scholarly journals Applying the SDGs to Cities: Business as Usual or a New Dawn?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Zinkernagel ◽  
James Evans ◽  
Lena Neij

With growing urbanisation the sustainability of cities has become increasingly important. Although cities have been using indicators for a long time it is only in the last decades that attempts have been made to collate indicators into sets that reflect the many different aspects required to assess the sustainability of a city. The aim of this paper is to review the evolution of indicators for monitoring sustainable urban development in order to understand how ‘new’ the indicators suggested by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are for cities and the challenges they may face in using them. The review reveals that previous indicator sets emphasised environmental sustainability, health and economic growth. It is also shown that indicator sets that pre-date the SDGs lacked dimensions such as gender equality and reduced inequalities. In all, the SDG indicators provide the possibility of a more balanced and integrated approach to urban sustainability monitoring. At the same time, further research is needed to understand how to adapt the SDGs, targets and indicators to specific urban contexts. Challenges of local application include their large number, their generic characteristics and the need to complement them with specific indicators that are more relevant at the city level.

Author(s):  
Roland Zinkernagel ◽  
James Evans ◽  
Lena Neij

With growing urbanisation the sustainability of cities has become increasingly important. Although cities have been using indicators for a long time it is only in the last decades that attempts have been made to collate indicators into indicator sets with the aim of reflecting the many different aspects that need to be covered to assess the sustainability of a city. The aim of this paper is to review how indicators for monitoring sustainable urban development have evolved over time and compare them to the indicators suggested by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The review reveals that previous indicator sets emphasised environmental sustainability, health and economic growth. It is also shown that indicator sets that pre-date the SDGs lacked dimensions such as gender equality and reduced inequalities. In all, the SDG indicators provide the possibility of a more balanced and integrated approach to urban sustainability monitoring. At the same time, a methodology is needed to facilitate the adaptation process of localising the SDGS, targets and indicators. Challenges of local application include their large number, their generic characteristics and the need to complement them with specific indicators that are more relevant at the city level.


REVISTARQUIS ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángela Matesanz Parellada ◽  
Agustín Hernández Aja

ResumenDesde Europa, en un contexto global de crisis económica, social y ambiental, agravado en el caso español por las consecuencias de la burbuja inmobiliaria, se preconiza la apuesta por la Regeneración Urbana Integrada enmarcada dentro de la Estrategia de Desarrollo Urbano Sostenible Integrado (MHAP, 2015). Aunque ambas estrategias tienen continuidad con el modelo de intervención urbana territorializada de enfoque integrado, impulsadas mediante programas de financiación europeos y dirigidas a barrios desfavorecidos, se incorpora la visión, hasta ahora poco visible, de la necesidad de considerar estas áreas como parte de una ciudad concebida como un todo y en la que resulta fundamental el equilibrio entre sus partes. Esta idea de la rehabilitación urbana como una herramienta de cohesión global, apenas tratada hasta ahora, precisa de un nuevo marco que permita evaluar los resultados de las acciones desarrolladas hasta la fecha, de forma que sus experiencias puedan servir de base para desarrollar nuevas propuestas.Este artículo parte de la necesidad, urgente en el contexto español en el que se enmarca, de definir un nuevo modelo de rehabilitación urbana, que además de integrar las políticas sectoriales y la participación de todos los agentes, incluya el objetivo de la integración de los barrios en un modelo integrado de ciudad. Para ello, plantea un modelo de análisis del objetivo de integración que supere las metodologías, en muchos casos sectoriales, de las actuales políticas e intervención en barrios. AbstractIn the European context of economic, social and environmental crisis, we find theSpanish case where its context is hardly worse, as consequences of an economic model based on real estate market. From this point the European Union’s commitment advocates the Integrated Urban Regeneration framed in the overall context of the strategy for Integrated Sustainable Urban Development (MHAP, 2015). Moreover, both strategies establish some continuity with the line of area-based urban interventions with integrated approach promoted by European programs and targeted on disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Equally the vision of the city as a whole and the necessary balance between its parts has been incorporated to them. This last issue, treated so far in a context with falling interest in planning, requires a new analysis framework to assess the actions taken and also to date and serve as a basis for developing new proposals.Therefore, it is considered the urgency in defining a new model of urban rehabilitation in Spain, which integrates sectoral policies and the (real) participation of all actors, so that, the paper will be based on the need of the neighbourhood’s integration into the city. It is also purposed a possible base of analysis for such integration, which might improve or get over the current urban policy interventions in neighbourhoods.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Maryna Melnykova ◽  
Yеlyzaveta Gradoboіeva ◽  
Tetiana Mirzodaieva ◽  
Nadiia Ragulina

The sustainable development of the city involves the solving of economic, environmental and social problems through the modernization of various spheres of the urban economy. The modernization of related and interrelated spheres of the city’s economy should be based on an integrated approach. The hospitality and public infrastructure are such spheres. Their relationship is due to both technical and technological features and the possibilities of achieving the goals of sustainable development of the city (the hospitality sector contributes to the growth of openness of the city and the life support and environmental sustainability of the city directly depends on the state and development of public infrastructure). The priorities of the modernization of public infrastructure and hospitality for sustainable development of the city have been determined. The condition of the public infrastructure and hospitality in cities of Ukraine was analyzed from the point of view of modernization for sustainable development. The experience of modernization of public infrastructure and hospitality in sustainable European cities (including improving energy efficiency, strengthening environmental safety, creating a barrier-free environment) has been studied. The technical, technological, financial and institutional features that determine the feasibility of modernizing the public infrastructure and hospitality based on the principles of an integrated approach have been determined. The recommendations of the mechanism of public-private partnership using in the implementation of projects for the modernization of public utilities infrastructure and hospitality of the city have been developed. The decision-making tools for managing resources have been proposed for the justification and implementation of a project to modernize public infrastructure and hospitality based on a comprehensive approach.  Key Words: city, sustainable development, public infrastructure, hospitality, modernization, integrated approach.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Lorr

Chapter abstract: This chapter addresses how the city government, related offices, non-profit organizations, and activists have attempted to shift Chicago’s urban development towards environmental sustainability. The chapter first, discusses what Chicago has accomplished, second, defines sustainability, third, outlines Chicago’s deficiencies in achieving its sustainability goals, and finally, presents alternative visions of sustainability rooted in resistance and activism. This chapter asks to what extent sustainable development in Chicago is influenced by its business-as-usual neoliberal context and to what extent it is influenced by alternative activist ideas of environmental justice.


2020 ◽  
pp. 215-250
Author(s):  
Brian Patrick McGuire

This chapter shows how the last years of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from 1150 until his death on 20 August 1153, were spent in a flurry of activities that provide little indication that he was a dying man. Indeed, he was still involving himself in matters outside the Cistercian Order, so his commitment hardly reflects the situation of someone in the process of dying. Bernard seems to have suffered from some kind of gastric disturbance, perhaps a result of his ascetic way of life. It is something of a wonder that a man who for years had experienced stomach cramps and could hardly consume food or drink, could continue to be active for such a long time. Bernard refused to make any concessions to his own weakness and went ahead with his concerns, dictating one letter after another. One can assume that for the most part he had to remain at Clairvaux during these years, except for a final excursion that brought him to the city of Metz in what today is the north of France. Bernard was tireless, willing, perhaps obsessed with responding to requests for help from other churchman.


Urban Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Mostapha Harb ◽  
Matthias Garschagen ◽  
Davide Cotti ◽  
Elke Krätzschmar ◽  
Hayet Baccouche ◽  
...  

Current rapid urbanization trends in developing countries present considerable challenges to local governments, potentially hindering efforts towards sustainable urban development. To effectively anticipate the challenges posed by urbanization, participatory modeling techniques can help to stimulate future-oriented decision-making by exploring alternative development scenarios. With the example of the coastal city of Monastir, we present the results of an integrated urban growth analysis that combines the SLEUTH (slope, land use, exclusion, urban extent, transportation, and hill shade) cellular automata model with qualitative inputs from relevant local stakeholders to simulate urban growth until 2030. While historical time-series of Landsat data fed a business-as-usual prediction, the quantification of narrative storylines derived from participatory scenario workshops enabled the creation of four additional urban growth scenarios. Results show that the growth of the city will occur at different rates under all scenarios. Both the “business-as-usual” (BaU) prediction and the four scenarios revealed that urban expansion is expected to further encroach on agricultural land by 2030. The various scenarios suggest that Monastir will expand between 127–149 hectares. The information provided here goes beyond simply projecting past trends, giving decision-makers the necessary support for both understanding possible future urban expansion pathways and proactively managing the future growth of the city.


Author(s):  
Elnaz Sarkheyli ◽  
Kianoosh Zakerhaghighi

Since the 1980s, a wide range of physical and non-physical interventions, including megaprojects and flagships to small-scale projects and temporary usage, are prescribed as catalysts for urban regeneration. The strategy of utilizing urban catalysts as a tool for urban renewal has been encouraging by many city authorities through specific subsidization and privileges. However, there is no correct and precise definition of the tools and the qualities they should provide as their impacts. Besides, some criticize the catalytic projects due to their unsustainable, unjust, and destructive consequences.  This paper intends to provide a more comprehensive definition of urban catalysts by reviewing the existing literature. The research has been done through a deductive and inductive approach to reach the principal dimensions and criteria for catalytic projects. It uses a series of potential projects and interventions in the City of Tehran (16 projects and practices) as case studies to check the dimensions and criteria and the quality of each project as catalysts. The quality of the selected case studies was ranked through expert judgment and checklist method. The findings show the cases' rank on how their catalytic impacts comply with sustainable development goals. According to the results, seven criteria (environmental sustainability, context-based development, pattern making, branding, social quality of life, economic prosperity, and market adaptability) are essential to ensure the sustainability of catalytic impacts of catalyst projects.


Author(s):  
Mozhgan Samzadeh ◽  
Zunaibi Abdullah ◽  
Saari Omar ◽  
Aniza Abdul Aziz

In the past few decades, cities from various parts of the world have faced with unplanned and uncontrolled physical expansion due to inappropriate policies. Among different solutions against urban sprawl, the dominant sustainable cure is the so-called 'Urban Consolidation' (UC). This paper aims to explore urban sprawl characteristics and present its cause and effect on the sustainability criteria of Shiraz city, Iran. It is confined to an exploration of population growth and physical expansion of the city. The data has been collected from governmental organizations and documents. This paper examines UC policy implementation in the inner city of Shiraz to control low-density urban sprawl. As the result, this paper discovers that the policy emphasizes on the higher density housing development in existing urban areas considering the capacity of infrastructures and facilities’ availability prior to calculate housing targets to decrease the demand for Greenfield development. It concludes with a brief discussion on the challenges to achieve sustainable urban development goals in the city through UC strategies.


Author(s):  
Andrew M. Busch

The epilogue looks at Austin in the twenty-first century, as the city has become a model of sustainable urban development based largely on its active and vociferous environmental community. These sustainability policies incentivized higher density growth in the urban core, which caused intense gentrification in many long-time minority communities. Minority environmental groups were unable to convince Austin’s political or environmental leaders that gentrification was an environmental issues, and thus many residents were displaced. The epilogue ends with some suggestions for mitigating the deleterious effects of the possessive investment in whiteness for Austin’s minorities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mozhgan Samzadeh ◽  
Zunaibi Abdullah ◽  
Saari Omar ◽  
Aniza Abdul Aziz

In the past few decades, cities from various parts of the world have faced with unplanned and uncontrolled physical expansion due to inappropriate policies. Among different solutions against urban sprawl, the dominant sustainable cure is the so-called 'Urban Consolidation' (UC). This paper aims to explore urban sprawl characteristics and present its cause and effect on the sustainability criteria of Shiraz city, Iran. It is confined to an exploration of population growth and physical expansion of the city. The data has been collected from governmental organizations and documents. This paper examines UC policy implementation in the inner city of Shiraz to control low-density urban sprawl. As the result, this paper discovers that the policy emphasizes on the higher density housing development in existing urban areas considering the capacity of infrastructures and facilities’ availability prior to calculate housing targets to decrease the demand for Greenfield development. It concludes with a brief discussion on the challenges to achieve sustainable urban development goals in the city through UC strategies.


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