USP 569: Sustainable Cities & Regions: Theory, Politics, Practice

Urban Studies & Planning 569

Sustainable Cities & Regions

Theory . Politics . Practice

Fall 2012 Dr. Nathan McClintock MW 4:40 – 6:30 pm 311 Urban Center

The images at left—bike lanes, rooftop farming, demolition of public housing, and an Occupy Wall Street plea for economic justice—illustrate both the hallmarks and lacunae of dominant conceptualizations of urban sustainability. In this reading-‐intensive, discussion-‐driven graduate seminar, we will examine the theory, politics, and practices shaping urban and regional sustainability initiatives. Rather than surveying a showcase of “best practices”, we will closely examine the discourses, political economy, and governance structures undergirding urban sustainability efforts throughout the Global North (primarily the US, Canada, and the UK). Drawing on recent work in geography, urban studies, and planning, we will attempt not only to make sense of sustainable development’s arguably contradictory “win-‐win-‐win” goals of economic growth, environmental integrity, and social equity, but also to identify both the potential spaces of contestation that arise from these slippages and the ways in which some existing equity efforts might be considered sustainable in their own right. In addition to the readings, we will also hear from a few practitioners in the field who are attempting to foster a more just sustainability here at home. The course is roughly organized into three parts. During Part I (Theory), we will examine the roots of urban sustainability as an agenda, some of its utopian precursors, and the various ways in which sustainability has been (re)defined by scholars, policy makers, and planners. We will also think about how sustainability is measured, critically examining two concepts that are often central to measuring sustainability: ecological footprints and social capital. During Part II (Politics) we’ll use a lens of urban political economy to understand the relationship between urban sustainability initiatives

and shifting regimes of economic growth and governance. We will pay particular attention to the role of community participation. Finally, during Part III (Practice) we will examine what “actually-‐existing sustainability” might look like in practice, in terms of health, housing, and economic development. We will conclude by considering what is necessary for the ongoing struggle to create cities that are both environmentally sustainable and socially just.

USP 569 – Sustainable Cities & Regions

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Course Learning Objectives By the end of the course, students should understand:

• The debates over what constitutes “urban sustainability” and the complexities in measuring it • The contradictions inherent to mainstream conceptualizations of urban sustainability and its

“best practices” • How sustainability initiatives articulate with urban political economies and their restructuring • The limits and possibilities of public participation in sustainability governance • What “actually-‐existing sustainability” may look like in practice

Course Texts We will mostly be reading journal articles. These will be available as links or PDFs posted on D2L. In addition, we will read the following books (available from the PSU bookstore and on reserve in Millar Library) in their (near) entireties:

• Agyeman, J. 2005. Sustainable Communities And The Challenge Of Environmental Justice. New York: NYU Press.

• Corburn, J. 2009. Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning. Cambridge: MIT Press.

• Hackworth, J. 2007. The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology, and Development in American Urbanism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

• Moore, S. A. 2007. Alternative Routes to the Sustainable City: Austin, Curitiba, and Frankfurt. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

We will also be reading 2 to 3 chapters from the following two books (also available at the bookstore). As these will be available in PDF form on D2L, purchasing them is optional.

• Harvey, D. 2000. Spaces of Hope. Berkeley: University of California Press. • Krueger, R. J., and D. Gibbs eds. 2007. The Sustainable Development Paradox: Urban Political

Economy in the United States and Europe. New York: The Guilford Press. In addition to walking around downtown Portland and browsing any number of PSU-‐related websites, you may also want to peruse a copy of the following book (on reserve at Millar Library) to get a sense of the dominant urban sustainability discourses and “best practices”:

• Wheeler, S. M., and T. Beatley eds. 2008. Sustainable Urban Development Reader 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.


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Expectations & Assignments Participation (10%) This is not a lecture class or studio. Rather, it is a discussion-‐driven seminar. You are responsible for reading the assigned materials before class and coming ready to discuss; consider having read the assigned readings as your admission ticket to class. Given how reading-‐intensive the course is, you should read strategically (eg, focus on the authors’ key claims or arguments, don’t get bogged down by specific details that you can refer back to later if needed). Everyone must join in the discussion. If you’re shy, push yourself to talk. If you’re a talker, be conscientious not to dominate the discussion. Weekly discussion questions (15%) Each meeting, you are responsible for crafting 2 discussion questions that critically engage with the readings. You will need to post these to the day’s Discussion Questions forum on D2L. Please post your questions by 9 am on the day of class so others have a chance to read over them before we meet. NB: You don’t need to post questions to D2L if you are leading discussion (see below). Discussion Facilitation (10%) Everyone will be required to lead the discussion at least twice (possibly three times, depending on enrollment) during the course. You should provide a brief summary (think 2 to 3 bullet points per reading) of the day’s readings and synthesis relating it to other readings and previous class discussions. Be sure to highlight the key claim or “take-‐home” of each reading. You should then get our discussion started with a few questions/topics/themes of import…and have some more on hand to keep the discussion going if it starts to flounder… which it won’t! You should look over the discussion questions posted to D2L by your peers as you organize your questions and discussion topics. Reading Responses (30%) Over the course of the term, you are responsible for writing a short response paper (~300 to 500 words) for any ten of the class meetings. Your response should include a short précis of each reading along with some synthesizing discussion and insights you take from the ensemble of readings. Include further questions that the readings raise (the discussion questions that you post to D2L can be extracted from your reading response that day). Final project (35%) Depending on your degree program, you will prepare one of two final projects:

• A research essay on a topic of interest related to urban sustainability (~8,000 words). PhD and MUS students must take this option.

-‐or-‐

• A series of three policy briefs (~2,500 words each), each on a different aspect of a particular

urban sustainability issue (eg, climate change, housing, energy, water). For example, the first brief might deal with urban emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), the second on GHG reduction


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strategies in urban areas, and the third on municipal climate action plans. At some point in the series, you must address 1) how sustainability is defined and measured, 2) relevant policy or planning initiatives, and 3) conflicts that have arisen or may arise when these initiatives are implemented. MRED, MURP, MPA, and other practitioner-‐oriented master’s students may take this option.

Final Project Deadlines:

• Please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss your topic (see my contact info below). • A working title, abstract (~250 to 500 words), and bibliography are due on M 10/22. • Final papers are due in my box by 5pm on F 12/7.

General classroom etiquette

• Please be on time so we can start right at 4:40. • Please inform me ahead of time, if possible, If you are unable to come to class for any reason. If

you miss a class, you should submit a reading response (see above) for the day you missed. • Turn off cell-‐phones. Use of laptops is welcome for note-‐taking, but please respect the rest of us

by refraining from checking Facebook, email, or any other distraction. Academic Integrity You are graduate students so I don’t need to elaborate on this. I take this seriously, as I expect you to. Academic Accommodations If you are a student with a documented disability and are registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC), please contact me immediately to facilitate arranging academic accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through the DRC should contact the DRC immediately at 503-‐725-‐4150. Contact Information Nathan McClintock, PhD Assistant Professor Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning Portland State University Office: 350-‐E Urban Center Office Hours: M and W 3:30 – 4:30 Email: [email protected] Tel. 503-‐725-‐4064


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Course Outline & Readings I. Theory The Rise (and Fall?) of Urban Sustainability

• Wheeler, S. M., and T. Beatley eds. 2008. Sustainable Urban Development Reader 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. (Ch. 11: Excerpts from the Brundtland Commission Report, the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and the Millennium Development Goals, pp. 59 – 63, 72 – 79)

• Vos, R. O. 2007. Defining sustainability: a conceptual orientation. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology 82 (4):334–339.

• Whitehead, M. 2012. The Sustainable City: An Obituary? On the Future Form and Prospects of Sustainable Urbanism. In The Future of Sustainable Cities: Critical Reflections, eds. J. Flint and M. Raco, 29–46. Chicago: The Policy Press.

Utopian Visions

• Harvey, D. 2000. Spaces of Hope. Berkeley: University of Californa Press. (Ch. 8: The Spaces of Utopia & Ch. 9: Dialectical Utopianism, pp. 133-‐196)

• Pinder, D. 2005. Visions of the city: utopianism, power and politics in twentieth-‐century urbanism. New York: Routledge. (Ch. 2: Restorative Utopias, pp. 29-‐56)

• Wheeler and Beatley (Ch. 46: Excerpt from Ernest Callanbach’s Ecotopia, pp. 379-‐384) • Hovey, B. 1998. Building the City, Structuring Change: Portland’s Implicit Utopian Project.

Utopian Studies 9 (1):68–79. Defining Sustainability

• Rees, W. E. 1997. Is “sustainable city” an Oxymoron? Local Environment 2 (3):303–310. • Marcuse, Peter. 1998. Sustainability is not enough. Environment and Urbanization 10(2): 103-‐

111. • Redclift, M. 2005. Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age.

Sustainable Development 13 (4):212–227. • Sneddon, C., R. B. Howarth, and R. B. Norgaard. 2006. Sustainable development in a post-‐

Brundtland world. Ecological Economics 57 (2):253–268. Planning Sustainability

• Beatley, T. 1995. Planning and Sustainability: The Elements of a New (Improved?) Paradigm. Journal of Planning Literature 9 (4):383–395.

• Campbell, S. 1996. Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities?: Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development. Journal of the American Planning Association 62 (3):296–312.

• Haughton, G. 1999. Environmental Justice and the Sustainable City. Journal of Planning Education and Research 18 (3):233–243.

• Gunder, M. 2006. Sustainability Planning’s Saving Grace or Road to Perdition? Journal of Planning Education and Research 26 (2):208–221.


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Also, peruse the Portland Plan (http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/) and one or two other municipal sustainability planning sites (eg, San Francisco, Chicago, Montreal, London) to get a sense of the language used (eg, how do they define “sustainability”?), areas of focus (eg, climate, jobs, water, energy, transportation), where sustainability initiatives are housed within the city (eg, public works, environment, economic development), and anything else that strikes you. Measuring Sustainability

• Bell, S., and S. Morse. 1999. Sustainability Indicators: Measuring the Immeasurable. London: Earthscan. (pp. 9 – 32)

• Alberti, M. 1996. Measuring urban sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16:381–424.

• Bond, A., A. Morrison-‐Saunders, and J. Pope. 2012. Sustainability assessment: the state of the art. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 30 (1):53–62.

• Holden, M. 2009. Community Interests and Indicator System Success. Social Indicators Research 92(3): 429–448.

Also peruse the sustainability indicators used by a city of your choice and jot these down for discussion. Guest Speaker: Michael Armstrong, Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability Carrying Capacity and its Limits

• Rees, W., and M. Wackernagel. 1996. Urban ecological footprints: Why cities cannot be sustainable—And why they are a key to sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16 (4–6):223–248.

• Sayre, N. F. 2008. The genesis, history, and limits of carrying capacity. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 98 (1):120–134.

• McManus, P., and G. Haughton. 2006. Planning with Ecological Footprints: A Sympathetic Critique of Theory and Practice. Environment and Urbanization 18 (1):113–127.

Social Capital and its Limits

• Grootaert, C., D. Narayan, V. Nyhan Jones, and M. Woolcock. 2004. Measuring Social Capital: An Integrated Questionnaire. Washington: The World Bank. (read pp. 1 – 19, skim the two questionnaires, pp. 21 – 49)

• DeFilippis, J. 2001. The myth of social capital in community development. Housing Policy Debate 12 (4):781–806.

• Fine, B. 2002. They F**k You Up Those Social Capitalists. Antipode 34 (4):796–799. • Bebbington, A. 2002. Sharp Knives and Blunt Instruments: Social Capital in Development Studies.

Antipode 34 (4):800–803. • Williamson, T. 2002. The Usefulness—and Limitations—of Social Capital as an Analytical Tool for

Progressives. Antipode 34 (4):809–811.


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Just Sustainability

• Agyeman, J. 2005. Sustainable Communities And The Challenge Of Environmental Justice. New York: NYU Press. (Intro, Chs. 1 – 3, pp. 1 – 106)

• Walker, G. 2009. Beyond Distribution and Proximity: Exploring the Multiple Spatialities of Environmental Justice. Antipode 41 (4):614–636.

• Krueger, R., and L. Savage. 2007. City-‐Regions and Social Reproduction: A “Place” for Sustainable Development? International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31 (1):215–223.

II. Politics The Neoliberal City

• Krueger, R., and D. Gibbs. 2007. Introduction: Problematizing the Politics of Sustainability. In The Sustainable Development Paradox: Urban Political Economy in the United States and Europe, eds. R. Krueger and D. Gibbs, 1–11. New York: The Guilford Press. (read through p. 6)

• Brenner, N., and N. Theodore. 2002. Cities and the Geographies of “Actually Existing Neoliberalism.” Antipode 34 (3):349–379.

• Hackworth, J. 2007. The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology, and Development in American Urbanism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. (Chs. 1 – 4, pp. 1 – 76)

• Raco, M., and J. Flint. 2012. Introduction: Characterising the “New” Politics of Sustainability: From Managing Growth to Coping with Crisis. In The Future of Sustainable Cities: Critical Reflections, eds. J. Flint and M. Raco, 3–27. Chicago: The Policy Press. (read through p. 19)

Sustainability Fixes .

• While, A., A. E. G. Jonas, and D. Gibbs. 2004. The environment and the entrepreneurial city: searching for the urban “sustainability fix” in Manchester and Leeds. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 28 (3):549–569.

• Hackworth (Chs. 5 & 6, pp. 77 – 122) • Krueger, R., and D. Gibbs. 2008. “Third Wave” Sustainability? Smart Growth and Regional

Development in the USA. Regional Studies 42 (9):1263–1274. Redevelopment or Gentrification?

• Hackworth (Chs. 7 & 8, pp. 123 – 171) • Davidson, M. 2008. Spoiled Mixture: Where Does State-‐Led `Positive’ Gentrification End? Urban

Studies 45 (12):2385–2405. • Bunce, S. 2009. Developing Sustainability: Sustainability policy and gentrification on Toronto’s

waterfront Local Environment 14(7): 651-‐667. • Schmidt, Brad. 2012. Locked Out: The Failure of Portland-‐Area Fair Housing. The Oregonian.

http://projects.oregonlive.com/housing/ Guest Speaker: Maxine Fitzpatrick, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc.


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Rescaling Governance

• Bulkeley, H., and M. Betsill. 2005. Rethinking Sustainable Cities: Multilevel Governance and the “Urban” Politics of Climate Change. Environmental Politics 14 (1):42–63.

• While, A., A. E. G. Jonas, and D. Gibbs. 2010. From sustainable development to carbon control: eco-‐state restructuring and the politics of urban and regional development. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 35 (1):76–93.

• Rutland, T., and A. Aylett. 2008. The work of policy: actor networks, governmentality, and local action on climate change in Portland, Oregon. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 26 (4):627 – 646.

• Elwood, S. 2002. Neighborhood revitalization through `collaboration’: Assessing the implications of neoliberal urban policy at the grassroots. GeoJournal 58 (2/3):121–130.

(Post-‐Political?) Participation

• Portney, K. E., and J. M. Berry. 2010. Participation and the Pursuit of Sustainability in U.S. Cities. Urban Affairs Review 46 (1):119–139.

• Swyngedouw, E. 2007. Impossible “Sustainability” and the Postpolitical Condition. In The Sustainable Development Paradox: Urban Political Economy in the United States and Europe, eds. R. Krueger and D. Gibbs, 13–40. New York: The Guilford Press.

• Holden, M. 2011. Public Participation and Local Sustainability: Questioning a Common Agenda in Urban Governance. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 35(2):312–329.

• Allmendinger, P., and G. Haughton. 2011. Post-‐political spatial planning in England: a crisis of consensus? Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 37 (1):89–103.

III. Practice Actually-‐Existing Sustainabilities

• Krueger, R., and J. Agyeman. 2005. Sustainability schizophrenia or “actually existing sustainabilities?” toward a broader understanding of the politics and promise of local sustainability in the US. Geoforum 36 (4):410–417.

• Agyeman, J. 2005. Sustainable Communities And The Challenge Of Environmental Justice. New York: NYU Press. (Chs. 4 – 6, pp. 107 – 186)

Multiple Storylines

• Moore, S. A. 2007. Alternative Routes to the Sustainable City: Austin, Curitiba, and Frankfurt. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Social Sustainability

• Vallance, S., H. C. Perkins, and J. E. Dixon. 2011. What is social sustainability? A clarification of concepts. Geoforum 42 (3):342–348.

• Davidson, M. 2009. Social sustainability: a potential for politics? Local Environment 14 (7):607–619.


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• Holden, M. 2012. Urban Policy Engagement with Social Sustainability in Metro Vancouver. Urban Studies 49 (3):527–542.

Health & Food

• Corburn, J. 2009. Towards the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning.

Cambridge: MIT Press. Also, peruse a food systems action plan from a city of your choice (some are linked via D2L, but feel free to find another). Guest Speaker: Ben Duncan, Multnomah Co. Environmental Health/OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon Economic Development

• Fitzgerald, J. 2010. Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development. New York: Oxford University Press. (Chs. 1 & 2, pp. 1 – 30)

Choose one:

• Gibbs, D., and P. Deutz. 2005. Implementing industrial ecology? Planning for eco-‐industrial parks in the USA. Geoforum 36 (4):452–464.

• Tudor, T., E. Adam, and M. Bates. 2007. Drivers and limitations for the successful development and functioning of EIPs (eco-‐industrial parks): A literature review. Ecological Economics 61(2–3):199–207.

And select 2 of following:

• Martin, I. 2001. Dawn of the Living Wage: The Diffusion of a Redistributive Municipal Policy. Urban Affairs Review 36(4):470–496.

• Parks, V., and D. Warren. 2009. The Politics and Practice of Economic Justice: Community Benefits Agreements as Tactic of the New Accountable Development Movement. Journal of Community Practice 17 (1-‐2):88–106.

• Zeuli, K., and J. Radel. 2005. Cooperatives as a community development strategy: Linking theory and practice. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy 35 (1):43–54.

Also, explore the following websites: LAANE website (www.laane.org); LIUNA Local 483 (http://www.liuna483.org/); Jobs with Justice (http://www.jwjpdx.org/) Possible Urban Worlds

• Harvey (Ch. 12: The Insurgent Architect at Work, pp. 233-‐255) • Hackworth (Ch. 10, pp. 188 – 204) • Fainstein, S. S. 2010. The Just City First. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. (Ch 6: Conclusion:

Toward the Just City, pp. 165-‐194) • Chatterton, P. 2010. The urban impossible: A eulogy for the unfinished city. City 14 (3):234–24


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Meeting Schedule

Week Date

Topic Date

Topic Mon Wed

1 9/24 The Rise (and Fall?) of Urban Sustainability

9/26 Utopian Visions

2 10/1 Defining Sustainability 10/3 Planning Sustainability 3 10/8 Measuring Sustainability 10/10 Carrying Capacity and its Limits 4 10/15 Social Capital and its Limits 10/17 Just Sustainability 5 10/22 The Neoliberal City 10/24 Sustainability Fixes 6 10/29 Redevelopment or Gentrification? 10/31 Rescaling Governance 7 11/5 (Post-‐Political?) Participation 11/7 Actually-‐Existing Sustainabilities 8 11/12 NO CLASS – Veteran’s Day 11/14 Multiple Storylines 9 11/19 Social Sustainability 11/21 NO CLASS -‐ Thanksgiving 10 11/26 Health & Food 11/28 Economic Development 11 12/3 Possible Urban Worlds ** FINAL PAPERS DUE by Friday 12/7 @ 5PM

(hard copy to me in my office or box)

USP 569: Sustainable Cities & Regions: Theory, Politics, Practice

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