Cities and Climate Change: Urban Sustainability and Global

Cities and Climate Change Climate change is one of the most challenging global issues of our time. It is also a profoundly local issue. Cities can create innovative responses to climate change and, as key sites in the production and management of greenhouse gas emissions, will be crucial for the implementation of international agreements and national policies. This book provides a critical analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change and the prospects for urban sustainability. • Part I considers how global environmental governance and urban sustainability can be conceptualized, and argues for an approach which recognizes the multilevel nature of governance. It outlines international and national responses to climate change, and documents evidence for local responses to climate change, examining in detail the transnational Cities for Climate Protection network. • Part II presents a series of case-studies drawn from this network in the UK, US and Australia. Each case-study examines the development and implementation of local climate change policy, focusing on the sectors of energy conservation, planning and transport. • Part III compares the experience of the case-study cities in addressing climate change and assesses the implications of these findings for urban sustainability and global environmental governance. Cities and Climate Change is the first in-depth and interdisciplinary analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change and illustrates the multilevel nature of climate change governance. It argues that the formation and implementation of local climate change policy has been limited by the resources and powers of local government, and by conflicts between economic and environmental objectives. As cities are critical arenas for the pursuit of sustainable development, these findings have significant implications for the prospects of mitigating climate change and achieving urban sustainability. Dr Harriet Bulkeley is a Leverhulme Research Fellow at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. Dr Michele M. Betsill is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Colorado State University, USA. Routledge Studies in Physical Geography and Environment This series provides a platform for books which break new ground in the understanding of the physical environment. Individual titles will focus on developments within the main subdisciplines of physical geography and explore the physical characteristics of regions and countries. Titles will also explore the human/environment interface. 1 Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean J.B. Thornes and J. Wainwright 2 The Environmental History of the World Humankind’s Changing Role in the Community of Life J Donald Hughes 3 History and Climate Change A Eurocentric Perspective Neville Brown 4 Cities and Climate Change Urban Sustainability and Global Environmental Governance Harriet Bulkeley and Michele M. Betsill 5 Little Ice Ages, 2nd edition Ancient and Modern Jean M. Grove Cities and Climate Change Urban sustainability and global environmental governance Harriet Bulkeley and Michele M. Betsill First published 2003 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. © 2003 Harriet Bulkeley and Michele M. Betsill All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bulkeley, Harriet, 1972– Cities and climate change : urban sustainability and global environmental governance / Harriet Bulkeley and Michele Betsill. (Routledge studies in Geography and environment ; 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Climatic changes–Environmental aspects. 2. Climatic changes–Government policy. 3. Cities and Towns–Environmental aspects. I. Betsill, Michele, 1967– II. Title. III. Series. QC981.8C5 B853 2003 200210744 ISBN 0-203-21925-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-27441-5 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN0–415–27379–X (Print Edition) Contents List of illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix List of abbreviations xi 1 Introduction 1 PART I Governing climate change 7 2 Global environmental governance 9 3 The politics of climate change: global to local 32 PART II Cities and climate protection 57 4 Local government and local governance 59 5 Newcastle upon Tyne: planning and climate protection 70 6 Cambridgeshire: climate protection and local transport policy 88 7 Leicester: climate protection and the built environment 105 8 Denver: climate protection, energy management and the transport sector 122 9 Milwaukee: climate protection and new urbanism 137 10 Newcastle, New South Wales: win–win solutions for climate protection? 151 vi Contents PART III Conclusions 169 11 Cities protecting the climate 171 12 Transnational networks and global environmental governance 186 Appendix: Members of the CCP programme 194 Notes 202 Bibliography 207 Index 229 Illustrations Boxes 1.1 What is climate change? 1 2.1 Defining regimes 10 2.2 Sustainable development – weak or strong? 21 2.3 Agenda 21, Chapter 28 – local authority initiatives in support of Agenda 21 22 3.1 Key events in global climate change politics 33 3.2 The Kyoto mechanisms 39 3.3 The CCP milestones 52 5.1 Principles of sustainable development 75 5.2 Planning obligations 81 5.3 Constraints encountered in acting on climate change via the land-use planning system 84 6.1 Economic instruments in environmental policy 98 6.2 Problems encountered in addressing climate change through local transport policy 101 7.1 Fuel poverty 110 7.2 The Energy Sense programme 112 7.3 Constraints encountered in addressing climate change in the built environment 118 8.1 Green Fleets 125 9.1 The CCP programme and community liveability 138 10.1 Land-use planning in NSW 160 11.1 CCP programme objectives 183 Tables 2.1 From government to governance 17 3.1 National emissions reduction targets in the Kyoto Protocol 38 5.1 National planning policy guidance relating to urban energy use 76 7.1 National policy initiatives to address domestic energy use in the UK 111 7.2 Objectives and targets for energy management in Leicester City Council 116 8.1 Energy management initiatives in Denver 130 8.2 Transport initiatives in Denver 133 viii illustrations Figures 2.1 Regime theory and the ‘cascade model’ of global environmental governance 15 2.2 ‘Constructivist’ regime theory and the cascade model 16 4.1 Map of the UK showing the location of the case-studies 60 4.2 Map of the US showing the location of the case-studies 64 4.3 Map of Australia showing the location of the case-study 68 5.1 Map of Newcastle City Council, UK, showing Newcastle Great Park and Ouseburn Valley development areas 78 6.1 Map of Cambridgeshire City Council, showing the Cambridge subregion 89 7.1 Map of Leicester City Council 106 8.1 Map of the City of Denver 123 9.1 Map of the City of Milwaukee, showing four development areas 146 10.1 Map of the City of Newcastle, New South Wales 154 Acknowledgements This book has arisen as a joint venture in the light of our interests in the global and local politics of climate change. Our first debt of thanks is to Susi Moser, who saw the connec- tions between our research and made the introductions. Without her intervention, this project would not have taken place. Many different organizations have provided financial support for our research. Harriet would like to express her thanks to the Smuts Memorial Fund and St Catherine’s College, University of Cambridge and the Nuffield Foundation, for supporting her research during the period 1998–2001, and to the Leverhulme Trust and the Newton Trust, University of Cambridge, for the current support without which the time to write this book would not have been found. Michele’s research was supported by a National Science Foundation award (no. SBR-9521910) to the Global Environmental Assessment Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The encouragement and support from the Political Science Department at Colorado State University has also been greatly appreciated. We are grateful to those people who have assisted in our various research projects in the UK, the US and Australia, and especially to those involved in making policy for sparing us the time from their busy schedules. During the preparation of his book, many people have offered their advice and support. We are grateful to Routledge, and especially Ann Michael and Andrew Mould, for taking on this project. We would like to thank our colleagues Hugh Barton, Meg Corwin, Anna Davies, David Gibbs, Heather Lovell, Scott Moore, Zarina Patel, John Straayer and Tim Rayner, as well as the third-year students at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, for their useful comments on various chapters. We are especially indebted to Susan Owens for her valuable insights on the draft manuscript. Phillip Stickler, at the Cartography Unit, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, prepared the maps and we are grateful for his skill and patience

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