PennTags Feed for /tag/sustainability

Green Building: The cost of building green

Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines

The Minnesota Legislature required the Departments of Administration and Commerce, with the assistance of other agencies, to develop sustainable building design guidelines for all new state buildings by January 15, 2003

Reshaping Municipal and County Laws to Foster Green Building, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy

Sussman,E . "Reshaping Municipal and County Laws to Foster Green Building, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy" New York University environmental law journal [1061-8651]

Smart Communities Network - Creating Energy Smart Communities

Welcome to the Smart Communities Network Web site. We are in the process of re-designing our Web site, so please bear with us as we make changes to enhance the design and utility of the site. While we are are in the process of making changes, we will not be featuring breaking news, current funding opportunities, nor a calendar of sustainability events.

Toward sustainable communities : resources for citizens and their governments / Mark Roseland ; with Sean Connelly ... [et al.] ; foreword by Jeb Brugmann.

Roseland, Mark. . Toward sustainable communities : resources for citizens and their governments / Mark Roseland ; with Sean Connelly ... [et al.] ; foreword by Jeb Brugmann. Rev ed. 0865715351 : series Gabriola Island, BC : New Society Publishers, c2005.
Call#: Fine Arts Library Fine Arts HT166 .R68 2005

Ecology of place : planning for environment, economy, and community / Timothy Beatley, Kristy Manning.

Beatley, Timothy, 1957- . Ecology of place : planning for environment, economy, and community / Timothy Beatley, Kristy Manning. 1559634782 (paper : alk. paper) series Washington, D.C. : Island Press, c1997.
Call#: Fine Arts Library Fine Arts HT167 .B43 1997

Sustainable Community Development Code | RMLUI | Sturm College of Law

“Sustainable Community Development Code Reform” Initiative

This initiative seeks to bring sustainability to the forefront as a land use issue and understand how local governments can support sustainable communities through innovative land use codes.

USGBC: Research Publications

Highlighting research on the costs, benefits and attributes of green building that are transforming the market.

Toward just sustainability in urban communities: building equity rights with sustainable solutions

Agyeman,J . "Toward just sustainability in urban communities: building equity rights with sustainable solutions" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science [0002-7162] 590.1 (2003). 35-.

Toward Just Sustainability in Urban Communities: Building Equity Rights with Sustainable Solutions -- Agyeman and Evans 590 (1): 35 -- The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Two concepts that provide new directions for public policy,environmental justice and sustainability, are both highly contested.Each has tremendous potential to effect long-lasting change.Despite the historically different origins of these two conceptsand their attendant movements, there exists an area of theoreticalcompatibility between them. This conceptual overlap is a criticalnexus for a broad social movement to create livable, sustainablecommunities for all people in the future. The goal of this articleisto illustrate the nexus in the United States. The authors dothis by presenting a range of local or regionally based practicalmodels in five areas of common concern to both environmentaljustice and sustainability: land use planning, solid waste,toxic chemical use, residential energy use, and transportation.These models address both environmental justice principles whileworking toward greater sustainability in urbanized areas.

Fleet Owners Sue City on Hybrid Cab Rules - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog

September 9, 2008, 4:19 pm
Fleet Owners Sue City on Hybrid Cab Rules
By William Neuman

A taxi industry group filed a lawsuit [pdf] in federal court on Monday seeking to block a city requirement that all new taxis meet stringent fuel efficiency standards that would make most cabs hybrid vehicles, a key part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s push to cut pollution and make city policies more sensitive to environmental concerns.

The city’s new taxi rule, which is set to go into effect on October 1, requires that all new taxis have a fuel efficiency rating of at least 25 miles per gallon for city driving, a standard that is currently met mostly by hybrid vehicles.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents large fleet owners, charge that the rule violates federal laws that say only the federal government can set rules on fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions. (The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of a driver and companies that own and lease cabs.)

The lawsuit also claims that hybrid taxis are unsafe, in part because they are smaller and lighter than the Ford Crown Victoria, the standard taxi cab for many years, making passengers and drivers inside the hybrids more susceptible to injury in an accident.

A spokeswoman for the city legal department declined to comment on the suit, saying that city lawyers had not yet received the legal papers. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has previously said that it is confident that the hybrid cabs are safe.

A Community Plan for the 'Highway to Nowhere' (Gotham Gazette, May 27, 2008)

For 10 years, South Bronx residents have been fighting to get the state to tear down an old expressway so that a greener and more sustainable mixed-use neighborhood can take its place. The community's vision fits nicely with the goals of the city's long-term sustainability plan, PlaNYC2030. But will the city embrace this precocious community-based effort?

ScienceDirect - Transport Policy : The sustainable mobility paradigm

The sustainable mobility paradigm

David Banister

Transport Policy
Volume 15, Issue 2, March 2008, Pages 73-80
New Developments in Urban Transportation Planning

Abstract

This paper has two main parts. The first questions two of the underlying principles of conventional transport planning on travel as a derived demand and on travel cost minimisation. It suggests that the existing paradigm ought to be more flexible, particularly if the sustainable mobility agenda is to become a reality. The second part argues that policy measures are available to improve urban sustainability in transport terms but that the main challenges relate to the necessary conditions for change. These conditions are dependent upon high-quality implementation of innovative schemes, and the need to gain public confidence and acceptability to support these measures through active involvement and action. Seven key elements of sustainable mobility are outlined, so that public acceptability can be more effectively promoted.

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Mexico City finds a green side 2:12
Hoping to repair its tarnished reputation, Mexico City finds new ways to go green. CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports

Metropolitan Accessibility and Transportation Sustainability

Metropolitan Accessibility and Transportation Sustainability:

Comparative Indicators for Policy Reform
University of Michigan and University of Maryland

A project of the Collaborative Science and Technology Network for Sustainability of the Environmental Protection Agency
and the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute

Newman, Peter W. G., Kenworthy, Jeffrey R. - Gasoline Consumption And Cities

Gasoline Consumption And Cities
Newman, Peter W. G., Kenworthy, Jeffrey R.. American Planning Association. Journal of the American Planning Association. Chicago: Winter 1989. Vol. 55, Iss. 1; pg. 24, 14 pgs
Abstract (Summary)

Physical planning policies for conserving transportation energy in urban areas were evaluated by comparing how motor gasoline is used in 32 cities worldwide. Data on 10 US cities were extracted and analyzed before comparing them with data from the global sample. The data were collected over a 5-year period primarily by visiting each city and with follow-up correspondence. Gasoline consumption per capita in the US cities varied by up to 40%, mainly because of land use and transportation planning factors, rather than price or income variations. The same patterns appeared in the global sample, though more extreme. Average gasoline consumption in US cities was nearly twice as high as in Australian cities, 4 times higher than in European cities, and 10 times higher than in Asian cities. Allowing for differences in gasoline price, income, and vehicle efficiency explained only half of these discrepancies. Physical planning policies, especially reurbanization and a reorientation of transportation priorities, were suggested as a means of reducing gasoline consumption and dependence on automobiles.

Sustainability and cities : overcoming automobile dependence / Peter Newman, Jeffrey Kenworthy.

Newman, Peter, Dr. . Sustainability and cities : overcoming automobile dependence / Peter Newman, Jeffrey Kenworthy. [1559636602 (alk. paper) ] Washington, D.C. : Island Press, c1999.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HE305 .N483 1999

Sustainability plan for Philadelphia : an outline of a Local Agenda 21 Plan / by Kim Alison ... [et al.] ; with Peter Newman ; edited by Tim Frodsham.

Alison, Kim. . Sustainability plan for Philadelphia : an outline of a Local Agenda 21 Plan / by Kim Alison ... [et al.] ; with Peter Newman ; edited by Tim Frodsham. Philadelphia, PA : Dept. of City and Regional Planning, [c1998]
Call#: In Process In Process

Marketplace: Portland's support of cycling pays off

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Portland's support of cycling pays off
View from Jonathan Maus' bike in Portland traffic

According to Bicycling Magazine, Portland, Ore., has the highest number of bike commuters in the country. Ethan Lindsey reports on the industry that's grown up around all those riders.

Global modernities / edited by Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash, and Roland Robertson.

Global modernities / edited by Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash, and Roland Robertson. [0803979479 ] London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, 1995.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HM101 .G565 1995

Global Modernities - Google Book Search

Robertson, Roland (1995), “Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity,” in Global Modernities, ed. Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash, and Roland Robertson, London: Sage, 25–44.

Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities? Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development.

Title: Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities? Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development.

Source: Journal of the American Planning Association [0194-4363] Campbell yr:1996 vol:62 iss:3

Abstract (Summary)

Nothing inherent in the discipline steers planners either toward environmental protection or toward economic development - or toward a third goal of planning: social equity. Instead, planners work within the tension generated among these 3 fundamental aims, which is called the planner's triangle, with sustainable development at the center. This center cannot be reached directly, but only approximately and indirectly, through a sustained period of confronting and resolving the triangle's conflicts. To do so, planners have to redefine sustainability, since its current formulation romanticizes the sustainable past and is too vaguely holistic. Planners would benefit from integrating social theory with environmental thinking and from combining their substantive skills with techniques for community conflict resolution, to confront economic and environmental justice.

Towards sustainable city policy: an economy-environment technology nexus

Title: Towards sustainable city policy: an economy-environment technology nexus

Source: Ecological economics [0921-8009] Camagni yr:1998 vol:24 iss:1 pg:103

Abstract

Environmental problems have become a worldwide concern for economists, as is witnessed by the development of many theories and policies aimed at driving the economy towards a ‘sustainable economy'. The problem becomes even greater if we discuss cities. As recognised in many studies, a high percentage of the world population lives in cities, where quality of life and environmental concerns undermine all advantages associated with agglomeration economies. The vast experience in terms of theoretical and empirical substance which has been built up around the theme of ‘sustainable economy' has only partially helped to generate a framework for an ‘urban sustainable development'. The city is in fact by definition an ‘artifact environment', where well-established concepts of ‘environmental economics' (such as natural capital stock, natural environment) can hardly be transferred and applied, in the way they are theoretically formulated. The first scope of the paper is to offer an analytical framework for ‘urban sustainable development' to present the main economic concepts that are hidden under this label. In particular, different ‘environments' co-exist in a city: the natural, the artifact and the social environment. Each of them generates positive and negative externalities for the city, since each of them represents ‘use advantages' and ‘use costs' for a city. If this is true, then it is a plausible assumption that the integration of these three ‘environments' has to be supported with specific intervention policies. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the possible intervention policies which may be developed to achieve a balanced ‘sustainable development' in terms of new policy principles that should govern the ‘sustainable city'.

'Struggling with sustainability': weak and strong interpretations of sustainable development within local authority policy

Gibbs D C, Longhurst J, Braithwaite C, 1998, "'Struggling with sustainability': weak and strong interpretations of sustainable development within local authority policy" Environment and Planning A 30(8) 1351 - 1365

'Struggling with sustainability': weak and strong interpretations of sustainable development within local authority policy

D C Gibbs, J Longhurst, C Braithwaite

Received 3 May 1996; in revised form 12 April 1997

Abstract. In recent years there has been a growing interest in sustainable development as a guiding principle to allow the integration of economic development and the environment within policy and strategy. At all levels of policymaking a major emphasis has been placed upon the local scale as the most appropriate for the delivery of such policies and initiatives, with a particular stress upon local authorities as the major delivery mechanism. Though it is often assumed that this integration is relatively unproblematic, this paper indicates that this is not the case. The paper draws upon research with urban local authorities in England and Wales, which reveals that there are varying interpretations of the environment within local authorities, reflecting environmental and economic development perspectives. In each case, however, these are effectively interpretations which tend towards the 'weak' end of a sustainability spectrum and it is suggested that such divergent interpretations of sustainability are hindering integrative activity and the potential for introducing 'strong' sustainability measures.

The environment and the entrepreneurial city: searching for the urban'sustainability; fix' in Manchester and Leeds

Title: The environment and the entrepreneurial city: searching for the urban'sustainability; fix' in Manchester and Leeds

Source: International journal of urban and regional research [0309-1317] While yr:2004 vol:28 iss:3 pg:549

Abstract

There is evidence that the politics of economic development in the post-industrial city is increasingly bound up with the ability of urban elites to manage ecological impacts and environmental demands emanating from within and outside the urban area. More than simply a question of promoting quality of life in cities in response to interurban competition and pressures from local residents, the greening of the urban growth machine reflects changes in state rules and incentives structuring urban governance as part of an evolving geopolitics of nature and the environment. The adoption of principles and practices of ecological modernization potentially represents a dramatic shift in the social regulation of urban governance away from unconstrained neoliberalized modes. In this article we explore how different demands on and for urban environmental policy have played out vis-à-vis changing modes and practices of governance in two English post-industrial cities. We explore differences in the ways that entrepreneurial urban regimes have sought to incorporate the green agenda (Leeds), or insulate themselves from ecological dissent (Manchester). We further attempt to conceptualize evolving urban economy-environment relations in the UK in terms of an ensemble of governance practices, strategies, alliances and discourses that enables the local state to manage, though not necessarily resolve, seemingly conflicting economic, social and environmental demands at different scales of territoriality. Here we propose the notion of an 'urban sustainability fix' to describe the selective incorporation of ecological objectives in local territorial structures during an era of ecological modernization.

An archaeology of fear and environmental change in Philadelphia

Title: An archaeology of fear and environmental change in Philadelphia

Source: Geoforum [0016-7185] Brownlow yr:2006 vol:37 iss:2 pg:227

Abstract

This paper examines how mechanisms of social control function to mediate human–environment relations and processes of environmental change in the city. Using the Fairmount Park System of Philadelphia as a case study, I argue that a history of social control mechanisms, both formal and informal, maintained viable socio-environmental urban relationships. Their decline over the last several decades has produced a legacy of fear towards the city’s natural environment that has had, and continues to have, profound socio-spatial and ecological implications. I argue that these changes have their origin in a set of racially motivated decisions made during the volatile years of the late 1960s and early 1970s and that African American women, in particular, have been impacted disproportionately by their consequences. Fear of crime in the natural environment and suspicion of environmental change have resulted in the exclusion of local women and children from what was, historically, a politically and socially viable public space. In this context, urban ecological change is locally understood as more an issue of social control than one of environmental concern.

Heynen - Green urban political ecologies: toward a better understanding of inner-city environmental chang

Title - "Green urban political ecologies: toward a better understanding of inner-city environmental change" Environment and Planning A 38(3) 499 - 516

Heynen N, 2006,

Abstract. This research uses a Marxist urban political ecology framework to link processes of urban environmental metabolization explicitly to the consumption fund of the built environment. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I argue in this paper that Marxist notions of metabolism are ideal for investigating urban environmental change and the production of uneven urban environments. In so doing, I argue that despite the embeddedness of Harvey's circuits of capital within urban political economy, these connected notions still have a great deal to offer regarding better understanding relations between consumption and metabolization of urban environments. From this theoretical perspective, I investigate urban socionatural metabolization as a function of the broader socioeconomic processes related to urban restructuring within the USA between 1962 and 1993 in the Indianapolis inner-city urban forest. The research examines the relations between changes in household income and changes in urban forest canopy cover. The results of the research indicate that there was a significant decline over time in the Indianapolis urban forest canopy and that median household was related to these changes, thus demonstrating a concrete example of urban environmental metabolization.

Green Subjection: The Politics of Neoliberal Urban Environmental Management

Title: Green Subjection: The Politics of Neoliberal Urban Environmental Management

Source: International journal of urban and regional research [0309-1317] BRAND yr:2007 vol:31 iss:3 pg:616

Abstract

This article addresses the question as to why, in contrast to national governments, city administrations engage so enthusiastically with urban environmental problems. It argues that the politics of urban environmentalism need to be examined not from the point of view of ecological rationality and alternative politics, but as an integral part of spatial transformation and social regulation under neoliberal urbanization. Recent contributions to theoretical debate on this issue are examined, with especial attention paid to the themes of governance, citizenship, subjectivity and ‘regulation of the self’, and their relevance to the understanding of contemporary urban environmental policy and management practices. The article explores the way in which urban environmental management can be understood as contributing to the constitution of the self-governing citizen in the individualized urban milieu of contemporary cities, a process in which the progressive and libertarian aspirations of much early environmental thought have been subtly converted into a new form of subjection to the strategic requirements and political conveniences of neoliberal city administrations.

Ecological citizenship and sustainable consumption: Examining local organic food networks

Title: Ecological citizenship and sustainable consumption: Examining local organic food networks

Source: Journal of Rural Studies [0743-0167] Seyfang yr:2006 vol:22 iss:4 pg:383

Abstract

Sustainable consumption is gaining in currency as a new environmental policy objective. This paper presents new research findings from a mixed-method empirical study of a local organic food network to interrogate the theories of both sustainable consumption and ecological citizenship. It describes a mainstream policy model of sustainable consumption, and contrasts this with an alternative model derived from green or ‘new economics’ theories. Then the role of localised, organic food networks is discussed to locate them within the alternative model. It then tests the hypothesis that ecological citizenship is a driving force for ‘alternative’ sustainable consumption, via expression through consumer behaviour such as purchasing local organic food. The empirical study found that both the organisation and their consumers were expressing ecological citizenship values in their activities in a number of clearly identifiable ways, and that the initiative was actively promoting the growth of ecological citizenship, as well as providing a meaningful social context for its expression. Furthermore, the initiative was able to overcome the structural limitations of mainstream sustainable consumption practices. Thus, the initiative was found to be a valuable tool for practising alternative sustainable consumption. The paper concludes with a discussion of how ecological citizenship may be a powerful motivating force for sustainable consumption behaviour, and the policy and research implications of this.

PennTags Feed for /tag/sustainability

Green Building: The cost of building green

Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines

Reshaping Municipal and County Laws to Foster Green Building, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy

Smart Communities Network - Creating Energy Smart Communities

Toward sustainable communities : resources for citizens and their governments / Mark Roseland ; with Sean Connelly ... [et al.] ; foreword by Jeb Brugmann.

Ecology of place : planning for environment, economy, and community / Timothy Beatley, Kristy Manning.

Sustainable Community Development Code | RMLUI | Sturm College of Law

USGBC: Research Publications

Toward just sustainability in urban communities: building equity rights with sustainable solutions

Toward Just Sustainability in Urban Communities: Building Equity Rights with Sustainable Solutions -- Agyeman and Evans 590 (1): 35 -- The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Fleet Owners Sue City on Hybrid Cab Rules - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog

A Community Plan for the 'Highway to Nowhere' (Gotham Gazette, May 27, 2008)

ScienceDirect - Transport Policy : The sustainable mobility paradigm

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Metropolitan Accessibility and Transportation Sustainability

Newman, Peter W. G., Kenworthy, Jeffrey R. - Gasoline Consumption And Cities

Sustainability and cities : overcoming automobile dependence / Peter Newman, Jeffrey Kenworthy.

Sustainability plan for Philadelphia : an outline of a Local Agenda 21 Plan / by Kim Alison ... [et al.] ; with Peter Newman ; edited by Tim Frodsham.

Marketplace: Portland's support of cycling pays off

Global modernities / edited by Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash, and Roland Robertson.

Global Modernities - Google Book Search

Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities? Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development.

Towards sustainable city policy: an economy-environment technology nexus

'Struggling with sustainability': weak and strong interpretations of sustainable development within local authority policy

The environment and the entrepreneurial city: searching for the urban'sustainability; fix' in Manchester and Leeds

An archaeology of fear and environmental change in Philadelphia

Heynen - Green urban political ecologies: toward a better understanding of inner-city environmental chang

Green Subjection: The Politics of Neoliberal Urban Environmental Management

Abstract

Ecological citizenship and sustainable consumption: Examining local organic food networks

Abstract

Willing consumers