Intensifying or transforming sustainable cities? Fragmented logics of urban environmentalism

Abstract

This paper analyses recent shifts in urban sustainability discourse and practice through a critical review of the historical development of the concept from the 1970s through to the global economic crisis in the 2007 and its fragmentation into the 2010s. Using this periodisation, the paper shows how the content of urban sustainability discourse has changed. First, it illustrates that the dominant assumption of sustainable cities' discourse was to utilise economic growth to ecologically modernise urban environments. Second, it examines how the global economic crisis has intensified this fix and led to a new, even narrower emphasis on the techno-economic value of those aspects of urban environment that have economic and market potential. Third, it analyses the fragmenting of sustainable cities' discourse into a set of competing logics that reflect this narrower agenda. This paper argues that the sustainable city has been absorbed into these new logics that are much more narrowly techno-economically focused and are squeezing out traditional concerns with social justice and equity.ARTICLE HISTORY

Smart City and High-Tech Urban Interventions Targeting Human Health: An Equity-Focused Systematic Review

“…While discussions regarding the conceptualization of smart cities began over three decades ago [11], their development can broadly be outlined in the development of two distinct paradigms [9]. In the original paradigm, smart city 1.0, primary emphasis of the approach was placed on technology and data being the most effective means to address prominent planning issues [12].…”

Digital Media Practices in Households

“…Smartphones, as part of the Internet of Things (IoT), have been discussed as both a vehicle for empowerment (open data) and exploitation (surveillance). As cities such as Tokyo embrace smart city infrastructure that allows for data collection, analysis and evidence-based policy interventions around environmental responsiveness and sustainability (Hobson and Marvin 2017), the role of these digital technologies for social innovation (especially informal wellbeing and social inclusion for older adults) becomes increasingly important. And yet, understanding the informal practices of kinship care which often occurs in the home-especially in terms of intergenerational care of older adults-has been left out of the discussion (Hasan and Linger 2016;Koch 2010; Muramatsu and Yarime 2011).…”

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“…Cities, in their quest to become more sustainable habitats for their citizens, have gone through a transition from being places of economic growth towards places that represent an integrated and overall sustainable urban environment (Hodson and Marvin 2017). Sustainable cities research and practice have opened debates about what sustainability in an urban context means, and about the best possible strategies to develop towards a sustainable city (Williams 2010).…”

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