Urban Sustainability as Myth and Practice

Checker, Melissa; McDonogh, Gary W.; Isenhour, Cindy

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139923316.001

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In some cases, greening projects bolstered by elite narratives of ecological risk and remediation reproduce the social and ecological harm they have ostensibly worked to mitigate. For instance, elite-led “cleanup” efforts associated with brownfield redevelopment projects may either leave behind toxic waste so that it continues to negatively impact the health of Black, lower-income communities or it may be displaced to a different marginalized community (Checker, 2015; Dillon, 2014). In other cases, socio-ecological damage may be reproduced on a larger scale through discourses of climate adaptation and the displacement of existing residents via low-carbon smart homes in which the consumption habits of affluent, white residents are unlikely to offset any reductions in energy emissions (Bouzarovski et al., 2018; Rice et al., 2020).…”

Section: Urban Political Ecologies and The Greening Of Gentrificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards conceptions of green gentrification as more-than-human

Kocisky

2021

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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This article seeks to expand scholarly conceptions of green gentrification by emphasizing the complex and contradictory connections between nonhumans and humans as critical for understanding neighborhood change. Drawing from posthumanist scholarship, as well as literature on urban political ecology, urban greening, gentrification and “just green enough,” this article argues that to understand green amenities not only as sites of injustice, but rather as dynamic sites of injustice and resistance, requires disaggregating amenities from traditional conceptions of green gentrification. In doing so, it is possible to analyze the complex agencies of greenspace itself as connected to pluralized forms of (in)justice associated with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class. To illustrate this, I use a more-than-human framework to reconceptualize three existing “just green enough” case studies of (1) riverfront development, (2) urban linear parks, and (3) community gardens to show how injustice and resistance are not only broad-based, but unique to amenity and place. The aim of this review is to offer new ways of understanding and analyzing the dialectic of injustice and resistance associated with green gentrification.

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Section: Urban Political Ecologies and The Greening Of Gentrificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards conceptions of green gentrification as more-than-human

Kocisky

2021

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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“…Before the 1980s, 'development' referred to economic development programs installed in 'third world' countries after World War II. These programs industrialized the global south and encouraged ecologically harmful practices like monocrop agriculture, mechanized farming, the widespread use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and deforestation (Checker et al, 2015). Third world nations were simultaneously injected with a neoliberal economic agenda that emphasized privatization, small government and fiscal austerity, while bolstering free trade through deregulation and open markets.…”

Section: Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When sustainability operates within and perpetuates a neoliberal system where capital gains reign, the economic pillar becomes the primary goal. Checker et al (2015) indicate that the rise of sustainability coincided with the rise of neoliberalism, producing a new economic and political arrangement that remains dominant in today's global order. Neoliberal ideology holds total faith in economic liberalism, claiming the unhindered market will "lift all boats" and that the role of the government should be quelled to empower and protect the private sector.…”

Section: Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neoliberalism coopted ecological sensibilities as a branding opportunity. Checker et al (2015) indicate, "As public concerns about global climate change and urbanization grew, neoliberal agendas adopted sustainability as a popular discourse that simultaneously signaled environmental concern and progressive and participatory governance. As a brand, it especially appealed to the upscale, cosmopolitan, and politically liberal urbanites that cities hoped to attract" (p. 8).…”

Section: Urban Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large-scale development of environmental amenities and infrastructure become green landmarks for a city's image, contributing to its packaging as a "sustainable city." Lofty greening projects earn a city media attention, green awards, or a spot on one of the many touristic lists citing "The World's Most Sustainable Cities" (Checker et al, 2015) Under tight budgets enforced by neoliberal economics, municipal governments rely even more on private investments, thereby accentuating the importance of the urban brand.…”

Section: Sustainable Development In the Post-modern Global City Brandmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Greening Inequality: How Urban Sustainable Development Fails Under Neoliberalism

Allison¹

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Is Convergence Around The Circular Economy Necessary? Exploring the Productivity of Divergence in US Circular Economy Discourse and Practice

et al. 2022

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Amid the growth of circular economy research, policy, and practice, there are increasingly loud calls for a unified and singular definition of circularity. This unity is needed, proponents argue, to enable swift action in the face of climate and environmental crises. Our work interrogates the ideal of convergence around the circular economy. We ask whether circularity must be singular and uniform in order to be effective. Based on convergence science research and social theory rooted in ideas of divergence, our paper draws on observations of a convergence science workshop, focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires with US-based circular economy professionals to explore shared and divergent understandings and practices of circularity. We find that even among a relatively homogeneous group of research participants (in terms of race, class, and education), there is significant divergence in terms of both practices and perceptions of circular economy principles. We focus in this paper on how research participants understand innovation in the circular economy as just one potential illustration of divergent circularity. Our research contributes to an understanding of circular economy knowledge politics, illuminating how circularity is contested even among those who advocate most strongly for its implementation. We ultimately find opportunity and promise precisely in the spaces of contestation, and see divergence as a way to hold space for multiple ways of being and relating to economies, materials, and beings. These more inclusive pathways, we argue, may be necessary to ensure just and effective transitions to more circular economic forms.

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Urban Sustainability as Myth and Practice

Cited by 14 publications

References 21 publications

Towards conceptions of green gentrification as more-than-human

Towards conceptions of green gentrification as more-than-human

Greening Inequality: How Urban Sustainable Development Fails Under Neoliberalism

Is Convergence Around The Circular Economy Necessary? Exploring the Productivity of Divergence in US Circular Economy Discourse and Practice

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