A review of the role of urban agriculture in the sustainable city discourse

The debate on the role of urban agriculture in the sustainable city discourse remains unresolved in the conventional literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review relevant literature to clarify the role of urban agriculture in sustainable cities. The search for literature was guided by themes such as: a) urban agricultural practices, b) indicators for the measurement of sustainable cities, c) economic, social and environmental benefits of urban agriculture, and d) negative effects of urban agriculture on the city. The results from a synthesis of the literature indicate that urban agriculture supports the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities. However, if the discussion gives credence to only the economic dimension of sustainability, then urban agriculture loses the debate. This is because the economic benefits of prime city land that is used used for non-agricultural purposes (such as commercial or industrial) is profound. However, the social and environmental functions of responsible urban agriculture, particularly in reducing the rift between urbanisation and nature, may be difficult to quantify. These social and environmental functions underscore the importance of urban agriculture in the city landscape. The paper concludes by arguing that focussing on only economic sustainability in the urban agriculture-sustainable city discourse is a travesty of the idea of sustainable development. The paper presents practical steps that can be taken to preserve agriculture in cities towards their sustainability.     

Measuring the urban competitiveness of Chinese cities in 2000

Previous studies have understood urban competitiveness mainly from an economic perspective. Drawing on insights from recent debates on urban governance that argue for sustainable development, this study employs a more balanced view that takes into account the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of urban competitiveness. A four-level hierarchical indicator system is used to examine the competitiveness of 253 Chinese cities at the prefecture level or above in the year 2000. The results show that most of the top 20 cities are in the eastern part of China and have populations over 0.5 million. The bottom 20 cities are located primarily in the western part of China and have smaller populations that range from 0.2 to 0.5 million. In 2000 the city with the top economic competitiveness was Shanghai, the top social competitiveness was Beijing, and the top environmental competitiveness was Zhuhai. A given city does not necessarily rank the same in economic, social, and environmental competitiveness, but may perform well in different ways. The paper argues that, in order to sustain urban competitiveness, a city should achieve not only good economic performance, but also satisfactory social and environmental development.     

The smart city as a common place for tourists and residents: A structural analysis of the determinants of urban attractiveness

This article presents a structural modeling analysis of the performance determinants of urban attractiveness, in terms of resident population and international tourism demand, in 40 global cities. The analysis focuses on the impacts of a diverse set of innovative drivers of urban value creation and sustainable solutions for city development (urban functions), which are collectively subsumed under the heading of ‘sustainable smart city’. Recognizing that the dynamics and growth processes related to these urban functions may have different impacts on different types of stakeholders, potentially leading to the emergence of serious conflicts between guests/visitors and residents, we aim to derive model-based implications for urban and tourism management in the cities concerned in order to move towards the sustainable future city as ‘a place 4 all’. The results of our latent growth curve model confirm the existence of different impacts of urban functions on visitors' and residents' attractiveness. Cultural dynamics appears to be a major determinant for attracting new residents and supporting a strong international tourism industry. From an economic perspective, purely economic strength (in terms of absolute growth) appears to enhance city attractiveness for residents, while the dynamics observed in research and development activities influences the quality of employment instead of being a direct driver of population growth. While the social aspects of sustainability (framed under the concept of livability) and the urban environment typically exert higher impacts on urban attractiveness, accessibility appears mostly relevant for visitors. Our analysis suggests an uneasy balance between livability, environment, and population and visitor volume and growth.     

Sustainable urban qualities in the emerging city of Doha

Various urban qualities are required for sustainable urban development, which is a particular challenge in the case of emerging cities such as Qatar’s capital, Doha. Therefore, this paper seeks to introduce a framework concerning how to investigate urban qualities and their production in space in order to clarify the challenges and limitations of planning for sustainability. The paper is based on analyses and evaluations of GIS data as well as a series of interviews with 10 planning experts at the Ministry of Municipalities and Urban Planning and a series of questionnaires received from 350 inhabitants. After introducing the basic framework as a model, the three dimensions of sustainability – ecological efficiency, economic growth and social equity – are analysed in relation to the urban qualities needed for producing them. In conclusion the general challenges in establishing sustainable urban development mechanisms in Doha are discussed.     

Sustainable Urban Development Issues in Chinese Transitional Cities: Hong Kong and Shenzhen

Post-colonial capitalist Hong Kong and rapidly developing Shenzhen in China's socialist market economy have both adopted a pro-growth strategy to cope with challenges imposed by a globalizing economy. This development philosophy has exerted tremendous pressure on both cities, pushing them further away from the path of sustainable urban development. Despite the policy rhetoric of pursuing sustainable development, both city governments have refrained from identifying and analysing sustainable urban development issues. While the top-down elite-dominated polities in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are working hard to attain world city status, both cities lack a sustainable development strategy. Without a critical rethink of the growth-first mentality, sustainability principles such as an ethical utilization of natural resources and aspirations for intra- and inter-generational equity are not put on the policy agenda. Despite recent efforts to clean up the environment, it is uncertain how these two growing cities will proceed as the global economy itself is starting to capitalize on sustainability efforts to further capital accumulation.     

健康城市视角下国外可持续城市形态研究述评

为了缓解城市问题,实现城市经济、社会、环境的可持续发展,可持续城市形态自可持续发展理念提出以来备受国外学者的关注,因此梳理国外研究成果对我国健康城市建设和城市转型发展具有重要意义。基于健康城市视角,本文梳理了国外学者对理想城市形态的探索成果,试图回答可持续发展与城市形态的关系、什么是可持续城市形态以及如何实现城市形态的可持续发展等三个关键逻辑问题。文章分析了可持续发展与城市形态两者在经济、社会、环境三个维度的关系,从概念和特征角度回答了什么是可持续城市形态,又分别从设计模式、研究层面、量化评估方法和技术、模型和政策角度回答了如何实现可持续城市形态。在分析我国可持续城市形态研究现状的基础上,指出国外研究成果在设计关键原则、研究技术方法、重视空间规划和环境规划方面对我国研究的可参考借鉴性。     

Barriers to sustainable economic development: The Dallas-Fort Worth experience

This article examines the scope of existing economic development activity and the motivations and perceptions of practitioners to shed light on the barriers to sustainable practice. In contrast to related fields like urban planning, the economic development literature has minimally examined how practitioners think about sustainable development and the extent to which sustainable development principles are adopted in practice. This omission is significant because economic development policies can have a notable impact on the sustainable development goals of environmental protection and social equity alongside economic growth. To capture the extent to which economic developers engage in sustainable development and the barriers that practitioners face, we study fifteen cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. We find that six key barriers - a conventional economic development mindset, incentive-based practice, a lack of resources, ad hoc planning, inter-regional competition, and a lack of coordinated regional planning - impede sustainable economic development in the region.     

The key to sustainable urban development in UK cities? The influence of density on social sustainability

High residential density is an important element of the compact city concept alongside mixed land uses, well-connected urban layouts, and easily accessible public transport networks. However, there is little consensus on how dense ‘high-density’ residential development should be, nor on what are the impacts of such urban environments on residents. This paper attempts to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the concept of density within the context of sustainability, calling on empirical evidence conducted in the UK by the CityForm research project. This research examined the relationship between elements of urban form (including density) and sustainability. This paper specifically makes reference to the relationship between density and aspects of social sustainability, specifically social equity (i.e. access to services and facilities), environmental equity (i.e. access to and use of green/open space) and sustainability of community (including perceptions of safety, social interaction and community stability). An extensive postal questionnaire survey and series of follow-up in-depth focus groups were conducted in a number of neighbourhoods in five UK cities to examine the hypothesis that high-density neighbourhoods were less likely to support socially sustainable behaviour and attitudes than low-density ones.     

从“浮士德式”到“法尔式”（仿制文化）的出现——中国城市设计面临的挑战

经济的发展和城市化规模的扩大向中国城市设计提出挑战。国家政策及全球资本的诉求驱动中国经济发展,但这种＂浮土德式＂发展缺少真实性且无可持续性,只是一种仿制,直接导致城市设计脱离实际,仅为＂仿制景观＂。这种仿制在西方国家同样存在,甚至新兴经济体国家也有这种倾向。而房地产开发迫于建设的压力,使这种趋势难以逆转。因此通过考量文化的延续性、建筑设计的宜居性和中国城市发展的可持续性,参照其他发展中国家的设计案例,以期为中国城市设计师提出合理的城市设计目标。     

City attachment and use of urban services: Benefits for smart cities

Increasing uses of urban services enhance urban management efficiency and also favor social, environmental, and economic sustainability. This research analyzes how users' city attachment levels and other personal determinants contribute to their uses of urban services. Focusing on the city of Zaragoza (Spain), the empirical study reveals that personal attitudes and needs, possession of user cards, and education levels have positive influences on the use of urban services. City attachment affects use indirectly through attitude. This study also presents some innovative approaches to advance the development of smart cities and suggests implications for managing citizen-oriented urban services to achieve higher living standards.     

China's Eco-Cities as Variegated1 Urban Sustainability: Dongtan Eco-City and Chongming Eco-Island

Proliferating environmental sustainability policy frameworks suggest that sustainability and economic competitiveness are essentially interdependent and mutually enhancing. Under these policy discourses, cities are designated as strategic geographical locales for fulfilling the green capitalist goal of reconciling the contradictions between the environment and development that have long bedeviled capitalism. While most urban sustainability agendas are crafted based on the experience of post-industrial countries, the promise of green capitalism and sustainability faces different challenges where industrial production still dominates the economy. However, research on whether and how urban sustainability policies are geographically variegated is still sparse, particularly beyond western (post)industrial capitalism. Examining the Dongtan eco-city project and the associated Chongming eco-island project in Shanghai, we interrogate how sustainability is imagined and practiced on the ground within the distinctive Chinese context. The meanings of sustainability in Dongtan and Chongming reflect the context of Chinese urbanization in the Shanghai area. Both Dongtan and Chongming seek to develop green technologies as a way to resolve the dilemma of being caught between urbanization and agriculture. This approach is also shaped by Chongming's island geography as enabling a self-sufficient development trajectory, and its desire to attract a cosmopolitan population. Through these place-specific contexts, the ecology and economy of Dongtan and Chongming become intertwined, producing and reproducing a variegated form of urban sustainability, and of “green capitalism.”     

Metronatural™: Inventing and reworking urban nature in Seattle

Seattle has long been considered a city in harmony with nature, a metropolis inseparable from and infused with the dramatic and picturesque Pacific Northwest landscape. Today, the city is frequently cited as a leader in sustainable urban development and this is due in large part to its unique relationship with its natural surroundings. However, the historical record of Seattle reveals this harmonious relationship between humans and nature to be a social construction. The founders of Seattle adopted an urban development approach similar to other North American cities and implemented large-scale engineering projects to rationalise the landscape while solidifying the municipal government as the ultimate arbiter of human/nature relations. The unintended economic, environmental, and social consequences of this so-called ‘Promethean’ approach to urban nature would be debunked in the 1950s, catalyzing a wide array of approaches by the municipality and residents to restore, protect, and live with nature in more benign ways. In this article, I examine the politics of nature in Seattle to understand how changing perceptions of the urban landscape are related to different forms of expertise, governance, and citizenship. I focus specifically on activities to reorient urban water flows because they reveal the multiple tensions between humans and nature. The article adds to contemporary scholarship in landscape architecture, human geography, and environmental history on the dilemma of urban nature while highlighting the central role of technical experts, practices, and networks as well as issues of governance, citizenship, and management. Seattle's reputation as a green metropolis serves as an entry point to interpret the various relationships between humans, technology, and nature while also suggesting potential routes to realise more sustainable urban futures.     

论城市滨水区的可持续性城市设计

目前城市滨水区已农斩成为各国城市开发的热点,为保证了滨水区的空间环境品质,在开发中必须引入城市设计观念与方法。试以可持续观点,从生态、经济、技术四方面探讨城市滨水区的可持续性城市设计,以期对当前水区的开发建设起一定的指导作用。     

绿色城市不是可持续发展城市--生态系统观念在城市发展研究中的重要性

在社会和经济发展的许多方面,保护环境和实现可持续发展已成为中国城市发展的目标,在城市零星 建筑设计中,与保护环境有关的具体措施,包括增加绿地面积,已开始逐步实施,然而对于城市在可持续发展中的地位和推进城市可持续发展战略的认识依然有限,对于２１世纪新的城市概念,新的城市形态和模式的研究还刚刚开始。已有百年历史的“花园城市”理论仍在毒化人的心灵和全球环境,因为这种城市模式在发达国家和部分发展中国家中实     

面向多元发展需求的城市设计项目组织 ——以汉堡—威廉斯堡国际建筑展和港口新城项目为例

结合德国汉堡组织的威廉斯堡国 际建筑展和港口新城的两个案例,本文对汉 堡近年来平衡经济增长和强化社会认同的多 重城市设计工作进行了总结。文章首先阐释了 多元合作城市设计工作模式的内涵,同时指出 西方国家城市面临经济结构调整、社会群体 多元化和全球化的挑战,满足多元人群差异 化需求的城市设计策略在地方政府的发展政 策中占据了核心地位,国际建筑展成为发掘地 方需求,推动多样性发展的重要工具。威廉 斯堡在汉堡市政府支持下,通过一系列城市设 计项目与当地居民加强沟通,鼓励社区实现差 异化发展,重视培育居民对当地的认同感,提 升环境的质量和可持续性。港口新城则在以 前港口用地进行再开发的过程中,强调功能混 合和强化城市多样性的目标,提出了较为灵活 的城市设计原则,帮助人们在开发和施工过程 中不断改进,以确保城市开发的多样性。     

Building urban resilience with nature-based solutions: How can urban planning contribute?

Cities face increasing environmental, social and economic challenges that together threaten the resilience of urban areas and the residents who live and work there. These challenges include chronic stresses and acute shocks, amplified by climate change impacts. Nature-based solutions have emerged as a concept for integrating ecosystem-based approaches to address a range of societal challenges. Nature-based solutions directly address and contribute to increased urban resilience. However, implementing nature-based solutions is inherently complex, given the range of ecosystem services, their multi-functionality and the trade-offs between functions, and across temporal and spatial scales. Urban planning can play a substantial role to support the implementation of nature-based solutions and to manage trade-offs and conflicts, as well as how social equity dimensions are considered. This paper presents a framework that guides the application of urban planning to nature-based solutions’ implementation, by addressing key trade-offs across temporal, spatial, functional and social equity aspects. The framework highlights the key questions, and the supporting information required to address these questions, to underpin the inclusion of nature-based solutions for urban resilience. We find that while urban planning can contribute substantially, there are continuing gaps in how the inherently anthropocentric urban planning processes can give voice to non-human nature.     

21世纪城市：可持续发展及面临的挑战

在“21世纪城市”国际会议上发表的专家报告认为,在21世纪世界的未来发展取决于城市发展。城市的可持续发展,特别是不同地区的城市在经济社会发展和环境保护方面的协调,以及与城市居住、基础设施和交通建设等方面的协调,是解决城市未来发展问题的核心。加强国家和地方两个层次上的可持续发展策略的合作,是实现城市可持续发展的关键。为此,报告特别强调完善城市管理是实现城市可持续发展目标的最主要的中心任务。     

Urban planning historical review of master plans and the way towards a sustainable city: Dar es Salaam,Tanzania

Urban planning in Tanzania has focused mainly on economic development. The Tanzanian government prioritizes large-scale modern projects to increase national income and propel world-class urban settlements. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania׳s largest city and main commercial center has experienced remarkable urban development. Unfortunately, its growth has not been consistent with the master plans, which also overlook sustainable urban development aspects. The high urbanization rate has exacerbated the degradation of the city׳s environment, including roadside air quality, solid waste, and water quality. The city׳s ongoing environmental dilapidation has led to a call for a sustainable urbanization to curb past urbanization problems and implement a sustainable future. This work reviews Dar es Salaam׳s available planning documents and examines how master plans can stimulate sustainable urban development. Findings suggest that master plans should not be used as a mere urban growth control tool. Master plans that are designed and conceptualized as a comprehensive strategy and integrated with different aspects of urban development can play a key role in enforcing sustainable urban development for the city.     

控制城市形态的可持续发展原则

21世纪城市规划设计的原则是以可持续的城市为主题。可持续性包括了经济、社会和环境的内容，而可持续发展的主要问题是大运量公共交通的通达性。国际比较研究表明，城市形态与交通模式之间的关系是造成城市发展偏离的主要因素之一。人们已经意识到可持续发展的城市必须综合考虑密度、区位和交通体系的密切关系，形成一种适宜的城市形态完全依靠它们之间的相互关系。我们必须注意到，新城市主义出现的原因是为了解决北美传统的城市蔓延和郊区化问题，使城市发展具有可持续性。新城市主义有两个重要内容。一是梯度方法，二是城市规范指标。     

基于绿色发展的城市发展质量评价研究——以江苏为例

从城镇化发展的阶段入手,提出了城市发展质量的阶段性内涵.以江苏为例,遵循绿色发展的理念,构建了涵盖经济可持续、社会文明、生态环境、宜居建设四个方面的可测评、可衡量的城市发展质量评价指标体系,探索了基于绿色优先的正向-逆向数据标准化和基于市民关注度的层次分析指标权重值方法.通过江苏各城市发展的指标值数据标准化以及指标权重计算,对江苏省各设区市和县(市)城市发展质量的单项质量以及综合质量进行了客观评价.根据江苏省城市发展质量的体检评估结果,对江苏省的城市发展提出了区域差别化发展、重点市县节点培育、宜居设施建设、环境污染治理等建议.