Analysing road pricing implementation processes in the UK and Norway

Traditional transport policies of road expansion entail a relatively simple system of actors and processes around which expertise, knowledge, and skills which has built up over many decades. Some of the more radical Travel Demand Management measures, including urban road pricing, involve a complicated set of institutions, processes, people and procedures. Road pricing schemes often get delayed or abandoned due to controversy, disagreements, unanticipated problems and a whole host of other delaying factors. If they are implemented, they tend to be diluted and consequently become less effective. Strategic Niche Management (SNM) has previously been used to provide guidelines on the implementation of innovative transport technologies through setting up protected experimental settings (niches) in which actors learn about the design, user needs, social and political acceptability, and other aspects. Here SNM is modified to cover a policy approach through the analysis of road user charging case studies in the UK and Norway. A detailed analysis of the road user charging schemes in Bergen, Oslo, Durham and London is presented. Key factors identified include the role of stakeholder and user networks, the existence of a project champion, understanding the motivations and expectations of stakeholders and users, learning with regards to the regional context, and the change in perceptions associated with acceptance. Comparison between the four cases shows different approaches emerging from each country in implementing and ‘marketing’ of the policies. The paper concentrates on approaches such as: the purpose for introducing the policies, the involvement of users in the planning process and, the use of revenues for either providing alternative transport modes or financing road infrastructure. Key factors identified using the SNM framework include the role of stakeholder and user networks, the existence of a project champion, understanding the motivations and expectations of stakeholders and users, learning with regards to the regional context, and the change in perceptions associated with acceptance. This type of analysis could prove useful for transport planners envisaging the implementation of road pricing projects

Mobile transitions : exploring synergies for urban sustainability research

Urban sustainability approaches focusing on a wide range of topics such as infrastructure and mobility, green construction and neighbourhood planning, or urban nature and green amenities have attracted scholarly interest for over three decades. Recent debates on the role of cities in climate change mitigation have triggered new attempts to conceptually and methodologically grasp the cross-sectorial and cross-level interplay of enrolled actors. Within these debates, urban and economic geographers have increasingly adopted co-evolutionary approaches such as the social studies of technology (SST or ‘transition studies’). Their plea for more spatial sensitivity of the transition approach has led to promising proposals to adapt geographic perspectives to case studies on urban sustainability. This paper advocates engagement with recent work in urban studies, specifically policy mobility, to explore conceptual and methodological synergies. It emphasises four strengths of an integrated approach: (1) a broadened understanding of innovations that emphasises not only processes of knowledge generation but also of knowledge transfer through (2) processes of learning, adaptation and mutation, (3) a relational understanding of the origin and dissemination of innovations focused on the complex nature of cities and (4) the importance of individual actors as agents of change and analytical scale that highlights social processes of innovation. The notion of urban assemblages further allows the operationalisation of both the relational embeddedness of local policies as well as their cross-sectoral actor constellations

An exploration of the parameters of liveable urbanism through inclusive incremental development

“Despite a significant reduction in the percentage of population living in informal settlements from 2000 to 2014, the absolute number of people living in deplorable conditions has increased from 689 to 880 million people over the same period. Current policy and planning practice in developing countries has not been able to cope with such pervasive rapid urbanisation. By 2050 the United Nations predicts two-thirds of the global population will live in cities. Of which as many as one-third of this population could be living in informal settlements (slums). To address these unsustainable and undesirable trends in support of the disadvantaged and maintaining environmental sustainability, this minor dissertation conducts comprehensive research of contemporary policy and planning work to seek alternatives. The purpose of the literature review is to identify commonalities, differences, gaps of knowledge and constraints of current policies and planning practice currently used to plan and manage growth of cities. Analysis and findings then inform and add value in exploring parameters for a 'liveable’ or improved urbanism from that currently experienced in informal settlements. Historic global policies focusing on government led top down approaches to provide large scale low cost housing have not kept up with demand, although they remain popular politically. From these policy and planning failures, it is evident that a more inclusive and incremental approach better utilizing available human capital should be considered. Critical analysis of literature with an alternative urbanism and planning paradigm in mind emerges in the findings and conclusion in the form of recommended parameters for a new inclusive and incremental urbanism. Such urbanism is entirely possible provided the critical issues identified such as lack of political will and good governance can be mitigated. To dramatically improve the lives of millions will require a compelling vision and collaborative effort seldom seen in current policy and planning of developing countries. Despite the daunting task, this paper seeks to define a conceptual framework drawn from findings to mitigate issues and guide an alternative vision of the future. The alternative urbanism that emerges from the conceptual framework may fall somewhere between that of current informal settlements and current discourse such as smart cities’

Deconstructing density: strategic dilemmas confronting the post-Apartheid city

Public authorities in many countries around the world are seeking to raise urban densities. Residential densification is particularly important in South Africa because of the colonial and apartheid legacy of sprawling, fragmented, racially divided cities. The paper examines the case for densifying central Cape Town and provides a framework to help deconstruct the concept and explore the policy challenges faced. It focuses on the bold aim to treble the area’s population within 10 years, and identifies issues where further consideration and public debate are required for how this can be achieved in a way that is desirable, affordable and fair. A key message is the need to understand both the composition of demand for central city living and the challenges involved in supplying suitable housing and amenities at higher densities. The level of social inequality in the city poses greater complications than elsewhere

A Conceptual Framework for E-Commerce Innovation in Chinese SMES Chun-Sheng Yu

As E-Commerce (EC) is rapidly gaining popularity in China, EC innovation becomes a major growth strategy for many SMEs. Meanwhile, problems and challenges are hindering proliferation of EC innovation. The need exits for a theoretical model to forge EC innovation: a dynamic process with progressive stages of both internal and external e-readiness. Derived from theories and evidenced by the case studies from Hangzhou, China, our conceptual framework reveals top management, organizational learning, government support, market forces, and technology readiness as essential in each development stage, but with different emphasis. Implications of the framework are discussed

Experiments in climate governance – lessons from a systematic review of case studies in transition research

Experimentation has been proposed as one of the ways in which public policy can drive sustainability transitions, notably by creating or delimiting space for experimenting with innovative solutions to sustainability challenges. In this paper we report on a systematic review of articles published between 2009 and 2015 that have addressed experiments aiming either at understanding decarbonisation transitions or enhancing climate resilience. Using the case survey method, we find few empirical descriptions of real-world experiments in climate and energy contexts in the scholarly literature, being observed in only 25 articles containing 29 experiments. We discuss the objectives, outputs and outcomes of these experiments noting that explicit experimenting with climate policies could be identified only in 12 cases. Based on the results we suggest a definition of climate policy experiments and a typology of experiments for sustainability transitions that can be used to better understand the role of and learn more effectively from experiments in sustainability transitions

Towards Water Sensitive Cities in the Colorado River Basin: A Comparative Historical Analysis to Inform Future Urban Water Sustainability Transitions

abstract: Many population centers in the American West rely on water from the Colorado River Basin, which has faced shortages in recent years that are anticipated to be exacerbated by climate change. Shortages to urban water supplies related to climate change will not be limited to cities dependent on the Colorado River. Considering this, addressing sustainable water governance is timely and critical for cities, states, and regions facing supply shortages and pollution problems. Engaging in sustainability transitions of these hydro-social systems will increase the ability of such systems to meet the water needs of urban communities. In this paper, we identify historical transitions in water governance and examine their context for three sites in the Colorado River Basin (Denver, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona) to provide insight for intentional transitions towards sustainable, or “water sensitive” cities. The comparative historical approach employed allows us to more fully understand differences in present-day water governance decisions between the sites, identify past catalysts for transitions, and recognize emerging patterns and opportunities that may impact current and future water governance in the Colorado River Basin and beyond.The final version of this article, as published in Sustainability, can be viewed online at: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/5/76

Sustainability transitions and leapfrogging in latecomer cities : the development of solar thermal energy in Dezhou, China

Sustainability transitions in cities in emerging economic contexts are rarely addressed. The paper addresses this issue by investigating the drivers and barriers in the diffusion of solar thermal energy in two Chinese cities, Dezhou and Beijing. The findings suggest that latecomer cities such as Dezhou demonstrate several advantages over developed cities in environmental transitions. In particular they can ‘leapfrog’ to environmentally-friendly technologies as they are less locked-in by existing technological regimes. The paper thus contributes to debates over the role of both space and the urban scale in sustainability transitions research