Climate Change and Sustainable Cities

Hugo Priemus, Simin Davoudi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780415826969
• eBook ISBN: 9781134923465
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping

Climate change has demonstrated, perhaps more than any other environmental concerns, the complexities of the human-nature interrelationship and the need for embedding a far greater environmental consciousness into our social values and norms. A drastic reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions requires a transition to low carbon cities. This demands a better understanding of the interactions between social, technical, and spatial processes which constitute cities.

The aim of this book is to explore these interactions and urge urban planners and other built environment professionals to revisit some of their traditional concepts, methods, and ways of thinking about what constitutes a 'good' city and according to whose priorities. The book brings together nine contributions ranging from broad overviews to sector-specific analysis, paying particular attention to the role of urban planning. Contributors cover climate change mitigation and adaptation, deal with different scales of analysis ranging from international and European to national and city perspectives, and discuss a range of policy sectors including housing, transport, energy, sea level rise as well as pathways for climate policy implementation. The diversity of the contributions is itself a reflection of the multitude of climate change concerns that preoccupy researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

This book was published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Governing Carbon and Climate in the Cities: An Overview of Policy and Planning Challenges and Options
• 3 National Climate Change Adaptation Strategies of European States from a Spatial Planning and Development Perspective
• 4 Climate Risk and Security: New Meanings of “the Environment” in the English Planning System
• 5 Rotterdam: A City and a Mainport on the Edge of a Delta
• 6 Improving Sustainability in Urban Areas: Discussing the Potential for Transforming Conventional Car-based Travel into Electric Mobility
• 7 Towards Energy-neutral New Housing Developments. Municipal Climate Governance in The Netherlands
• 8 Improving Energy Efficiency of Social Housing Areas: A Case Study of a Retrofit Achieving an “A” Energy Performance Rating in the UK
• 9 Mediating Low-Carbon Urban Transitions? Forms of Organization, Knowledge and Action
• 10 Local Demonstrations for Global Transitions—Dynamics across Governance Levels Fostering Socio-Technical Regime Change Towards Sustainability
• Index