Building Sustainable Cities: Provision, Implementation and Management

Session Submission Type: Short Course Full Day

Session Description

Scholars and policymakers advocate for sustainable urban development to accommodate the growing number of people across the world that now live in cities. This definition typically refers to a form of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations. Dominant scholarly approaches emphasize technical fixes like infrastructure improvements, resilient architecture, renewable energy, and technological advancements. Largely missing in this analysis is the politics of sustainable urban development, or the political conditions under which sustainable development outcomes are met in cities across the globe. How do political institutions shape the prospects of a sustainable future? What role does political participation play in the construction of sustainable cities? How do urban populations enable or constrain development interventions? What information and data are necessary to construct sustainable cities?

This short course draws from the unique set of theoretical and methodological approaches of political science to contribute to debates on building sustainable cities. Theoretically, we emphasize the importance of political behavior, social connectivity, governance processes, and citizenship for prospects of sustainable development. Methodologically, we draw from a range of social science research strategies, including surveys, field experiments, interviews, and participant observation. Importantly, we understand the building of sustainable cities to be a process, one that includes demands for citizenship, the provision of goods and services, politics of implementation, and the long-term challenges of management. Thematically, we advance important political perspectives on emerging policy debates around sustainable urban transport, climate change adaptation, sustainable resource governance, inclusive public service provision, and affordable housing. These insights will inform policies with the goal of constructing sustainable cities in the era of climate change.

The full-day short course seeks papers that fit under the following research streams related to the politics of sustainable urban development:

• Understanding how residents demand rights to the city

• Examining the politics of service provision

• Probing the process of implementation

• Assessing the long-term management of cities


The short course will include a combination of lightning talks, research presentations, and paper workshops. This is a full-day short course; half the day might be hosted at a nearby university. We envision the course to bring together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners.
There will be a call for papers in February, with the full list of participants decided by April. This is a follow-up to the 2020 short course on the politics of sustainable urban development.

The short course is sponsored by the Comparative Urban Politics Related Group and the Urban Politics section.

Sub Unit

• Pre-Conference Short Courses

Chair

• Jeffrey W. Paller University of San Francisco

Presenter

• Sam Hickey University of Manchester