Cities, the most promising place
Cities are nowadays increasingly attracting and represent the place where many people try their best to succeed. But in this scenario lies a big paradox which in this historical moment sounds promising and scary at the same time. Cities represent the 80% of the Global GDP (World Bank, 2023), and cause 75% of the global CO2 emissions with transport and building sectors being the greatest contributors (UN environment Programme, 2017).
With environmental issues becoming more pressing and people waiting for a solution, policymakers opted for the ‘green’ or ‘sustainable city’ as a viable planning and policy solution (Angelo & Wachsmuth, 2015). The term ‘planning’ here refers to the action of organizing the urban context and expresses the necessity to incorporate sustainability practices into urban planning.
Why urban planning is a solution?
Historically, urban planning has always encompassed the philosophy behind land use and city development. But how does this relationship help achieve the ultimate goal of contrasting climate change, and how are these two fields specifically connected?
What is urban planning?
There is not one exclusive definition, because this subject connects with various scopes. Nevertheless, in a broader sense it is possible to say:
“Town and country planning is the set of guidelines and public instruments for governing the transformation of the territory, both in the area and in urban areas. Strongly interrelated with economic planning, it is aimed at achieving a better quality of living, through a rational, fair and sustainable use of resources so as to guarantee the well-being of the community over time.” (Cappuccitti, 2014)
Beyond technicalities, it is important to imagine space as a resource and its organization as a political process able to shape new social relations. For example, Raphaël Fischler says that:
“Urban planning is the collective management of urban development, the use of purposeful deliberation to give shape to human settlements. It is the mobilization of community will and the design of strategies to create, improve, or preserve the environment in which we live. This environment is at once physical (natural and built) and cultural (social, economic, and political).” (Fischler, 2011)
This definition is particularly relevant because it links the physical space with how people use it. This connection is crucial for two reasons: first, redefining space involves people’s participation; and second, the design process not only adapts to people’s needs but can also influence them, creating different patterns and encouraging various behaviours. This aspect is essential for promoting sustainable attitudes, as seen in concepts like the 15-minute city, which leverages urban density to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation.
Considering this capability to influence changes and attitudes, which are the drivers that can trigger a sustainability change in cities?
Planning and Sustainability
Broadly speaking, measures are organized into two main categories: mitigation and adaptation strategies. These climate change measures are integral to planning strategies and must be integrated at an urban level to reduce the negative impact on citizens and infrastructure.
Respectively: “Mitigation action lowers the GHG concentrations via reducing GHG emissions and adding carbon sinks, to meet the objective of reducing the pace of climate change and frequency of extreme events.” (Zhao, 2018) While “Adaptation refers to the regulating strategies employed under actual or expected climatic stimulation; their objective being to mitigate climate change impacts and promote adaptive capacity.” (Zhao, 2018)
Usually cities struggle with heatwaves, a problem that can be tackled by increasing the trees coverage which is a perfect example of an adaptation measure. Instead increasing the production of renewable energy and avoiding fossil fuels, reduce emissions and pollution performing a mitigation action on climate change.
For example, the study by Muñoz-Pizza et al. in ‘Linking Climate Change to Urban Planning through Vulnerability Assessment: The Case of Two Cities at the Mexico-US Border’ highlights how certain types of settlements are more susceptible to heatwaves. Additionally, the lack of political action in addressing these issues increases the likelihood that specific areas of the city, along with their residents, will be more vulnerable to climate change than others (Muñoz-Pizza, 2023).
A second point of contact between the areas lies in the democratic management embedded in the planning decision making process. Meerow and Woodruff in ‘Seven principles of strong climate change planning’ exhort planners to encourage new research and move towards the involvement of communities and the general public, who are increasingly aware of climate change issues in our time. (Meerow & Wordruff, 2019) In this sense sustainability planning strategies represent an opportunity to foster a democratic approach.
Main takeaways and strategies
Now that the measures have been defined, the challenge lies in the approach chosen to implement and scale them. Long and Rice, in ‘From Sustainable Urbanism to Climate Urbanism,’ emphasize the importance of prioritizing ‘climate urbanism,’ a policy orientation that promotes cities as the most viable and appropriate sites for climate action. This approach also aims to protect the physical and digital infrastructures of urban economies from climate change hazards (Long & Rice, 2019).
However, strategies can vary significantly during the policy application phase, making it challenging to address different issues effectively. A viable pathway that integrates multilevel action within cities has been outlined by Francisco Estrada in ‘A Global Economic Assessment of City Policies to Reduce Climate Change Impacts.’ Estrada develops a strategy that effectively addresses the challenge of measuring and mitigating impacts without solely focusing on growth-oriented decisions. This approach prioritizes investment in reducing carbon emissions—which leads to lower temperatures—and emphasizes the economic productivity of cities to safeguard urban systems from climate change effects (Estrada, 2017).
In conclusion, an organized strategy that correctly connects local city-level actions with broader targets offers a viable way forward. It is crucial to reiterate that securing urban infrastructures is fundamental to prevent disruptions in the economic benefits they generate.
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Bibliography
World Bank. ‘Urban Development’. Text/HTML, 3 April 2023. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview
Angelo, Hillary, and David Wachsmuth. ‘Why Does Everyone Think Cities Can Save the Planet?’ Urban Studies 57, no. 11 (August 2020): 2201–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020919081
Mattogno, Claudia. Ventuno Parole per L’urbanistica, 2014
Fischler, Raphaël. ‘Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners’. Journal of Planning Education and Research 32, no. 1 (September 2011): 107–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456×11420441
Zhao, Chunli, Yan Yan, Chenxing Wang, Mingfang Tang, Gang Wu, Ding Ding, and Yang Song. ‘Adaptation and Mitigation for Combating Climate Change – From Single to Joint’. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability 4, no. 4 (April 2018): 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2018.1466632
Muñoz-Pizza, Dalia M., Roberto A. Sanchez-Rodriguez, and Eduardo Gonzalez-Manzano. ‘Linking Climate Change to Urban Planning Through Vulnerability Assessment: The Case of Two Cities at the Mexico US Border’. Urban Climate 51 (September 2023): 101674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101674
Meerow, Sara, and Sierra C. Woodruff. ‘Seven Principles of Strong Climate Change Planning’. Journal of the American Planning Association 86, no. 1 (2 January 2020): 39–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2019.1652108
Long, Joshua, and Jennifer L Rice. ‘From Sustainable Urbanism to Climate Urbanism’. Urban Studies 56, no. 5 (April 2019): 992–1008. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098018770846
Estrada, Francisco, Wouter Botzen, and Richard S.J. Tol. ‘A Global Economic Assessment of City Policies to Reduce Climate Change Impacts’. Nature Climate Change 7, no. 6 (May 2017): 403–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3301