Dilemmas of Sustainable Urban Development A View from Practice

Dilemmas of Sustainable Urban Development offers valuable insights into a difficult line of work whose practice inevitably requires a confrontation with fundamental conflicts between divergent goals, and therefore also demands difficult choices and compromises. With contributions from leading academics and expert practitioners, this book provides readers with diverse international case studies which highlight and examine the concrete challenges of practicing sustainable urban development. The examples in this book touch upon all aspects of sustainable urban development work, from City Hall to the local park. All of the cases unfold in their own specific contexts under particular circumstances—but from each one of them there are general lessons that can be used to inform practice. This book is essential reading for anyone who is active as a student, researcher, or practitioner in the field of urban development.

INTRODUCTION A practice-centered approach to dilemmas of sustainable urban development Jonathan Metzger & Jenny Lindblad Chapter 1. LAW Sustainable Development in English planning law: Golden Thread or Black Swan Sue Chadwick Chapter 2. POLITICS Who stands up for the ecology? The politics of sustainable land use in Stockholm Sabina Edelman Chapter 3. CONCRETIZATION Sustainability in city management and urban planning in Gothenburg: from vague vision to social inclusion activities Petra Adolfsson and Sara Brorström Chapter 4. STRATEGY What is more important than getting things done? Learning from Sustainable Sydney 2030 Martin Kornberger Chapter 5. BEST PRACTICE Best-Practices: Contradictions of the ‘Green City’ in Germany Samuel Mössner & Rob Krueger Chapter 6. MOBILITY Promises of intermodality for sustainable mobility in Bordeaux Patrice Godier & Guy Tapie Chapter 7. COMPLEXITIES Construction sites of sustainable low carbon transition in Paris: snapshots of internal organization, energy plans and technical infrastructure Jonathan Rutherford & Sylvère Angot Chapter 8. VALUES Valuing sustainability in Bordeaux: should the lawn be mowed? Jenny Lindblad Chapter 9. PROGRAMMING Programming urban transitions in practice Jonas Bylund Chapter 10. EVIDENCE Evidence-based urban development: beyond the urban anecdotes? Magnus Johansson & Joakim Forsemalm Chapter 11. SMART Climate-Smart Cities: A corporate takeover of urban environmental governance in Malmö? Darcy Parks Chapter 12. OWNERSHIP Delivering sustainable development: landownership and accountability in Cambridge city Sophia Peacock & Phil Allmendinger Chapter 13. TOOLS Realizing the vision of a socially inclusive RiverCity Jacob Lindkvist, Kristian Käll & Anders Svensson Chapter 14. COMMONS Producing collaborative sustainable urban development: experiences of water management in Bangalore, India Hita Unnikrishnan, Vanesa Castán Broto & Harini Nagendra Chapter 15. EXPECTATIONS Hope and despair: professionals’ struggle to navigate multiple planning ideas in a public-private collaboration in Gothenburg Mari Kågström Chapter 16. CONCLUDING COMMENTARY Will sustainability be replaced by resilience, and if so, why? Barbara Czarniawska

Jonathan Metzger is Professor in Urban and Regional Studies at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Most of his research deals with decision making concerning complex environmental issues—often (but not exclusively) with a focus on urban and regional policy and politics. In his work he relates to, and finds inspiration in, research debates within the subject areas of planning studies, human geography, science and technology studies, and organization studies. Jenny Lindblad is a PhD candidate in Urban and Regional Studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Her dissertation explores bureaucratic practices in French urban planning, and particularly the implications of contexts as a setting for, and product of, planning. Broadly, her research inquires how material infrastructures shape urban geographies. Jenny is trained in social anthropology, and an associated member of the research center Profession, Architecture, Ville et Environnement (PAVE) of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux.