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Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 43107

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Bharat Dahiya

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Guest Editor

1. Research Center for Sustainable Development and Innovation, School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand
2. School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Interests: sustainable urbanization; urban development; urban innovation and sustainability; inclusive urban upgrading; urban and territorial planning; city development strategies; urban environment; urban ecology; climate change and resilient cities; urban commons; cultural landscapes; urban landscapes, heritage and tourism; urban youth; public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships; capacity development; urban management; collaborative urban governance; smart cities and competitiveness; metropolitan development, management and governance; urban geography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Jonathan Parkinson

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Guest Editor

Cities and Resilient Development, IMC Worldwide Ltd, Redhill, UK
Interests: Integrated urban water management; sanitation and waste management; municipal services and resilient infrastructure; strategic planning and institutional development; public-private partnerships; financing and market-based programming

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are the nexus of economic growth, demographic expansion, social inequality, and growing carbon emissions and pollution [1-3], and they act as urban commons [4]. Environmental degradation, the worsening impacts of global warming, climate change, and the natural hazards and disaster risks expose urban vulnerability and ‘hot spots’ [5-6]. In response to these challenges, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (including the SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the Paris Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction underline the importance of integrated approaches towards achieving sustainability and resilience [7-11]. These goals focus on improving the circular economy, environment, and equity and social inclusion, and require the design and implementation of innovative, smart, and green solutions [12]. We consider ‘smart’ not necessarily to be high-tech but to be related to the development and application of technological and other solutions that are appropriate and affordable within the context in which they are proposed and applied [13].

Within this context, the overarching scope of this Special Issue, “Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice,” offers an interdisciplinary platform to explore, present, and discuss new knowledge from around the world. We invite submissions that assess and analyze not only the latest advances towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 11 on inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements [14], but also on smart, healthy and liveable cities. Within the currently evolving context of global pandemic, we invite papers that envision cities of the future in the post Covid-19 world [15], with an accent on improved foresight, planning, policy and decision-making. We particularly welcome contributions that examine and/or review the latest findings and progress made with regard to the various dimensions of sustainable and resilient urban development.

References:

Haase, D.; Guneralp, B.; Dahiya, B.; Bai, X.; Elmqvist, T. (2018) ‘Global Urbanization: Perspectives and Trends’, In T. Elmqvist, X. Bai, N. Frantzeskaki, C. Griffith, D. Maddox, T. McPhearson, S. Parnell, P. Romero-Lankao, D. Simon, and M. Watkins (Eds.) Urban Planet: Knowledge Towards Sustainable Cities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp.19-44. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316647554.003
UN-HABITAT (2016) World Cities Report 2016—Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures. UN-HABITAT: Nairobi. ISBN 9789211327083.
Keivani, R. (2010) A review of the main challenges to urban sustainability, International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 1:1-2, 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463131003704213
Foster, Sheila and Iaione, Christian (2016) The City as a Commons. 34 Yale Law & Policy Review. 281. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2653084 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2653084
UNDRR (2019) Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR): Geneva. eISBN 9789210041805.
Jackson RB; Le Quéré C; Andrew RM; Canadell JG; Korsbakken JI; Liu Z; Peters GP; Zheng B; Friedlingstein P (2019) Global Energy Growth Is Outpacing Decarbonization. A special report for the United Nations Climate Action Summit September 2019. Global Carbon Project, International Project Office, Canberra Australia.
United Nations (2015) Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld/publication
United Nations (2017) New Urban Agenda. New York, NY: United Nations. Available at: http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf
UNFCCC (2015) Paris Agreement. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf
United Nations (2015) Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. A/RES/69/313. Available at: https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AAAA_Outcome.pdf
UNDRR (2015) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR): Geneva. Retrieved from https://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf
Sandhu, S.C.; Naik Singru, R.; Bachmann, J.; Vaideeswaran, S.; Arnoux, P. (2016) GrEEEn Solutions for Livable Cities; Asian Development Bank: Mandaluyong City, Philippines; ISBN 978-92-9257-350-8 (Print), 978-92-9257-351-5 (e-ISBN).
Vinod Kumar T.M.; Dahiya B. (2017) Smart Economy in Smart Cities. In: Vinod Kumar T. (eds) Smart Economy in Smart Cities. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore, pp. 3-76. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1610-3_1
United Nations (2020) Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/
Le Quéré, C., Jackson, R.B., Jones, M.W. et al. (2020) Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0797-x

Extraordinary Prof. Bharat Dahiya
Dr. Jonathan Parkinson
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Sustainable urban development
Urban resilience
SDG 11
Urban commons
Inclusive urban development
Urban infrastructure and services
Strategic, physical and action planning
Urban poverty
Participatory urban upgrading
Collaborative urban governance
Multi-stakeholder and public-private partnerships
Effective urban management
Urban policy and practice
Placemaking
Liveable cities
Green growth
Environmental Health
Circular Economy
Disaster risk reduction
Peri-urban issues
Smart cities
Urban and territorial planning
Southern and northern urban perspectives
Migration and urban growth
Urban geography
Urban toolkits

Published Papers (14 papers)

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21 pages, 5745 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Economic Resilience: Evidence from Resource-Based Cities in China

by Guozhu Li and Meichen Liu

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10434; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610434 - 22 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1910

Abstract

In the context of sustainable development, economic resilience provides a new research perspective for resource-based cities to resist external shocks and risks. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics and determinants of resource-based cities’ economic resilience in China, and to provide effective policy recommendations. This paper constructs an index system to measure the economic resilience of 114 resource-based cities in China from 2005 to 2019. This paper uses spatial analysis methods and the Theil index to reveal spatiotemporal evolution and regional disparities. Then, it uses the spatial Durbin model to reveal influencing factors from the perspective of spatial spillover effects. The conclusions are as follows: Firstly, the economic resilience of resource-based cities in China shows a growth trend. The spatial polarization of economic resilience in resource-based cities has intensified, showing a distribution pattern of high in the east and low in the west and northeast, with the cold spot of economic resilience moving from the southwest to the northeast. Secondly, the distribution of economic resilience in the eight economic regions is spatially heterogeneous. Inter-regional disparity is the main source of different economic resilience in the eight major economic regions. Thirdly, market potential and talent development potential are the direct drivers of economic resilience in resource-based cities. Nationalization, industrial specialization, and fiscal risk inhibit the development of economic resilience. Resource dependence not only hinders local innovation and transformation ability, but also negatively impacts the economic resilience of surrounding cities. Therefore, resource-based cities need to promote the diversification of industrial structures, and ensure resource allocation through the combination of the market and the government. At the same time, the government should build a new mechanism for coordinated regional development and open up the enclave economic model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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23 pages, 5393 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing an Integrated and Contextualized Planning and Design Framework for Livable Patterns of Urbanization in Chennai

by Kavya Suresh, Claudiu Forgaci and Dominic Stead

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10178; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610178 - 16 Aug 2022

Viewed by 2167

Abstract

This article analyses the urban conditions of Chennai, India, and takes a critical look at its planning framework by considering four main aspects: the ecological structures, urban morphology, mobility, and livability. To do so, the article examines policy documents, urban form, public perceptions, and daily mobility patterns. Specific attention is focused on three layers of the urban fabric: water and ecology, transport infrastructure, and housing. First, the city’s river restoration is critically assessed, with a focus on integrating the social dimension into the process. Second, the metro network is analyzed, specifically understanding its usage with respect to different user groups. Third, the densification pattern in different parts of the city is analyzed. Considering the layers of water, transport infrastructure, and housing together, the article sets out an alternative integrated approach to strategic design and planning in the city towards the goal of creating a more livable public realm. The proposed integrated framework, termed “supergrids” is a city-scale strategy that enables a large reconfiguration of the existing networks in the city, integration of ecological systems into the public space network, and a restructuring of movement patterns by upscaling the vehicular network, and aligning pedestrian connections with green networks, public transit, and important functions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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18 pages, 947 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Game-Theory-Based Interaction Mechanism between Central and Local Governments on Financing Model Selection in China

by Fusheng Xie and Lei Hang

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 9821; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169821 - 09 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1508

Abstract

Local financing platforms and (public–private partnerships) PPPs have received extensive attention, but there are few studies on the interaction mechanism of financing model selection. This paper presents a game-theory-based interaction mechanism of local financing platforms and a PPP model based on the government heterogeneity objective function. The study results found that the central government’s tolerance of local governments participating directly in municipal projects with financing platforms or PPP models mainly depends on land price premiums. When the premium is small, the collusion between local governments and financing platforms does not violate the objectives of the central government. Then, local and central governments prefer financing platforms to participate directly in municipal projects. In contrast, the local government prefers the financing platform model when the premium is significant. The central government no longer tolerates the financing platform model and prefers to complete municipal projects with the PPP model. This study believes that promoting the PPP model is a critical way to moderately resolve the debt risk of local government financing platforms and reduce the financial pressure on local governments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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19 pages, 6275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Pandemic Vulnerability and COVID-19: A New Framework to Assess the Impacts of Global Pandemics in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam

by Yaqi Wang, Rodrigo Viseu Cardoso and Claudiu Forgaci

Sustainability 2022, 14(7), 4284; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074284 - 04 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2498

Abstract

This paper presents the concept of urban pandemic vulnerability as a crucial framework for understanding how COVID-19 affects cities and how they react to pandemics. We adapted existing social and environmental urban vulnerability frameworks to assess pandemic impacts and responses, identifying the appropriate components and spatial, environmental and socio-demographic variables of interest. Pandemic vulnerability depends on exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity features, which occur in different combinations in different parts of a city. The model was applied to the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA) to create a map of pandemic vulnerability. This map differentiates between affected areas according to the types of vulnerability they experience, and it accurately identified the most vulnerable areas in line with real-world data. The findings contribute to clarifying the challenges brought by COVID-19, identifying vulnerability thresholds and guiding planning towards pandemic resilience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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18 pages, 346 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Saving or Seizing the City: Discursive Formations in Cape Town, South Africa

by Firoz Khan, Benedict Francis Higgins and Willan Adonis

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1376; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031376 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2965

Abstract

‘Neoliberalism’ is the dominant theme pervading numerous studies of post-apartheid urban development in Cape Town. This often renders invisible the many nuances and complexities embedded within its transitions. Via critically examining the assumption of the neoliberal usurpation of urban governance in Cape Town’s policy formation, this paper highlights critical historical contingencies from 1994; contingencies framing a discursive formation as less the choreographies of global capitalism and more the committed and sincere mobilisation of a local, grassroots movement to ‘save’ the city from urban decline. Largely unacknowledged in the literature, its exploration is crucial to transiting from a putative and omnipotent neoliberalism as a bottomless well of explanation to admitting and appreciating subjective agency in the origins, evolution and trajectory of the city’s urban development. This, in turn, furnishes insights about the metamorphosis and mutation of the original—ostensibly sincere—discursive formation into the particularly powerful and potent form of market-led urban regeneration sponsored in Cape Town today. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

26 pages, 1194 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Temporal and Spatial Differentiation in Urban Resilience and Its Influencing Factors in Henan Province

by Lu Liu, Yun Luo, Jingjing Pei, Huiquan Wang, Jixia Li and Ying Li

Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12460; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212460 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2666

Abstract

Building resilient cities is playing an increasingly important role in enhancing urban safety and promoting sustainable urban development. However, few scholars pay attention to urban resilience in inland provinces. Choosing Henan Province, as it is a typical representative of China’s major inland economic provinces, has practical guiding significance. This study aims to provide a systematic indicator system and evaluation tool to measure the cuity’s resilience level. Therefore, based on a multidimensional perspective, this paper dissects the urban resilience spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of 18 Henan Province cities with the entropy method, Thiel index, and ESDA (Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis) and explores influencing factors with a spatial econometric model. The main results are as follows: (1) the overall resilience in Henan Province continuously grows, and the resilience level of the Zhengzhou metropolitan area is the highest. In the urban resilience subsystem, economic and social resilience notably drive urban resilience improvement in Henan Province. (2) The spatial difference of urban resilience has been significantly reduced, but the inner metropolitan area presents the characteristics of “core–periphery”. Urban resilience presents a positive spatial correlation, and local spatial agglomeration is relatively stable. (3) Under the state of spatial interaction, urbanization rate, administrative, innovation, market, and industrial structure factors all have significant direct effects and spatial spillover effects on overall resilience, but openness exerts downward pressure on local resilience. (4) On this basis, strategies have been proposed to continuously promote the development of new urbanization, improve the regional coordinated development mechanism, increase market activity, optimize the environment for scientific and educational innovation, and promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure. The approach taken in this research may also be useful for developing urban resilience assessment tools in other central plains cities as well as in other cities in the interior of the world with similar conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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15 pages, 481 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Complex Relationship between Capacity and Infrastructure Project Delivery: The Case of the Indian National Urban Renewal Mission

by Yehyun An, Ralph P. Hall and Taekwan Yoon

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9356; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169356 - 20 Aug 2021

Viewed by 1790

Abstract

Capacity development (CD) interventions are becoming a vital component of development projects. However, there is a lack of information about the relationships between capacity and project delivery. This paper presents the results of a study of how CD was applied to one of India’s largest urban infrastructure programs. While the Indian government considered a lack of capacity to be the main problem in project delivery, there is little evidence that explains the relationships between capacity and project delivery. This study analyzes the content of 58 interviews with project engineers, managers, and administrators about the hurdles they experienced at each stage of project delivery and seeks to understand these hurdles through the lens of CD. The study identifies the influence of capacity factors on project delivery and the converse influence of project performance and outcomes on CD. Ultimately, this study reveals the complex two-way interactions between capacity and project delivery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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16 pages, 1917 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Neighborhood Effects of a Place-Based Policy—Causal Evidence from Atlanta’s Economic Development Priority Areas

by Yuxi Luo, Zhaohua Zhang, Jun Zheng and Diane Hite

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6808; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126808 - 16 Jun 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1477

Abstract

Place-based policies refer to government efforts to enhance the economic performance of an area within its jurisdiction. Applying various difference in differences strategies, this study evaluates the neighborhood effects of a place-based policy—the Economic Development Priority Areas (EDPA) of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Since the census block groups are locally defined and the boundaries may change over time, we defined the neighborhoods by creating a set of 0.25-mile- diameter circles evenly distributed across Atlanta, and used the created buffers as the comparison unit. The empirical estimates showed that EDPA designation significantly reduced poverty rate and increased housing price of EDPA neighborhoods but had no beneficial effects on population size and employment rate. The heterogeneous analysis with respect to different initial economic status of the neighborhoods showed a relative larger and significant effect of EDPA designation on low-income neighborhoods. The increasing labor demand induced by EDPA designation in low-income neighborhoods attracted more population to migrate in and put upward pressure on housing prices. The estimation results are robust when replacing the 0.25-mile-diameter circle neighborhoods with 0.5-mile-diameter circle neighborhoods. Although we found some positive effects of the EDPA program in Atlanta, it would be misguided to assume similar effects occur in other areas implementing place-based policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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14 pages, 1718 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Examining the Use of Serious Games for Enhancing Community Resilience to Climate Risks in Thailand

by Wijitbusaba Marome, Boonanan Natakun and Diane Archer

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4420; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084420 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2959

Abstract

This paper presents the ‘Kin Dee You Dee’ (Thai for ‘Eat well, live well’) toolkit, which comprises three sets of serious games aimed at facilitating discussions and transformative learning on resilience to urban low-income communities. The first stage of the toolkit creates awareness of key concepts related to resilience, the second stage allows participants to map individual and community assets and identify risks associated with them, and the final stage encourages participants to reflect upon potential threats and to create a strategic plan in response. The study examines the toolkit’s potential in increasing meaningful community engagement and participation, and enhancing disaster risk awareness through the application of the toolkit in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region and Udon Thani province, which are areas that are highly exposed to climate risks. This paper presents the concepts, development and application of the ‘Kin Dee You Dee’ toolkit, concluding that it is a useful tool that can allow policymakers and other involved stakeholders in city development projects to engage with communities and increase risk awareness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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17 pages, 2552 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does One Decade of Urban Policy for the Shrinking City Make Visible Progress in Urban Re-Urbanization? A Case Study of Bytom, Poland

by Iwona Kantor-Pietraga

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4408; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084408 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2457

Abstract

Planning and managing the declining fortunes of shrinking cities are essential in shaping urban policy in post-industrial urban societies, especially in Central and Eastern European states. Many studies emphasize city management and redevelopment as important policy constituencies for driving revitalization. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about policy-making and the underlying political and socio-economic disagreements that impact successful measures to reverse urbanization and regenerate post-industrial cities. This paper provides a case of urban policy-making for Bytom—a severely shrinking city in southern Poland. This article aims to clarify the mismatch between the city’s policy and the socio-economic situation Bytom after 2010. This discrepancy could have weakened effective policy to address shrinkage and revitalization. Statistical and cartographic methods (choropleth maps) helped analyze the socio-economic changes in Bytom and its shrinking. The issues related to the city’s policy were based primarily on free-form interviews and the analysis of municipal and regional documents concerning Bytom. The conducted research shows the need for concerted and coordinated policy direction that considers the real possibilities of implementing pro-development projects. Such expectations also result from the opinions of local communities. Finding a compromise between the idea of active support for projects implemented in a shrinking city and an appropriate urban policy is expected. Such an approach also requires further strengthening of social and economic participation in local and regional governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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16 pages, 3443 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Migrants’ Narratives on Urban Governance: A Case from Kolkata, a City of the Global South

by Anuradha Chakrabarti, Reena Tiwari and Haimanti Banerji

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 1009; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13021009 - 19 Jan 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3428

Abstract

The paper aims to reveal the politics of urban governance and the associated impact on the lives of disenfranchised migrants. It critically explores the urban governance structure and the nature of practices involved in the cycle of settlement, eviction, resistance and resettlement. The case of Nonadanga, located at the urban margin of Kolkata, India, was explored for this purpose. An ethnographic methodology comprising observation, semi-structured interviews and oral history was adopted for the research. Twelve squatter dwellers and four experts working in Nonadanga and Kolkata were interviewed for this purpose. A three-step data analysis comprising a narrative approach, thematic network analysis and validation was adopted. A critical review of inclusive practices, together with ethnographic survey findings, demonstrates that migrants live in a condition the paper calls “partial rights”, which is a manifestation of the dialectics of inclusiveness practiced by the urban governance structure and derived from the interaction between urban governance structure and migrants’ agency. By analyzing past development trends, the paper outlines possible future scenarios for migrants’ living conditions and discusses their impact on achieving the targeted Sustainable Development Goal 11 for inclusive cities by 2030. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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22 pages, 1784 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Building Local Institutional Capacities for Urban Flood Adaptation: Lessons from the Water as Leverage Program in Semarang, Indonesia

by Naim Laeni, Margo van den Brink, Tim Busscher, Henk Ovink and Jos Arts

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 10104; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310104 - 03 Dec 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3538

Abstract

Cities in Southeast Asia face various institutional barriers to cope with climate and water-related challenges. Several international programs for urban flood resilience therefore stress the importance of local institutional capacity building in initiating and delivering flood adaptation solutions. However, research to provide insights and recommendations into whether and how such international resilience programs could enable the building of local institutional capacities remains scarce. To bridge this gap, this paper presents an analytical framework to study institutional capacity building by international resilience programs, focusing on intellectual, social and political capital. The central case is the development and implementation of the Water as Leverage (WaL) program in Semarang, Indonesia. Our main results show that this program was able to stimulate the integration of knowledge, building of local coalitions and creation of adaptation narratives, which contributed to developing six strategic climate resilience proposals. This paper reflects on institutional strengths and weaknesses, and concludes that although the WaL program introduced an innovative approach for collaboration between international experts, urban designers and local stakeholders, sustaining momentum for the reflexive learning process, involving city-based NGOs and establishing formal links with decision makers were key challenges that hindered the development of institutional capacities to implement the developed proposals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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Review

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24 pages, 1840 KiB

Open AccessReview

Transformation towards Risk-Sensitive Urban Development: A Systematic Review of the Issues and Challenges

by Ahmad Farhan Roslan, Terrence Fernando, Sara Biscaya and Noralfishah Sulaiman

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10631; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910631 - 24 Sep 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3344

Abstract

Risk-sensitive urban development is an innovative planning approach that can transform the way cities are built in order to face the uncertainties that arise from climate-induced disaster risks. However, the potential to initiate such a transformative approach has not materialized because of the many underlying issues that need to be understood properly. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic review to gather empirical evidence on the issues and challenges in implementing risk-sensitive urban development. The study identified forty-six issues and challenges under seven key themes that need addressing in order to facilitate the desirable transition: trade-offs, governance, fragmentation and silos, capacity, design and development, data, and funding. The issues and challenges that exist under trade-offs for negotiating solutions for risk-sensitive urban development and the governance of multiple stakeholders were identified as the top two areas that need attention in facilitating the desirable transition. This study also revealed that important information, such as scientific information, hazard and risk information, temporal and spatial information, and critical local details are not being produced and shared between stakeholders in decision-making. A profound participatory process that involves all the stakeholders in the decision-making process was identified as the pathway to ensure equitable outcomes in risk-sensitive urban development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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Other

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28 pages, 5353 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Mapping Participatory Methods in the Urban Development Process: A Systematic Review and Case-Based Evidence Analysis

by Devindi Geekiyanage, Terrence Fernando and Kaushal Keraminiyage

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8992; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168992 - 11 Aug 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7768

Abstract

Despite the fact that vulnerable communities are the most affected by unplanned cities, considerably less attention has been given to involving them in urban development in order to ensure equitable outcomes. In this regard, there is an urgent need for governments to introduce and enforce processes that allow citizens, including vulnerable communities, to participate in development planning and policymaking. However, at present, there is a lack of guidance for practitioners regarding the definition of a clear purpose of community engagement and the selection of appropriate participatory methods to fulfil the set purpose. This study provides a thorough account of the participatory methods that can be used to achieve various engagement goals throughout the urban development process. This structured literature review used 71 reports published from 2000 to 2020. The review revealed 34 participatory methods, wherein most of the methods are devoted to informing, consulting and involving communities, whilst only a few methods are available for interactive public participation that supports true collaboration and empowerment. The study identified 12 purposes of community engagement in urban development, and mapped the 34 participatory methods for achieving them. The analysed case studies showed that the current community engagement practices are mainly in the pre-design and briefing stages of the urban development processes, and that most projects are aiming to achieve the ‘inform’ and ‘consult’ levels of engagement, with a few aiming to achieve the ‘involve’ and ‘collaborate’ levels. This study shows that community engagement is often overlooked during the professional design, development and post-development phases. The paper presents an onion model which can be used by practitioners to choose appropriate participatory methods based on the intended urban development phase, the engagement level and the purpose of the community engagement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development: Effective Governance, Policy and Practice)

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