Views of the City: Multiple pathways to sustainable transport futures

In this paper we look behind the notion of sustainable transport and highlight the tensions and contradictions between the different ways of achieving this. The paper examines transportation plans for a major UK city and describes how these develop the idea and practice of sustainable transport and demand management along three quite distinct trajectories. By focusing on both the technological and the institutional dimensions of three different routes to sustainable transport, the analysis explicates the different ways in which the urban transport problem is framed, the different socio-technical logics of demand management embodied in the plans and the differing ways in which institutional relationships are (re)constituted. A key finding is that technological and institutional innovations are inversely related so that radical technological innovation often serves to reinforce existing social relations of power and exclusion. The conclusion drawn is that the choice is not just between a sustainable and an unsustainable transport future, but also between different forms of sustainability.     

Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures

This paper presents the local institutional and organizational development insights from a five-year ongoing interdisciplinary research project focused on advancing the implementation of sustainable urban water management. While it is broadly acknowledged that the inertia associated with administrative systems is possibly the most significant obstacle to advancing sustainable urban water management, contemporary research still largely prioritizes investigations at the technological level. This research is explicitly concerned with critically informing the design of methodologies for mobilizing and overcoming the administrative inertia of traditional urban water management practice. The results of fourteen in-depth case studies of local government organizations across Metropolitan Sydney primarily reveal that (i) the political institutionalization of environmental concern and (ii) the commitment to local leadership and organizational learning are key corporate attributes for enabling sustainable management. A typology of five organizational development phases has been proposed as both a heuristic and capacity benchmarking tool for urban water strategists, policy makers, and decision makers that are focused on improving the level of local implementation of sustainable urban water management activity. While this investigation has focused on local government, these findings do provide guideposts for assessing the development needs of future capacity building programs across a range of different institutional contexts.     

Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning

Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable development (SD). RM follows the principle of circular causation, and we reflect on to what extent RM has been an element for urban planning. Since the existence of the first settlements, a close relationship between RM, urbanization and technological development has been present. RM followed the demand for urban resources like water, energy, and food. In history, RM has been fostered by innovation and technology developments and has driven population growth and urbanization. Recent massive resource demand, especially in relation to energy and material flows, has altered natural ecosystems and has resulted in environmental degradation. UP has developed separately in response to different questions. UP followed the demand for improved living conditions, often associated to safety, good manufacturing and trading conditions and appropriate sanitation and waste management. In history UP has been a developing research area, especially since the industrial era and the related strong urbanization at the end of the 18th century. UP responded to new emerging problems in urban areas and became increasingly complex. Nowadays, UP has to address many objectives that are often conflicting, including, the urban sustainability. Our current urban un-sustainability is rooted in massive resource consumption and waste production beyond natural limits, and the absence of flows from waste to resources. Therefore, sustainable urban development requires integration of RM into UP. We propose new ways to this integration.     

Collective action in water-point management: The case of pastoral and agropastoral communities in eastern Ethiopia

This paper explores collective activities in water-point management by pastoral and agropastoral herders. It examines conditions that strengthen or weaken cooperative behaviour. By employing a comparative case study approach, the paper covers three types of water-points: ponds, cisterns and water wells. Results show that factors beyond the expectation of economic benefits influence the development of cooperative behaviour, including embedded social relationships, which provide a basis for sanctions. However, the absence of clear allocation rules and of secure property rights discourages sustained contribution of inputs. The study also finds that the contribution, and the ultimate benefits gained, by the members of the group are dependent on limited technological options and other attributes of the water-points they manage. Interestingly, divergence of interests (between economic elites and poor herders) in institutional change precluding the establishment of cisterns negatively affects the livelihoods of the poor (agro) pastoralists. Where internal capacity is limited, assisted collective action that builds on diverse local interests could contribute to sustainable management of collectively used water-points. The study concludes that both economic incentives and socio-cultural norms affect collective action in a more complex way than the theory of determinants of collective action predicts.     

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN THE MIDDLE EAST1

ABSTRACT: Water is, and most likely will continue to be, one of the main concerns and potential causes of instability in the Middle East (ME). The contribution of the existing renewable water resources is limited and can not fulfill the long-term projected gap between water supply and demand for most of the countries in the ME. An integrated regional approach for fulfilling this gap was preferred. A regional institutional framework was proposed for the implementation of this integrated regional approach and consists of a regional water board operating through three units for technical, implementation, and management aspects of project and activities. An analysis of the regional water supply and demand development, the design and policy making of the proposed institution, technology and water markets, cooperation, actors and beneficiaries, finances, and expected obstacles and constraints to the establishment and sustainable operation of the proposed institution are included.     

Institutional development for sustainable rangeland resource and ecosystem management in mountainous areas of northern Nepal

Rangelands represent one of the most important natural resources in mountainous regions of northern Nepal. However, a poor understanding of the social dimensions of rangeland use has limited their proper management and sustainable development, which represent major challenges for Nepal's resource managers. Institutional development is thought to be a viable solution to this problem and may ultimately lead to improved rangeland management in Nepal. Based on this hypothesis, a study was conduced in the Rasuwa district of northern Nepal to examine the effectiveness of institutional development at the local and national levels in mitigating the problems facing sustainable rangeland management by using an institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. The information and data were mainly collected from different stakeholders, farmers, professionals and practitioners using a toolkit of participatory rural appraisal (PRA), workshops and literature review. It can be concluded from this case study that a number of institutional development efforts are needed to promote sustainable rangeland management in this region. First, local herders represent a repository of rich indigenous knowledge essential to sustaining sound rangeland management practices; hence, indigenous practices need to be integrated into modern technologies. Second, public services and technical support are currently unavailable or inaccessible to local herders; hence, research, development and extension interventions need to be initiated for marginalized pastoral communities. Third, rangeland institutions are incomplete and ill-organized, so institutional development of various organizations is necessary for promoting sustainable rangeland management. Fourth, the policies and governance necessary for promoting rangeland management are not well-designed; hence, governance reform and policy development need to be formulated through internal and external agencies and organizations.     

Sustainable Water Quality Management Framework and a Strategy Planning System for a River Basin

In Taiwan, the authorities have spent years working on remedying polluted rivers. Generally, the remediation planning works are divided into two phases. During the first phase, the allowed pollution discharge quantity and abatement quantity of each drainage zone, including the assimilative capacity, are generated based on the total river basin. In the second phase, the abatement action plans for each pollution source in each drainage zone are respectively devised by the related organizations based on the strategies generated during the first phase. However, the effectiveness of linking the two phases is usually poor. Highly integrated performances are not always achieved because the separate two-phase method does not take system and management thinking into consideration in the planning stage. This study pioneers the use of the Managing for Results (MFR) method in planning strategies and action plans for river water quality management. A sustainable management framework is proposed based on the concept and method of MFR, Management Thinking, and System Analysis. The framework, consisting of planning, implementation, and controlling stages, systematically considers the relationships and interactions among four factors: environment, society, economy, and institution, based on the principles of sustainable development. Based on the framework, the Modified Bounded Implicit Enumeration algorithm, which is used as a solving method, is combined with Visual Basic software and MS Excel to develop a computer system for strategy planning. The Shetzu River, located in northern Taiwan, is applied as a case study. According to the theoretical, practical, and regulatory considerations, the result-oriented objectives are defined to first improve the pollution length of the Shetzu River in specific remediation periods to finally meet regulated water quality standards. The objectives are then addressed as some of the constraints for the strategy planning model. The model objective is to pursue the maximum assimilative capacity (environmental phase) subjected to the constraints of water quality standards (institutional phase), social equity (social phase), and proper available technology (economic phase). The pollution quantity abatement and allocation, which are named the top strategies, of each drainage zone for different scenarios can be obtained based on each water quality standard. The middle as well as lower strategies and action plans, which consist of pollution quantity abatement and allocation of each class (domestic, industrial, livestock, and non-point pollution sources) and their individual pollution sources in each drainage zone, are then generated based on the top strategies. The performance indicators and measure plans are proposed based on the action plans to promote the comprehensive effectiveness of river water quality management. The authorities have begun to develop a budget based on the strategies and action plans developed in this study. The analytical results indicate that the objectives, strategies, and action plans developed based on the sustainable management framework and strategy planning system can effectively help the related authorities to fulfill the tasks of water quality management for a river basin.     

Major Ecosystems in China: Dynamics and Challenges for Sustainable Management

Ecosystems, though impacted by global environmental change, can also contribute to the adaptation and mitigation of such large scale changes. Therefore, sustainable ecosystem management is crucial in reaching a sustainable future for the biosphere. Based on the published literature and publicly accessible data, this paper discussed the status and trends of forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystems in China that play important roles in the ecological integrity and human welfare of the nation. Ecological degradation has been observed in these ecosystems at various levels and geographic locations. Biophysical (e.g., climate change) and socioeconomic factors (e.g., intensive human use) are the main reasons for ecosystem degradation with the latter factors serving as the dominant driving forces. The three broad categories of ecosystems in China have partially recovered from degradation thanks to large scale ecological restoration projects implemented in the last few decades. China, as the largest and most populated developing nation, still faces huge challenges regarding ecosystem management in a changing and globalizing world. To further improve ecosystem management in China, four recommendations were proposed, including: (1) advance ecosystem management towards an application-oriented, multidisciplinary science; (2) establish a well-functioning national ecological monitoring and data sharing mechanism; (3) develop impact and effectiveness assessment approaches for policies, plans, and ecological restoration projects; and (4) promote legal and institutional innovations to balance the intrinsic needs of ecological and socioeconomic systems. Any change in China’s ecosystem management approach towards a more sustainable one will benefit the whole world. Therefore, international collaborations on ecological and environmental issues need to be expanded.     

WATER CONSERVATION IN CASABLANCA,MOROCCO1

ABSTRACT: This study examines water consumption characteristics in Casablanca and analyzes approaches for sustainable water demand management. Research procedures involve the development and estimation of water demand models for the residential/commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors; forecasts of water demand to 2010; and simulation of the effects of a complex of water conservation methods on the forecasted demands. The results indicate that residential/commercial water demand is weakly responsive to price changes (elasticity =?0.448) while institutional water demand is slightly more responsive (elasticity =?0.648). The conservation approaches used in the simulations included public education, plumbing code revisions to require use of water conservation devices, leak detection and repair, pricing policy, metering, and pressure reduction. The results indicate that considerable saving in water use can be attained through a comprehensive water demand management program.     

The tenth dragon: controlled seasonal flooding in long-term policy plans for the Vietnamese Mekong delta

Recently the Vietnamese government has endorsed a long-term policy plan in which it is proposed to restore controlled seasonal flooding in the upper regions of the Vietnamese part of the Mekong delta. Restoring controlled flooding would contrast a period of several decades characterized by a dominant flood prevention approach to enable intensive rice production in the delta. This article investigates a series of long-term policy plans, which have been developed for the Mekong delta since the 1960s, on their take on flood control sensu flood prevention, or the opposite, controlled seasonal flooding. By doing so it is demonstrated how perspectives on flood management have gradually evolved and, in the specific case of suggesting controlled flooding, have been framed in various ways by various actors. Contemporary proposals for controlled seasonal flooding are supported by actors ranging from governmental institutes to environmental NGOs, and connect to on-going debates about environmental challenges and sustainable development of the Mekong delta. We adopt a systems approach to analyze social, environmental and technological dynamics in the Mekong delta, and discuss whether the different interpretations of controlled flooding may contribute to the long-term sustainability of the delta.     

Reducing conflict over the Danube waters: equitable utilization and sustainable development

This paper develops the idea that the principle of equitable utilization must be applied in concert with sustainable water use not only in the resolution of specific disputes but in the cooperative management of water resources in general. It illustrates this point with two different cases involving the use of the Danube River. The first is the conflict over the Gabcikovo Nagymaros Dam, which now rests before the International Court of Justice. The author argues that a narrow legal ruling that fails to take into account broader issues of equitable utilization as they relate to sustainable development will not satisfactorily address the long-term questions at stake between the parties. The second involves the situation in the Danube Delta where the potential for conflict exists, but may be minimized through the convention and institutional framework developed to address the environmental degradation and pollution of the Danube River basin, which is based in part on the principle of equitable utilization and the goal of achieving more sustainable water use. The paper provides a brief overview of the geographical features of the Danube River and international water law. It then explores the principle of equitable utilization and sustainable water use in light of the two cases and discusses the implications for the resolution and management of conflicts involving internationally shared water courses.     

Local 'Barriers' to Environmentally Sustainable Transport Planning

Rapid changes are occurring in the rhetoric and practice of transport planning in the UK. Driven by ever increasing road congestion and growing awareness of the impact of road transport on the environment, a consensus is said to be emerging over the implementation of a new approach to UK transport planning centred on managing the demand for road travel rather than catering for it. This paper explores the depth and breadth of the penetration of this new consensus in relation to policy making in central government and in three local case-study areas. The paper charts the factors that have shifted transport policy direction and are contributing to and inhibiting the adoption of a new demand management approach. It concludes by stating that whilst definitive shifts in transport-planning rhetoric and practice have occurred in recent times, shifts toward demand management have been slow due in particular to local cultural and political difficulties. These persist in many localities and in similar policy areas and an awareness of these is useful in highlighting difficulties in the adoption of environmental sustainability agendas in other policy fields.     

Managing the intractable: communicative structures for management of hexachlorobenzene and other scheduled wastes

This paper explores issues of governance and decision-making structures associated with the problem of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) waste at Botany in New South Wales. From a government perspective, the problem is ‘downstream’ of a well-known national controversy over whether Australia should have a high-temperature incinerator (HTI) to ‘dispose’ of such scheduled wastes. The 1992 decision not to proceed with HTI followed an extensive process of public consultation, which, against the expectations of industry and government, saw the emergence of Australia-wide community opposition. Alternative national management plans were formulated for the treatment of several types of organochlorine waste, with the scheme of these plans first approved in 1993 by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). The HCB Management Plan is one of three such plans (the others being for PCBs and organochlorine pesticides). With this, ANZECC established the Scheduled Waste Management Group comprising government officials, and the National Advisory Body (NAB) made up of stakeholders. Officially the NAB had oversight of the HCB problem until 2002 when it was disbanded. As a result of the HTI experience, new community consultation protocols were introduced in association with the alternative management plans. For HCBs, which are confined almost entirely to Orica's Botany site in southeastern Sydney, this led to the establishment of the Community Participation and Review Committee (CPRC), a representative body with review and advisory functions. This paper draws conclusions from this history about government processes of decision making, the role of individual and institutional actors, the central importance of trust, and the democratisation of risk management. Using concepts delineated by McDonell [1991. Toxic waste management in Australia: why did policy reform fail? Environment 33(6), 11–13, 33–39; 1997. Scientific and everyday knowledge: trust and the politics of environmental initiatives. Social Studies of Science 27, 819–863.] we identify swings towards, then away from institutionalised trust. Across two decades, government and industry have placed faith in centrally controlled mechanisms for public participation, hoping to garner trust and legitimate privileged technological solutions. On the ‘backswings’, these processes have seen public trust dissipate in the face of government misunderstanding of the opportunities for effective bureaucratic interventions.     

New Criteria for Sustainable Water Quality Management1

Abstract: New criteria, pollutant load of unit area (PLUA), are developed for sustainable water quality management, which not only avoids degrading water quality but also considers the equity of development between different generations. A simulation‐optimization model is established to determine PLUA, in which uses the QUAL2E model to simulate pollutant transport and formulates a linear programming model to optimize the objective of maximal loads (carrying capacity). Two watersheds, the Touchen creek and the Keya creek, both in Taiwan, are taken as case studies. The PLUA criterion is applied to several existing projects which have passed environmental impact assessment (EIA). The results show that if the Hsinchu Science‐Based Industrial Park discharges wastewater to the Touchen creek, the total pollutant discharge of 85.6 kg/day exceeds the allocated load. Consequently, a waste reduction of at least 23.4% is required. Although these existing projects have passed EIA, most of them violate the criterion of PLUA and thus contribute to continued degradation of water quality. This study suggests developing PLUA as a part of the process of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for watershed management plans and then applying it to EIA as a criterion for new project assessment. Furthermore, if carrying capacities of all pollutant discharges and resource uses can be translated into loads per unit of area, an integrated sustainable watershed management plan can be developed.     

Impediments to Integrated Urban Stormwater Management: The Need for Institutional Reform

It is now well established that the traditional practice of urban stormwater management contributes to the degradation of receiving waterways, and this practice was more recently critiqued for facilitating the wastage of a valuable water resource. However, despite significant advances in alternative “integrated urban stormwater management” techniques and processes over the last 20 years, wide-scale implementation has been limited. This problem is indicative of broader institutional impediments that are beyond current concerns of strengthening technological and planning process expertise. Presented here is an analysis of the institutionalization of urban stormwater management across Sydney with the objective of scoping institutional impediments to more sustainable management approaches. The analysis reveals that the inertia with the public administration of urban stormwater inherently privileges and perpetuates traditional stormwater management practices at implementation. This inertia is characterized by historically entrained forms of technocratic institutional power and expertise, values and leadership, and structure and jurisdiction posing significant impediments to change and the realization of integrated urban stormwater management. These insights strongly point to the need for institutional change specifically directed at fostering horizontal integration of the various functions of the existing administrative regime. This would need to be underpinned with capacity-building interventions targeted at enabling a learning culture that values integration and participatory decision making. These insights also provide guideposts for assessing the institutional and capacity development needs for improving urban water management practices in other contexts.     

Local 'Barriers' to Environmentally Sustainable Transport Planning

Rapid changes are occurring in the rhetoric and practice of transport planning in the UK. Driven by ever increasing road congestion and growing awareness of the impact of road transport on the environment, a consensus is said to be emerging over the implementation of a new approach to UK transport planning centred on managing the demand for road travel rather than catering for it. This paper explores the depth and breadth of the penetration of this new consensus in relation to policy making in central government and in three local case-study areas. The paper charts the factors that have shifted transport policy direction and are contributing to and inhibiting the adoption of a new demand management approach. It concludes by stating that whilst definitive shifts in transport-planning rhetoric and practice have occurred in recent times, shifts toward demand management have been slow due in particular to local cultural and political difficulties. These persist in many localities and in similar policy areas and an awareness of these is useful in highlighting difficulties in the adoption of environmental sustainability agendas in other policy fields.     

The institutional complexity of environmental policy and planning problems: the example of Mediterranean desertification

Environmental policy and planning problems are inherently complex societal problems whose solution requires the deployment of particular combinations of environmental and human resources to achieve sustainable socio-spatial development. Resources are subject, however, to diverse resource regimes. A stumbling block in devising and implementing solutions is the variance between actual resource regimes and those associated with proposed plans and policies as well as the possibility of combining them optimally. The paper explores how the institutional setting—the numerous and diverse actors and resource regimes involved—affects the output and outcomes of the principal stages of the policy and planning process, it offers proposals for institutional change and it suggests future research directions. Desertification control is analyzed as an illustrative example of a domain where institutional complexity is pronounced and crucial for the feasibility and effectiveness of policy and planning interventions.     

The Environmental Appraisal of National Park Management Plans in England and Wales

The Countryside Agency has recommended that national park authorities (NPAs) undertake an environmental appraisal of their national park management plans. A study of the appraisal practices of the NPAs of England and Wales has shown that, despite this guidance, the practice of environmental appraisal is uncommon but that a culture of applying sustainability appraisal is evolving. It is argued that the most likely explanation for this situation is the increasing influence of the concept of sustainable development on the workings of the national park management system. This broad policy development has manifested itself in a variety of ways, including the production of government guidance relating to sustainability appraisal and changes in best practice, each of which have influenced appraisal procedures in national parks. The wider implications of, and drivers behind, the evolution of appraisal procedure towards sustainability appraisal are thus identified and then discussed.     

User Perceptions and Attitudes on Sustainable Urban Transport among Young Adults: Findings from Copenhagen,Budapest and Karlsruhe

Abstract

This paper addresses the relevance of the demand side for the achievement of sustainable transport in urban areas. The underlying thesis is that a better understanding of user habits, perceptions and attitudes with its specific dynamics is essential for a successful design of targeted transport policies. In line with this, the paper at hand is based on research that aims at improving the knowledge of urban-transport-related habits and attitudes of young adults. The results of three interview meetings that were held in Karlsruhe, Budapest, and Copenhagen with participants aged between 20 and 30 are presented. Background of the interviews is a range of studies that indicate that young people in urban areas seem to be less interested in cars than the generation before. And indeed, the interview meetings reveal that participants had a rather pragmatic attitude towards transport modes. They wished a transport system that is flexible, convenient and cheap. Despite many differences, most participants showed rather positive attitudes towards policies supporting alternatives to car-based transport. However, it will be crucial for policy shaping to what extent the observed behaviour patterns and attitudes will persist over time.     

Towards sustainability management systems in three Swedish local authorities

This paper explores the development towards sustainability management systems (SMSs) in three Swedish local authorities. Many local authorities have extensive experience in using standardised Environmental Management Systems (EMSs). Recently EMSs have extended their reach by widening the scope of the systems including other dimensions of sustainable development. Case studies have been performed in three of the most EMS-experienced local authorities in Sweden. These authorities have extended their EMSs into a sustainability management approach in different ways. This paper discusses the development, possible contributions, and constraints with this development. Expanding EMSs into SMSs can be seen as a learning process in which a larger systems perspective leads to increased awareness that the management system becomes limited by only managing environmental issues. Expanding the EMSs into SMSs may lead to a more complete view of the organisation's total impact on nature and society, and issues that need to be managed.