Pathways to Urban Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities for the United States (2016) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-8
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Assessing the spectrum of new practices that have been implemented in specific metropolitan regions provides insight into whether and how other urban areas might adapt and apply these methods. Applying such new methods and practices additionally calls for an understanding that cities exist within the larger contexts of the planet's finite resources; thus, achieving urban sustainability requires recognizing interconnections among places and the associated impacts of actions.
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Intended as a comparative illustration of the types of urban sustainability pathways and subsequent lessons learned existing in urban areas, this study examines specific examples that cut across geographies and scales and that feature a range of urban sustainability challenges and opportunities for collaborative learning across metropolitan regions. The study committee chose nine cities: Los Angeles, California; New York City, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Flint, Michigan; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Vancouver, Canada.
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. In the first phase, adopting urban sustainability principles, identifying opportunities and constraints, and prioritizing co-net benefits -- activities that offer co-occurring, reasonably sized benefits while managing tradeoffs across the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability -- form the basis for a sustainability roadmap.
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Research needs on new frontiers in science and development that can further contribute to the pathways to urban sustainability include deeper understandings of urban metabolism, critical thresholds for indicators, different types of data, and decision-making processes linked across scales. LESSONS FROM CITY PROFILES In examining the various challenges and sustainability strategies in the nine profile cities, the study explored a wide range of issues and questions encompassing science, organization, communication, and governance.
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Although Philadelphia and Pittsburgh capitalize on their economic assets, barriers in the form of policies at the state and national levels continue to hinder sustainable growth for these metropolitan regions. Chattanooga, Grand Rapids, Cedar Rapids, and Flint -- all smaller in population size and density -- have each pursued a different path to sustainability and met their intended goals with varying degrees of success.
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Durable and Dynamic Sustainability Planning Moreover, the committee found that the durability of leadership and of sustainability planning is essential in facilitating the transition to greater sustainability. Enduring leadership structures will need to be written into cities' operating budgets and sustainability plans and, where possible, voted into perpetuity by their citizens to ensure the ongoing success of sustainability efforts.
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While no single approach guarantees urban sustainability, it is valuable to assess the diversity of practices being implemented in urban and metropolitan regions to determine their transferability to other urban areas. Managing tradeoffs among the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability -- while aiming to maximize total net benefits relative to costs -- is an important part of the sustainability process.
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