Urban sustainability and knowledge: Theoretical heterogeneity and the need of a transdisciplinary framework. A tale of four towns (original) (raw)
Related papers
The future of sustainable cities: governance, policy and knowledge
Local Environment
The aim of this special issue is to address a conceptual and empirical gap in the existing literature on sustainable cities. Uniquely, it brings together questions about the "what" (in this case, the content and representation of urban policy) of research on urban sustainability with "how" (the social organisation of knowledge and action) through the results of collaborative and comparative work. The special issue contains curated contributions that draw upon the findings of a comparative international project funded by Mistra (Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) through the Mistra Urban Futures Centre, based in Gothenburg. The project sought to bring together two questions that are usually treated as separate in existing research approaches. They are the "what" and "how" of sustainable cities' debates. By working in partnership with local policy-makers, practitioners and universities, each local area entered into a process of collaborative design in order to examine assumptions, expectations, processes and the outcomes of knowledge co-production. This paper introduces the conceptual ideas behind this initiative and so provides a frame for the reader to situate the contributions. It then outlines those articles to draw connections between them and concludes with a short summary of what research and societal lessons can be learnt from the project.
Knowledge for just urban sustainability
Local Environment, 2016
The article examines the conditions required for producing knowledge for just urban sustainability. It highlights a need to review the current social organisation of knowledge within cities and the implications for academic practicein other words, whose interests are being served? Whose knowledge claims are being supported and justified? The article considers how the knowledge practices of cities and universities often exacerbate urban problems that are perpetuated by a limited imaginary and selectivity. It is argued that a gap exists between the content of knowledge and the context of its application. What is required are new ways of practicing collaborative research that do not compromise critique, but open it up to engagement with forms of knowledge that are currently excluded from the representations and categorizations that constitute dominant practices. By bringing the 'what' and 'how' of knowledge together in a process of active intermediation it is possible to contribute to more just, sustainable urban futures for the many, not the few.
Sustainable cities: problems of integrated interdisciplinary research
This paper explores the problem of integrated interdisciplinary research in the field of sustainable cities. The problematique of urban sustainability is studied in the historical and international context. Current research in the field is reviewed, and major gaps in interdisciplinary analysis are identified. The paper makes first steps towards the development of an innovative methodology for the analysis of interdisciplinary linkages among various sustainability dimensions in the urban context. The dimensions taken into consideration are: sustainable energy, sustainable transport, material flows and waste management, quality of life, health, psychology of interaction with the environment, green space, biodiversity, preservation of the natural and cultural heritage, landscape architecture, ecodesign and democratic participation. Two large European cities, London and St Petersburg, are analysed from the point of view of integrative policies and instruments applied in the field of sustainable urban development. The two cities are compared using a panel of sustainability indicators.
How Cities Think: Knowledge Co-Production for Urban Sustainability and Resilience
Forests
Understanding and transforming how cities think is a crucial part of developing effective knowledge infrastructures for the Anthropocene. In this article, we review knowledge co-production as a popular approach in environmental and sustainability science communities to the generation of useable knowledge for sustainability and resilience. We present knowledge systems analysis as a conceptual and empirical framework for understanding existing co-production processes as preconditions to the design of new knowledge infrastructures in cities. Knowledge systems are the organizational practices and routines that make, validate, communicate, and apply knowledge. The knowledge systems analysis framework examines both the workings of these practices and routines and their interplay with the visions, values, social relations, and power dynamics embedded in the governance of building sustainable cities. The framework can be useful in uncovering hidden relations and highlighting the societal foundations that shape what is (and what is not) known by cities and how cities can co-produce new knowledge with meaningful sustainability and resilience actions and transformations. We highlight key innovations and design philosophies that we think can advance research and practice on knowledge co-production for urban sustainability and resilience.
The Role of Knowledge Management in Urban Sustainability Assessment
Urban sustainability assessment is increasingly being seen not just as a technical process to determine the likely sustainability performance of build projects but as a valuable tool in the mediation between the many associated stakeholders with their differing visions, numerous requirements and variations in expertise. This emerging role presents new and considerable challenges for the management of knowledge – during its generation, flow and capture -to ensure the meaningful engagement of such stakeholders in the decision-making process. This paper explores the role of knowledge management in aiding the delivery of urban sustainability assessment within development projects with multiple stakeholders. Outlined is an approach taken by the SUE-MoT research consortium in the development of a knowledge management system incorporated to supplement the practical application of a planned integrated sustainability assessment toolkit (ISAT). The system aims to deliver a knowledge support s...
Co-production of knowledge–action systems in urban sustainable governance: The KASA approach
Environmental Science & Policy, 2014
Science-policy interface Sustainability Urban governance Social networks Boundary work Epistemic cultures Future visions Tropical city a b s t r a c t This paper examines how knowledge-action systems -the networks of actors involved in the production, sharing and use of policy-relevant knowledge -work in the process of developing sustainable strategies for cities. I developed an interdisciplinary framework -the knowledge-action system analysis (KASA) framework -that integrates concepts of the coproduction of knowledge and social order with social network analysis tools to analyze existing configurations of knowledge-action systems in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and how these are shaping both what we know and how we envision the future of cities. I applied KASA in the context of land use and green area governance and found that a diverse network of actors are contributing diverse knowledge types, thus showing potential for innovation in governance. This potential is conditioned, however, by various political and cultural factors, such as: (1) actors dominating knowledge about land use are the same ones that control urban land resources, (2) conventional planning expertise and procedures dominate over other alternative ways of knowing; (3) multiple visions and boundary arrangements co-exist in the city, and (4) boundary spanning opportunities limited by assumptions that knowledge
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2015
Over the last couple of decades, metropolitan areas around the world have been engaged in a multitude of initiatives aimed at upgrading urban infrastructure and services, with a view to creating better environmental, social and economic conditions and enhancing cities' attractiveness and competitiveness. Reflecting these developments, many new categories of 'cities' have entered the policy discourse: as 'low carbon eco cities' and 'ubiquitous eco cities'. In practice, these terms often appear to be used interchangeably by policy makers, planners and developers. However, the question arises whether these categories nevertheless each embody distinct conceptual perspectives, which would have implications for how they are understood theoretically and applied in policy. In response, this article investigates, through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, how the twelve most frequent city categories are conceptualised individually and in relation to one another in the academic literature. We hypothesize that, notwithstanding some degree of overlap and cross-fertilization, in their essence the observed categories each harbor particular conceptual perspectives that render them distinctive. This is borne out by the findings, which demonstrate robustly for the first time the conceptual differences and interrelationships among twelve dominant city categories. The 'sustainable city' is the most frequently occurring category and, in a map of keyword co-occurrences, by far the largest and most interconnected node, linked closely to the 'eco city' and 'green city' concepts. Recently, the more narrow concepts of 'low carbon city' and 'smart city' have been on the rise, judging by their frequency of occurrence in academic journals; the latter in particular appears to have become an increasingly dominant category of urban modernization policy. On their part, 'resilient city' and 'knowledge city' represent distinct concepts, albeit with comparatively low frequency. Overall, the findings point to the need for rigor and nuance in the use of these terms, not least if one wishes to comprehend their implications for urban development and regeneration policy and practice.
International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2022
This paper engages with Manfred Max-Neef's approach to transdisciplinarity in relation to an innovative international cross-city research program. Given the inadequacies of conventional methods, fundamentally different approaches are required to meet the 'wicked problem' challenges of transition towards sustainable societies. Mistra Urban Futures, a Swedish-based research centre with multi-institutional partnerships in eight cities on four continents, designed a co-produced comparative research program to address the realisation of just cities through a typology enabling the comparison of urgent local priorities. This paper reflects on the approach and its relevance to Max-Neef's call for understanding as central to a transdisciplinary approach. Key findings include how understanding, together with the realisation of just cities, emerges intertwined as methodological outcomes. These outcomes also supported the processes, hence contributing to the discourses on transition and the methodologies of transdisciplinarity and comparative urban research.
Towards a Common Understanding of Urban Sustainability
International Scientific Conference „Business and Management“
Although the term “urban sustainability” has gained worldwide popularity in the past few decades, there is still no common understanding of its definition. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the “urban” and “urban sustainability” terms by synthesizing the existing definitions and proposing a new term through a review of relevant literature, research and definition. In this study, the authors discuss numerous facets of urban sustainability, including environmental preservation, social equality, and economic growth. A comprehensive bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review are conducted to identify the meaning of the terms. It is concluded that urban sustainability can be defined as a state in which major subsystems of a city (economical, social, physical, and environmental) work in harmony to ensure the long-term well-being of its inhabitants and the preservation of natural resources on which the city’s growth and prosperity rely.