Panama City Reflections: Growing the City in the Time of Sustainable Development (original) (raw)
Re-thinking the Latin American City
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, 2014
The purpose of the institute is to undertake applied research and policy analysis of structural changes affecting the developing and transitional economies; to provide a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable and environmentally sustainable growth; and to promote capacity strengthening and training in the field economic and social policy-making. Its work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki, and through networks
The sustainable urban development reader
2004
This course investigates the emerging principles and triple bottom line of sustainable developmentenvironmental quality, economic health, and social equity-as reflected in buildings, towns, and cities around the world. We will examine how communities impact and improve basic environmental quality variables such as air and water quality, food supply, mobility, energy sources and uses, and a sense of place. We will also explore a global array of innovative efforts at sustainable urban design, including land use and zoning strategies, alternative transportation models, water and waste management initiatives, green building, regional economic development, social equity planning, and ecological restoration. Through case studies and class activities, we will learn how various communities achieve the objectives of sustainable development through planning, design, public policy and education. We will also learn about assessment frameworks, such as "ecological footprints," that can serve as tools for assessing the impact of various projects, programs, and policies. We will explore specific examples of sustainable buildings and settlements around the planet, with particular emphasis on communities along our route that exemplify innovative approaches to sustainability and demonstrate key course concepts.
Biomimetics
To understand the sustainability problem for Panama’s metropolitan area, its urban metabolism was investigated. A way to evaluate its current state was obtained by estimating a sustainable indicator based on the Green City Index. With the abstraction of the identified problems, the biomimetic strategy “problem-based approach” was carried out, where different pinnacles of nature were selected as a reference for the design of regenerative solutions. These were inspired by the understanding of the living world and how to include ecosystems in urban designs. Therefore, a framework was proposed for positive generation and natural solutions in cities to take advantage of the regenerative potential in Panama City. Using ecosystem services, a set of indicators were developed to measure regeneration over the years at the city scale. The results indicate that from the 11 selected pinnacles, 17 solutions inspired in nature were proposed to regenerate cities. Consequently, a SWOT analysis was r...
Sustainable cities : supplements 1-8 to the Institute of Urban Studies newsletter
1995
The Institute of Urban Studies is an independent research arm of the University of Winnipeg. Since 1969, the IUS has been both an academic and an applied research centre, committed to examining urban development issues in a broad, non-partisan manner. The Institute examines inner city, environmental, Aboriginal and community development issues. In addition to its ongoing
The Applicat6ion of The Gross City Development Index (GCD-Index) in Panama City, Panama
We apply the Gross City Development Index (GCD-Index) by Ruiz Estrada and Park (2019) in the case of Panama City, Panama. The GCD-Index calculation is based on the concept of City integral sustainable development platform. The platform consists of ten main structures, which are (i) Main Structure-1: Economic and Finance (production and consumption of goods and services, income distribution, savings ratio, public and private investment, inflation, and banking);
Urban Sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean
2011
This work presents a comprehensive analysis of urban sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean. The document is composed of six sections, including this introduction. Providing the theoretical and empirical elements of the analysis, the following section briefly reviews the relationship between urbanization and economic development at the international and regional levels. The third section delineates the evolution of the concept of sustainability in the urban sphere in recent years. The fourth section discusses the principal problems that currently affect the sustainability of Latin American and Caribbean cities, and the fifth section provides the foundations of a methodological proposal for approaching the comprehensive study of the sustainability of Latin American and Caribbean cities, including their components, the interactions of those components, and the horizontal and vertical integration of the analysis process. The work culminates in some final reflections in the l...
Constructing Sustainability: Emerging Spaces in Bogotá's Search for a New Identity
2006
Draft Paper submitted for review for the Breslauer Symposium 2006, UC Berkeley March 2006 Constructing Sustainability: Emerging Spaces in Bogota's Search for a New Identity Key Words: Globalization, local governance, sustainability, urban design, and urban development Abstract: Since 1988, when the mayoral office of Bogota, Colombia changed from an appointed to an elected position, the city and its politicians have struggled to balance the demands of politics, culture, and urban planning and design. I n this time, Bogota has undergone a physical and perceptual transformation, becoming a model of sustainable urban development (SUD). While the dramatic shifts in development vision that occur with each new mayor have created a different set of city priorities every 3-4 years, a new set of public urban spaces has emerged in the city through the larger process of change. Introduction: The world's environmental sustainability and quality of life depends to a large extent on what i...
CITY PROFILES NO. 3 NAUCALPAN, MEXICO Transformative Urban Coalitions
2022
To fight the climate crisis, cities have to become more sustainable now. Transformations towards sustainability must be based on the specific urban characteristics of each city. An analysis of the current factors that may or may not enable urban sustainability transformations is a first step for developing locally suited strategies. TUC City Profiles is a series of short reports developed as part of the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) project to share insights into the existing challenges and opportunities in order to address crosscutting urban sustainability transformation and development issues through inclusive climate action in the five Latin American TUC cities. The following short report summarizes the main findings from a political economy and ecology analysis of Naucalpan, Mexico, describing its main geographic, socioeconomic and environmental characteristics, as well as climate governance set-up. It concludes with suggested entry points for transformative change towards sustainability.
This article focuses on Mexico City's sustainability plans and politics, as well as some related art projects and practices. Where Mexico City was declared the most polluted city of the world in 1992, it is now known for its very pro-active environmental politics and related initiatives. At the same time the city is gaining attention as a cultural city and hosts a growing creative class. The article shows how these two, sustainability and the cultural/creative, are interrelated in various ways. In one way the city's sustainable policies reinforced the gentrification process of the city's historic center. In another way the cultural elites respond to the city's activities in sustainability in terms of an increased interest in eco-artistic projects. In a third way the article shows how the introduction of the Western concept of sustainability is problematic in a Latin American cultural context. It runs the risk of -again -reinforcing the existing cleavage between well-educated Western oriented elites on the one hand and the mestizo masses and indigenous people on the other hand. Moreover it disregards the fact that Latin America has a fundamentally different kind of modernity and culture that can be labeled as labyrinthine, baroque or hybrid. The Western concept of sustainability most probably will not function within such a culture, a reason why the article makes a plea for the design of a concept of hybrid sustainability (or sustainabilities) that match the characteristics of the Latin American reality in general and the reality of Mexico City in particular.
South American cities: securing an urban future - Urban Age., 2008
URBAN AGE SOUTH AMERICA In bringing the Urban Age to São Paulo, the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society are confronting the changing realities of one of the most urbanised regions of the world. Like its seven predecessors, the eighth Urban Age conference addresses the social, economic and spatial conditions of urban South America through an interdisciplinary lens, focusing on the interconnected issues of security, mobility, climate change, governance, urban design and development. Following in-depth analysis of New York, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin – brought together in The Endless City book published earlier this year – the Urban Age in 2007 turned its attention to cities in India and now to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Bogotá and Lima. In 2009, the focus will be on Istanbul and urban development in South-Eastern Europe, with a concluding Urban Summit and major exhibition in Berlin in 2010. The South America Urban Age conference in São Paulo will be the largest and most complex of the series, bringing together 80 experts and civic leaders from over 25 cities from 14 countries. It follows a year of research and a series of workshops in London and São Paulo, as well as input drawn from submissions to the second annual Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award, created in 2007 to recognise and celebrate creative solutions to the challenges facing cities. Working closely with academic and institutional partners and by inviting speakers from around the world to share their urban experiences, the Urban Age conference offers a mirror to reflect on São Paulo’s problems and opportunities at a time of intense social, political and economic change. *** By comparing São Paulo’s realities with international examples of urban regeneration, Nadia Somekh and Carlos Leite explore the constraints and opportunities to deliver high quality design in the city’s major urban projects. *** Burdett, Ricky, ed. (2008) South American cities: securing an urban future Urban Age. This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33340/ Originally available from Urban Age Available in LSE Research Online: May 2013 © 2008 Urban Age http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33340/1/Burdett\_South\_American\_cities\_2008.pdf