The Framing of Urban Sustainability Transformations

David M. Iwaniec, Elizabeth M. Cook, Olga Barbosa and Nancy B. Grimm
Additional contact information
David M. Iwaniec: Urban Studies Institute, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3992, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
Elizabeth M. Cook: Urban Systems Lab, Environmental Studies Department, The New School, 79 Fifth Ave, 1605, New York, NY 10003, USA
Olga Barbosa: Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Avenida Rector Eduardo Morales Miranda s/n, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
Nancy B. Grimm: School of Life Sciences and Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: Transformational change is not always intentional. However, deliberate transformations are imperative to achieve the sustainable visions that future generations deserve. Small, unintentional tweaks will not be enough to overcome persistent and emergent urban challenges. Recent scholarship on sustainability transformations has evolved considerably, but there is no consensus on what qualifies transformational change. We describe variations in current discussions of intentional sustainability transformations in the literature and synthesize strategies from funding institutions’ recent requests for proposals for urban sustainability transformations. Research funding initiatives calling for transformational change are increasingly common and are an important driver of how transformational change is articulated in research-practice in cities. From this synthesis, we present seven criteria for transformational change that provide direction for framing and implementing transformational change initiatives.

Keywords: sustainability; transformational change; funding institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/573/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/573/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:573-:d:199960

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().