Shaping Tomorrow's Urban Environment Today
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Shaping tomorrow’s urban environment today today urban environment Shaping tomorrow’s Shaping tomorrow’s urban environment today Environmental Policy Integration in urban planning: The challenges of the communicative approach Vanya Simeonova Vanya Vanya Simeonova Shaping tomorrow’s urban environment today Environmental Policy Integration in urban planning: The challenges of the communicative approach Vanya Simeonova Thesis committee Promotor Prof. Dr A.J.J. van der Valk Professor of Land Use Planning Wageningen University Other members Prof. Dr G. de Roo, University of Groningen Prof. Dr W. Zonneveld, Delft University of Technology Prof. Dr B.J.M. Arts, Wageningen University Dr S. Dimitrov, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria This research was conducted under the auspices of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences Shaping tomorrow’s urban environment today Environmental Policy Integration in urban planning: The challenges of the communicative approach Vanya Simeonova Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol, in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Monday 4 July 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in the Aula. Vanya Simeonova Shaping tomorrow’s urban environment today. Environmental Policy Integration in urban planning: The challenges of a communicative approach. 216 pages. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2016) With references, with summary in English ISBN: 978-94-6257-836-4 DOI: 10.18174/383887 Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 7 Chapter 2 The need for a communicative approach to reach Environmental 37 Policy Integration in urban land-use planning Chapter 3 The Role of an area-oriented approach in achieving 73 Environmental Policy Integration in the Netherlands, and its applicability in Bulgaria Chapter 4 Implementing ecological networks through the Red for Green 115 approach in a densely populated country: does it work? Chapter 5 Environmental Policy Integration: Towards a communicative 145 approach for integrating nature conservation in urban land- use planning in Bulgaria Chapter 6 Future directions of EPI in urban planning. General synthesis 181 and conclusions Summary 201 Acknowledgements 209 Curriculum Vitae 213 CHAPTER 1 Introduction Chapter 1 This thesis provides an insight into the challenging field of environmental policy integration (EPI) and its theoretical discourse. It sheds light on how EPI may or may not work, and explores its role in achieving urban sustainability while dealing with contemporary planning dilemmas that relate to the on-going process of urbanization. 8 Introduction 1.1. Reconciling environmental policies and urban planning The twenty-first century has been called the urban century, with more than half the world’s population living in cities (United Nations, 2014). Cities around the world, however, are struggling to accommodate their rising populations and address the multidimensional challenges of urban development. If current trends continue, few countries stand to secure the benefits of sustainable urban development. Urban sustainability presents intertwined issues of environmental protection, economic viability and social equity, while its ultimate goal is cities that are organized as self- sustaining systems with the smallest possible ecological footprint (UN-Habitat, 2012; EEA, 2014). Hence, sustainable cities foresee efficient use of environmental resources such as land, energy and materials, while pollution and environmental degradation are kept to a minimum. However, cities cannot be sustainable over the longer term if their economic growth impairs the environment that they depend upon. In this regard urbanization has been considered a major obstacle in achieving urban sustainability, particularly in Europe (Coutard et al., 2014; EEA, 2014). Urbanization often leads to inefficient land use, intensified consumption of natural resources and loss or fragmentation of valuable landscapes and natural areas (UN-Habitat, 2012). Rooted in profound socioeconomic development worldwide, urbanization is not expected to halt in the near future (UN-Habitat, 2012; United Nations, 2014). This applies also to Europe, where currently four of every five Europeans live in urban areas (United Nations, 2014; Coutard, 2014). In this regard questions are raised about the impact of urbanization on the quality of life in European cities and the pathways to achieve sustainable urban development (EEA, 2014). These concerns have already for a while been on the agenda of the European Member States which have agreed upon common principles and strategies for urban development policy, written down in the “Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities” (Leipzig Charter, 2007). These agreements were subsequently encompassed in the European 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (CEC, 2014; see also Franke et al., 2012). This strategy addresses a number of highly needed actions which determine the course of contemporary urban development. Among these are actions for decoupling economic growth from resource use, supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy, and preserving valuable landscapes and nature. This implies that managing urban growth in a sustainable way requires sound urban planning systems that integrate economic, social and environmental issues in order to allow a reduction of land-use footprints and environmental degradation. However, the integration of environmental protection in urban development activities that promote economic competitiveness represents a major challenge to policy makers (Franke et al., 2012; EEA, 2014). This challenge has been addressed by the Environmental Policy Integration principle, which was introduced in the European policy framework (EEB, 2003). 9 Chapter 1 EPI implies that environmental considerations must be integrated into other policies, with a view to achieving sustainable development (EEA, 2005b). Lafferty & Hovden (2003) define EPI as “The incorporation of the environmental objectives into all stages of policy making in non-environmental policy sectors, with recognition of this goal as a guiding principle for the planning and execution of policy” (Lafferty & Hovden, 2003). EPI can be seen as an operational principle for implementing the sustainable development goal. It addresses the environmental consequences of economic activities that are not properly (if at all) accounted for by sectoral policies (Briassoulis, 2004). The recognition of the EPI principle among policy makers and planning scholars has led to a shift in focus from conceptualization to contextualization of the goals of urban sustainability in the urban planning practices (Berke & Conroy, 2007). The fundamental questions asked here concern the effectiveness of urban planning systems to deliver urban sustainability in different countries and within different socioeconomic perspectives. One of these is the dilemma that contemporary planning systems face in dealing with two different forms of urbanization, i.e. intensification of urban functions in compact inner cities and urban expansion (“urban sprawl”) (Williams, 2000; EEA, 2009; EEA, 2014). One question that is often raised in this respect is whether it is wise to continue to build new houses in densely populated urban areas that lack the environmental quality and green amenities that urban residents desire. Another issue is which urban forms can ensure that environmental ambitions are being met in terms of for example resource efficiency, land use and pollution prevention (Williams, 2000; Guy & Marvin, 2000). While compact cities are challenged to prevent intensification of environmental problems, such as air pollution, creation of urban heat islands, traffic congestion, noise and lack of green areas, urban expansion raises such issues as loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, deterioration of nature areas and biodiversity loss (Williams, 2000; EEA, 2006; EEA, 2009). Hence, both forms of urbanization bring various environmental pressures which need to be integrated into urban land- use plans. The EPI principle provided a potentially suitable answer to this quest for integration while it has been evolving as a principle in the spatial planning policy. While spatial planning has been already widely perceived as a cross-sectoral policy, its role in envisioning environmental consequences of urban land-use developments and preventing the rise of spatial-environmental conflicts has become more significant in the last decade (UNECE, 2008; CEC, 2011a). Compared with previous regulatory land- use planning approaches, spatial planning policy became distinctive for: encouraging long-term strategic visions on sustainable territorial development; providing the spatial dimension to improved integration across a range of sectoral policies and improving engagement with stakeholders and the public (Nadin, 2007). At the local scale, these contemporary features of spatial planning have been considered from the perspective of integrated planning solutions which may be helpful in designing more sustainable urban spaces e.g. by formulating environmental standards, such as thresholds for air 10 Introduction pollution in different urban zones, positioning urban functions in order to restrict sprawl into green open spaces or optimizing multiple land uses with a view to efficient use of resources. Although not widely spread, attempts to achieve EPI by integrating