Resilient, Sustainable Cities: A Future Dr Leonie J. Pearson

Resilient Sustainable Cities: A Future Presented to Municipal Assoc. of Victoria, Tuesday 1 Dec, 2015 Resilient Urban Communities: The New Global Imperative The future is now December 1 and 2, 2015 Melbourne Arts Centre (Pavilion Room), 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne I will present findings from collaborative work with practitioners, academics and governments who are all working to deliver innovative development options for cities. I will address 2 questions What are the Practices to achieve resilient, sustainable cities? How can we achieve resilient sustainable cities? Provide three practical examples from Melbourne, Dublin and San Francisco USA.

Dr Leonie Pearson Senior Research Fellow, University of Canberra - Institute for Governance and Public Policy Cheney Fellow Leeds University – Sustainability Research Institute

Context

By 2050 – 75% of 9 billion people will live in urban areas Exogenous drivers – resource constraints (water, petroleum, arable land) – Climate change – hotter drier climates, water scarcity – Extreme weather events – increased droughts, flood – Population change – migration of people – Biosecurity – Financial interdependence & uncertainty Endogenous drivers – Vulnerable infrastructure – Socio-demographic change – Inequality within our society getting bigger – Urban environmental quality (ambient air quality, water quality, noise levels and provision of open space) Whilst academics, informed communities, industry leaders and government recognise drivers ‘little has been done to truly manage their emerging impact

City Resilience 4 Dimensions 12 Drivers (based on) 7 Qualities Found at

Urban Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience. 4 Dimensions: – Health & Wellbeing – Economy & Society – Infrastructure & Environment – Eldership & Strategy 7 Qualities: – Reflectiveness – Resourcefulness – Robustness – Redundancy – Flexibility – Inclusiveness – Integration

Sustainable City

Sustainable Cities Sustainable cities work towards an environmentally, socially, and economically healthy habitat for existing populations, without compromising the ability of future generations to experience the same. – transport systems that enable people to navigate quickly and affordably; – clean and safe water supplies; – strong social structures and institutions; – a healthy and well educated workforce; – an environment conducive to strong economic performance; – performance on waste management; – performance on air and water pollution; – greenhouse class emissions; – action on energy use; – improving biodiversity; – reducing inclusivity and inequality

Sustainable Cities High (Safe water, equal, productive & biodiversity rich) Goal Low High (Reflective, Robust, Flexible and inclusive) Resilient Cities Practices

Core Practices GoalOpportunitiesBlockers 1. Be DynamicCollective visioning for low- carbon, equitable food, shelter Public-policy caution linked to electoral cycles 2. Start with people and place Community participation in planning. Balance & compromise using examples No shared narrative: separate stakeholder views and within government 3. Collaboration & social cohesion Working with grassroots organizations, explicit policy objectives & support Inertia and desire to minimize risk (esp. political risk).

Core Practices GoalOpportunitiesBlockers 4. Maximise equity, employment & justice Housing tenure, change in institutions, leadership engaged with community Lack of connection between community activism & strategic gov. action 5. Design to address externalities Integrated co-production design for multiple purposes, e.g. recreation, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation Disconnect between shot and long term evaluations 6. Value & enhance greenspace Green designNo scaling procedures, public zoning and time 7. Technological innovationPrivate and public interest through collaborative research Legitimacy and salience to funders and users

7 Practices 1.Be dynamic 2.Start with people and place 3.Collaboration and social cohesion 4.Maximise equity, employment and justice 5.Design to address externalities 6.Value and enhance greenspace 7.Technologically innovative A Resilient city is a city that can function, so that the people living and working in cities – particularly the poor and vulnerable – survive and thrive no matter what stresses or shocks they encounter.

Approaches Impatiens Bright, colourful solutions, low-cost, low-risk, visibility Turning street lights from roads to pavements Orchids Beautiful statements of what is possible but need careful nurturing and plenty of growing time, high-cost, iconic or exemplar solutions Building large new water retention basins in urban design

Impatiens – Bright colourful solutions, low-cost, low-risk, visibility – Important role in building trust and support for innovative action – A workshop run by colleagues in Timmins, Ontario Canada (45,000 people) asked for some impatiens a lady stated she walked home everyone and felt unsafe because it was soo dark – she asked for lighting to be improved to ensure sidewalks are safe. Argument broke out about how this would increase costs new set of lights, then someone said the streets are well lit – why not rotate the streetlights 90 degrees to light het sidewalk as well! Orchids – Beautiful statements of what is possible but need careful nurturing and plenty of growing time, – high-cost, iconic or exemplar solutions that need time to mature say 2-5 years to come to fruition – They are more expensive and complex than the low-risk options, the rewards will be worth the investment

Resilience Thinking Multiple meanings of resilience (see Wilkinson, 2013, Walker & Salt, 2010, Davoudi, 2012): emergent system property, normative goal of system, absorbs change and provides capacity for change, is necessary for sustainable development, is sustainable development We extend the work by Walker & Salt (2010) and Folke et al., (2005) to ‘resilience is the ability of the system to change and still maintain the same identify, structure, functioning and feedbacks’ to achieve this requires pathways of change

3 Pathways Adaptation Adjustment in the urban system Marginal change; technology, practices and organizations. Transition Gradual continual process of societal change Incremental change to secure goals Transformation Change in the city system and/ or environmental context Reform change focused on overarching social norms, political regime

5 pathways of change – 2 not discussed further (i) ‘brittle’ system no proactive change (ii) Collapsing – change that leads to extinction. Adaptation – Adjustment in the urban system in response to actual or expected disturbances– inward looking, reinforcing current power and identity Transitioning – A gradual continuous process of societal change, changing the character of the city structurally. Focused on changes in technology and governance practices to secure procedural justice – high community engagement and shared responsibility and power. Transformative – Reform (large change) the city system and its broader environmental context (e.g. political, societal or ecological situation) in order to become a different kind of system, to create a fundamentally new city and society. Focused on ensuring issues of equity and justice lead the process – ‘a new social contract’

Redeveloping Melbourne PracticesAchieved Be DynamicSomewhat Start with peopleYes Collaborate & cohesionYes Maximise equityYes Design for externalitiesNo Value greenspaceYes Technological innovation Yes Adaptation Pathway

Redevelopment of old tramway interchange in a suburb of high gentrification. The Nicholson was launched in November 2011 and is an award-winning and innovative apartment development providing affordable and sustainable high-density housing in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. The building’s 199 apartments include privately owned apartments and affordable rental apartments as well as commercial spaces. The development’s key features include: 6-star energy rating Open-air hallways Grey water connections Use of recycled timbers and recycled industrial plastics To date, The Nicholson is the largest building in Victoria to use modular construction, with apartments built offsite and craned into position. This method reduced construction time by approximately 50 per cent. Won a number of design awards Adaptation as incrementally changing current identity and use Blockers overcome: public policy concern or zoning rules and current densification guidelines Priority actions – reframe precinct from social inclusive perspective

Reusing Dublin PracticesAchieved Be DynamicYes Start with peopleYes Collaborate & cohesionYes Maximise equityYes Design for externalitiesNo Value greenspaceNo Technological innovation Yes Transition Pathway

Reusing Dublin: Unlocking the potential of underused spaces Mapping is challenging in terms of the scale, fluidity and accessibility of data. Using civic engagement to map underused spaces. Creating a map of opportunities for municipalities and communities. Reusing Dublin: A first step in building adaptive capacity to change – Facilitates communication and collaboration – Provides a management tool for strategic planning – Promotes the efficient use of space – Supports citizens in starting their own projects – Gathers nuanced and detailed information on spaces – Engages citizens with their place and one another – Matches users with spaces and provides support There are tangible benefits for municipalities and communities

Parklets in San Fran Transformation Pathway PracticesAchieved Be DynamicYes Start with peopleYes Collaborate & cohesionMostly Maximise equityYes Design for externalitiesNo Value greenspaceYes Technological innovation No

A parklet is a small space serving as an extension of the sidewalk to provide amenities and green space for people using the street. It is typically the size of several parking spaces. Parklets typically extend out from the sidewalk at the level of the sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space.sidewalkstreetparking spaces Started in 2010 by ‘Design Studio’ by designer ‘Suzi Bolognese’ now a formal program – now legislation has changed, governemtn supported program to encourage Parklets, you can even download ‘how to design’ a parklet and attend training workshops Transformation of built infrastructure to green infrastructure Blockers overcome: competing community values for a single space, e.g. bench seta versus edible garden vs café tables Priority actions: reframed the suburb development from a social inclusive perspective

3 cities - 3 pathways to achieving resilient sustainable cities Is any one pathway better? Community specificity & scaling; depending on need, people, environment and infrastructure

One step – One event – TEDx Carlton – One workshop – One Journal Special Issue ‘Sustainable Urbanisation: a resilient future’ Ecological Economics (2013) – One book Lots of steps happening; – TURAS; Transitioning Towards Urban Resilience & Sustainability in EU – 100RC

One collaborative activity to bring together; academics, informed communities, industry leaders and government to deal with drivers and critical ideas on how to achieve sustainable and resilient city One event – TEDx Carlton, held Feb, 2010 – 5 international speakers over 3,500 downloads of speakers talks One 2 day Workshop with 103 attendees; industry, practitioners, government, academics, students (PhD and Masters) One special issue 7 articles + editorial focused on urban ecosystem services One book synthesizing the critical input and adding in new initiatives and ideas

Q1. What are the practices to achieve Resilient Sustainable Cities? Resilient Sustainable cities are about continuous change and improvement – not a static state! Outlined 7 practical ways to achieve these goals Q2. How can we achieve Resilient Sustainable Cities? Outlined 3 pathways to achieve these gaols: adaptation, transition and transformation Showed how in 3 case studies: Melbourne, Dublin & San Francisco Summary

7 Practices 1.Be dynamic 2.Start with people and place 3.Collaboration and social cohesion 4.Maximise equity, employment and justice 5.Design to address externalities 6.Value and enhance greenspace 7.Technologically innovative 3 Pathways Adaptation: Adjustment in the urban system; Marginal change; technology, practices and organizations. Transition: Gradual continual process of societal change; Incremental change to secure goals Transformation: Change the city system and/ or environmental context; Reform change focused on overarching social norms, political regime

Dr Leonie J. Pearson E: