Urban Sustainability and the “Greening” of Neoliberal Chicago

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.

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):  
Wu Xiaoyu

With the rapid expansion of the city in China, more and more old industrial buildings in cities become idle and abandoned. However, Old industrial buildings are carrying the history of a city and reflecting the urban development process so that renewal of the old industrial buildings has great value in the sense of cultural, aesthetic, ecological, economic, and sustainable development. How to reuse those buildings is worth studying. This paper, based on the principle of Adaptive Renewal and sustainable reuse, takes two typical successful cases to discuss how to reuse these old industrial buildings into culture ones in China.


Author(s):  
Gaunette M. Sinclair-Maragh

This chapter explores the role of ecotourism in the sustainable development of protected areas. It specifically examines the aims of ecotourism in simultaneously contributing to economic development and environmental sustainability in protected areas. The chapter further analyzes protected areas within the ecological, human, and institutional dimensions, and demonstrates how the outcomes of ecotourism are linked to the economic, social, and environmental pillars that drive sustainable development. The chapter also discusses challenges surrounding the sustainability of ecotourism in protected areas and several mitigation strategies. It concludes that while ecotourism aims for economic development it can have detrimental effects on the ecological resources and host communities if not managed in a strategic sustainable way. The chapter recommends that ecotourism in protected areas should be carried out within the realm of environmental justice where all stakeholders and the natural environment are treated with respect and equity.


2012 ◽  
pp. 20-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laure Heland

This contribution concerns the planning process applicable to sustainable urban neighbourhoods whose increasing number in Europe appears to be changing the framework of urban development. Having briefly presented the main characteristics of sustainable neighbourhoods in Europe, this chapter then specifically concentrates on sustainable urban neighbourhoods resulting from an ecological rehabilitation process in the city of Albertslund, in Denmark. While these rehabilitation experiments remain anecdotal when compared with new sustainable districts, they nevertheless represent a far greater structuring potential for cities. Our hypothesis is that the implementation of sustainable development renews local planning practices. We shall also see how these districts attempt to overcome a major contradiction inherent in new eco-neighbourhoods by combining a search for eco-technological performances with the incorporation of more social and cultural challenges. Our research suggests that the local actions of inhabitants can play an important role in making sustainable development work.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shohel Reza Amin ◽  
Umma Tamima

The City of Montreal initiated a First Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development in 2005 followed by a Community and Corporate Sustainable Development Plan in 2010–2015. This study proposes a sustainable urban development indicator (SUDI) for each Montreal Urban Community (MUC) to evaluate the achievements of sustainable development plans. This study identifies thirty-two variables as the attributes of sustainable urban development. The multivariate technique and Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis are applied to determine the spatial pattern of SUDI for each MUC. The spatial pattern of SUDI identifies that Ville Marie, Verdun, Sud-Ouest, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Plateau Mont-Royal have strong sustainable development. The findings of this study help the City of Montreal to understand the improvement of the sustainable development plans for Montreal city and to distribute the municipal budget for the community benefits accordingly.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1049
Author(s):  
Yaqiong Wang ◽  
Guanghui Yuan ◽  
Ying Yan ◽  
Xueliang Zhang

Sustainable development is a long-term solution for urban development and a guideline for urban development. Only by better coordination around the population, resources, and environment can the city achieve sustained and steady development. In order to evaluate the efficiency of sustainable urban development under environmental constraints, this paper takes 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province as an example. To address the infeasibility problem in the Malmquist-Luenberger (M-L) index, a modified M-L index analysis method based on the new directional distance function (DDF) is adopted. Combined with the consideration of desirable and undesirable outputs, a linear programming model for sustainable urban development evaluation is constructed to provide a scientific decision-making basis for sustainable development of the city. The results show that the growth of sustainable urban development efficiency is not only related to desirable outputs but also affected by undesirable outputs. Technical change is the main driver of most sustainable urban development efficiency growth. However, efficiency changes also affect the sustainable development potential of cities to a certain extent. Through the modified M-L index analysis, we analyze the characteristics of different regions of Jiangsu Province, the changes in efficiency and the impact of technological innovation on sustainable urban development, and give policy recommendations to promote sustainable urban development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 03014
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Popova ◽  
Irina Ptuhina

This study is devoted to two pressing problems of Russian urban development: infill development and sustainable development of territories. The authors put forward the concept of assessing effectiveness of land usage, based on urban-planning standards, which is substantiated relationship between planning parameters and sustainable development of the city. The authors also considered the project of residential infill development, and proposed alternative options for planning solutions that are more consistent with current regulations.


Author(s):  
Brittany Solensten ◽  
Dale Willits

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine a collaborative relationship between non-profit organizations and a Midwest police department to address issues of poverty and homelessness. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with five non-profit organization workers along with three police officers about social problems in the city between September and December of 2017. Findings The collaboration between non-profit organizations and law enforcement was largely helpful and successful in integrating residents of tent city into existing housing programs within the city, limiting future law enforcement calls addressing latent homelessness issues. Research limitations/implications This qualitative study was exploratory in nature and data were drawn from a single city. Although key stakeholders were interviewed, results are based on a small sample of police and non-profit social service workers. Also, individuals who lived in the tent city were not interviewed. Practical implications This study demonstrates how an approach in addressing tent cities through non-profit organizations and law enforcement collaboration are arguably effective in humanely moving residents of tent cities into housing for a long-term solution to homelessness. Originality/value There is limited research about tent cities especially the long-term effectiveness of dismantling them with various methods. This paper demonstrates one city’s approach to combat homelessness by dismantling a tent city, with a follow-up a few years later showing the effectiveness of a more humane approach, which can set an example for future cities also combating homelessness.


2002 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 171-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK DEAKIN ◽  
STEVE CURWELL ◽  
PATRIZIA LOMBARDI

Sustainable development is an issue that has attracted a considerable amount of academic interest since the publication of the Brundtland Report. With Agenda 21, it is an issue which has also found its way into the policy and action programmes of the European Commission. For Europe and its member states, the issue has become one of sustainable urban development and this paper reports on the interim findings of a concerted action programme undertaken to foreground the urban question, develop a framework for the analysis of sustainable development and compile a directory of methods to assess the sustainability of urban development. It classifies the assessment methods in question and goes on to map their applications across the sustainable development issues represented in the framework for analysis. Having done this, the paper goes on to set out how the said methods are being used to build the environmental capacity that is needed for the city of tomorrow to carry its cultural heritage and develop forms of human settlement which are sustainable.


A new vision of the global needs of mankind is embodied in the concept of sustainable development, which means meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet their needs by future generations. Today, more than half of the world population lives in cities, the development of which is influenced by many interdependent factors, so there is a need for a clear and holistic approach to sustainable urban development. The aim of this paper is to study urban infrastructure in the aspect of its greening as an important component of the sustainable development system of the city. The paper analyzes the academic literature on the problem of greening urban infrastructure as the basis for sustainable development of the city. The determination of the main elements of green infrastructure and technologies in the field of green infrastructure in foreign countries has been carried out. Particularly significant action strategies for cities have been identified as part of a sustainable development policy.


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