| Title |
Pathways to sustainable low-carbon transitions in an auto-dependent Canadian city |
| ID_Doc |
14099 |
| Authors |
Keough, N; Ghitter, G |
| Title |
Pathways to sustainable low-carbon transitions in an auto-dependent Canadian city |
| Year |
2020 |
| Published |
Sustainability Science, 15, 1 |
| DOI |
10.1007/s11625-019-00698-5 |
| Abstract |
Can growth-oriented resource-intensive cities be redesigned as non-consumptive sustainable places in a climate constrained world? This research tests that proposition through a design exploration of the transformation of a 500-ha inner city industrial district in Calgary, Canada, to a sustainable low-carbon city district. The research is formulated with respect to three theoretical axis-theories of urbanism, complexity and transitions; three spatial moments of the production process-production, reproduction and consumption and three temporal moments of the production process-manufacture, use, and post-use. The spatial and temporal moments leverage models of, industrial ecology and circular economy, sustainable cities and derivatives including smart, post-carbon and eco-cities. We employ a participatory design and backcasting methodology informed by theories of path dependence/creation. We establish a set of performance criteria, conduct three rounds of participatory design explorations and follow a strategy of scale-up of existing technology, engineering and design precedents. We identify a set of eight barriers and associated mitigation strategies. These include the stigma of living adjacent to, and the cost to rehabilitate, industrial lands; spatial and cultural auto-dependence; fragmentation of land ownership; infrastructure financing; regional connectivity and path dependence of the planning process. We propose that in order to achieve socially, ecologically and economically sustainable low-carbon cities attention needs to be addressed to culturally transformative alternatives to automobility, new forms of cooperative and localized economy, provision of non-market modes of land development and democratic and regulatory reform. To conclude we reformulate our conceptual framework within three nested domains-socio-technical, econo-political and cultural-cosmological. |
| Author Keywords |
Sustainability; Low-carbon; Design; Backcasting; Industrial ecology; Path dependence |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:000511965300014 |
| WoS Category |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Science & Technology - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
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