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RETHINKING SUSTAINABLE CITIES Accessible, Green and Fair EDITED BY DAVID SIMON RETHINKING SUSTAINABLE CITIES Accessible, green and fair POLICY PRESSPOLICY & PRACT ICE EDITED BY DAVID SIMON RETHINKING SUSTAINABLE CITIES Accessible, green and fair POLICY PRESSPOLICY & PRACT ICE First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Policy Press North America office: University of Bristol Policy Press 1-9 Old Park Hill c/o The University of Chicago Press Bristol 1427 East 60th Street BS2 8BB Chicago, IL 60637, USA UK t: +1 773 702 7700 +44 (0)117 954 5940 f: +1 773 702 9756 [email protected] [email protected] www.policypress.co.uk www.press.uchicago.edu © Policy Press 2016 This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits adaptation, alteration, reproduction and distribution for non-commercial use, without further permission provided the original work is attributed. The derivative works do not need to be licensed on the same terms. 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 A catalog record for this book has been requested. ISBN 978-1-4473-3284-8 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-4473-3287-9 (ePub) ISBN 978-1-4473-3286-2 (Mobi) The rights of David Simon to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Policy Press. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author and not of the University of Bristol or Policy Press. The University of Bristol and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality. Cover design by Policy Press Front cover: Partial view of Bangkok. Photo copyright David Simon Printed and bound in Great Britain by CMP, Poole Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners iii Contents List of plates iv List of tables and figures vi Acronyms and abbreviations vii About the authors ix Acknowledgements xi Foreword xiii Julio D Dávila 1 Introduction: sustainable cities in sustainable societies 1 David Simon 2 Accessible cities: from urban density to multidimensional accessibility 11 James Waters 3 Green cities: from tokenism to incrementalism and transformation 61 David Simon 4 Fair cities: imperatives in meeting global sustainable developmental aspirations 107 Susan Parnell 5 Conclusions, implications and practical guidelines 145 Henrietta Palmer and David Simon Selected relevant internet resources 167 Index 175 iii List of plates 2.1 Manhattan borough in New York City (USA), parts of Tokyo (Japan), Singapore 14 and Hong Kong (pictured) have some of the highest residential densities in formal housing in the world by virtue of numerous high rise apartment blocks. These cater for a range of income categories, right up to the elite, with social amenities also in close proximity (Photo © David Simon) 2.2 The highest residential densities in informal housing are found in many 15 shantytowns and so-called slums in large cities in the global South. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, (pictured) is distinctive in terms of the close juxtaposition of high density favelas and middle income apartments (Photo © David Simon) 2.3 The lowest residential densities are found in high income suburbs worldwide, 15 characterised by large double-storey mansions or single story bungalow/villa houses on extensive plots. Middle-class housing, as here in Ensenada, Mexico, generally occupies smaller plots but densities are still comparatively low (Photo © David Simon) 2.4 The trade-offs among different forms of accessibility are well illustrated by 30 these informal traders in central Lagos, Nigeria, who locate themselves to maximise passing trade, despite the noise and apparent inconvenience of their stall’s site (Photo © David Simon) 2.5 This minibus terminus in Dakar, Senegal, is a key accessibility hub for this part 36 of the metropolis, linking diverse areas with affordable motor transport (Photo © David Simon) 2.6 Pedestrianised streets in high density commercial areas like Chinatown in 39 Singapore, maximise accessibility and shopper densities, while increasing pollution- free amenity (Photo © David Simon) iv v LIST OF PLATES 3.1 Classic urban greening – ‘the city beautiful’ – in downtown Vancouver, 68 Canada (Photo © David Simon) 3.2 The humid tropics facilitate natural urban greenness, although often blended 68 with well-maintained gardens, as here in a hillside high income area of Kampala, Uganda (Photo © David Simon) 3.3 Even in the humid tropics, high density, low income areas often lack the 69 greenery of high income areas, with exposed brown earth reflecting a lack of investment and maintained public spaces, and sometimes also livestock grazing pressure. The multi-purpose value of trees, like this one planted as part of an action research project in peri-urban Kumasi, Ghana, is therefore high (Photo © David Simon) 3.4 Intensive peri-urban agriculture, Lagos, Nigeria (Photo © David Simon) 71 3.5 Conservation of ground cover on steep slopes and of some vegetation in and 82 around informal settlements maintains slope stability, intercepts storm run-off and improves soil penetration by rainwater. These valuable ecosystem services are vital for poor and wealthy alike, as here in peri-urban Durban, South Africa, in the context of extreme events and climate change (Photo © David Simon) 3.6 Green walls and balcony or roof gardens, as here in Manhattan, 87 New York City (USA), are aesthetically attractive and important for carbon sequestration (Photo © David Simon) 3.7 Green infrastructure: the Hudson River Park on Manhattan’s Lower West Side, 88 which replaced derelict wharves and warehouses, has provided valuable green shade and recreation space, and increased urban biodiversity and carbon sequestration capacity (Photo © David Simon) 3.8 Nanjing (People’s Republic of China) exemplifies urban infrastructural 89 greening as part of comprehensive redevelopment to tackle industrial pollution and unsustainable urbanism (Photos © David Simon) 4.1 Different life prospects: City traders, London; second-hand clothing vendor 109 and customers, Maputo; beggar, Copenhagen, respectively (London and Copenhagen © Susan Parnell; Maputo © David Simon) iv v List of tables and figures Tables 3.1 Comparison of the green and brown agendas with respect to urban solid 70 waste management. Source: modified after Allen et al, 2002, Figure 2.3, p 36. Figures 3.1 Schematic representation of relationships between urban greening and 85 human physical activity levels. Source: Modified after Trundle and McEvoy, 2016, Figure 19.3, p 281. vi vii Acronyms and abbreviations BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (UK) BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping of countries CBA community-based adaptation CCCI Cities and Climate Change Initiative COP21 Twenty-first Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC DRR disaster risk reduction EbA ecosystem-based adaptation GBCSA Green Building Council of South Africa Habitat III third 20-yearly global summit on urbanisation and human settlements, Quito, October 2016 ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability ICT information and communication technologies IIED International Institute of Environment and Development IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change MDGs Millennium Development Goals MOSS Metropolitan Open Space System MUF Mistra Urban Futures NGO non-governmental organisation OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development vi vii FOR YOUTHRETHINKING WORKERS SUSTAINABLE AND YOUTH CITIES WORK PES payment for ecosystem services PV photovoltaic SDG Sustainable Development Goals SUD-NET Sustainable Urban Development Network TCPA Town and Country Planning Association (UK) TOD transit-oriented development UCLG United Cities and Local Governments UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme UPA urban and peri-urban agriculture WCED World Commission on Environment and Development viii ix RETHINKING SUSTAINABLE CITIES About the authors David Simon is Director of Mistra Urban Futures, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, and Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. He specialises in development– environment issues, with particular reference to cities, climate change and sustainability, and the relationships between theory, policy and practice, on all of which he has published extensively. He is author of Cities, Capital and Development, editor of Fifty Key Thinkers on Development, and has co-edited several recent books on different development–environment challenges and within the last year, special issues of Urban Climate and of Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability on urban climate adaptation. His extensive research experience spans sub-Saharan Africa, tropical Asia, the UK, the USA and Sweden. Henrietta Palmer is an architect and Professor of Urban Design at Chalmers University in Gothenburg. She
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