Sustainability Challenges in an Urban Century: Can We Change Urbanization Paths to Make Cities the Solutions for Rather than the Drivers of Global Problems?

Is urbanization a danger or a solution to global sustainability? What institutions need to change to make urban areas more sustainable? In examining urbanization rates in countries over time, we see that they are often more correlated to carbon dioxide emissions than per capital income [1]. This tells us that urbanization patterns of the last 100 years have contributed to the increase in carbon emissions. We therefore need to develop a new kind of urbanization in order to tackle global challenges. However, reports about global changes often portray urbanization as “a problem”. Cities are polluted and increasingly crowded; urban inhabitants consume proportionately more resources and are responsible for a large portion of carbon emissions ([2], p. 927). As a urban planner, when I read those reports it seems I am looking at the books of urban planning in the last century, particularly those on urbanization in the colonies, where urbanization was presented as an unwanted process that caused a lot of harms to the “civilization” [3,4]. We must therefore change the discourse on how we describe urbanization if we want to transform it, as it will not be stopped. We must stress the many benefits that urbanization has brought to society, which are the main reasons people want to come to the cities in the first place. A question to be considered is therefore how to make urban life compatible with global challenges? i.e., how can we continue implementing/developing urbanization and the benefits that come with it without disproportionally increasing carbon emissions, the destruction of ecosystems and unsustainable consumption. There are many opportunities for win-win strategies between global sustainability challenges and development in urban areas, or synergies, such as climate co-benefits, i.e., tackling climate change and promoting development, particularly in some developing countries where cities are still being built and the path of urbanization can be changed [5,6]. Nevertheless, despite all we have learned about urbanization and the possible co-benefits opportunities since the last century, we lack understanding of the contextual and institutional conditions that make those solutions emerge

Determinants of urban mobility in India: Lessons for promoting sustainable and inclusive urban transportation in developing countries

Studies from developed economies have analyzed the key factors for understanding urban mobility, which are important to design appropriate interventions to reduce the volume of transport needs and to promote more sustainable modes of transportation. However, there are limited studies in urban areas of developing economies, which can hinder our capacity to formulate sustainable transport policies that are fit for the reality of those countries. In order to fill this gap, this study quantifies the influence of city features and socio-economic and socio-cultural variables on mobility patterns to identify evidence-based policy interventions for promoting more inclusive and sustainable transportation paths. The research estimates the amount of public and private transport (proxied by out-of-pocket travel expenditure) and modal choices, employing multivariate analyses, using a nationally representative household survey from the 98 largest Indian cities. Findings reveal that densification in Indian cities reduces the amount of transport as well as enhances the probability of using public transport. Small and medium sized cities predominantly use private transport, whereas large cities prefer public transport but lack non-motorized transportation. Moreover, income is the most important determinant of the amount of transport and the use of motorized and private transport. The top quintile is the only with positive income elasticity of transport demand. Results show that public and non-motorized transport infrastructures will provide sustainable and inclusive development, besides other co-benefits, such as energy security. Based on these findings, several policy recommendations are proposed to improve the sustainability and inclusivity of urban mobility in Indian cities

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Agricultural Sector: The Case of Local Responses in Punjab, Pakistan

This study contributes to explore local responses to deal with the impacts of climate change on agriculture sector by looking the case of Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistan’s agriculture is facing severe challenges due to the negative consequences of climate change. In this study, we investigate (a) What are the different initiatives taken at planned and autonomous level in Punjab province? (b) What are the drivers behind these initiatives? (c) How these initiatives are being transferred within farmer’s community in Punjab and outside Punjab? and (d) What are the challenges for these farmers in adaptation to climate change and governance hurdles in the province? The government has launched massive level awareness campaign in the province. Other important initiatives are institutional capacity enhancement, promotion of climate change research, establishment of linkage with academics, enhancement of capacity building, and involvement of farmers’ community in climate adaptation for agriculture sectors. The autonomous adaptation initiatives include changing planting dates, changing crops types, changing fertilizers, and planting shade trees. Planned level adaptation is primarily driven by coordination among the respective departments, engagement with academics, and availability of financial resources. Autonomous initiatives of the province are mainly driven by the previous experiences of farmers, sustainability in agriculture production, and knowledge sharing

INTEGRANDO AÇÃO E COMUNICAÇÃO PARA UMA ESTRATÉGIA DE MARKETING AMBIENTAL: O CASO ARACRUZ CELULOSE

This article analyses the role of the communication in an environmental marketing strategy, using as case study the company Aracruz Celulose. With the increase of importance in the environmental questions and transparency in the business practices, the interference of new stakeholders (interest groups which influence an organization) connected to the social environmental actions of the company could have fundamental role in the performance of the organizations. It is not enough to make the necessary investments to have an improvement in the social environmental quality or make a massive investment in advertisement without implementing the legitimate demands of the stakeholders. It has become even more crucial to learn how to make the proper environmental investments and also communicate the actions and results to the different stakeholders, so that an improvement in the image is promoted for these actors and meet their social environmental demands. Therefore, the need to understand the communication tools to identify and expose the company's problems and social environmental results increases as well as the monitorisation of the main stakeholders' perception. In this article, we analyse how the Aracruz Celulose developed its strategy for the environmental improvement and marketing throughout the 1990-2001, in order to understand the role of communication in this effort for the improvement in the image of different sectors: forest, industrial, social economical development.Este artigo analisa o papel da comunicação em uma estratégia de marketing ambiental usando como estudo de caso a empresa Aracruz Celulose. Com o aumento da importância da questão ambiental e da transparência no setor empresarial, a interferência de novos stakeholders (grupos de interesse que influenciam uma organização) ligados à atuação sociomabiental de empresas pode ter papel fundamental no desempenho de organizações. Não basta somente fazer os investimentos necessários para ter uma melhoria da qualidade socioambiental; ou fazer um investimento maciço em propaganda sem implementar as demandas socioambientais legítimas dos stakeholders. É cada vez mais crucial saber como fazer os investimentos ambientais e também comunicar as ações e resultados para os diferentes stakeholders, para que se obtenha uma melhoria de imagem frente a estes atores e responda as suas demandas socioambientais.   Assim cresce a necessidade de entender-se as ferramentas de comunicação para identificar e expor os problemas e resultados socioambientais da empresa e monitorar a percepção dos principais stakeholders. Neste artigo examinamos como a Aracruz Celulose desenvolveu sua estratégia de melhoria e marketing ambiental nos anos de 1990-2001 para entender o papel da comunicação neste esforço de melhora de imagem em diferentes setores: florestal, industrial e desenvolvimento socio-econômico

Assessing governance challenges of local biodiversity and ecosystem services: Barriers identified by the expert community

This paper assesses barriers to local biodiversity and ecosystem (BES) governance within cities, drawing on findings from an international expert survey encompassing 45 cities in 25 countries. BES is recognised as a key foundation for sustainable cities, yet current literature indicates that more clarity is needed on the factors which may undermine BES initiatives. Survey findings show broad agreement that officials in development sectors have inadequate BES knowledge, budgets for BES are insufficient, and planners in the locality lack knowledge about BES. Respondents not working for local governments were more likely to see policy change with administrations, budget limitations, and lack of expertise as barriers. Respondents for cities in less-developed countries agreed significantly more that there were harmful cultural activities, and were more concerned that inadequate consideration from governments at different scales and poor internal communication were barriers. Based on the findings, we suggest (a) a need to evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration both within government and between sectors; (b) the importance of building capacity within local government staff, both in techno-scientific knowledge and in engaging the policy landscape with this knowledge; and (c) the importance of further considering how BES conservation may relate to culturally meaningful practices

The role of intergovernmental relations in response to a wicked problem: An analysis of the COVID-19 crisis in the BRICS countries

Globally, policy environments have become increasingly more complex with the growth in the number of wicked problems, such as that posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In their response to these problems, public administrations have, from necessity, become heavily reliant on their intergovernmental relations systems, as the challenges posed generally require multilevel responses. This paper analyzes the role of intergovernmental relations in shaping the responses of the BRICS countries when confronted with COVID-19. We develop an analytical framework to understand the dynamics of intergovernmental relations in these countries. Based on this we assess the capacity of the state and political systems to manage intergovernmental relations and ensure effective responses to the COVID-19 crisis. This framework is based on an analysis of three dimensions of the policy domain: the political and state system, formal and informal institutions, and the political alignment between them. Whilst state and political systems were found to be instrumental in formulating an immediate response to the crisis, informal institutions and political processes also played a prominent role in determining the extent to which strategies were implemented, particularly in countries that are more decentralized. Countries lacking the robust formal institutions needed to facilitate intergovernmental relations and to ensure swift policy responses, tend to deliver ineffective and inefficient results when confronted with wicked problems

Local Heat Stroke Prevention Plans in Japan: Characteristics and Elements for Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change

The adverse health effects from hot weather and heat waves represent significant public health risks in vulnerable areas worldwide. Rising temperatures due to climate change are aggravating these risks in a context of fast urbanization, population growth and societal ageing. However, environmental heat-related health effects are largely preventable through adequate preparedness and responses. Public health adaptation to climate change will often require the implementation of heat wave warning systems and targeted preventive activities at different levels. While several national governments have established such systems at the country level, municipalities do not generally play a major role in the prevention of heat disorders. This paper analyzes selected examples of locally operated heat-health prevention plans in Japan. The analysis of these plans highlights their strengths, but also the need of local institutions for assistance to make the transition towards an effective public health management of high temperatures and heat waves. It can also provide useful elements for municipal governments in vulnerable areas, both in planning their climate change and health adaptation activities or to better protect their communities against current health effects from heat