Cities interact with and rely on energy in complex ways. Fundamentally cities rely upon high quality energy and outputs of low quality for their very existence. The energy flows and transformations enabling cities are tied to physical limits imposed by thermodynamics. Understanding of these limits and the relationships among energy and cities, it is revealed herein, is of vital importance to the sustainability of cities. Four contributions to this understanding are provided. The first articulates how the thermodynamic forces driving cities, together with the dynamic environment within which cities reside, stipulates what type of activities within cities are sustainable. Second, a model depicting the scaling relationship between urban energy use and economic output is devised, and it’s fit to historical data demonstrated via nonlinear regression. By differentiating between energy used to grow and energy used to maintain economic output the model illustrates how reductions in these values on a per dollar basis abets growth while the reverse delays growth, or stops it altogether when energy needs for maintenance become too high. Third, an exergy network conceptualization of cities is developed that reveals the structure of the exergy flows in a city. The topology of the network drastically alters the city’s ability to maximize usefulness of imported energy as well as alter that variability in the amount of usefulness extracted. Finally, the resilience of cities with respect to energy is presented by considering the energy storage and buffer capacity of the urban metabolism. The city of Toronto is shown to have adequate flexibility in food and transport fuels to withstand operation for days without undue interruption of typical activities. Together these differing aspects of the open non-equilibrium details of cities establish an improved prescription of the sustainable city.

Urbanization is extensive and affects urban planning all over the world. More than half of the world's population lives in urban areas and the share is expected to rise to 70% by 2050. Growing cities can create new opportunities for economic growth but can also increase social gaps and strains on ecosystems. The rapid and large-scale migration of people into the city places new demands that need to be addressed in an economically, socially and ecologically sustainable way both in the Global North and the Global South. Inclusive and innovative urban planning is needed to make the cities safe and sustainable for the future. Concepts such as sustainable city and smart city have been studied as they are considered the solution to the challenge. The study is linked to one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for sustainable development, 11th SDG - Sustainable cities and communities. The purpose of the research study is to look at processes and enablers that drives the sustainable agenda. The thesis is a comparative field study in Sweden and South Africa, with the objectives to present enablers for successful projects towards sustainable cities. The differences in context and definitions of the concepts are analysed in terms of dimensions of the sustainable development. The study is based upon a qualitative methodology with primary and secondary collected data, such as interview study with variated actors related to sustainable urban projects and activities. The study is driven by Actor-Network Theory (ANT). The concept sustainable city is the starting point in the two studied contexts South Africa and Sweden and both human and non-human actors have been identified and analysed. The human actors in the study consist of precinct managers, property investors, developers, architects, consultants and representatives from provinces, municipalities, and non-profit organisations. Non-human actors who have emerged in the study and play a major role in the development of sustainable cities are different policies such as Agenda 2030, transportation, sustainable dimensions and the various concepts such as sustainable city and smart city. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of collaboration between those involved, look to everyone's interests, make use of knowledge sharing and create common goals for inclusive, secure, sustainable and resilient cities and communities. A common picture is that it needs to be a bottom-up thinking. Local actors must be included in the creation of national and international policies, much of sustainable city projects and activities take place on local level.

Creating socially sustainable residential areas is an important topic as urbanisation and migration increase. This thesis is about Swedish residential areas built during the period 1965 to 1974 as the result of a political programme called the Million homes programme. The areas hold cultural historic values being the physical manifestation of an era of the Swedish history that has strongly shaped our present society, but is now threatened by lack of social sustainability. The Million homes areas constitute a large part of the residential areas in Sweden today. By the end of the programme there were an abundance of housing options in Sweden, and empty apartments were in a high degree located in the modernistic suburbs, as people with good economy chose to move elsewhere. To fill the apartment, the municipalities used them for social contracts. The areas became segregated, and still are today despite several attempts to improve their popularity. This thesis analyses various measures and strategies for improving social sustainability in the Million homes areas, and their effects on the cultural heritage. The ambition with the study is to give a broad, cross-functional view of the topic, studying various approaches, e.g. physical renovations to social activities to cooperation with the police. The thesis starts with a literature study of social sustainability in residential areas, and the factors influencing it. A classification of aspects influencing social sustainability is created, to be used for evaluating the results from the case study in the second part of the thesis. The case study is performed in six suburbs in the Stockholm region, being new developments during the Million homes program. Social sustainability in each area is evaluated using the aspects defined in the first part of the study, and measures to improve social sustainability in the areas, and their effect on the intangible cultural heritage, are discussed. The work is valid for goal number 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable cities and communities, in particular target number 11.3 Inclusive and sustainable urbanisations, as well as goal number 5 Gender equality and goal number 10 Reduced inequalities

Current projections indicate that by 2050, two in every three people will live in urban areas, and that cities will accommodate 3 billion people during this period. Cities are consuming three-quarters of the world's energy and causing three-quarters of global pollution. To reduce these impacts, new technologies have been considered in the development of smart sustainable cities, but technology has not always favoured the idea of sustainable consumption. To address this issue, we have aimed to focus on identifying the role of sustainable consumption within implementations of smart cities’ projects across Europe. We have selected a set of smart city projects in 76 cities in Europe from CONCERTO initiatives, Mapping Smart Cities in Europe, Energy Study for the Stockholm Region and Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas and classified them according to: smart governance, smart mobility, smart living, smart environment, smart citizens and smart economy. Furthermore, we established a number of categories for the classification of the evaluated projects based on their relevance to sustainable consumption, and considered several solutions for the integration of sustainable consumption in smart sustainable cities. The results show that in 18.9% of the projects, sustainable consumption is not relevant at all. The second classification shows the percentage of the remaining categories where sustainable consumption is relevant; 8.3% consider sustainable consumption as relevant even though it was not implemented in the project. These cities aim to achieve a higher level of sustainable consumption, which is expected to be included in future projects. If they keep themselves in this category, their behavioural consumption patterns will not change and the impact of citizens on the cities will remain the same. The majority of the projects, 54.2%, implemented technology to reduce consumption but if the projects do not coincide with the behaviour of citizens, a big rebound effect will occur. 37.5% of the projects consider relevant sustainable consumption to its full potential and this can change citizen’s behaviour. In conclusion, sustainable consumption is relevant in most of the projects analysed, with new technologies available to help energy savings and reduction of our consumption. However, if there is a lack of smart consumption from the citizens, the technologies available might not be sufficient and consumption could increase. One quarter of the analysed smart cities projects still do not consider the consumption behaviour of the citizens. This can be changed through campaigns and explanations targeting the population on how to manage and reduce energy and resource consumption. To reduce the negative impact of the cities’ growth, projects considering smart sustainable cities need to integrate sustainable consumption policies that account for citizens' behaviour.

no / Smart Sustainable Cities (SSC) consist of multiple stakeholders, who must cooperate in order for SSCs to be successful. Housing is an important challenge and in many cities, therefore, a key stakeholder are social housing organisations. This paper introduces a qualitative case study of a social housing provider in the UK who implemented a business intelligence project (a method to assess data networks within an organisation) to increase data quality and data interoperability. Our analysis suggests that creating pathways for different information systems within an organisation to ‘talk to’ each other is the first step. Some of the issues during the project implementation include the lack of training and development, organisational reluctance to change, and the lack of a project plan. The challenges faced by the organisation during this project can be helpful for those implementing SSCs. Currently, many SSC frameworks and models exist, yet most seem to neglect localised challenges faced by the different stakeholders. This paper hopes to help bridge this gap in the SSC research agenda.

Urbanization and the growth of populations in cities have led to increased exposure and vulnerability to social and environmental changes, such as natural disasters like floods and climate change uncertainties creating complex social dynamics. Cities as tourist destinations are especially susceptible to such disruptions, as their infrastructure and overall aesthetic contribute significantly to their value, ensuring employment opportunities and public well-being. Consequently, discussions have arisen about the need for cities and communities to adopt resilience thinking in order to prepare for potential stresses and shocks. Although there are established frameworks for creating inclusive resilience strategies that encourage community engagement and participation, limited literature exists on how integrated urban resilience thinking is in transdisciplinary efforts for sustainable urban development. Therefore, this paper explores how participation is integrated in resilience building efforts in urban areas studying the case of Dresden, Germany. It starts with a description of the underlying concepts, followed by a classification of the investigation case laying out the legal and political framework focusing on the concepts of participation, and co-creation in the context of participatory urban resilience. The study further investigates how citizen participation is discussed and implemented in this field by analyzing nine expert interviews. The findings suggest that participatory approaches hold significant potential for improving multistakeholder cooperation, promoting social innovation, and building resilience capacities. However, several systemic challenges are uncovered which would require structural reforms to enable a resilient urban development for Dresden as a destination and its citizens.

No / Smart Sustainable Cities (SSC) consist of multiple stakeholders, who must cooperate in order for SSCs to be successful. Housing is an important challenge and in many cities, therefore, a key stakeholder are social housing organisations. This paper introduces a qualitative case study of a social housing provider in the UK who implemented a business intelligence project (a method to assess data networks within an organisation) to increase data quality and data interoperability. Our analysis suggests that creating pathways for different information systems within an organisation to ‘talk to’ each other is the first step. Some of the issues during the project implementation include the lack of training and development, organisational reluctance to change, and the lack of a project plan. The challenges faced by the organisation during this project can be helpful for those implementing SSCs. Currently, many SSC frameworks and models exist, yet most seem to neglect localised challenges faced by the different stak

Yes / This article aims to assess critically different definitions and indicators of smart cities. Drawing on exemplary case studies, the author proposes a typology of four categories of smart cities: type A are the world leaders who pioneer ideas not predicated on smart city projects; type B are aspirational cities punching above their weight; type C are surprise transformers that use the smart city concept to propel real transformation; and type D are cases where smart city projects do not directly address the main urban problems. The discussion highlights the need to prevent ‘smart-wash’ by avoiding superficial technological solutions that chase symptoms but not causes of some of the complex urban challenges that they are intending to address. In conclusion, the author considers the public policy implications of applying these typologies to cities in general with particular reference to the Global South / British Academy: [grant number IPM 15008]

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-01-11T15:47:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Silva Coutinho.pdf: 3150287 bytes, checksum: df7088d8dfcea98a47c6189564521b2e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-11T15:47:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Silva Coutinho.pdf: 3150287 bytes, checksum: df7088d8dfcea98a47c6189564521b2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-12 / This research is committed to a reflection on the performance of the Environmental State in view of the Structuring Theory of Law (Friedrich Müller), by observing the construction of protection norms for sustainable cities with a method that analyzes the structure of state decisions. Engaged in formulating integration criteria for empirical data in decision-making processes, such methodology enables practical implementation of norms and protective measures for urban spaces by developing solutions with higher standards of reasoning and justification, and establishing a better control of the contents and limits of environmental protection. From this viewpoint, sustainable cities are conceived as a domain that provides for economic, political and social development without compromising natural resources – one that creates ways to ensure environmental balance and access to fundamental rights, including cultural and natural assets, in order to guarantee quality of life for its inhabitants. This research has two parts. In the first one, we show the constitutional foundations of the Environmental State in Brazil, i.e., the constitutional basis of a form of state that tends to prioritize the protection of the environment as an overarching goal in all of its decision-making processes. In the second part, we advance the construction of the contents and limits of the protection of cities, by employing a methodology that rationalizes the construction of norms of environmental protection with the notions of "norm program" and "norm scope", and by identifying endogenous and exogenous aspects regarding the legal system – all with the aim of improving the practical implementation of the law in the protection of the urban environment by the Environmental State. These measures therefore contribute to greater correctness and effectiveness of state actions, in view of the constitutional objective of creating more sustainable cities / A presente pesquisa se comprometeu com uma reflexão sobre a atuação do Estado Ambiental na perspectiva da Teoria Estruturante do Direito (Friedrich Müller), verificando a construção da norma de defesa das cidades sustentáveis com o suporte de um método que analisa a estrutura das decisões estatais. Empenhada na formulação de critérios de integração dos dados da realidade em processos decisórios, essa metodologia permite a concretização prática da norma e da atuação de proteção dos espaços urbanos mediante a elaboração de soluções com maior volume de argumentação e justificação, estabelecendo um controle mais adequado dos conteúdos e limites da defesa ambiental. Esse ponto de vista aborda as cidades sustentáveis como o domínio que proporciona o desenvolvimento econômico, político e social sem comprometimento demasiado dos recursos naturais, criando meios de garantir o equilíbrio ambiental e o acesso a direitos fundamentais, incluídos os bens culturais e naturais, visando à sadia qualidade de vida dos seus habitantes. Diante disso, esta investigação pode ser dividida em dois momentos. Inicialmente, demonstra que existem no Brasil os pilares constitucionais para a identificação de um Estado Ambiental como uma forma de Estado que tende a priorizar a defesa do meio ambiente no reconhecimento de critérios e metas que pautam os processos decisórios estatais. Em seguida, propõe a construção de conteúdos e limites das decisões de defesa das cidades por intermédio de uma metodologia que racionaliza a construção da norma de preservação ambiental a partir das noções de “programa da norma” e “âmbito da norma”, identificando aspectos endógenos e exógenos ao sistema do Direito, com o escopo de aprimorar a concretização prática da norma e da atividade de tutela do meio urbano pelo Estado Ambiental. Portanto, essas providências contribuem para o incremento das possibilidades de correção e eficácia na atividade estatal, no panorama dos objetivos constitucionais de busca por cidades com mais sustentabilidade

Global cities have recognized the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and have begun to take action to balance of the carbon cycle. This thesis examines the nuances of quantification methods used and the implications of current policy for long-term emissions. Emissions from waste management, though relatively small when compared with building and transportation sectors, are the largest source of emissions directly controlled by municipal government. It is important that municipalities understand the implications of methodological selection when quantifying GHG emissions from waste management practices. The “Waste-in-Place” methodology is presented as the most relevant for inventorying purposes, while the “Methane Commitment” approach is best used for planning. Carbon sinks, divided into “Direct” and “Embodied”, are quantified using the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as a case study. “Direct” sinks, those whose sequestration processes occur within urban boundaries, contribute the largest share of carbon sinks with regional forests providing a significant proportion. “Embodied” sinks, those whose sequestration processes (or in the case of concrete, the processes that enable sequestration) are independent of the urban boundary, can contribute to the urban carbon pool, but greater uncertainty exists in upstream emissions as the management/processing prior to its use as a sink are generally beyond the consumer’s purview. The Pathways to Urban Reductions in Greenhouse gas Emissions (or PURGE) model is developed as a means to explore emissions scenarios resulting from urban policy to mitigate climate change by quantifying future carbon sources/sinks (from changes in building stock, vehicle stock, waste treatment and urban/regional forests). The model suggests that current policy decisions in the GTA provide short-term reductions but are not sufficient in the long term to balance the pressures of economic and population growth. Aggressive reductions in energy demand from personal transportation and existing building stock will be necessary to achieve long-term emissions targets.