Greening urban development: on climate change and climate policy

Udo E. Simonis

International Journal of Social Economics, 2011, vol. 38, issue 11, 919-928

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present some basic conceptual aspects and empiric examples of urban mitigation and adaptation to climate change, of greening urban development, as there is strong need for further research and education on these issues. Design/methodology/approach - Starting with a review of the 4th IPCC report and the Stern Review, a strategy is developed on how to make cities main actors in fighting climate change. First examples of successful urban greening are presented. Findings - Cities are main drivers of climate change, and they are driven by climate change. Therefore, there is a strong need for “greening” urban development, i.e. for both mitigation and adaptation activities. Practical implications - Mitigation requires the reduction (more or less drastically) of urban energy and material flows. Adaptation requires restructure (more or less radically) of the established urban stocks. Originality/value - Until recently, cities and urban areas have not been in the focus of climate change research and climate policy. The paper shows the need for change of both theory and practice.

Keywords: Cities; Climate change; Energy consumption; Energy conservation; Climate policy; Urban mitigation; Urban adaptation; Environmental research and education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijsepp:v:38:y:2011:i:11:p:919-928

DOI: 10.1108/03068291111171423

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Social Economics is currently edited by Professor Terence Garrett

More articles in International Journal of Social Economics from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().