Building upon previous work of the International Resource Panel on Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, this report examines the potential for decoupling at the city level. While the majority of the world’s population now live in cities and cities are where most resource consumption takes place, both the pressures and potentials to find ways to reconcile economic growth, wellbeing and the sustainable use of natural resources will therefore be greatest in cities.
Analysing the role of cities as spatial nodes where the major resource flows connect as goods, services and wastes, the report ‘s focus is how infrastructure directs material flows and therefore resource use, productivity and efficiency in an urban context. It makes the case for examining cities from a material flow perspective, while also placing the city within the broader system of flows that make it possible for it to function.
The report also highlights the way that the design, construction and operation of energy, waste, water, sanitation and transport infrastructures create a socio-technical environment that shapes the “way of life” of citizens and how they procure, use and dispose of the resources they require. Its approach is innovative in that it frames infrastructure networks as socio-technical systems, examining pressures for change within cities that go beyond technical considerations. The importance of intermediaries as the dominant agents for change is emphasized, as well as the fact that social processes and dynamics need to be understood and integrated into any assessment of urban infrastructure interventions and the reconfiguration of resource flows.
A set of 30 case studies provide examples of innovative approaches to sustainable infrastructure change across a broad range of urban contexts that could inspire leaders of other cities to embrace similar creative solutions. Of course, innovations in and of themselves do not suffice if they are not integrated into larger strategic visions for the city, and as each city is unique, interventions need to be tailored to the set of challenges and opportunities present in each case.
Swilling M., Robinson B., Marvin S., Hodson M., Allen A., Herrero A.C., Landman A., Ratanawaraha A., Revi A., Truffer B., Binz C., Janisch C., Conway D., Daste D., Pieterse E., Weber de Morais G., Woon Choi G., Bulkeley H., Adelekan I., Dávila J., Seppälä J., Singh K., Coenen L., Peltonen L., Tavener-Smith L., Guey LER L., Hajer M., Tomita M., Wood-Hill M., Mayer N., Schmeiske O.R., Rahman P., Barles S., Lwasa S., Swanepool S., Castán Broto V. and Pengue W.A. (2013) City-Level Decoupling - Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of Infrastructure Transitions.
@book{Swilling2013,
Title = {City-Level Decoupling - Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of Infrastructure Transitions},
Author = {Swilling, Mark and Robinson, Blake and Marvin, Simon and Hodson, Mike and Allen, Adriana and Herrero, Ana Carolina and Landman, Anri and Ratanawaraha, Apiwat and Revi, Aromar and Truffer, Bernhard and Binz, Christian and Janisch, Claire and Conway, Damian and Daste, Diana and Pieterse, Edgar and Weber de Morais, Gabriela and Woon Choi, Gye and Bulkeley, Harriet and Adelekan, Ibidun and Dávila, Julio and Seppälä, Jyri and Singh, Kulwant and Coenen, Lars and Peltonen, Lasse and Tavener-Smith, Lauren and Guey LER, Lian and Hajer, Maarten and Tomita, Mari and Wood-Hill, Matthew and Mayer, Natalie and Schmeiske, Oscar Ricardo and Rahman, Perween and Barles, Sabine and Lwasa, Shuaib and Swanepool, Stefanie and Castán Broto, Vanesa and Pengue, Walter Alberto},
Editor = {},
Year = {2013},
Isbn = {978-92-807-3298-6},
Abstract = {Building upon previous work of the International Resource Panel on Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, this report examines the potential for decoupling at the city level. While the majority of the world’s population now live in cities and cities are where most resource consumption takes place, both the pressures and potentials to find ways to reconcile economic growth, wellbeing and the sustainable use of natural resources will therefore be greatest in cities.
Analysing the role of cities as spatial nodes where the major resource flows connect as goods, services and wastes, the report ‘s focus is how infrastructure directs material flows and therefore resource use, productivity and efficiency in an urban context. It makes the case for examining cities from a material flow perspective, while also placing the city within the broader system of flows that make it possible for it to function.
The report also highlights the way that the design, construction and operation of energy, waste, water, sanitation and transport infrastructures create a socio-technical environment that shapes the “way of life” of citizens and how they procure, use and dispose of the resources they require. Its approach is innovative in that it frames infrastructure networks as socio-technical systems, examining pressures for change within cities that go beyond technical considerations. The importance of intermediaries as the dominant agents for change is emphasized, as well as the fact that social processes and dynamics need to be understood and integrated into any assessment of urban infrastructure interventions and the reconfiguration of resource flows.
A set of 30 case studies provide examples of innovative approaches to sustainable infrastructure change across a broad range of urban contexts that could inspire leaders of other cities to embrace similar creative solutions. Of course, innovations in and of themselves do not suffice if they are not integrated into larger strategic visions for the city, and as each city is unique, interventions need to be tailored to the set of challenges and opportunities present in each case.},
}
TY - BOOK
AU - Swilling, Mark
AU - Robinson, Blake
AU - Marvin, Simon
AU - Hodson, Mike
AU - Allen, Adriana
AU - Herrero, Ana Carolina
AU - Landman, Anri
AU - Ratanawaraha, Apiwat
AU - Revi, Aromar
AU - Truffer, Bernhard
AU - Binz, Christian
AU - Janisch, Claire
AU - Conway, Damian
AU - Daste, Diana
AU - Pieterse, Edgar
AU - Weber de Morais, Gabriela
AU - Woon Choi, Gye
AU - Bulkeley, Harriet
AU - Adelekan, Ibidun
AU - Dávila, Julio
AU - Seppälä, Jyri
AU - Singh, Kulwant
AU - Coenen, Lars
AU - Peltonen, Lasse
AU - Tavener-Smith, Lauren
AU - Guey LER, Lian
AU - Hajer, Maarten
AU - Tomita, Mari
AU - Wood-Hill, Matthew
AU - Mayer, Natalie
AU - Schmeiske, Oscar Ricardo
AU - Rahman, Perween
AU - Barles, Sabine
AU - Lwasa, Shuaib
AU - Swanepool, Stefanie
AU - Castán Broto, Vanesa
AU - Pengue, Walter Alberto
ED -
TI - City-Level Decoupling - Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of Infrastructure Transitions
PY - 2013
SN - 978-92-807-3298-6
AB - Building upon previous work of the International Resource Panel on Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, this report examines the potential for decoupling at the city level. While the majority of the world’s population now live in cities and cities are where most resource consumption takes place, both the pressures and potentials to find ways to reconcile economic growth, wellbeing and the sustainable use of natural resources will therefore be greatest in cities.
Analysing the role of cities as spatial nodes where the major resource flows connect as goods, services and wastes, the report ‘s focus is how infrastructure directs material flows and therefore resource use, productivity and efficiency in an urban context. It makes the case for examining cities from a material flow perspective, while also placing the city within the broader system of flows that make it possible for it to function.
The report also highlights the way that the design, construction and operation of energy, waste, water, sanitation and transport infrastructures create a socio-technical environment that shapes the “way of life” of citizens and how they procure, use and dispose of the resources they require. Its approach is innovative in that it frames infrastructure networks as socio-technical systems, examining pressures for change within cities that go beyond technical considerations. The importance of intermediaries as the dominant agents for change is emphasized, as well as the fact that social processes and dynamics need to be understood and integrated into any assessment of urban infrastructure interventions and the reconfiguration of resource flows.
A set of 30 case studies provide examples of innovative approaches to sustainable infrastructure change across a broad range of urban contexts that could inspire leaders of other cities to embrace similar creative solutions. Of course, innovations in and of themselves do not suffice if they are not integrated into larger strategic visions for the city, and as each city is unique, interventions need to be tailored to the set of challenges and opportunities present in each case.
ER -
