scholarly journals Representing ‘Place’: City Climate Commissions and the Institutionalisation of Experimental Governance in Edinburgh

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Creasy ◽  
Matthew Lane ◽  
Alice Owen ◽  
Candice Howarth ◽  
Dan Van der Horst
Keyword(s):  
Urban Governance ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Key Industries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article presents an analysis of the Edinburgh Climate Commission’s establishment, drawing on participatory ethnographic research carried out by a researcher embedded within the project team. The account of how this new mode of urban governance was both conceptualised and then put into practice offers a new institutional angle to the literature on urban ‘experimentation.’ Through our reflective analysis we argue that aspirations to ensure pre-defined ‘key’ industries (high carbon emitters) are accounted for in commissioner recruitment, and an over-emphasis on capturing discernible ‘impacts’ in the short term (by involving organisations already pro-active in sustainable development) hindered an opportunity to embrace new perspectives on urban futures and harness the innovative potential of cities to engage with the multifaceted nature of the climate challenge. Furthermore, new insight into the relationship between local authorities and other ‘place-based’ agents of change opens up important questions regarding how to balance the attainment of legitimacy within the political status quo, and the prospect of a new radical politics for urban transformation.

scholarly journals The European Green Capital Award—Is It a Dream or Reality for Belgrade (Serbia)?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6182
Author(s):  
Marijana Pantić ◽  
Saša Milijić
Keyword(s):  
Urban Transformation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Current State ◽  
Transitional Countries ◽  
Great Hope ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

An agreement of cooperation and transmission of knowledge regarding the nomination for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) was signed between the mayors of Belgrade and Ljubljana (EGCA 2016 winner) in September 2018. The candidacy of Belgrade was finally realized in October 2019. Great hope was placed in this endeavour because internationally recognized awards, such as the EGCA, represent enormous capital for both the city and the state. The EGCA requires serious preparation and significant fulfilment of preconditions. Many economically strong and environmentally responsible cities competed for the award, but did not win. On the other hand, the capital of Serbia does not appear to be an obvious winning candidate, especially as it is differentiated from the previous winners by being a non-EU city and by the fact that it is still undergoing an intense urban transformation, characteristic of transitional countries. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to present a review of the current state of Belgrade’s environmental qualities and its comparison with the EGCA criteria and with Grenoble as one of the winning competitors. The article gives a full overview of the EGCA requirements with certain details on required indicators, gives relevant insight into the procedure, which could be of use for any future candidacy, and discusses potential benefits for winners, losers and repeat candidacies.

Seeing Immigrants

2012 ◽  
Vol 641 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Winders
Keyword(s):  
Urban Governance ◽  
Immigrant Incorporation ◽  
Social Fabric ◽  
Immigrant Settlement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Gateway Cities ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
American Cities ◽  
The City

Since the 1990s, immigrant settlement has expanded beyond gateway cities and transformed the social fabric of a growing number of American cities. In the process, it has raised new questions for urban and migration scholars. This article argues that immigration to new destinations provides an opportunity to sharpen understandings of the relationship between immigration and the urban by exploring it under new conditions. Through a discussion of immigrant settlement in Nashville, Tennessee, it identifies an overlooked precursor to immigrant incorporation—how cities see, or do not see, immigrants within the structure of local government. If immigrants are not institutionally visible to government or nongovernmental organizations, immigrant abilities to make claims to or on the city as urban residents are diminished. Through the combination of trends toward neighborhood-based urban governance and neoliberal streamlining across American cities, immigrants can become institutionally hard to find and, thus, plan for in the city.

Climate Change and Cities

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Climate Change Response ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Change Response ◽  
The Relationship

Cities are playing an increasingly important role in addressing climate change, adopting increasingly ambitious policies and plans for addressing its causes and consequences. A substantial body of work has emerged over the last twenty-five years focused on the relationship between cities, urban governance, and climate change response. This review provides a starting point for those interested in climate change and cities, and presents the broad contours of the literature: general overviews, cities in relation to global policy and transnational networks, the forces that shape local policy adoption, the political and institutional dimensions of urban climate governance, and the role of social justice and equity in urban responses to climate change.

scholarly journals Hybrid coordination of city organisations: The rule of people and culture in the shadow of structures

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802096385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Leixnering ◽  
Renate E Meyer ◽  
Tobias Polzer
Keyword(s):  
Urban Governance ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
Trust Funds ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
Structural Mechanisms ◽  
Hybrid Coordination ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Governance Modes

Under far-reaching reforms, many cities have delegated core tasks previously delivered by their administrations to independent organisations that they formally own, e.g. municipal companies, or supervise, e.g. municipal trust funds. The coordination of these (as we call them) ‘domestic’ city organisations has proven challenging. Extant literature argues that such coordination is achieved through a mix of various hierarchical, market and network mechanisms. Yet it is unclear how these modes are combined. Addressing this gap, we ask: How do governance modes interact in the hybrid coordination of domestic city organisations? Analysing the case of Vienna, where 100 domestic organisations employ about 60,000 people, we find that while cultural mechanisms, rooted in the network mode, are predominant, they unfold in the shadow of latent structural mechanisms, which are associated with hierarchy and market. In the background, structural mechanisms keep cultural coordination effective, while cultural mechanisms allow structural coordination to remain (generally) hidden. This study aims to contribute to the literature on the governance of public organisations by exploring the relationship between governance modes as well as furthering urban governance studies by applying insights from studies on the coordination of public organisations to the city context.

scholarly journals Lisbon Urban Heat Island Updated: New Highlights about the Relationships between Thermal Patterns and Wind Regimes

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Lopes ◽  
Elis Alves ◽  
Maria João Alcoforado ◽  
Raquel Machete
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Local Wind ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Thermal Patterns ◽  
Wind Regimes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

Urban growth implies significant modifications in the urban climate. To understand the influence of the city of Lisbon on the urban boundary layer, a mesoscale meteorological network was installed in 2004. The main goals of the present study are to update the results of the research published in 2007 and to bring more precise information about the relationship between the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and the regional and local wind systems. The highest frequencies of the UHI were found in the city centre (Restauradores). In the green park of Monsanto, the highest frequency occurred between −2 and 0°C. During the summer, the effect of the breezes was observed in Belém, lowering the temperature. The “strong” UHI (intensity >4°C) occurred more often during the summer, with median values of 2°C by night and 1.8°C by day. The highest frequencies of UHI occurred for winds between 2 and 6 m/s and were not associated with atmospheric calm, as pointed out in the literature. Winds above 8 m/s inhibit the occurrence of strong UHI in Lisbon. Summer nighttime strong UHI should be further investigated, due to the heat stress consequences on the population and probable increase of energy consumption.

scholarly journals Sustainable Beirut City Planning Post August 2020 Port of Beirut Blast: Case Study of Karantina in Medawar District

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6442
Author(s):  
David Aouad ◽  
Noushig Kaloustian
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Master Plans ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

The 4 August 2020 Port of Beirut blast caused material damage to an estimated 77,000 apartments located across 10,000 buildings within a 3 km radius of the blast, impacting around 300,000, people predominantly in the municipality of Karantina, which is situated adjacent to the Port of Beirut. The blast shed light on the instability and unsustainable development approach of the city of Beirut since well before the French mandate circa 1921–1940. The impact of the blast provides an opportunity to reassess the relationship between many relevant aspects of the city planning including but not limited to: the relationship of the city to its suburbs, waterfront, and city center; the lack of local planning and cross sectorial master plans; the preservation of the heritage versus the complexity of its urban development; the city growth and increased haphazard urbanization; the infrastructure/service systems that have over the years become increasingly deficient; the lack of public spaces; impacts on urban climate; and the urban divide and inequality that have only grown deeper since the blast, all of which have a combined and adverse impact on the quality of city life. This paper analyzes the most suitable indicators that one must highlight within the context of Beirut city to propose a better and sustainable quality of life with a focus on areas that were significantly impacted by the recent POB blast, namely Karantina. Examples of indicators which were analyzed include sustainable urban design, open spaces, heritage, infrastructure, and urban fabric. The results indicated that the following four main urban design features help improve the quality of life in Karantina, including: (i) connecting areas of Karantina and Mar Mkhael through the reactivation of vacant lots; (ii) reactivation of Ibrahim Bacha and El-Khodr Streets; (iii) redefining the historical El Khodr Mosque boundary and reclaiming its role as an urban landmark; and (iv) integration of classified built heritage. These parameters are necessary to improve the quality of life. The benefits of community participation are also assessed in the improvement and sustainable planning of the city of Beirut.

scholarly journals Reclaim the Streets, the protestival and the creative transformation of the city

Finisterra ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (94) ◽  
Author(s):  
André Carmo
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Creative City ◽  
Creative Transformation ◽  
Creative Force ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

The main goal of this article is to reflect upon the relationship between creativity and urban transformation. it stems from the assumption that creativity has a paradoxical nature as it is simultaneously used for the production of the neoliberal city and by those seeking to challenge it and build alternative urban realities. first, we put forth a critical review of the creative city narrative, focused on richard florida’s work, as it progressively became fundamental for the neoliberal city. afterwards, and contrasting with that dominant narrative, we describe a trajectory of Reclaim the Streets that provides the basis for our discussion of the protestival (protest + carnival) as its main creative force of urban transformation.

scholarly journals Mineralogical Analysis of Mortars in the Walls of Ávila (Spain) and Its Surroundings

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Sonsoles de Soto García ◽  
María de los Reyes de Soto García ◽  
Rosario García Giménez
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mineralogical Composition ◽  
Mineralogical Analysis ◽  
Building Activity ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Fresh Insight ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Biological Weathering

The present article evaluated the mineralogical composition of 85 mortar samples from some emblematic monuments of Ávila city (Spain), which were collected during the restoration of the monuments. The aim of this article is to try to extract the relationship between the composition and the origin of the raw materials, as well as to identify possible alterations in the samples. The study of the samples was carried out using visual and petrographic techniques such as stereoscopic microscope, XRD, and SEM/EDX analysis. The main components of the mortars were calcite, feldspar and quartz, although small amounts of phyllosilicates were also identified. The minerals of the mortars came from the surroundings of the city, and some of the samples presented evident alteration of the original materials due to humidity, salt concentration, and biological weathering, possibly inducted by unfortunate effects of the restoration. Finally, a study of the salts present in some mortars showed that most samples display contamination of soluble salts such as halite, thenardite, hexaedrite, and carnalite. This investigation offers fresh insight into historic building activity and related techniques, and should provide knowledge useful for restoration and conservation processes.

scholarly journals Heterotopia and the urban politics of climate change experimentation

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 350-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth A S Edwards ◽  
Harriet Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Politics ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Spatial Form ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
The Future ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Political Project ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
The City

Seeking to govern the city in relation to climate change is a political project that at once imagines the present in terms of the future and the future in terms of the present. The urban politics of climate change has brought multiple visions of the possibilities (and limits) of urban futures. In this context, we find urban responses taking experimental form – creating sites through which to explore and experience different futures. They provide spaces in which utopian visions can be imagined, enacted and contested. Conceptualizing urban climate change experiments as heterotopic sites seems fruitful in at least two regards. Firstly, it captures their provisional and ambivalent relationship with the broader urban milieu. Secondly, and even more critically, it opens up the dialogues between the future and present which are at the heart of the climate governance project, and highlights the spatial form of these politics. We examine both with reference to two examples of climate experimentation in Berlin and Philadelphia.

How Eco-innovation Districts Can Accelerate Urban Climate Action

Greenovation ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 151-165
Author(s):  
Joan Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Urban Climate ◽  
Green Building ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Green Technologies ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The City ◽  
Smart Infrastructure

Eco-innovation districts are defined areas in which cities concentrate state-of-the-art technologies in green building, smart infrastructure, and renewable energy to create sustainable, resilient, and inclusive districts that accelerate action on climate change and sustainability. This chapter addresses four questions: Does the district perform better than or as well as the rest of the city on per capita carbon emissions? How well does the district serve as a test bed for green technologies that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Does the city employ a deliberate process of organizational learning that allows city planners and elected officials to apply effective practices and lessons learned from district-scale experimentation? What measures have been put in place to ensure a diversity of income levels? It also examines whether the experimentation undertaken in European eco-innovation districts can be replicated in the United States.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document