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Cities in the Age of the Anthropocene: Climate Change Agents and the Potential for Mitigation
Abstract
Cities are human creations where many of the emissions causing climate change originate. Every aspect of daily life in cities, which spans buildings, transit, food, energy, and water, relies on fossil fuels that materially contribute to climate change. This paper explores the need for research to better uncover the processes driving urbanization in order to develop novel ways to mitigate climate impacts on Earth. Areas of fruitful research include better quantification of teleconnections between cities and their hinterlands and coupling those to the socio-economic drivers and organization of those relationships; the financialization of much urban policy; understanding where cities fit in the global economic order and their role in generating economic growth, and the ways in which they are also seen as leaders of sustainability and climate actions, but constrained in so-doing by the nested and tiered layers of institutions they operate within. This paper concludes by outlining ways for cities to transition toward nurturing human well-being and reducing their impacts on planetary processes resulting in the proposed new Earth epoch - the Anthropocene.
... They therefore have a key role in the Anthropocene. The planet's health depends on how cities evolve (Pincetl, 2017). ...
... Authors such as Scranton (2015) and Hamilton (2017) have shared a profoundly alarming vision of the near future. However, cities have the potential to reduce the current impact of human beings on the environment (Pincetl, 2017) to help mitigate the risks of the present, overcome the challenges that arise and achieve regenerative city centres (Girardet, 2014;Woo, Wortmann, Schurig& Leidreiter, 2014). This is about not only reducing the damaging effects of our present-day urbanisation and tackling major challenges, but also achieving a regenerative change while improving the urban habitability and productivity (Thomson & Newman, 2018a). ...
... The research agenda for cities in the Anthropocene is interdisciplinary and complex because socio-economic and political drivers operate at different scales and their organisation differs across the globe (Pincetl, 2017). This chapter entails a synthetic and theoretical approach to the relationship between urbanisation and the new era brought about by humans, including the corresponding impact and risks, with proposed future mitigation strategies. ...
The scientific community has identified the beginning of a new geological era, referred to as the Anthropocene, generated by the irrefutable impact of humans on the environment. One of the fundamental processes originating in this era is contemporary urbanisation, which has transformed the planet and brought about serious consequences insofar as the deterioration of the environment. This chapter entails a synthetic and theoretical approach to the relationship between urbanisation and the new era brought about by humans, including the corresponding impact and risks, with proposed future mitigation strategies. A deductive method is applied through the study of recently published bibliographic references and reflections by the authors. The results of this study show that the scale, territorial scope, manner and function of contemporary urbanisation have accelerated the changes in the physical and functional structure of cities. This process has caused serious consequences on the quality of life of the residents therein, land artificialisation, resource consumption, natural environments and climate change. This situation presents us with pressing challenges that need to be urgently addressed regarding the present and future of our cities and, with them, humanity and our planet. Our habitats, infrastructures and transportation systems must preserve the environment, not ruin it. To do so, it has become essential and urgent to design regenerative urban policies applied with good governance. The central conclusion, however, is the need to establish a new paradigm based on cities that are truly intelligent, resilient and sustainable. Cities must make a transition, a regeneration, towards human wellbeing with less impact on this new Anthropocene epoch. For this reason, the present text provides a state of the question raised and possible solutions, a set of problems and answers of particular interest to academics, professionals and citizens in general.
... Plus de 55 % de la population globale vit actuellement dans des villes et cette tendance va se poursuivre dans les années à venir (UNDESAPD, 2019). En complément de cette forte densité de population, les villes sont à l'origine de plus de 75 % des émissions de GES globales et des flux de consommation de ressources et d'énergie, imposant une charge significative sur l'environnement (Pincetl, 2017;Ghaemi & Smith, 2020;Hachaichi & Baouni, 2020;Swilling et al., 2018;Harris, Weinzettel, Bigano & Källmén, 2020). Bien qu'instigatrices de ces divers impacts environnementaux, la forte densité des villes couplée à leur concentration d'activités leur octroient un certain «multiplicateur de durabilité urbaine». ...
... Le choix des frontières peut avoir un effet substantiel sur les résultats obtenus au cours d'une analyse. Ainsi, la nécessité d'homogénéiser ce que représentent la «ville» ainsi que l'«urbain» dans un contexte de soutenabilité est nécessaire pour pouvoir analyser de manière complète et cohérente les impacts environnementaux qui s'y rapportent (Pincetl, 2017). ...
... Les villes sont souvent décrites comme des systèmes complexes ouverts, dont les flux d'approvisionnement proviennent en grande partie de régions situées en dehors de leurs frontières physiques (Tan, Arbabi, Brockway, Densley Tingley & Mayfield, 2019;Moore, 2013;Rees, 2012;Pincetl, 2017). Qualifiées de structures dissipatives auto-organisées, les villes maintiennent leur fonction interne en extrayant l'énergie et la matière disponibles sous forme de biens consommables depuis leur environnement (néguentropie), et y rejettent ensuite les déchets énergétiques et matériaux dégradés (entropie) (Rees, 2012;Bihouix, 2019). ...
Our global demand for resources currently exceeds the Earth’s carrying capacity (ECC), defined
as the limit of anthropogenic pressure that our ecosystem can withstand within its regenerative
and assimilative capacities. Representing a significant share of global environmental degradation,
cities are seen as having the potential to catalyze a transition to a truly sustainable state in
compliance with ECC. However, in order to do so, urban decision-makers must rely on robust
measurement tools representing the complex dynamics or urban systems to guide their actions.
This paper asks what tools exist to bridge this gap between theory and practice, what role urban
planners are now giving to the ECC, and what the sustainability status of high-income reductionleading
cities is in relation to the ECC. Ten assessment frameworks and four sustainability
indicators were identified as compatible with the One Planet goal and adapted to measure key
urban flows. Sustainability is primarily considered through the lens of climate at the urban scale,
and existing assessment standards lack comprehensibility, leading to an overall underestimation
of cities’ total environmental footprint. To select and analyze the leading cities in impact
reduction, we used the following criteria : achievement of an absolute GHG emission reduction
greater than 15 % over the period 1990-2020, and intentionality/commitment to sustainability
through active membership in specific environmental knowledge transfer groups. Twenty-four
cities were identified whose GHG reductions since 1990 range from 24-49 %, which is between
2-4 times lower than what is required by high-income cities by 2050 to reach the goal of living
within ECC. To achieve a "one-planet life", cities must address their overconsumption using
systemic tools that incorporate the notion of ECC and consider indirect emissions related to
urban consumption. Various obstacles to this approach have been identified, of a practical,
economic, cultural and geopolitical nature, and must be taken into account in order to promote
the wider use of ECC as the ultimate goal of sustainability. Achieving a global state that respects
ECC is everyone’s concern. Hence, the establishment of specific reduction targets, based on
collaboration and effort-sharing approaches, must be promoted to ensure an environmentally
efficient and socially just transition.
... Regions have the ability, through regulations, sustainable services, the implementation of eco-efficiency, the development of smart systems for clean technology, and the reduction of CO 2 emissions, to modify the intensity of global climate change [9]. To enable this, innovative governance and policies to transition to sustainability are needed [13,14]. ...
... The main aim of climate policy is typically that described by Heinberg [66], namely, to create energy infrastructures with zero CO 2 emissions and to initiate a post-carbon era. There is an evident nexus between carbon-based fuels, global environmental change, and climate impacts [9]. It is essential to increase local renewable energy production while reducing energy demand [9]. ...
... There is an evident nexus between carbon-based fuels, global environmental change, and climate impacts [9]. It is essential to increase local renewable energy production while reducing energy demand [9]. This is assumed to be possible once sources of renewable energies, such as wind and solar energy, are able to replace the more concentrated hydroelectric, carbon-based and nuclear energy sources [65]. ...
The Anthropocene era demands a future alternative to the current state of play. The aim of this study is to analyze spatial and climate governance and policy through a critical geographical study of the island of Mallorca (Spain), an example of the model of urban development and tourism growth that has generated acute environmental impacts. Beginning with the European Union and Spain, the work then narrows its focus to the case study of Mallorca. The study is based on a review of the academic literature, statistical sources, and an analysis of the content of spatial and climate policy in Spain and the Balearic Islands. The work reflects on the flawed spatial planning responses to climate change and outlines strategies to adopt more radical measures for effective climate action. The work identifies six main shortcomings and makes proposals to tackle the challenges of the Anthropocene in Mallorca, responding to each of the deficiencies detected. The article seeks to encourage reflection and proposes key strategies for spatial governance and climate policy to lend coherence to the fight against climate change.
... Por un lado, la transformación no depende solo del ciudadano moderno, sino depende de la transformación ideológica en los medios de producción. Por el otro, el capitalismo debe mirar hacia encontrar caminos que promuevan la calidad de vida y el bienestar general en las urbes del mundo (Pincetl, 2017). www.pacarinadelsur.com/home/alma-matinal/1832-bases-teoricas-para-el-estudio-de-la-gestion-de-los-residuos-solidos-como-problema-complejo-e… ...
... Sin embargo, también dichas soluciones provienen de la industria tecnológica, que en forma de patentes promueven dichas soluciones. Pero no dejan de lado el modelo actual de consumo (Pincetl, 2017). ...
... Actualmente los valores que se enseñan en los centros escolares formales e incluso en los espacios informales de educación de la sociedad, se encuentran enfocados a las prácticas para el ejercicio de la ideología capitalista en el consumo irracional de productos de uso cotidiano. Esto recuerda que el modelo neoliberal resulta fallido al pretender la autogestión sostenible de las ciudades (Pincetl, 2017;Bolis, Morioka, & Sznelwar, 2017). ...
El objetivo del trabajo es analizar la gestión de los residuos sólidos como problema complejo en el sistema turístico como industria, en relación con el contexto sociocultural y geográfico de América Latina. Se examinan tres dimensiones del problema complejo: a) la reflexión epistémica acerca de cómo la tecnoestructura promueve la generación del residuo sólido a través del consumo en el sistema turístico, b) la dimensión pragmática del ejercicio del turismo como industria que genera residuos sólidos y cómo los gestiona, y; c) la dimensión ética de la tecnoestructura capitalista en el ejercicio del consumo como aparato ideológico y la sostenibilidad de la estructura capitalista. Se concluye que pueden plantearse, en el ejercicio del sistema turístico, nuevas posibilidades de escenarios a partir de la emergencia de mecanismos que transformen la realidad con políticas públicas sostenibles a nivel social, económico y ambiental.
Fuente: Pacarina del Sur - http://pacarinadelsur.com/home/alma-matinal/1832-bases-teoricas-para-el-estudio-de-la-gestion-de-los-residuos-solidos-como-problema-complejo-en-el-sistema-turistico
... Urbanization as a process of worldwide population concentration drives growing demand for energy and growing consumption of natural resources and is widely thought to be the primary source of environmental contamination and human health risks (Wilkinson et al. 2007, Schwarzenbach et al. 2010, Solecki et al. 2018, Delile et al. 2022. Cities have thus come to be seen as the environmental epitome of the Anthropocene epoch (i.e., the 'Great Acceleration'), as they play host to the agents of damage to Earth system processes (Steff en et al. 2015, Pincetl, 2017, Lade et al. 2020, Elmqvist et al. 2021, Persson et al. 2022. ...
... Lead ore supply sources for the Roman stulae Figure 7 reports results and fi ndings from previous studies (Delile et al. 2014, 2016, 2017, Boni et al. 2000 on potential sources for the lead used in the stulae of the water distribution systems in ancient Rome, Naples and Pompe ii. Maps of Europe show pixels from the database that best agree with the raw data Pb isotope compositions of stulae samples from these three cities. ...
The image of the city in contemporary society has been viewed as the epitome of the Anthropocene epoch, during which damage
to Earth system processes, the environment and human health have increased signifi cantly since the mid-20th century (i.e., the
’Great Acceleration’). However, the dynamics driving the emergence, development and growth of cities have taken place over
several millennia, and especially since the 1st millennium BCE when urbanization rates surged. Was environmental harm already
perceptible in the earliest times of urban growth? And how can we detect it?
Th is chapter aims to address the hypothesis that the tripartite linkage between the production, consumption and release of trace
metal elements (TME) could be used as a signature of the urban palaeo-anthropocene. Rather than a defi ned period of time, the
palaeo-anthropocene could instead be seen as a conceptual framework in which the emergence and growth of urban societies are
one of the key elements for understanding human exploration/expansion and landscape anthropization over a long time scale.
Based on a non exhaustive overview of TME palaeo-pollution records from palaeo-environmental archives from Western Europe,
South America and the circum-Mediterranean region, we fi nd that the evidence converges on a relationship between the nature
of the environmental archives investigated, the spatial extent of the palaeo-pollution signals, and diff erent forms of anthropization.
High-altitude and high latitude natural archives (i.e., glaciers, peatlands, and lakes) record the history of mining-driven
atmospheric pollution from local to hemispheric scale, while contaminated coastal sedimentary infi lling of ancient harbor basins
documents long-term urban dynamics.
... According to Pincetl [31], ecological footprints are rooted in the industrial revolutions that have changed ecological systems so fast that they have driven the Earth into the Anthropocene Epoch, leading to anthropogenic radiative forcing. The most observed indicators of radiative forcing are greenhouse gases, which comprise 78% CO 2 , with the remainder being non-CO 2 species [32]. ...
... The above literature review proves that sustainability was introduced decades ago to ensure the welfare of people and the planet. However, industrial revolutions have imposed an environmental crisis, causing the global average surface temperature to rise from -0.07 to 0.98 degrees Celsius between 1900 and 2019, leading to 19 of the 20 warmest years on record from the beginning of the 21st century (31,32). According to the Guardian, only 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988, while industrialists blame supply chains for 80% of industrial emissions and 90% of the environmental degradation of the consumer industries (6). ...
Suppliers have evolved alongside industrial revolutions induced by their selection criteria for over two centuries. While sustainability has remained a pledge in their inter-creditor agreements, the claims of 11,000 scientists regarding the Earth’s colossal pollution and the calls of 196 nations to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 have accentuated concerns regarding the sustainability of supply selection criteria. Twenty supply selection criteria and seventy associated indicators were identified in industrial revolutions. The identified criteria and indicators were forwarded to 250 volunteers with expertise in the supply chain across six industries. Maintaining confidentiality, the volunteers were first requested to rank the criteria and related indicators concerning the three pillars of sustainability, the environmental, economic, and social, using The second request was to mark the percentage of influence of economic criteria and the related indicators on environmental and social sustainability. The third request was to state their professional views on sustainability during the industrial revolutions. Statistical analyses of the responses suggested that the identified supplier selection criteria were not equally driven by economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Supply chain professionals supported the statistical analysis and confirmed that the economic indicators dominating the selection of suppliers were significantly higher than the environmental and social criteria. They also confirmed that economic indicators have negatively impacted environmental and social sustainability during industrial revolutions. They recommended that transitioning into sustainable supply chains requires shifting emphasis from economic to environmental and social sustainability.
... For some health-related research questions, it may be necessary to use alternative definitions of cities that more fully capture their embedded resources and wider impacts. For example, cities cover around 1% of global land surface (Esch et al., 2017), but consume the majority of Earth's material resources (Pincetl, 2017;United Nations Environment Program, 2016), and are estimated to produce up to 50% of total greenhouse gas emissions (Marcotullio et al., 2013). Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. ...
... Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. Better accounting of the scale and nature of resource flows is needed to more fully understand how cities drive global environmental changes that have implications for health (Pincetl, 2017). ...
Goals and pathways to achieve sustainable urban development have multiple interlinkages with human health and wellbeing. However, these interlinkages have not been examined in depth in recent discussions on urban sustainability and global urban science. This paper fills that gap by elaborating in detail the multiple links between urban sustainability and human health and by mapping research gaps at the interface of health and urban sustainability sciences. As researchers from a broad range of disciplines, we aimed to: 1) define the process of urbanization, highlighting distinctions from related concepts to support improved conceptual rigour in health research; 2) review the evidence linking health with urbanization, urbanicity, and cities and identify cross-cutting issues; and 3) highlight new research approaches needed to study complex urban systems and their links with health. This novel, comprehensive knowledge synthesis addresses issue of interest across multiple disciplines. Our review of concepts of urban development should be of particular value to researchers and practitioners in the health sciences, while our review of the links between urban environments and health should be of particular interest to those outside of public health. We identify specific actions to promote health through sustainable urban development that leaves no one behind, including: integrated planning; evidence-informed policy-making; and monitoring the implementation of policies. We also highlight the critical role of effective governance and equity-driven planning in progress towards sustainable, healthy, and just urban development.
... For some health-related research questions, it may be necessary to use alternative definitions of cities that more fully capture their embedded resources and wider impacts. For example, cities cover around 1% of global land surface (Esch et al., 2017), but consume the majority of Earth's material resources (Pincetl, 2017;United Nations Environment Program, 2016), and are estimated to produce up to 50% of total greenhouse gas emissions (Marcotullio et al., 2013). Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. ...
... Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. Better accounting of the scale and nature of resource flows is needed to more fully understand how cities drive global environmental changes that have implications for health (Pincetl, 2017). ...
Goals and pathways to achieve sustainable urban development have multiple interlinkages with human health and wellbeing. However, these interlinkages have not been examined in depth in recent discussions on urban sustainability and global urban science. This paper fills that gap by elaborating in detail the multiple links between urban sustainability and human health and by mapping research gaps at the interface of health and urban sustainability sciences. As researchers from a broad range of disciplines, we aimed to: 1) define the process of urbanization, highlighting distinctions from related concepts to support improved conceptual rigour in health research; 2) review the evidence linking health with urbanization, urbanicity, and cities and identify cross-cutting issues; and 3) highlight new research approaches needed to study complex urban systems and their links with health. This novel, comprehensive knowledge synthesis addresses issue of interest across multiple disciplines. Our review of concepts of urban development should be of particular value to researchers and practitioners in the health sciences, while our review of the links between urban environments and health should be of particular interest to those outside of public health. We identify specific actions to promote health through sustainable urban development that leaves no one behind, including: integrated planning; evidence-informed policy-making; and monitoring the implementation of policies. We also highlight the critical role of effective governance and equity-driven planning in progress towards sustainable, healthy, and just urban development.
... For some health-related research questions, it may be necessary to use alternative definitions of cities that more fully capture their embedded resources and wider impacts. For example, cities cover around 1% of global land surface (Esch et al., 2017), but consume the majority of Earth's material resources (Pincetl, 2017;United Nations Environment Program, 2016), and are estimated to produce up to 50% of total greenhouse gas emissions (Marcotullio et al., 2013). Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. ...
... Notably, most estimates of emissions of greenhouse pollutants focus only on within-city activities, without fully accounting for indirect, embodied emissions in the goods consumed within the city but produced elsewhere. Better accounting of the scale and nature of resource flows is needed to more fully understand how cities drive global environmental changes that have implications for health (Pincetl, 2017). ...
Abstract
Goals and pathways to achieve sustainable urban development have multiple interlinkages with human health and wellbeing. However, these interlinkages have not been examined in depth in recent discussions on urban sustainability and global urban science. This paper fills that gap by elaborating in detail the multiple links between urban sustainability and human health and by mapping research gaps at the interface of health and urban sustainability sciences. As researchers from a broad range of disciplines, we aimed to: 1) define the process of urbanization, highlighting distinctions from related concepts to support improved conceptual rigour in health research; 2) review the evidence linking health with urbanization, urbanicity, and cities and identify cross-cutting issues; and 3) highlight new research approaches needed to study complex urban systems and their links with health. This novel, comprehensive knowledge synthesis addresses issue of interest across multiple disciplines. Our review of concepts of urban development should be of particular value to researchers and practitioners in the health sciences, while our review of the links between urban environments and health should be of particular interest to those outside of public health. We identify specific actions to promote health through sustainable urban development that leaves no one behind, including: integrated planning; evidence-informed policy-making; and monitoring the implementation of policies. We also highlight the critical role of effective governance and equity-driven planning in progress towards sustainable, healthy, and just urban development.
... Interest in urbanization is growing within both research and policy communities, and the process represents an important driver of global change and a distinctive feature of the Anthropocene (Baklanov et al., 2016;Boone, 2014;Brondizio et al., 2016;Kolbert et al., 2017;Pincetl, 2017;Seto et al., 2016). According to the United Nations, although cities covered less than 2% of the earth's surface in 2011, they were responsible for 78% of the world's energy consumption and produced more than 60% of all carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions (UN-HABITAT, 2011). ...
... The fraction of global CO 2 emissions related to energy use is expected to grow given global urbanization trends (Hutyra et al., 2014). Nevertheless, urban development paths present opportunities for technological and societal transformations towards energy efficiency and decarbonization (Bai et al., 2016;Jorgenson et al., 2014;Pincetl, 2017). In this context, improving both GHG and pollutant mitigation policies requires better understanding of the intertwined dynamics of urban energy and land use, emissions, demographics, governance, and societal and biophysical processes, particularly in low and mid-income countries ...
Worldwide, urbanization constitutes a major and growing driver of global change and a distinctive feature of the Anthropocene. Thus, urban development paths present opportunities for technological and societal transformations towards energy efficiency and decarbonization, with benefits for both greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollution mitigation. This requires a better understanding of the intertwined dynamics of urban energy and land use, emissions, demographics, governance, and societal and biophysical processes. In this study, we address several characteristics of urbanization in Santiago (33.5°S, 70.5°W, 500 m a.s.l.), the capital city of Chile. Specifically, we focus on the multiple links between mobility and air quality, describe the evolution of these two aspects over the past 30 years, and review the role scientific knowledge has played in policy-making. We show evidence of how technological measures (e.g., fuel quality, three-way catalytic converters, diesel particle filters) have been successful in decreasing coarse mode aerosol (PM10) concentrations in Santiago despite increasing urbanization (e.g., population, motorization, urban sprawl). However, we also show that such measures will likely be insufficient if behavioral changes do not achieve an increase in the use of public transportation. Our investigation seeks to inform urban development in the Anthropocene, and our results may be useful for other developing countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean where more than 80% of the population is urban.
... Studies have demonstrated that the environment and people in the era of Anthropocene are significantly affected by urbanization (Pincetl, 2017;Barthel et al., 2019;Langemeyer et al., 2021;Elmqvist et al., 2021;Obringer & Nateghi, 2021;Gopalan & Radhakrishna, 2022). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2022) anticipates new types of recreation and production. ...
Atatürk Orman Çiftliği (AOÇ), has been established as the first urban agriculture model in the history of the Republic of Turkey. In the course of time, most of the Farmland has been destroyed for reasons such as sale by legal means, renting, and judicial decisions. It has been occupied by buildings. It has lost most of its terrain and historical identity because of misuse. Moreover, the Farm is negatively affected by the city's rapid urban growth and excessive infrastructural needs. Therefore, the Farm has lost its functions, integrity, and persistency. It is now a wasteland at the center of Ankara. This study aims to preserve the AOÇ lands for reevaluating them with an ecological approach in terms of today's conditions. Regarding the AOÇ's founding purposes, this study offers a conceptual approach for reclaiming and reorganizing the Farm. This approach aspires to design an energetic 'green core' with urban agriculture facilities and recreational activities for the city. The methodology involves literature review, examination of AOÇ's historical development process and planning decisions, site analysis, and development of a conceptual approach for the designated study area. AOÇ has a significant place and meaning in the collective memory of the Turkish nation and acts as a bridge that carries the past to the future. To this end, the Farm should be reintroduced to the urban life with new ecological, recreational, and cultural functions by preserving its mission to be an example of a production that fulfills the city's agricultural and nutritional needs.
... Hundreds of cities worldwide have committed to decarbonize or become carbon neutral by 2050, 2030, or even sooner, under the leadership of multiple initiatives such as the Covenant of Mayors or the platform of global cities C40 incl. Local authorities thus wake up to the Jano-faced nature of cities: the territorial unit that most contributes to climate change and the hub for the technical and social innovations that may nurture the required solutions (Mi et al., 2019, Pincetl, 2017, Droege, 2018. The problem is particularly salient for the dense, compact cities of the European Mediterranean basin. ...
Hundreds of cities worldwide have committed to decarbonizing or becoming carbon neutral by 2030, 2050, or even sooner. The challenge is particularly acute for the dense, compact cities of the European Mediterranean basin. To maximize their energy self-sufficiency, Mediterranean cities seek to scale up PV production within their boundaries and supply themselves from ground-mounted plants in their surroundings. This paper provides an alternative approach based on the energy exchange between cities and their metropolitan areas. The potential of the approach is demonstrated by the results attained under a less favorable (conservative) scenario: supplying the electricity demand of the residential stock exclusively with rooftop PV. Drawing on a combination of spatial analysis (based on cadastral and statistical data) and energy simulation (with HOMER), the approach is applied to Valencia, Spain's city and its metropolitan area. Results show that rooftop PV may increase the PV coverage rate from 61% (Valencia and its first metropolitan ring) to 79.2% (whole metropolitan area)-or about 30% in relative terms. This may encourage Mediterranean cities to develop innovative urban-metropolitan energy exchange models, hopefully under the criteria of spatial justice.
... Trexler and Pincetl stated that humans had changed the Earth's natural systems so fast that they have driven the Earth's geology and ecosystems into the Anthropocene Epoch, leading to anthropogenic radiative forcings. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change associate climate change with anthropogenic radiative forcings, which refers to atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly its 78% carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) component, affecting the Earth's energy balance over time [11][12][13]. The CO 2 accumulates and acts as a heating source [14]. ...
The last century has witnessed European commercial aviation flourishing at the cost of environmental degradation by boosting greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. However, the outcry for net-zero emissions compels the sector’s supply chain to a minimum 55% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below the 1990 level by 2030 and zero CO2 emissions by 2050. This study examines a European environmental sustainability path toward a green commercial aviation supply chain. Driven by literature and a review of related documents, two propositions were advanced to orient perspectives on the relationship between pollution and the commercial aviation supply chain and actions being taken toward environmental sustainability. In semi-structured interviews, seventeen aerospace associates endorsed pollution sources in the commercial aviation supply chain during the four stages of the aircraft life cycle, including extracting the raw materials, manufacturing, ground and flight operations, and end-of-service. They recommended transitioning into green commercial aviation through the widespread deployment of innovative technologies, from modifying airframes to changing aviation fuel, utilizing alternative propulsion systems, adopting circular manufacturing, and improving air traffic management.
... Exposure to environmental pollution frequently exceeds the recommended levels by competent authorities, and air pollution alone is considered the fourth cause of premature death worldwide (Health Effects Institute 2020). Cities are also responsible for over threequarters of global natural resources and energy consumption, and are responsible for two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning (Gurney et al. 2015;Pincetl 2017) significantly contributing to local and global changes. ...
Key message
Urban trees and forests are one of the main tools available in cities to face current and future environmental challenges and ultimately promote well-being.
AbstractMore than half of the world’s population lives in cities nowadays. This rural exodus to cities resulted from a pursuit of better life quality. However, the urban population increase led to new levels of complexity. Such complexity calls for multifunctional solutions such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Trees are at the core of NbS, for all the ecosystem services they provide. Nevertheless, managing them is challenging and requires both the empirical knowledge of practitioners and a deep scientific understanding of the tree’s structure and function. This special issue on “Urban Trees” advances our knowledge of their ecosystem services, tolerance and resilience to the urban environment, their possible disservices, and steps forward on new proposals for managing urban trees. It is clear from the current literature and the studies in this special issue that decision-making on urban trees must be supported by scientific evidence to promote well-being in cities.
... Concepts such as "sustainable smart cities" (Ahvenniemi et al., 2017;Hilty and Aebischer, 2015;Bekaroo, Bokhoree, andPattinson, 2016, Doran andDaniel, 2014) and "smart cities in the Anthropocene" (Yigitcanlar and Kamruzzaman, 2018;Pincetl 2017;Basiri et al, 2017) are still incipient in Brazil. Exceptions include Mendes (2020), who discussed ICTs as 'low-carbon enablers' for urban governance in the Anthropocene, Marchetti et al (2019), and which criticized the use of smart city models from the global North in Latin America. ...
Cities are fundamental agents and spaces in global climate governance, whether through their participation in transnational climate networks, urban sustainability innovation, experimentation, or the use of low-carbon digital technologies in urban governance, a phenomenon known as climate-smart city. In Brazil, few studies have addressed this issue. Thus, here I analyze the political agenda and economic dynamics involved in the transformation of Brazil's second largest city, Rio de Janeiro, into a climate-smart city. I develop an original conceptualization of “techno-utopian smart city” and apply this framework to analyze the case of Rio. Empirically, I perform a thematic content analysis, including the coding of policy documents, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. Results suggest that the smart city agenda is still limited to addressing the challenges of climate change. While smart city and climate policies have been sparsely integrated, “smart” urbanism has privileged the financial, economic, and political dividends of a techno-driven urban transformation, rather than focusing on citizen well-being, climate change mitigation, and adaptation. My conceptualization and empirical analysis suggest that Rio de Janeiro has been i) framing climate governance as a technical issue instead of a complex social challenge, ii) neglecting the environmental footprint of smart technologies, and iii) collecting citizens’ private data with low levels of transparency.
... Furthermore, highly complex and developed urban energy systems form the flesh and blood of the urban lifestyle, with energy demand and consumption levels (in urban power, transportation, construction, and service sectors) being generally higher; as a result, urban areas account for higher greenhouse gas emissions affecting the climate system (Mi et al., 2019). In fact, every domain of city life -which stretches across a broad spectrum of sectors like transportation, built structures, water, food, and energy -runs on fossil fuels, which play an instrumental role in feeding climate change (Pincetl, 2017). ...
The present century faces developmental fallout as vulnerability and risk mount on the global systems due to climate change, urbanisation, and population ageing. Moreover, population ageing is gaining a stronger hold in urban areas, and so are climate change and related shocks and stresses. Consequently, repercussions for the weakest sections of society – including the elderly – remain under academic consideration. In this context, the paper aims to understand the perilous predicament of older people due to the occurrence and interaction between climate change, urbanisation, and population ageing. This review investigates the underpinnings of the nature of the interaction among the three phenomena; and discerns how as a result of the interaction, various climate change related shocks and stresses affect older people in urban settings. It emerges that these three phenomena exhibit: concurrence; a positive trend of growth; and a cyclic pattern of interaction with four linkages, implying (i) rapid urbanisation is fuelling climate change, (ii) climate change is impacting urban areas, (iii) older people are increasing in urban areas, and (iv) urbanisation provides opportunities and barriers for older people. This interplay further discloses that older people stand vulnerable and at heightened risk from climate change related stressors in urban areas. These understandings highlight the need to ensure that urban environments remain age-friendly even in the face of climate change.
... Studies have demonstrated that the environment and people in the era of Anthropocene are signi cantly affected by urbanization (Pincetl, 2017; Barthel (2022) anticipates that by 2050, food production in the world will increase by 70% while the 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas, the necessity of enabling food security and resilient food system will become signi cant (UN-Habitat, 2020). On the other hand, in urban areas, food insecurity has become stronger because of the COVID-19 pandemic during which the food supply chain has been disrupted, access to food has been hindered due to intensi ed physical and economic barriers and labor shortages increased crucial food waste (Mardones et al., 2020;Lal, 2020). ...
Context Established as green infrastructure for the creation of a systematic agricultural structure for the first time in the history of the Republic, Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) is a cultural heritage. AOÇ has the capacity to become a new food planning and management center as well as an urban open space for citizens and to reconstitute Ankara as a self-sufficient city in the 21st century. Objectives This study aims to preserve the AOÇ lands for reevaluating them with an ecological approach in terms of today’s conditions. Regarding the AOÇ’s founding purposes, this study offers a conceptual proposal for reclaiming and reorganizing the Farm. Methods The methodology involves literature reviews, examination of AOÇ’s historical development process and planning decisions, site analysis, and development of a conceptual proposal for the designated study area. Results Urban agriculture (UA) has the potential to modify existing urban sites into new forms of green spaces offering an alternative land use integrating multiple uses. This study proposes conceptually some opportunities for developing AOÇ, which has the potential to become a productive and ecologically sustainable urban green space with offering various UA benefits. Conclusions AOÇ has a significant place and meaning in the collective memory of the Turkish nation and acts as a bridge that carries the past to the future. The farm should be reintroduced to the urban life with new ecological, recreational, and cultural functions by preserving its mission to be an example of a production that fulfills the city’s agricultural and nutritional needs.
... This is evidenced by the spate of frequent and intense drought, storms, heatwaves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, warming ocean and persistent flooding in cities of global south and north (Butler and Hanigan, 2019;Taskinsoy, 2020). However, there are widespread consensuses that the impacts of climate change will affect practically every aspect of human lives both in the urban and rural areas (Pincetl, 2017;Khavarian-Garmsir et al., 2019). These impacts are posited to vary significantly both in space and time (McLaughlin et al., 2017). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing residents’ adaptation strategies to climate change effects in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The metropolis was stratified into low, medium and high residential densities. Across the residential densities, questionnaires were administered on 384 residents. The questionnaire addressed issues on resident’s socio-economic and demographic attributes, awareness of climate change and factors influencing residents’ adaptation to climate change. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings
Result indicated that the adaptation strategies adopted by residents in the different residential areas were similar but varied in magnitude as denoted by the resident response index RRI (RRIh = 3.32, RRIm = 3.39 and RRIl = 3.41). The multiple regression analysis computed indicated the residential characteristics such as education, average monthly income, age, house type and house ownership ( p < 0.05) were significant factors influencing resident’s level of climate change adaptation strategies adopted.
Research limitations/implications
The study could be strengthened by looking at specific climate change effects such as floods or drought in major cities of Nigeria. Hence, the view presented in this paper may not be considered generalizable to the impacts of climate change in the study area.
Originality/value
In recent years, research studies on human adaptation and coping strategies to climate change have generated considerable development interest. This study contributed to this growing area of research by examining the factors influencing residents’ adaptation strategies to climate change in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria.
... But its land-use change impacts will not be mitigated and cannot be as they involve transforming a situated place. It is noteworthy, in addition, that little specific attention is paid to the resource burden of different development morphologies, their differential dependence on the availability of inexpensive carbon fuels, land, timber, water, and other resources, other than vehicle miles traveled (Bringezu, 2015;Bringezu et al., 2014;Pincetl, 2017). ...
California is widely seen as a climate and environmental policy leader in the U.S. and beyond. However, allowing local land use decisions to proceed as usual represents a major gap in the state’s climate policy framework. Climate mitigation rules and formulae are utilized to claim zero net emissions for large-scale land development at the urban fringe. Such developments continue to destroy habitats and radically transform landscapes. Newhall Ranch, a subdevelopment at the edge of urbanized Los Angeles County, has claimed emissions offsets such that the development of 60,000 homes will have less than zero greenhouse gas emissions. Offsets largely rely on using disadvantaged communities, and significant threats to endangered species on site are compensated by payments to the project's environmental opponents. The net result is land development as usual, with a veneer of solarization and investments in GHG mitigation projects with poor quantification and verification. This situation demonstrates the enduring structures of land use development that drive GHG emissions and environmental change, and calls for stronger requirements for local compliance with state emissions-reductions targets.
... Human activities may contribute to environmental changes leading to several irreversible environmental impacts [2]. Therefore, urbanization and its consequences are perceived as scientific problems which need to be addressed [3]. Among various problems affiliated with urbanization, air pollution is the most concerning. ...
Dust exposure is a serious threat to human health due to dermal contact, inhalation, and ingestion. Children are more vulnerable to dust than adults as a result of high rates of unintentional, or deliberate, ingestion and inhalation of dust. In this study, dust reduction in the playground due to coating of the soil particles with a PVA/PVAc-based solution was investigated. Soil particles were coated with varying amounts of coating solution and the samples were examined for various parameters e.g., specific density, moisture content, liquid and plastic limits, permeability, dust generation due to wind effect and human activity. The results demonstrated that coated soil samples showed improved permeability characteristics and reduced dust generation. These characteristics were improved by increased content of coating solution.
... These issues span from data use and privacy [15,16], questions of boundaries and relation to surrounding"s [17,18], and lock-in of infrastructure components and technical biases [19], to the relation between "smart" and "sustainable" [20][21][22][23]. Consensus exists that ICT can benefit all citizens [13,14], whether by improving living conditions [24], facilitating urban management [25], or mediating energy and climate problems [26][27][28]. Other more specific ideas have been developed, often depending on the expertise of the authors. ...
Smart cities offer solutions to environmental, economic, and societal problems in urban agglomerations. We investigate the potential for mutual learning in smart city implementation by comparing German approaches (smaller, local projects) to projects implemented in the MENA region (bigger, national designs). We contrast the outside view on these projects with an inside perspective, surveying key decision-makers in five German and seven MENA smart cities. We assess motivation, technology options, and factors that drive or impede smart city implementation. We find strong similarities in the motives to engage in smart cities, offering common ground for mutual good practice exchange. Energy efficiency solutions and—to a lesser extent—renewable energies are of strong interest to policymakers in all countries. In contrast, the appraisal of mobility solutions strongly diverges, showing that technology deployment is far from being a simple “plug and play” solution. Considering these insights can facilitate the overall deployment of smart cities, not only in the surveyed countries but also in global manner.
... However, humanity has reached a new geological period: the Anthropocene. This term describes the current period in which human action has come to be responsible for the global changes in the planetary system, which is verified by such climatic changes as global warming and the reaching of planetary boundaries (Pincetl 2017). ...
This book focuses on climate change and sustainable development, showcasing examples of research, projects and other initiatives aimed at educating various target groups. Helping readers gain a better understanding of the water, energy and food nexus challenges in the context of climate change, and featuring valuable insights that can be implemented in other areas, it will appeal to researchers and students as well as practitioners.
... The individual processes linked to gaining different types of knowledge (such as traditional and non-traditional) can contribute to a decrease of traditional knowledge at the level of the local community over time when individuals acquire more information external to the system (non-traditional knowledge) in response to socioeconomic and environmental changes (Reyes-García et al. 2013). In addition, human-driven environmental changes can affect even broad spatial scales (regional and global), as in the case of the ongoing global climate crisis where humans are promoting the rearrangement of social-ecological systems across the planet (Pincetl 2017;Fedele et al. 2019). Recent research has also shown that interactions between different communities in a region at a broad spatial scale can interfere with individuals' decisions related to cooperation and competition in resource collection within local communities (small spatial scale) (Berkes 2010;Waring et al. 2015). ...
We develop an integrative conceptual framework for addressing social-ecological systems across different spatial and temporal scales. Ethnobiologists study social-ecological systems through the lens of heterogeneous disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Despite the integrative ambitions of the field, ethnobiology often remains fragmented through research programs that emphasize different methods and scales. We propose a conceptual synthesis of three processes: (1) cognitive processing, (2) cultural transmission, and (3) biocultural evolution. We also discuss how social negotiation is embedded in them. By showing how these different processes interact across different spatial and temporal scales, we develop a framework for ethnobiological scholarship that can address complex dynamics in social-ecological systems.
... Cities offer major opportunities to reduce per capita environmental impacts relative to rural areas, due to short travel distances, reduced per capita living space, and efficiencies in delivering goods and services, but poorly designed cities forfeit these potential advantages. Moreover, because cities source most of their energy and goods from outside the city limits, a full accounting of the impact of cities on GEC extends well beyond city boundaries (105). Several pathways are well documented, and they often feature contributions both to GEC and to NCDs. ...
... The individual processes linked to gaining different types of knowledge (such as traditional and non-traditional) can contribute to a decrease of traditional knowledge at the level of the local community over time when individuals acquire more information external to the system (non-traditional knowledge) in response to socioeconomic and environmental changes (Reyes-García et al. 2013). In addition, human-driven environmental changes can affect even broad spatial scales (regional and global), as in the case of the ongoing global climate crisis where humans are promoting the rearrangement of social-ecological systems across the planet (Pincetl 2017;Fedele et al. 2019). Recent research has also shown that interactions between different communities in a region at a broad spatial scale can interfere with individuals' decisions related to cooperation and competition in resource collection within local communities (small spatial scale) (Berkes 2010;Waring et al. 2015). ...
... Land is among the natural resources exposed to the transformative dynamics of the Anthropocene. Humans modify land through direct intervention (e.g., agriculture, soil sealing infrastructures, housing, etc.) [5] or by means of the externality of a direct intervention (e.g., pollution) [6], and the synthesis of land use changes often results in biodiversity loss and degradation [7], the depletion of natural resources, and urbanisation, which is a defining trend of the Anthropocene [8][9][10]. ...
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 aspires to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, and the introduction of an explicit urban goal testifies to the importance of urbanisation. The understanding of the process of urbanisation and the capacity to monitor the SDGs require a wealth of open, reliable, locally yet globally comparable data, and a fully-fledged data revolution. In this framework, the European Commission–Joint Research Centre has developed a suite of (open and free) data and tools named Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) which maps the human presence on Earth (built-up areas, population distribution and settlement typologies) between 1975 and 2015. The GHSL supplies information on the progressive expansion of built-up areas on Earth and population dynamics in human settlements, with both sources of information serving as baseline data to quantify land use efficiency (LUE), listed as a Tier II indicator for SDG 11 (11.3.1). In this paper, we present the profile of the LUE across several territorial scales between 1990 and 2015, highlighting diverse development trajectories and the land take efficiency of different human settlements. Our results show that (i) the GHSL framework allows us to estimate LUE for the entire planet at several territorial scales, opening the opportunity of lifting the LUE indicator from its Tier II classification; (ii) the current formulation of the LUE is substantially subject to path dependency; and (iii) it requires additional spatially-explicit metrics for its interpretation. We propose the Achieved Population Density in Expansion Areas and the Marginal Land Consumption per New Inhabitant metrics for this purpose. The study is planetary and multi-temporal in coverage, demonstrating the value of well-designed, open and free, fine-scale geospatial information on human settlements in supporting policy and monitoring progress made towards meeting the SDGs.
... While traditional forms of citizenship assume a static relation to territorially bounded political space and political community, radical responses to climate change and human mobility demand new subjectivities and new relationships (Ataç, Rygiel, and Stierl 2016;Routledge, Cumbers, and Derickson 2018). New spaces of citizenship enable new ways of being as well as breeding a new type of politics, one that is closer to the immediate concerns of urban life in the Anthropocene (Pincetl 2017). However, as Bauder (2016, 252) rightfully asks, what then is a "radically different urban reality that is open and unfixed?" ...
Borders are back with a vengeance. From the Americas to the Mediterranean, borders cut through the increasingly integrated world in a way that exposes the inside-outside logic of contemporary capitalism. All this happens on a backdrop where cities are becoming the key sites of contestation since borders and levees do not suffice to keep them intact. Cities are also increasingly becoming the focus of international efforts to deal with climate change and migration, where nation-states are falling short. By synthesizing the possibilities of urban belonging and right-to-the-world, we argue that new urban imaginaries are at the frontline of the mobilities debate today. Consequently, we argue for a cross-pollination of mobility justice and climate justice as urban citizenship. The main thrust of our argument is that there are viable alternatives to the isolationist fortress nation model, which can bring a new dimension to debates concerning climate change and migration. Fearless cities are but one example of these emerging alternatives. By focusing on the opportunities for a radical response to climate change and migration, we suggest that cities can respond to the burning mobility challenges of our times with a just, grounded and egalitarian urban citizenship framed as mobile commons.
... Cities offer major opportunities to reduce per capita environmental impacts relative to rural areas, due to short travel distances, reduced per capita living space, and efficiencies in delivering goods and services, but poorly designed cities forfeit these potential advantages. Moreover, because cities source most of their energy and goods from outside the city limits, a full accounting of the impact of cities on GEC extends well beyond city boundaries (105). Several pathways are well documented, and they often feature contributions both to GEC and to NCDs. ...
Multiple global environmental changes (GECs) now under way, including climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, tropical deforestation, overexploitation of fisheries, ocean acidification, and soil degradation, have substantial, but still imperfectly understood, implications for human health. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) make a major contribution to the global burden of disease. Many of the driving forces responsible for GEC also influence NCD risk through a range of mechanisms. This article provides an overview of pathways linking GEC and NCDs, focusing on five pathways: (a) energy, air pollution, and climate change; (b) urbanization; (c) food, nutrition, and agriculture; (d) the deposition of persistent chemicals in the environment; and (e) biodiversity loss.
... The main impacts affect critical natural resources like air, water and soil 6 . Urbanization, due to the intensity of its dynamics, and its planetary reach has become a characterizing process of the Anthropocene making cities a key player in the consumption of natural resources 7 . ...
The surge of sustainable urban development challenges at the world polity level during the Post-2015 Development Agenda process and the consolidation of specific goals and indicators for sustainable urban development leave no room for gaps in urbanization knowledge, information and reporting.
SDG 11 aspires to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and the salience of an explicit urban goal necessarily stems from the recognition that human society has become predominantly urban. The understanding of the process of urbanization and the capacity to monitor the progress in meeting the SDGs require a wealth of open, reliable, local but globally comparable data and a fully-fledged Data Revolution. New sources of information, like Earth Observation, Big-data and gridded geospatial data can offer support to transformative policies with a new generation of information that are: planetary and multi-temporal in coverage, fine scale in detail, open and free in access.
It is in the above framework and auspices that the European Commission - Joint Research Centre has developed a suite of (open and free) data and tools named Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). The GHSL maps the human presence on Earth sourcing information back to 1975 and up until 2015 delineating built-up areas, population distribution and classifying settlement typologies.
The GHSL information on the progressive expansion of built up areas in cities and their demographic changes is a suitable baseline data to quantify the Land Use Efficiency, listed as indicator for SDG 11 (11.3).
In the paper, we present the profile of the LUE on the universe of cities across circa 10,000 Urban Centers in the year 2015, and its change since 1990. We demonstrate how urban areas and human settlement develop with diverse trajectories by exploiting land with different degrees of efficiency. With our results we draw three main propositions: first that innovative open data derived from Earth observation make it possible to estimate LUE for the entire planet despite the tier 2 nature of SDG 11.3.1; second that the LUE present formulation is substantially subject to path dependency in quantifying the efficiency of new development anchoring it to past trajectories; third that LUE indicator should be interpreted in combination with another proxy indicator like the Abstract Achieved Population Density in Expansion Areas, which we propose along our argumentation.
... The world's population is increasingly urbanized, with 55% living in city areas, and predictions of up to 66% by 2050 (Desa, 2014). In the Anthropocene epoch, urbanization and related consequences have become, arguably, the most important scientific problems to solve (Pincetl, 2017). Among the threats to air, soil and water, heavy metals appear especially hazardous because of their potential toxicity and tendency to be recalcitrant and accumulative in the environment (Wong et al., 2006). ...
Among the threats to air, soil, and water posed by urbanization, heavy metals appear particularly hazardous. Playgrounds and sport facilities are unique urban places, widely used by children and youth. The aim of this research was to evaluate heavy metal pollution in urban soils, identify relationships among topsoil metal distributions, and assess related health risks in two Polish cities – Warsaw and Bydgoszcz. According to the Regulation of the Polish Minister of the Environment guidelines for total content of Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd and Co our study sites were classified as uncontaminated. Applied Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo; Müller, 1969) largely confirmed this classification, with only two of the investigated Warsaw areas “moderately polluted” with Pb. Generally, only Pb and Zn concentrations exceeded reference background levels for Polish soils. The highest concentrations of Pb and Zn were found in the city centers, the oldest areas where pollution risk is potentially the highest.
Metal mobility and solubility were mainly correlated with total content, indicating potential risk from lead and zinc. At some sites in Warsaw, where mean Pb concentration was 87.25 mg kg-1 and Zn 207.25 mg kg-1, health risks from ingestion and inhalation seemed significant, particularly for children. In Bydgoszcz use of the studied playgrounds and sport facility areas did not pose a risk to human health.
Finally, the study (especially in Warsaw) indicates the need for continued monitoring and suggests lowering permissible limits of these metals in soils, especially in recreational areas, may decrease childrens’ exposure risk to these pollutants.
The rise of urbanization in recent years has brought about significant challenges for global urban landscapes, particularly in terms of environmental and climate-related issues. Habitat fragmentation caused by urbanization has resulted in a decline in biodiversity. One effective way to address these challenges is by strategically enhancing the green tree cover in urban areas. Urban trees are vital as nature-based solutions (NbS) to combat climate change and various types of pollution in urban areas and provide multiple ecosystem services. Additionally, they help mitigate the urban heat island effect, minimize the risk of flooding and water pollution, replenish groundwater resources, and contribute to carbon sequestration. This chapter systematically explores how urban trees adapt to the altered structure and composition of urban soil and environment. It was found that the true potential of urban trees is severely hindered by soil compaction, pollution, heavy metal accumulation, and lack of essential nutrients. In order to sustain the growth and health of urban forest ecosystems, the study elaborates on the significance of comprehending urban nutrient cycles and plant-tree interactions. The unique morpho-physiological responses and the symbiotic associations with soil micro-biome exhibited by the roots are discussed in this chapter to highlight the exquisite adaptive capability of urban trees. This chapter contemplates bridging the research gap by focusing on the responses of urban trees to the prevailing edaphic factors to revitalize and maintain healthy urban tree-soil relationships. The chapter's findings will undoubtedly contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, which calls for creating inclusive, resilient, safe, and sustainable cities and human settlements, along with significantly committing to attaining many other SDGs, such as 6, 7, 12, 13, and 15. Subsequently, the chapter will also help forestry professionals and environmental planners implement the appropriate and holistic management practices to create more resilient and sustainable urban forests that are better adapted to the constraints of the cityscapes.
The aim of this article is to determine why the prototypical form of high/epic fantasy cannot effectively address the present environmental, social and political problems gathered under the umbrella term of the Anthropocene. Drawing on Marek Oziewicz’s concept of planetarianist fantasy and scholarship on the Anthropocene, as well as on examples of selected fantasy series (J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Fionavar Tapestry, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time), this article investigates the sub-genre’s most persistent components and juxtaposes them against issues related to ethnicity, species interconnectedness, non-human agency, sustained urban development and urban ethics which are raised by Anthropocene debates. This analysis will illustrate why the form of high/epic fantasy requires reconfiguration so that it can continue to evolve together with the needs of contemporary readers.
Primary school curricula often largely avoid the climate crisis, and teachers feel ill-equipped to teach it. In the secondary school curriculum, the climate crisis is generally addressed only in specific subjects such as science or geography. Our own and others’ research indicates that children are curious about climate change and become less anxious when they feel agentic in facing its effects. The challenges of everyday life for children in parts of the world severely affected by the rapidly changing climate are seldom included in educational contexts. This article reports on a project that linked a school in a UK town with a school on a Fijian island to explore a holistic approach to understanding the impacts of climate change. The children aged 9 to 11 built friendships across the globe through film messages, email, written letters, and drawings. As part of getting to know one another, the children asked and answered questions about their lives. Those questions and other creative activities revealed children’s interests and priorities and the extent of their local and global knowledge and enabled us to consider a personalised approach to climate justice. By co-creating and exchanging their stories the children could begin to understand the social and emotional impacts as well as the science of climate change. We discuss the role of empathy in children’s learning about climate change, and consider how connections across international divides can be facilitated.
The population growth of a proto-city (P–C, the initial stage of city-forming) is fundamental for shaping the subsequent pattern of population growth in city evolution. This study proposed a mathematical model, the P–C Population Accretion Growth (P-CPAG) model, to simulate key processes of population growth over a P–C period, based on the Urban Accretion Growth hypothesis (the UAG hypothesis). In the P-CPAG model, several parameters, e.g., natural increase rate of population(k), accretion rate (ρ), accretion radius(r), and initial population size (
), are vital for population growth. In the model examination, we determined the potential value for all parameters by the universal laws and the collected literature about the worldwide ancient cities. Based on observation and evaluation of 64 simulation scenarios, a promising plan of optimal parameters was suggested, that is, k = 0.008, ρ = 0.01, kρ = 0.003,
= 2000,
= 3.6, r = 5, N = 200000, Ni = 300. The proposed P-CPAG model sheds new light on population simulation in the critical but limited-mentioned P–C stage and has the potential to simulate population growth in other periods of city evolution. The unique perspectives on urban accretion growth and the P-CPAG model are meaningful for understanding the complicated and mysterious history of cities' evolution back about 5000 years ago.
This paper examines the micro-scale ignition of sustainability pathways in multi-actor collaboration in an urban living lab in Tampere, Finland, and aims to capture the reconfigurations that lead to urban sustainability. The conventional model of sustainability focusing on economic, environmental and social pillars does not correspond to the dynamic nature of urban sustainability. Thus, we utilise a sustainability framework that is more sensitive to urban conditions and compatible with a temporal typology of practices carried out by diverse actors in the living lab. The results show, first, that the emerging sustainability pathways are based on the coexistence of diverse actors and resources, develop through interconnected temporal phases of practices and are differently sensitised to place depending on the temporal phase. The sustainability pathways reach permanence when the actions of catalysing and revamping take the mode of routinisation. Second, we locate the generative moments of reconfigurations and address the cumulative nature of sustainability. In conclusion, this helps to recognise the incipient forms of sustainability pathways and their potential for local sustainability transitions.
Anthropogenic actions have generated disturbing global environmental changes and have caused the Earth to reach its planetary boundaries by destabilizing the Earth’s self-regulating equilibrium system (the Gaia hypothesis). By means of a bibliometric study of the most relevant articles published in the journals of Science Direct and Scopus in the last 5 years, the present article analyzes the Anthropocene through a dialogue amongst the three spheres: global environmental changes, planetary limits and Gaia 2.0. It is concluded that the mitigation or adaptation of the consequences of the self-regulation of the Earth will require a global degree of effort and individual cognitive awareness and change to achieve a new reality of Gaia 2.0 self-regulation.
The current study sets to determine theoretical paths in order to balance Algiers CO2 emissions with city's carbon sink capacity by i) calculating carbon sink potential (forest land, wetlands, soil and technology) and ii) calculating Algiers' carbon emissions considering territorial emissions (Scope 1 and 2) within Algiers' administrative boundaries. The analysis shows that Algiers carbon emissions (estimated to 392 9243 t CO2) exceed the city carbon sink capacity (estimated to 157 4044 t CO2) by 1.5 times. Thus, per capita carbon emissions in Algiers for the year of 2016 were estimated to 1.24 tones CO2/y composed by 0.84 tones CO2/y (67.7%) from the combustion of fossil-fuels and 0.39 tones CO2 (31.4%) from the consumption of electricity. This study exhibits that in order to live within Algiers' carbon budget, urban policy-makers should endeavor three major paths to accommodate Algiers carbon deficit: either i) to limit Algiers's population to 1 268 963 inhabitants-that means 1/3 of Algiers' current population size-. ii) increase Algiers's ecological assets area to 36 709 ha. or iii) introduce and generalize decarbonized energy for residential and transportation sectors which represent the main driving sectors for CO2 emissions as they emit respectively 25% and 51% of Algiers total CO2 emissions. City-level carbon emissions inventory can help to introduce cities with developing economies, such as Algiers, into the global climate issues and suggest solid recommendations for shifting current urban models towards a more sustainable urban planning intricately linked to sustainable forest management.
The paper discusses the challenges of the planetary (climate, biodiversity) crises we are facing. Science has given us one wake-up call after the other. Planetary boundaries have been overstepped. We are starting to feel the bite of climate disruption worldwide. Extreme weather events are multiplying. The conditions necessary for human settlements and food production are deteriorating across the planet. The sixth mass extinction is decimating our wildlife. The fabric of society is increasingly fragile. Together, these challenges threaten our ways of life, our prosperity and the future of our children. Recent outcomes from science are calling for unprecedented and rapid transformation. This discussion paper puts forward a systemic analysis and offers perspectives on unprecedented change and its possible implications for Europe. To illustrate ways forward, the authors have worked on twelve key levers for unprecedented change with high systemic impact and the potential to catalyse positive transformation. They cover a broad range of transformative change processes concerning behaviours, governance, values and technologies. In summary, the twelve levers are energy, mobility, food, carbon removal, regeneration, resilience and preparedness, climate justice, finance, trade, prosperity, social values and democracy. The European Union has the opportunity of catalysing the change needed to turn away from our current path. The EU has the capacity to host a new conversation and orchestrate the necessary change with all actors. It needs to team up with citizens, young people, business and others willing and able to effect change. This discussion paper is intended as a possible input into this effort. DISCLAIMER: The information and views set out in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the official opinion of the institutions where they work. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies, nor any person acting on their behalf, may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Urban sustainability is one of the most prominent challenges in the global agenda waiting to be addressed since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This research work applies a composite indicator that has been developed as the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Index to benchmark the performance of a new sample of 26 world cities. The sample advances the geographical diversity of previous samples and represents cities in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy as well as the C40 initiative. The benchmarking results are analysed based on quartiles of city performance and Monte Carlo simulations. The results indicate the top three cities in the sample to be Copenhagen, which obtains a score of 36.038, followed by Helsinki and Gothenburg. The top cities represent multiple best practices including those in district energy networks, water quality, and environmental management. A normative scenario up to the year 2050 is then applied to one of the cities in the sample, namely Rio de Janeiro. The normative scenario involves targets that take place in local plans, particularly Vision Rio 500. The benchmarking results for the new sample of 26 world cities and the normative scenario not only identifies the benchmark leaders but also underlines opportunities to pursue pathways in which higher levels of performance can be reached by cities that may face multiple challenges. The results of the research work holds significance for advancing the application of an original composite indicator to benchmark cities towards supporting the aim of decoupling economic growth from environmental pressures in more sustainable urban systems towards carbon neutrality.
Available at: http://www.sdewes.org/jsdewes/pixd6.0213
I argue that the tension between cities and nation states go through the countryside, or rural areas, at least in the U.S. Further, cities are decidedly constrained in their abilities to effectuate many of the changes associated with them: addressing climate change, economic inequality and more. What is missing is the way in which rural alienation from economic prosperity plays out politically.
This article sets out a new conceptual framework for investigating how city regionalism is constituted as a variegated set of geopolitical processes operating within and beyond the national state. Our approach highlights: (1) the different forms of territorial politics through which city regionalism is conjoined with broader visions of the national state; (2) the material and territorial arrangements which support such a conjuncture; and (3) the political actors enabling city regionalism and the national state to come together within a geopolitical frame of reference.
Heat vulnerability of urban populations is becoming a major issue of concern with climate change, particularly in the cities of the Southwest United States. In this article we discuss the importance of understanding coupled social and technical systems, how they constitute one another, and how they form the conditions and circumstances in which people experience heat. We discuss the particular situation of Los Angeles and Maricopa Counties, their urban form and the electric grid. We show how vulnerable populations are created by virtue of the age and construction of buildings, the morphology of roads and distribution of buildings on the landscape. Further, the regulatory infrastructure of electricity generation and distribution also contributes to creating differential vulnerability. We contribute to a better understanding of the importance of sociotechnical systems. Social infrastructure includes codes, conventions, rules and regulations; technical systems are the hard systems of pipes, wires, buildings, roads, and power plants. These interact to create lock-in that is an obstacle to addressing issues such as urban heat stress in a novel and equitable manner.
For almost two decades now, neoliberalism and neoliberalization have become the object of increasing interest not only in political debate but also in the social sciences, and in particular urban studies. Because the definition of neoliberalism (or neoliberalization) is itself one dimension of this debate, we provisionally define it here as the set of intellectual streams, policy orientations and regulatory arrangements that strive to extend market mechanisms, relations, discipline and ethos to an ever-expanding spectrum of spheres of social activities, and all this through relying on strong State intervention. These streams and orientations are far from constituting a coherent and stable ensemble. That is the reason why many scholars prefer the notion of neoliberalization in order to depict the inherently fuzzy, diverse, contingent, ever-mutating and pathdependent processes of regulatory change that have been inspired by neoliberal ideas (BRENNER and THEODORE, 2002).
Cities need to understand and manage their carbon footprint at the level of streets, buildings and communities, urge Kevin Robert Gurney and colleagues.
This article develops the concept of territorial urbanization in China through the historical conditions and research design problems of the Chinese administrative divisions in relation to comparative territorial thought. Subnational territories are not constitutionally guaranteed in China and the state maintains powers to establish new cities and enlarge and merge existing ones, and even eliminate others, with significant implications for geographically targeted economic development and governing powers. These territorial strategies, which administer urban expansion, rationalize government administration, and organize capital investment through continuing economic growth, are negotiated within the political system of the Chinese party-state and decided through non-transparent processes by the Chinese central government. Yet literature on urbanization in China often subsumes party-state territorialization practices under internationally recognizable epistemologies such as urban and regional planning and simplifies and contains their urban-economic transformations to fixed spaces in zone development. This analysis examines cities within the system of administrative divisions and pursues the question of the reproduction of state power through territorial urbanization in the Shanghai Pudong New Area, where a territorial merger doubled its size and central government policy imagines the future of China's international financial centre.
The ‘Great Acceleration’ graphs, originally published in 2004 to show socio-economic and Earth System trends from 1750 to 2000, have now been updated to 2010. In the graphs of socio-economic trends, where the data permit, the activity of the wealthy (OECD) countries, those countries with emerging economies, and the rest of the world have now been differentiated. The dominant feature of the socio-economic trends is that the economic activity of the human enterprise continues to grow at a rapid rate. However, the differentiated graphs clearly show that strong equity issues are masked by considering global aggregates only. Most of the population growth since 1950 has been in the non-OECD world but the world’s economy (GDP), and hence consumption, is still strongly dominated by the OECD world. The Earth System indicators, in general, continued their long-term, post-industrial rise, although a few, such as atmospheric methane concentration and stratospheric ozone loss, showed a slowing or apparent stabilisation over the past decade. The post-1950 acceleration in the Earth System indicators remains clear. Only beyond the mid-20th century is there clear evidence for fundamental shifts in the state and functioning of the Earth System that are beyond the range of variability of the Holocene and driven by human activities. Thus, of all the candidates for a start date for the Anthropocene, the beginning of the Great Acceleration is by far the most convincing from an Earth System science perspective.
Using findings of the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook (CBO), we propose three specific solutions to mitigate the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity in our urban and urbanizing landscapes. The CBO identified continued loss of criti-cal habitats for biodiversity conservation and degradation of many important ecosystem services due to urbanization. The fact that most ecosystem services and biodiversity itself are common goods facilitates this loss and degradation. To address this issue, a fundamental solution can be giving value to ecosystem services and biodiversity in the market-place and firmly incorporating them in urban planning processes. This solution can be achieved with a three-pronged approach: (1) ecosystem services can be conceived as a utility similar to the provision of electricity and water, and cities can structure their governance and urban planning processes to ensure adequate ecosystem service provision; (2) the local level solutions, especially in places where urban expansion encroaches upon biodiversity hotspots, can go a long way in the conservation of biodiversity at the global level; and (3) the well-being of biodiversity and the sustainability of ecosystem services in the face of humanity's massive urbanization require coordination by governments at all levels. Thus, as the world becomes ever more urban, urban decision-makers and citizens will need to not only re-connect to nature, but also adopt policies to integrate nature into our daily lives. sage_solar Giving value to ecosystem services would gain them greater consideration in urban planning, an integral step in conserving biodiversity and ecosystems in the face of widespread urbanization. www.thesolutionsjournal.org | November-December 2014 | Solutions | 61 A recent global assessment by hundreds of scientists, the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook (CBO) examined how the coming mas-sive global urban growth will interact with the natural world. 1 By 2030, there will be almost 2 billion new urban resi-dents, and this rapid urban growth has significant implications for the fate of human society and the natural world. With one of the sponsor organizations being the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), it is not surprising that the CBO had a strong focus on how urban growth directly and indirectly affected ecosystem services and biodiversity. The CBO also had a strong focus on how cities depend on ecosystem services, the ben-efits to human well-being provided by nature, and how that dependence will change with rapid urban growth in the coming decades. The report highlights the resulting synergistic effects on ecosystem services and biodiversity of climate change, projected growth of human population in cities, and urban land-use change. In this paper, we not only highlight a few key findings of the CBO, but also present the fundamental challenges that urban growth poses for ecosystem services and biodiversity, potential solutions to address these fundamental challenges, and three specific mechanisms that can help cities harmonize their relationship to ecosystem services and biodiversity.
This paper develops a political-industrial ecology approach to explore the urban water metabolism of Los Angeles, which sprawls for thousands of miles across the American West. Conventional approaches to quantify urban carbon footprints rely on global, national, or regional averages and focus narrowly on improving the efficiency of flows of resources moving into and out of the city. These approaches tend to "black box" the methodologies that guide the carbon emissions calculus and the social, political, ecological, and economic processes that perpetually reshape nature-society metabolisms. To more fully delineate the water supply metabolism of Los Angeles, this paper combines theory and method from urban political ecology and industrial ecology. Specifically, we infuse spatiality into the traditional life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach by coupling it with GIS. By illustrating how decisions about system boundaries, emissions factors, and other building blocks fundamentally shape the end result, this intervention at once destabilizes and advances the LCA enterprise. Then, using interviews and historical analysis, we provide a critical analysis of how LA's various water supply infrastructures came to be and illustrate how a sustainable transition based on a narrow carbon calculus is problematized by historical circumstances and strategic (and often conflicting) new paradigms to secure water resources. The political-industrial ecology approach offers valuable insights into the spatiality of material metabolisms and the socio-political processes (re)shaping the relations between nature and society.
Abstract
Urban growth is increasing the demand for freshwater resources, yet surprisingly the water sources of the world's large cities have never been globally assessed, hampering efforts to assess the distribution and causes of urban water stress. We conducted the first global survey of the large cities’ water sources, and show that previous global hydrologic models that ignored urban water infrastructure significantly overestimated urban water stress. Large cities obtain 78 ± 3% of their water from surface sources, some of which are far away: cumulatively, large cities moved 504 billion liters a day (184 km3 yr−1) a distance of 27,000 ± 3800 km, and the upstream contributing area of urban water sources is 41% of the global land surface. Despite this infrastructure, one in four cities, containing $4.8 ± 0.7 trillion in economic activity, remain water stressed due to geographical and financial limitations. The strategic management of these cities’ water sources is therefore important for the future of the global economy.
This paper takes as its starting point the argument that infrastructure networks cannot merely be thought of as the backdrop against which climate politics is played out in the city, but are instead fundamental to the ways in which this is conducted. Bringing infrastructure networks into view as a central tenet to the governing of climate change is not simply a matter of recognizing such spheres as critical sites for urban climate policy, but rather requires a conceptual approach that moves beyond a concern with the capacities of individual actors and institutions, and engages with the ways in which power operates and is constituted through the socio-materiality of the city. Drawing on theories of governmentality we develop such an approach and use it to examine the ways in which housing is providing a means through which experimentation with climate governance is taking place in Cape Town and São Paulo. Through this analysis we find that climate change is being mobilized both as a means to create new flows of carbon finance and as a means through which to advance calls for social inclusion and ‘dignified’ housing. Rather than being characterized by one dominant model, we suggest that the governing of climate change in cities in the global South is multiple, combining market and social logics in eclectic ways, where one is not predominant and both are in constant negotiation, dialogue and contestation.
Debates about climate justice have mainly occurred at the international scale, and have focussed on the rights and responsibilities of nation-states to either be protected from the effects of climate change, or to take action to reduce emissions or support adaptation. In this paper, we argue that it is both productive and necessary to examine how climate justice is being pursued at the urban scale, which brings into focus the need for attention to issues of recognition as well as rights and responsibilities. Building on work from environmental justice, which has conceptualized justice as trivalent, we propose that climate justice can be understood as a pyramid, the faces of which are distributions, procedures, rights, responsibilities and recognition. We then apply this conceptual framework to examine climate change interventions in five cities; Bangalore, Monterrey, Hong Kong, Philadelphia and Berlin. Arguing that the politics and practices of urban climate change interventions are constantly engaging with and refracting the idea of justice, we examine how justice was articulated, practiced and contested across our cases. The perspective of recognition emerges as a particularly useful entry point through which to explore the types of rights, responsibilities, distributions and procedures required to respond justly to climate change. We conclude by reflecting on our framework, arguing that it is useful both as an analytical device to interrogate climate justice and to shape the design of climate change interventions which seek to ensure climate justice.
The purpose of this paper is to describe global urban greenhouse gas emissions by region and sector, examine the distribution of emissions through the urban-to-rural gradient, and identify covariates of emission levels for our baseline year, 2000. We use multiple existing spatial databases to identify urban extent, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4 and SF6) and covariates of emissions in a “top-down” analysis. The results indicate that urban activities are significant sources of total greenhouse gas emissions (36.8 and 48.6 % of total). The urban energy sector accounts for between 41.5 and 66.3 % of total energy emissions. Significant differences exist in the urban share of greenhouse gas emissions between developed and developing countries as well as among source sectors for geographic regions. The 50 largest urban emitting areas account for 38.8 % of all urban greenhouse gas emissions. We find that greenhouse gas emissions are significantly associated with population size, density, growth rates, and per capita income. Finally, comparison of our results to “bottom-up” estimates suggest that this research’s data and techniques are best used at the regional and global scales.
This paper makes a case for examining energy transition as a geographical process, involving the reconfiguration of current patterns and scales of economic and social activity. The paper draws on a seminar series on the ‘Geographies of Energy Transition: security, climate, governance' hosted by the authors between 2009 and 2011, which initiated a dialogue between energy studies and the discipline of human geography. Focussing on the UK Government's policy for a low carbon transition, the paper provides a conceptual language with which to describe and assess the geographical implications of a transition towards low carbon energy. Six concepts are introduced and explained: location, landscape, territoriality, spatial differentiation, scaling, and spatial embeddedness. Examples illustrate how the geographies of a future low-carbon economy are not yet determined and that a range of divergent – and contending – potential geographical futures are in play. More attention to the spaces and places that transition to a low-carbon economy will produce can help better understand what living in a low-carbon economy will be like. It also provides a way to help evaluate the choices and pathways available.
Cities play a pivotal but paradoxical role in the future of our planet. As world leaders and citizens grapple with the consequences of growth, pollution, climate change, and waste, urban sustainability has become a ubiquitous catchphrase and a beacon of hope. Yet, we know little about how the concept is implemented in daily life - particularly with regard to questions of social justice and equity. This volume provides a unique and vital contribution to ongoing conversations about urban sustainability by looking beyond the promises, propaganda, and policies associated with the concept in order to explore both its mythic meanings and the practical implications in a variety of everyday contexts. The authors present ethnographic studies from cities in eleven countries and six continents. Each chapter highlights the universalized assumptions underlying interpretations of sustainability while elucidating the diverse and contradictory ways in which people understand, incorporate, advocate for, and reject sustainability in the course of their daily lives.
Crossing “safe” limits for biodiversity loss
The planetary boundaries framework attempts to set limits for biodiversity loss within which ecological function is relatively unaffected. Newbold et al. present a quantitative global analysis of the extent to which the proposed planetary boundary has been crossed (see the Perspective by Oliver). Using over 2 million records for nearly 40,000 terrestrial species, they modeled the response of biodiversity to land use and related pressures and then estimated, at a spatial resolution of ∼1 km ² , the extent and spatial patterns of changes in local biodiversity. Across 65% of the terrestrial surface, land use and related pressures have caused biotic intactness to decline beyond 10%, the proposed “safe” planetary boundary. Changes have been most pronounced in grassland biomes and biodiversity hotspots.
Science , this issue p. 288 ; see also p. 220
Residential and commercial buildings comprise approximately forty percent of total energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. Yet, while California spends $1.5 billion annually on energy efficiency programs, limited research has explored how building energy consumption varies within cities, including the social and structural factors that influence electricity and natural gas use. We present results from an analysis of aggregated account-level utility billing data for energy consumption across the over two million properties in Los Angeles County. Results show that consumption in L.A. County varies widely with geography, income, building characteristics, and climate. Several higher-income areas have greater total energy use per building even in cooler climates, while many lower-income regions rank higher for energy use per square-foot. Energy consumption also correlates with building age, which varies widely throughout the region. Our results demonstrate the many complex and interrelated factors that influence urban energy use. While billing data is critical for devising energy efficiency programs that actually realize estimated savings and promote more sustainable cities, opening access to such data presents significant challenges for protecting personal privacy. The presented approach is adaptable and scalable to cities seeking to develop data-driven policies to reduce building energy use.
Nineteenth-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted described his most famous project, the design of New York's Central Park, as "a democratic development of highest significance." Over the years, the significance of green in civic life has grown. In twenty-first-century America, not only open space but also other issues of sustainability-such as potable water and carbon footprints-have become crucial elements in the quality of life in the city and surrounding environment. Confronted by a U.S. population that is more than 70 percent urban, growing concern about global warming, rising energy prices, and unabated globalization, today's decision makers must find ways to bring urban life into balance with the Earth in order to sustain the natural, economic, and political environment of the modern city. In Growing Greener Cities, a collection of essays on urban sustainability and environmental issues edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter, scholars and practitioners alike promote activities that recognize and conserve nature's ability to sustain urban life. These essays demonstrate how partnerships across professional organizations, businesses, advocacy groups, governments, and individuals themselves can bring green solutions to cities from London to Seattle. Beyond park and recreational spaces, initiatives that fall under the green umbrella range from public transit and infrastructure improvement to aquifer protection and urban agriculture. Growing Greener Cities offers an overview of the urban green movement, case studies in effective policy implementation, and tools for measuring and managing success. Thoroughly illustrated with color graphs, maps, and photographs, Growing Greener Cities provides a panoramic view of urban sustainability and environmental issues for green-minded city planners, policy makers, and citizens. Copyright
Ecological citizenship cannot be fully articulated in either liberal or civic republican terms. It is, rather, an example and an inflection of ‘post‐cosmopolitan’ citizenship. Ecological citizenship focuses on duties as well as rights, and its conception of political space is not the state or the municipality, or the ideal speech community of cosmopolitanism, but the ‘ecological footprint’.
Ecological citizenship contrasts with fiscal incentives as a way of encouraging people to act more sustainably, in the belief that the former is more compatible with the long‐term and deeper shifts of attitude and behaviour that sustainability requires. This book offers an original account of the relationship between liberalism and sustainability, arguing that the former's commitment to a plurality of conceptions of the good entails a commitment to so‐called ‘strong’ forms of the latter.
How to make an ecological citizen? The potential of formal high school citizenship education programmes is examined through a case study of the recent implementation of the compulsory citizenship curriculum in the UK.
Addresses the establishment of baseline measures of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to urban areas, describes the approaches used to determine GHG emission levels for nations and for corporations, and discusses specific methodologies of various studies of urban GHG emissions. For urban areas to become more effective at tackling climate change through GHG reductions, two key requirements are found: an open, global protocol for quantifying GHG emissions attributable to urban areas, and comparable baseline measures of GHG emissions for urban areas. Despite minor discrepancies between previous studies in the methodology for determining emissions from waste and in the reporting of emissions for aviation, marine, agricultural, and industrial processes, the potential exists to establish a robust global protocol compatible with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), that is, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), guidelines. Aside from the differences with emissions from, for example, waste and airline and marine activities, the greatest uncertainty in urban GHG baselines comes from emissions from road transportation.
Urban metabolism provides a framework to understand resource flows into cities and waste flows out. Its potential has been hampered by the lack of good disaggregated data. This article presents energy-use findings for the residential sector for the city of Los Angeles based on census-block–level aggregation of address-level electricity use obtained from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. City or county billing data by customer class over time can enable empirical tracking of energy conservation and efficiency programs by different customer classes, and matched to census information and county tax assessor data about building vintage, size, and type can provide information important for rate setting, for example, or energy conservation and efficiency program investments. We report on median electricity demand and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions and expenditures at three geographical aggregations: city council district (15 in total); neighborhood (114 in total); and census block group (2,538 in total). We find that the ratio of median annual demand between highest- and lowest-tier users is 26 at the census-block group level, but only 2.2 at the city council district level, demonstrating that spatial aggregation significantly masks the degree of variation that may be observed. We also show how such data can enable the description of energy to develop energy disclosure thresholds that reflect a city's morphology. In contrast to New York City's 50,000-square-foot reporting threshold, to capture half of Los Angeles’ electricity consumption, the threshold for reporting would have to be 5,000 square feet.
Why do some cities grow economically while others decline? Why do some show sustained economic performance while others cycle up and down? In Keys to the City, Michael Storper, one of the world's leading economic geographers, looks at why we should consider economic development issues within a regional context--at the level of the city-region--and why urban economies develop unequally. Storper identifies four contexts that shape urban economic development: economic, institutional, innovational, interactional, and political. The book explores how these contexts operate and how they interact, leading to developmental success in some regions and failure in others. Demonstrating that the global economy is increasingly driven by its major cities, the keys to the city are the keys to global development. In his conclusion, Storper specifies eight rules of economic development targeted at policymakers. Keys to the City explains why economists, sociologists, and political scientists should take geography seriously.
Global sustainability challenges, from maintaining biodiversity to providing clean air and water, are closely interconnected yet often separately studied and managed. Systems integration—holistic approaches to integrating various components of coupled human and natural systems—is critical to understand socioeconomic and environmental interconnections and to create sustainability solutions. Recent advances include the development and quantification of integrated frameworks that incorporate ecosystem services, environmental footprints, planetary boundaries, human-nature nexuses, and telecoupling. Although systems integration has led to fundamental discoveries and practical applications, further efforts are needed to incorporate more human and natural components simultaneously, quantify spillover systems and feedbacks, integrate multiple spatial and temporal scales, develop new tools, and translate findings into policy and practice. Such efforts can help address important knowledge gaps, link seemingly unconnected challenges, and inform policy and management decisions.
Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This paper argues that it is intellectually unsustainable to separate the new economic geography of city-regionalism from its geopolitical context. The neo-liberal competition state is centrally implicated in how the city-region scale is politically orchestrated so as to bolster international competitiveness. Yet the diversity of national and sub-national forms of city-regionalism cannot be attributed to economic development considerations separately from ongoing struggles around the collective provision of social and physical infrastructure. Drawing upon selected examples from the United States, the paper demonstrates how city-regionalism expresses the contingent geopolitics of capitalism. Its overall aim is to advance theoretical knowledge both of the internal political geography of the competition state and of its external territorial relations.
This article asks how effectively and to what extent contemporary urban solid waste management systems can effect sustainable materials use. To assess this we first trace the origins of waste management in the U.S., identify the existing federal regulatory framework, and examine trends in waste generation and composition. We then describe waste management in Los Angeles, California, including identifying the city's waste management objectives and current programs, a long-range “zero waste” planning process, and an overhaul of waste collection and processing infrastructure currently underway. We find that, although aggressive, Los Angeles’ efforts to achieve zero waste are insufficient for addressing resource conservation challenges. The main reasons for this are continued reliance on waste management approaches that have proven inadequate to address the increasing complexity of solid waste and limited data quantifying and characterizing waste generation patterns. The paper concludes by suggesting that addressing resource conservation in the U.S. will require renewed federal leadership as well as redoubled local efforts to improve waste flow accounting.
Urban sustainability assessment should integrate urban metabolism and life-cycle impact assessment to develop an integrated multi-scale framework for evaluating resource depletion and damages to human health and environmental quality. A streamlined framework can be developed by employing emerging neighborhood-scale data, improving resource depletion and damage to human health and environmental quality characterizations, including socio-demographic characteristics, and integrating methods for making decisions with uncertainty. Foundational elements and an analytical path exist to integrate urban metabolism and lifecycle impact assessment in a streamlined manner. Urban sustainability practitioners must eventually develop new methods for integrating social, institutional, and cultural forces instead of focusing on physical systems.
With the rise of interest in urban sustainability, the question of nature is front and center. This review suggests bridging between three distinct research paths concerned with urban areas and nature: urban ecosystem services, urban metabolism and urban political ecology to forge new thinking to transition from the sanitary city of the twentieth century to the sustainable city of the twenty-first. Cities are anthropogenic creations, sourcing their materials from nearby and far-off places, transforming those materials into products, goods and the physical infrastructure of cities. Tracking that flow of nature into the built environment, and the other flows such as water, needs to be accounted for as part of nature in the city. Cities – having entirely transformed the place they are located through building – have a unique nature, a nature planted by people, and made up of plants and animals that are often different than what had existed in the first place. The services of this new assemblage of species in the city, need to be studied critically. But ultimately, cities are the product of human volition, driven by economics, culture, politics and history. Understanding those drivers – the political ecology of place – provides an interpretive framework for reconsidering the nature of cities and its place in moving from a modernist sanitary city to a gray/green sustainable city.
The integrated study of energy and urban systems has recently become a critical component of sustainability research and policy. Increasing urbanization of human societies combined with intense energy demands of modern economies have driven a recognition that sustainable practices require a systems approach to both the study and application of sustainability principles. Urban metabolism has emerged as a leading methodology for quantifying energy consumption and use patterns in urban environments. Though typically applied as a method of accounting for total energy and materials inputs and outputs into cities, its interdisciplinary history and methods allow urban metabolism to be expanded in ways that will allow more comprehensive and integrated assessment of the patterns and processes of urban energy systems. In this article, we review the concept of urban metabolism—including its two typical approaches: mass balance and “emergy” methods—and offer a means to expand urban metabolism into a platform that incorporates socioeconomic analysis, policy analysis, and additional quantitative methodologies (such as life cycle assessment). This expanded urban metabolism framework is more comprehensive analytically and builds upon the documented capacity of traditional urban metabolism to account for total energy and materials flows of cities to provide an integrated platform for analysis of both energy patterns and the causal processes that govern energy in contemporary cities.
Identifying strategies for reconciling human development and climate change mitigation requires an adequate understanding of how infrastructures contribute to well-being and greenhouse gas emissions. While direct emissions from infrastructure use are well known, information about indirect emissions from their construction is highly fragmented. Here, we estimated the carbon footprint of the existing global infrastructure stock in 2008, assuming current technologies, to be 122 (-20/+15) Gt CO2. The average per-capita carbon footprint of infrastructures in industrialized countries (53 (±6) t CO2) was approximately 5 times larger that that of developing countries (10 (±1) t CO2). A globalization of Western infrastructure stocks using current technologies would cause approximately 350 Gt CO2 from materials production, which corresponds to about 35-60% of the remaining carbon budget available until 2050 if the average temperature increase is to be limited to 2°C, and could thus compromise the 2°C target. A promising but poorly explored mitigation option is to build new settlements using less emissions-intensive materials, for example by urban design; however, this strategy is constrained by a lack of bottom-up data on material stocks in infrastructures. Infrastructure development must be considered in post-Kyoto climate change agreements if developing countries are to participate on a fair basis.
During the last decade, discussions of geographical scale and its social production have proliferated. Building upon this literature, in particular the writings of Lefebvre and Harvey, I investigate the implications of the contradiction between fixity and motion in the circulation of capital—between capital's necessary dependence on territory or place and its space-annihilating tendencies—for the production of spatial scale under capitalism. I elaborate the notion of a 'scalar fix' to theorize the multiscalar configurations of territorial organization within, upon, and through which each round of capital circulation is successively territorialized, deterri- torialized, and reterritorialized. These multiscalar configurations of territorial organization position geographical scales within determinate, hierarchical patterns of interdependen ce and thereby constitute a relatively fixed and immobile geographical infrastructure for each round of capital circulation. Drawing upon Lefebvre's neglected work De I'Etat, I argue that the scalar structures both of cities and of territorial states have been molded ever more directly by the contradiction between fixity and motion in the circulation of capital since the late 19th century, when a 'second nature' of socially produced sociospatial configurations was consolidated on a world scale. On this basis a schematic historical geography of scalar fixes since the late 19th century is elaborated that highlights the key role of the territorial state at once as a form of territorializ ation for capital and as an institutional mediator of uneven geographical development on differential, overlapping spatial scales. From this perspective, the current round of globalization can be interpreted as a multidimensional process of re-scaling in which both cities and states are being reterritorialized in the conflictual search for 'glocal' scalar fixes.