Urban Sustainability Pilot Projects: Fit or Misfit between Challenge and Solution?

Bouteligier, Sofie

doi:10.1002/9781118567135.ch12

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Cities and city networks can, to some extent, 'bypass' states by undertaking climate change experimentation independently of their national governments (Bouteligier, 2014). However, currently this networked experimentation predominately results in 'scaling out' rather than 'scaling up'.…”

Section: Scaling Urban Experiments Ambition As 'Scaling'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The world is littered by innovation projects that have fizzled and dried out -'pilotitis' and the difficulty of scaling is also prominent debate in international development (Huang et al, 2017), for example. Existing empirical evidence on climate change experiments points to the fact that scaling up, particularly 'upwards' from the urban level, is challenging and rare (Hoogma et al, 2002;Bouteligier, 2014;Kivimaa et al, 2017). While experiments arguably provide 'space' for innovation by existing on the fringes of urban policymaking, they are often relatively isolated interventions that are poorly embedded in existing urban or national policy frameworks.…”

Section: Scaling Urban Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Networking Cities after Paris: Weighing the Ambition of Urban Climate Change Experimentation

Smeds

Acuto

2018

Global Policy

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Over the past few decades, cities have repeatedly demonstrated high levels of ambition with regard to climate action. Global environmental governance has been marked by a proliferation of policy actions taken by local governments around the world to demonstrate their potential to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation. Leading ‘by example’ and demonstrating the extent of action that it is possible to deliver, cities have aspired to raise the ambition of national and international climate governance and put action into practice via a growing number of ‘climate change experiments’ delivered on the ground. Yet accounts of the potential of cities in global environmental governance have often stopped short of a systematic valuation of the nature and impact of the networked dimension of this action. This article addresses this by assessing the nature, and challenges faced by, urban climate governance in the post‐Paris era, focusing on the ‘experimentation’ undertaken in cities and the city networks shaping this type of governance. First, we unpack the concept of ‘urban climate change experimentation’, the ways in which it is networked, and the forces driving it. In the second and third parts of the article, we discuss two main pitfalls of networked urban experimentation in its current form, focusing on issues of scaling experiments and the nature of experimentation. We call for increased attention to ‘scaling up’ experiments beyond urban levels of governance, and to transformative experimentation with governance and politics by and in cities. Finally, we consider how these pitfalls allow us to weigh the potential of urban climate ambition, and consider the pathways available for supporting urban climate change experimentation.

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Section: Scaling Urban Experiments Ambition As 'Scaling'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scaling Urban Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Networking Cities after Paris: Weighing the Ambition of Urban Climate Change Experimentation

Smeds

Acuto

2018

Global Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Cities are looking for ways to implement immediate and lasting transformation at the local scale. Regional, urban, and neighborhood efforts and are increasingly finding that technology alone is not likely to result in broader societal transformations (Bouteligier 2010). Pilot projects are often criticized as a "techno-fixes" that do not provide information about best practices and omit social aspects, particularly learning and social organization, that are crucial to lasting change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerating the Deployment of Advanced Energy Communities: The Oakland EcoBlock A Zero Net Energy, Low Water Use Retrofit Neighborhood Demonstration Project

Brown,

Barr,

Bourassa

et al. 2019

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This report describes the design development process and recommendations of a Community-Scale Zero Net Energy Master Plan for a residential block in Oakland, the Oakland EcoBlock. The recommended master plan includes an integrated system of energy efficiency retrofits, a direct current solar/storage/electric vehicle microgrid, alternating/direct current houses, and water efficiency retrofits with rainwater capture.The recommended master plan is projected to be close to zero-net energy (95 percent) for homes, reduce carbon emissions by 65 percent at the block scale (including transportation), and reduce water use 60-70 percent.The integrated system of energy efficiency and a direct current solar/storage/electric vehicle (EV) charging microgrid is the first of its kind at the residential block scale. This breakthrough because the deep energy efficiency retrofit savings free up enough capacity in the solar supply and storage to enable residents to switch from natural gas to electricity for heating and domestic hot water and to provide EV charging for 33 percent of vehicle miles traveled. The savings in household transportation costs are a game changer because when combined with savings in the electric and water utility bills, the total cash flow savings are projected to fund the capital improvements of the proposed systems. This project's benefits include lower and more predictable utility bills; greater resiliency because the system can operate during outages, and vastly improved indoor air quality by reducing natural gas consumption. The local energy storage reduces peak demand for the utility. California benefits from a model that exceeds the targets for reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions and the reductions in water use address California's severe water challenges.The Oakland EcoBlock is a transformative model for accelerating the rapid deployment of advanced energy communities.

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Urban Sustainability Pilot Projects: Fit or Misfit between Challenge and Solution?

Cited by 2 publications

References 35 publications

Networking Cities after Paris: Weighing the Ambition of Urban Climate Change Experimentation

Networking Cities after Paris: Weighing the Ambition of Urban Climate Change Experimentation

Accelerating the Deployment of Advanced Energy Communities: The Oakland EcoBlock A Zero Net Energy, Low Water Use Retrofit Neighborhood Demonstration Project

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