Pressure-Point Strategy: Leverages for Urban Systemic Transformation

Katleen De Flander and Jeb Brugmann
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Katleen De Flander: IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies Potsdam, Berliner Strasse 130, Potsdam 14467, Germany
Jeb Brugmann: The Next Practice, 58 Ravina Crescent, Toronto, ON M4J 3M2, Canada

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Sustainability can be understood as a specific kind of problem framing that emphasizes the interconnectedness of different problems and scales and calls for new forms of problem handling that are much more process-oriented, reflexive and iterative in nature. Closely related with the notion of reflexive governance, we propose such an alternative strategy for societal problem handling and change management in the urban context. The strategy starts from stress states in the urban system(s) and uses their initial momentum to encourage systemic change through intraventions—rather than interventions—at selected pressure points. This paper highlights the potential to evolve what has often been an intuitive practice, led by community or elected leaders with unique wisdom about functions and pressure points in their urban system, into a more accessible strategy for shaping socio-ecological transformation in urban practice.

Keywords: pressure points; urban; sustainability; transformation; reflexive governance; complexity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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