Metropolitics

Fifteen-Minute Prisons? A Reflection on the Far-Right Backlash Against Sustainable Development in Britain

Garrett L. Grainger — 2023-10-04T09:46:01Z

In an era of increasing political polarization, right-wing activists are targeting sustainable planning initiatives. Analyzing online media coverage and posts on X (formerly Twitter), Garrett L. Grainger explores why activists are contesting “15‑minute cities” in Oxfordshire and how resistance to them reaches across the globe and affects local planning efforts.
Nearly 2,000 far-right activists protested Oxfordshire County Council's “15‑minute city” plan in February 2023. That demonstration

- From the Field / United Kingdom, 15-minute city, far right, urban planning, sustainable urban planning, sustainable development

Recyclable City or Disposable City? A Century of Urban Waste in Naples

Sabine Bognon & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-11-09T06:00:00Z

Inspired by the study of living ecosystems, research into the notion of urban metabolism seeks to break with the linear process—extract, produce, throw away—of resource consumption. This means reducing the amount of materials used, energy expended and waste produced, in order to conserve natural resources. Roberto D'Arienzo uses this concept to examine the case of Naples in Italy.
In Métabolismes urbains, Roberto D'Arienzo publishes the results of his PhD thesis (defended in 2015), retracing

- Reviews / urban planning, Italy, waste, sustainable urban planning, hygienism, urban technical networks, wasteland, Naples, recycling, urban metabolism

The Territorial and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change in Germany

Dennis Becker & Stefan Greiving & Viola Schulze Dieckhoff & Thorsten Wiechmann — 2018-04-25T05:10:00Z

In Germany, the territorial and environmental impacts of climate change intersect in key ways with the nation's varied demography. In this pair of papers, researchers at TU Dortmund University urge spatial planners to synchronize their approaches to climate and demographic shifts at the city and regional levels.
---- Series: Climate Change and Social Change
A nationwide analysis by Dennis Becker and Stefan Greiving shows that population is growing in regions that are experiencing warming,

- From the Field / urban planning, Germany, resilience, climate change, sustainable urban planning, population, demographics, demography, capacity building, social change, demographic change, spatial planning, adaptation, adaptive capacity

Overcoming Climate Impacts Through Adaptive Capacity Building: Two Extreme Cases from Germany

Viola Schulze Dieckhoff & Thorsten Wiechmann — 2018-04-25T05:05:00Z

Climate change and demographic change interact. Impacts of climate change do not solely result from climate variability. Diverse settlement structures and a dynamic population development lead to heterogeneous, small-scale sensitivities in the face of climate variability and extreme events.
---- Series: Climate Change and Social Change Who is sensitive to these changes, at what time, and in which locations become central questions of spatial planning, with a view to fostering sustainable

Climate and Demographic Change: The Need for an Integrative Approach to Spatial Planning in Germany

Dennis Becker & Stefan Greiving — 2018-04-25T05:00:00Z

Climate change and demographic change are two megatrends that are often discussed without regard for their complex interactions. A nationwide analysis in Germany shows that population is growing in regions that are experiencing warming, while populations are declining in regions that are becoming more arid and thus more subject to water shortages. In both types of regions, the population is aging. Demographic changes can have different impacts on climate change and vice versa.
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Transition towns, or the desire for an urban alternative

Adrien Krauz & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-05-15T04:50:00Z

The entry of the term “transition” into the vocabulary of public action shows that questions regarding how to build more sustainable models for society are still relevant. The response offered by “transition towns” is a model for action involving a variety of local and citizen-led initiatives that are based on a method for sustainable environmental development called permaculture.
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? Faced with the threat of an environmental crisis,

- Essays / utopia, sustainable development, LETS, local currencies, urban agriculture, agriculture, resilience, model, sustainable urban planning, permaculture, transition towns

Exporting French-style “sustainable cities” to Morocco

Pierre-Arnaud Barthel & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-05-01T04:50:00Z

In Morocco, environmental urban projects are the order of the day. For these projects, French expertise is being held up as a Western model for “sustainable cities” that is centred on values, principles and methodologies – a model that is both a resource and an example to learn from for the Moroccan planners, despite some uncertainties regarding its implementation…
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? In emerging countries, a new generation of major projects –

- From the Field / France, urban planning, sustainable development, environment, eco-neighborhood, expertise, sustainable city, sustainable urban planning, design office, Morocco

Looking Backward into the Future of New York

Ted Steinberg — 2015-01-12T05:50:00Z

Can the lesson of Hurricane Sandy dampen the enthusiasm of New York City's growth machine? Ted Steinberg, author of Gotham Unbound, an environmental history of New York City, gives an overview of the historical developments that make the city one of the most vulnerable to floods in the United States.
How should those who rule over New York City plan for its future? Sketching out elaborate plans has long been a cottage industry in the nation's largest city. To date, however, historical

- Essays / catastrophe, disaster, environment, United States, urban ecology, land, water, New York, history, sustainable urban planning, Sandy, sea-level rise, flooding, vulnerability, wildlife

Is there a model for sustainable urban planning?

Claire Carriou & Olivier Ratouis & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-11-27T05:50:00Z

Claire Carriou and Olivier Ratouis reconsider the theoretical sources of sustainable urban planning from the standpoint of the history of urban-planning doctrines. They show that the references in question are no longer constrained by the classic categories (“culturalism” and “progressivism”) established by Françoise Choay on the basis of textual analyses of planning and development treaties.
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? Thinking about urban planning in terms

- Essays / urban planning, urban development, urban knowledge, doctrine, model, sustainable city, sustainable urban planning, treaties