the shift to sustainable and equitable energy systems. The first section lays the conceptual and theoretical foundations for alternative approaches to energy governance, including its constitutional foundations, the role of human rights, and an environmentally just system that seeks universal access to energy for all. The second section showcases concrete innovative experiences in energy governance from around the globe, including smart cities, the role of the courts, energy efficiency of buildings and the harnessing of energy from waste. Finally, the authors consider the social justice dimension, discussing the exploitation of energy resources by multinational companies in developing countries and the importance of agricultural production, distribution and consumption in energy transformation. This unique overview of state-of-the-art approaches to transformation of energy governance is vital reading for policy makers and both legal and non-legal scholars concerned with energy law, sustainability and justice, and global governance. Contributors:K. Bosselmann, J. Bowie, N. Chalifour, E. Daly, T. Daya-Winterbottom, C. Derani, A. Guerry, J. Jaria I Manzano, L. Kotzé, E. Le Gal, L. Lin-Heng, M. Low, J.R. May, E.C. Okonkwo, R.L. Ottinger, C. Pappalardo, T. Parejo-Navajas, M.P. Samonte Solis, M.K. Scanlan, J. Wentz

Sustainable Development Report 2021

Sustainable Development Report 2021
Author: Jeffrey Sachs
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 517
Release: 2021-10-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1009098918

Contains insights on current issues in research on sustainable development, featuring the SDG Index and Dashboards.

Case Studies in Suburban Sustainability

Case Studies in Suburban Sustainability
Author: Sandra J. Garren
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1683402901

Choice Outstanding Academic Title The first volume to focus on suburbs and sustainability in the United States, this collection approaches the topic through regionally diverse case studies. Departing from the more widely examined issue of urban sustainability, contributors argue that the suburbs present a unique and important challenge given their greater land mass, lower population density, lower tax rates, and more limited government services. The studies featured in this volume analyze the impact of planning, social and economic concerns, environmental factors such as air pollution and climate change, and water management on suburban communities. Areas of focus include suburbs of New York City, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New Orleans, and Tampa. In these examples, contributors show that activism and leadership are currently advancing a strong sustainability agenda in regions many would have believed unlikely. Through these case studies, this volume demonstrates that the suburbs are a crucial nexus for sustainability in the United States. Because suburbs have been overlooked in most green initiatives, and because they play such a vital role in the future of American housing and development, these essays call for more research and continued creative innovation in these areas. Contributors: Troy D. Abel | Simon A. Andrew | Viney P. Aneja | Miles Ballogg | William H. Battye | Casey D. Bray | Vaswati Chatterjee | Stacy Clauson | Craig E. Colten | Sarah Combs | Yonn Dierwechter | Richard C. Feiock | Michael H. Finewood | Melissa M. Grigione | John Harner | Mathew K. Huxel | Mike Johnson | Gabrielle R. Lehigh | Elizabeth Mattiuzzi | Sean McGreevey | Susan M. Opp | Michaela C. Peterson | Benjamin L. Ruddell | Richard R. Rushforth | Debra Salazar | Ronald Sarno | Mallory Thomas | Carolina A. Urrea | Pornpan Uttamang | E. Christian Wells

Toward Sustainable Communities

Toward Sustainable Communities
Author: Mark Roseland
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2012-07-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0865717117

Helps citizens and their governments apply the concept of sustainable development in their communities. Original.

Decentralization in Environmental Governance

Decentralization in Environmental Governance
Author: Christian Zuidema
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1317102282

Decentralization in Environmental Governance is a critical reflection on the dangers and risks of governance renewal; warning against one-sided criticism on traditional command and control approaches to planning. The book formulates the arguments that support when and how governance renewable might be pursued, but this attempt is not just meant for practitioners and scholars interested in governance renewal. It is also useful for those interested in the challenge of navigating a plural landscape of diverse planning approaches, which are each rooted in contrasting theoretical and philosophical positions. The book develops a strategy for making argued choices between alternative planning approaches, despite their theoretical and philosophical positions. It does so by revitalizing the idea that we can contingently relate alternative planning approaches to the circumstances encountered. It is an idea traced to contingency studies of the mid and late 20th century, reinterpreted here within a planning landscape dominated by notions of uncertainty, complexity and socially constructed knowledge. This approach, called ‘Post-contingency’, is both a theoretical investigation of arguments for navigating the theoretical plurality we face and an empirical study into renewing environmental governance. Next to its theoretical ambitions, Decentralization in Environmental Governance is practical in offering a constructive critique on current processes of governance renewal in European environmental governance.

Evaluation in Planning

Evaluation in Planning
Author: E.R. Alexander
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317138732

Evaluation is a critical stage in urban and regional planning and development, with the consideration of alternative proposals essential for informed debate and decision. Evaluation in planning has become even more important with the new paradigm attempting to integrate economic efficiency with equity, sustainability and social responsibility. The craft of pre-development evaluation has long been influenced by Nathaniel Lichfield, and in his honour, this book brings together prominent researchers and practitioners to discuss evaluation in planning: its conceptual foundations and subsequent development, its strengths and persisting dilemmas, and its best practices and their potential for improving future planning and development. The chapters trace evaluation in planning from its historical origin to current applications. Part one reviews the evolution of evaluation theory and practice, and part two contains a selection of best-practice application. The final integrating chapter notes key problems, and offers directions for future development in evaluation research and practice.