Consuming cities : the urban environment in the global economy after the Rio Declaration / / edited by Nicholas Low. [et al.]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910348235003321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2000
• ISBN: 1-134-66111-8; 1-280-16454-9; 0-203-98461-7; 9786610164547; 1-283-70797-7; 1-134-66112-6
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (336 p.)
• Altri autori (Persone): LowNicholas
• Disciplina: 304.2/09173/2; 307.76
• Soggetti: Sustainable development; Urban ecology (Sociology); Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Book Cover; Half-Title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Figures; Tables; Contributors; Preface; 1 Cities as consumers of the world's environment; Introduction; Sustainable development and the changing model of growth; The discourse of urban sustainable development; The model of economic development; The urban environment in the global economy; The demographic context: destabilised population growth; The economic context: marketisation, poverty and spatial polarisation; The political-cultural context: neo-liberal ascendancy and 'competitive cities'; Environmental distribution; Ecological distributionConclusion; References; 2 The Rio Declaration and subsequent global initiatives; Introduction; Global environmental governance; Different approaches to environmental governance; Agenda, 21, Habitat II and the partnership approach; The rationale of partnership; From environmental threat to sustainable development; From Earth Summit to City Summit and beyond; Human Settlements; ; Beyond Habitat; Sustainable development and urban policy; Agenda 21 and global environmental governance: concluding remarks; References; 3 A rough road out of Rio; Introduction; The Earth Summit and its promiseThe official American opposition to Rio; Antiglobalism and ultranationalism in the USA; Anti-statism as anti-environmentalism; Conclusions: rough road ahead; References; 4 Contradictions at the local scale; Introduction; Adoption of local Agenda 21 programs in the USA; Motivations for initiating Local Agenda 21 programs; Local Agenda 21 program characteristics; Discussion; Conclusion; Notes; References; 5 Britain: unsustainable cities; Britain in international context; Urbanisation and the construction of social inequality; The social impact of urban planning; British cities and the Rio processAction at the National Level; Action at the level of the city; Progress on LA21; Other impacts at the level of the city; The significance of Rio; Factors affecting progress on LA21; The conditions for sustainable urban development; Note; References; 6 Sustainability and urban policy in Germany; Introduction; Sustainable development at national level; Federal gavernment policy; Development co-operation: the BMZ; National urban planning of the BMBau; Environmental policy of the BMU; Civil society activities; New networks (http://www.oneworldweb.de/forum); New organisations: Germanwatch (http://www.germanwatch.org)New campaigns: sustainable Germany; The general framework of local authorities in Germany; Scope for policy development; The idea of a 'leitbild'; The institutionalisation of Local Agenda 21 in German municipalities; The issues of Local Agenda 21 in German municipalities; Problems of implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Germany; Structural changes at local level after the Rio Declaration; Changes at the inter-municipal level: the networks; Structural changes within the municipality; Summing up; Note; References; 7 Japanese urban policy
• Sommario/riassunto: This book is about cities as engines of consumption of the world's environment, and the spread of policies to reduce their impact. It looks at these issues by examining the impact of the Rio Declaration and assesses the extent to which it has made a difference. Consuming Cities examines this impact using case studies from around the world including: the USA, Japan, Germany, the UK, China, India, Sweden, Poland, Australia and Indonesia The contributors all have direct experience of the urban environment and urban policies in the countries on which they write and offer an authorita