Urban sustainability in theory and practice : circles of sustainability / Paul James ; with Liam Magee, Andy Scerri, Manfred Steger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

James, Paul (Paul Warren), 1958- author.

Series:

Advances in urban sustainability

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sustainable urban development.

Urban ecology (Sociology).

Sociology, Urban.

City planning--Environmental aspects.

City planning.

Physical Description:

xxii, 260 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2015.

Summary:

"Cities are home to the most consequential current attempts at human adaptation and they provide one possible focus for the flourishing of life on this planet. However, for this to be realized in more than an ad hoc way, a substantial rethinking of current approaches and practices needs to occur. Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice responds to the crises of sustainability in the world today by going back to basics. It makes four major contributions to thinking about and acting upon cities. It provides a means of reflexivity learning about urban sustainability in the process of working practically for positive social development and projected change. It challenges the usually taken-for-granted nature of sustainability practices while providing tools for modifying those practices. It emphasizes the necessity of a holistic and integrated understanding of urban life. Finally it rewrites existing dominant understandings of the social whole such as the triple-bottom line approach that reduce environmental questions to externalities and social questions to background issues. The book is a much-needed practical and conceptual guide for rethinking urban engagement.Covering the full range of sustainability domains and bridging discourses aimed at academics and practitioners, this is an essential read for all those studying, researching and working in urban geography, sustainability assessment, urban planning, urban sociology and politics, sustainable development and environmental studies"-- Provided by publisher.

"This book responds to the crises of sustainability in the world today by going back to basics. It makes four major contributions to thinking about and acting upon cities. It provides a means of reflexivity learning about urban sustainability in the process of working practically for positive social development and projected change. It challenges the usually taken-for-granted nature of sustainability practices while providing tools for modifying those practices. It emphasizes the necessity of a holistic and integrated understanding of urban life. Finally it rewrites existing dominant understandings of the social whole such as the triple-bottom line approach that reduce environmental questions to externalities and social questions to background issues. The book is a practical and conceptual guide for rethinking urban engagement"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Setting the global-local scene 1

1 Confronting a world in crisis 3

Cities are at the centre of these crises 4

The new urban paradoxes 6

Why do our responses remain short term? 8

Towards flourishing sustainable cities 11

Case study: Melbourne, Australia 15

2 Defining the world around us 19

Sustainable and good development 20

Negative and positive sustainability 21

Cities and urban settlements 25

Globalization and localization 27

Community and sustainability 30

Case study: New Delhi, India 37

Part II Understanding social life 41

3 Social domains 43

Judging the value of any method 45

Defining social domains 51

Defining perspectives and aspects 54

Defining aspects of the social whole 55

Appendix 58

Case study: Valletta and Paolo, Malta 63

4 Social mapping 69

Researching social and project profiles 71

Defining social themes 11

Defining ontological formations 83

Case study: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 87

5 Social meaning 92

Ideas and ideologies 94

Imaginaries 96

Ontological formations 99

Part III Developing methods and tools 105

6 Assessing sustainability 107

Problems with top-down assessment processes 109

Problems with bottom-up assessment processes 110

Towards a comprehensive assessment method 113

Defining the stages of project management 118

Appendix 122

Case study: Porto Alegre, Brazil 133

7 Generating an urban sustainability profile 137

Definitions for the purpose of this questionnaire 141

The scale for critical judgement 142

Appendix: Urban profile questionnaire 143

8 Measuring community sustainability 161

Developing a social life questionnaire 163

Comparing different communities 165

Overcoming methodological limitations 168

Appendix: Social life questionnaire 172

9 Conducting a peer review 181

Building on the strengths of peer review 182

Phases in the peer-review process 183

Case study: Johannesburg, South Africa 190

10 Adapting to climate change 195

Setting objectives for adaptation 199

Cross-domain options for adaptation 202

Avoiding maladaption 206

Risk assessment methods 206

Vulnerability assessment methods 209

11 Projecting alternative futures 214

Developing a scenario projection process 215

The scenario process in action 218

Beyond the first stage of scenario development 229

12 Simulating future trends 231

Are cities actually like elephants? 232

The world of city simulators 233

Foundations of the approach 234

Simulating the future? 243.

Notes:

"Earthscan from Routledge."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138025721

1138025720

9781138025738

1138025739

OCLC:

885377889