Published
Aug 31, 2016Page count
152 pagesISBN
978-1447332848Dimensions
198 x 129 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Aug 31, 2016Page count
152 pagesISBN
978-1447332879Imprint
Policy PressPublished
Aug 31, 2016Page count
152 pagesISBN
978-1447332862Imprint
Policy PressPublished
Aug 31, 2016Page count
152 pagesISBN
978-1447332855Imprint
Policy Press
Rethinking Sustainable Cities
Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.
Sustainable urbanisation has moved to the forefront of global debate, research and policy agendas over recent years. Rapid urbanisation throughout China, India and many other low and middle income countries poses new challenges both locally and internationally at a time when urban areas worldwide are threatened by climate/environmental change.
This compact book is designed to make a signal contribution to the sustainable urbanisation agenda through authoritative interventions contextualising, assessing and explaining clearly the relevance and importance of three central characteristics of sustainable towns and cities everywhere, namely that they should be accessible, green and fair.
These three terms form key tenets of the work of Mistra Urban Futures (MUF), an international research centre on sustainable urbanisation based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and working through transdisciplinary research platforms there, in Greater Manchester (UK), Cape Town (South Africa) and Kisumu (Kenya). Additional platforms are being established in southern Sweden, Asia and Africa.
"This timely and lively book builds on several empirical examples to help with the challenges that planners, policy makers, professors and students face in making words like 'green' or 'sustainable' understandable and approachable." Garth Myers, Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut, USA
“Using three themes of accessibility, greenness and fairness, this excellent short book provides a highly readable and timely overview of current debates about sustainable cities.” Debby Potts, Urban Futures Research Domain, Geography Department, King's College London
“A timely and fresh perspective on what sustainable development means for contemporary urbanization, discussing which sustainability actions can be truly transformative.” Vanesa Castan Broto, University College London
“Essential reading, of value to a wide range of audiences, addresses the most urgent and prominent urban challenges of our time.” John Flint, University of Sheffield
David Simon is Director of Mistra Urban Futures, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, and Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. He specialises in development– environment issues, with particular reference to cities, climate change and sustainability, and the relationships between theory, policy and practice, on all of which he has published extensively.
Foreword ~ Julio Dávila;
Introduction: Sustainable cities in sustainable societies ~ David Simon;
Changing ideas and practices for making cities fair ~ Susan Parnell;
Green cities: from tokenism to incrementalism and transformation ~ David Simon;
Accessible cities: from urban density to multidimensional access ~ James Waters;
Conclusions and implications ~ David Simon and Henrietta Palmer.
