The future of sustainable urbanism: a redefinition

Abstract

In this article the future of sustainable urbanism is discussed. In current times a complex of uncertainties demands sustainable environments. Three uncertainties are distinguished. Firstly, the city needs to deal with uncertain developments, such as the impacts of climate change. Secondly, urban environments are the place where deliberate uncertainties, such as the generation of renewable energy and other sustainability transitions must find a place. The third form of uncertainty is the increased exposure of urban populations to the impacts of a spectrum of uncertain developments, climate impacts. This 'Triple-U problem' urges the design of urban areas to be sustainable. Sustainability has long been a part of urbanism, however, in completely different ways in different periods in history. When learning from the past, the analysis of sustainable urbanism in seven periods brings key elements to the fore. Sustainable urbanism has evolved, but key characteristics of each period may and can still be used to design sustainable cities. Based on these characteristics two strategies, and a potential third one, are identified: to fix the future, to indulge the future, and to create anti-fragile urban environments. Where fixing the future implies the reparation of environmental qualities and closing environmental flows within the urban boundaries, indulging the future focuses on the creation of sufficient space to accommodate the possible spatial impacts of unprecedented events and change. Anti-fragility supports the city in raising its resilience under threat of uncertain impacts. The article ends with a proposed renewed definition of sustainable urbanism.

A Geospatial Approach to Sustainable Urban Planning: Lessons for Morogoro Municipal Council, Tanzania

“…This study shows that city planning is therefore an integral component of the whole urbanization process ( Figure 6). However, several studies [22,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] indicate that contemporary city planning is expected to be integrated (infrastructure, land use, culture, natural resources, and education) and multi-sectoral (to include residents, leaders, employers, investors, and so on), in addition to major consideration given to local circumstances, needs, and requirements, as well as gender considerations, involvement of and responsiveness to the diverse city populations in order to achieve a robust urban planning architecture. A key characteristic of a modern urban plan is the multi-scale/multi-level integration to support sustainable and coordinated road, transit, housing, economic development, and land use across geographic and political boundaries.…”

“…A more radical approach to sustainable urban planning is anti-fragilism, proposed by Taleb [50]. Roggema [47] explains the anti-fragilism concept as "a system that is not only able to respond to changes in an agile way, but more than this, it is able to use these responses to Currently, many cities in the world still rely on somewhat outdated modes of planning, while expecting to achieve sustainable urban development. It is crucial to note that as cities continue to sprawl, densities are dramatically declining.…”

“…A more radical approach to sustainable urban planning is anti-fragilism, proposed by Taleb [50]. Roggema [47] explains the anti-fragilism concept as "a system that is not only able to respond to changes in an agile way, but more than this, it is able to use these responses to make itself stronger and more capable of dealing with unexpected changes in the future". Other approaches also highlighted by Roggema [40] include those classified as environmental resilience [46,51,52] and spatial resilience [51,[53][54][55][56][57].…”

‘Kanoo’, a Traditional Urban Neighborhood in Manama City: An Approach to Promote Urban Regeneration and Enhance Livability

“…It often targeted the higherincome classes rather than creating truly urban spaces, and therefore cannot be considered efficient and urban. It is important to acknowledge the significance of an integrated approach to developing cities in a sustainable way [19][20][21][22][23].…”

Development of planning index for evaluating climate change protocols: analysis of Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s Regional Plan 1996–2011

“…Roggema (2016) talked about the issues of urban regions due to climate uncertainties. Chang et al (2014) proposed a Climate Change Index which indicated the degree of susceptibility of a region to climatic extremes.…”