An appraisal of Australia's approach to promoting urban sustainability

Abstract

PurposeMuch rhetoric exists on the urgency of transitioning from current practices to a more sustainable society. However, because this imperative is guided by strong ideological overtones, weaknesses and failures in the transition effort attract inadequate scrutiny. This paper reviews Australia's progress with sustainability in an urban domain and identifies key issues hindering the sustainability transition effort.Design/methodology/approachResearch on urban sustainability is ubiquitous but this weight of publications tends to emphasize technical, operational or prescriptive themes. This research uses an interpretivist philosophical lens and inductive reasoning to manually analyse pertinent literature sourced from the Scopus and Web of Science data-bases. Specifically, this study assembles outcome and evaluative assessments pertaining to Australia's urban sustainability efforts to identify both the progress achieved and residual structural impediments.FindingsEmergent findings illustrate that Australia's urban sustainability goals, as expressed by the Paris Accord, have not been met. Obstruction can be attributed to over-ambitious objectives combined with weak federal leadership, under-resourced local government, over-reliance on superficial rating systems and an ineffective regulatory regime. Elite “green branding” by image conscious corporations are insufficient to offset the general disinterest of the unincentivized majority of building owners and developers.Originality/valueThis paper cogently summarizes Australia's urban sustainability status, along with complexity of the challenges it faces to meet targets set.

Energy conservation literacy among households in Sub-Sahara Africa

“…Ajzen (1991) described efficiency behaviours as one-shot behaviours and included purchasing energy-efficient appliances. Because households globally are using more electrical appliances than ever due to increasing economic growth and development, the world cannot rely solely on technological innovations to reduce energy consumption (Edwards et al , 2017; Martek et al , 2021). According to Vassileva (2012), the sluggish rate at which such technological innovations penetrate society has impeded efforts to improve energy efficiency.…”