IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i1p383-d304760.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Welfare in Swedish Cities: Challenges of Eco-Social Integration in Urban Sustainability Governance

Author

Listed:
  • Jamil Khan

    (Environmental and Energy System Studies, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Roger Hildingsson

    (Department of Political Science, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Lisa Garting

    (Hållbar Utveckling Skåne, Sustainable Development Scania, 211 55 Malmö, Sweden)

Abstract

In this paper, we study the integration of ecological sustainability and social welfare concerns in cities. Efforts to handle ecological challenges risk having negative impacts on equality and social welfare. While current levels of consumption and material welfare are unsustainable, there is a need for more sustainable approaches to welfare and wellbeing. Still, ecological and social concerns in urban governance are treated as separated topics. Based on text analysis of policy documents and qualitative interviews, we study how ecological and social welfare concerns are being addressed and integrated into urban planning in three Swedish cities (Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö). Theoretically, the paper draws on conceptualizations of sustainable welfare, social and ecological sustainability, and policy integration. We find ecological and social welfare concerns being acknowledged as interconnected and we see signs of an emerging sustainable welfare agenda in the cities, e.g., around Agenda 2030. However, in practice, eco-social policy integration is only established to a limited degree, for instance in neighborhood development, transport planning, and green city planning. Issues of ecological justice and equity and the relationship between socioeconomic factors and consumption-related environmental impacts are hardly addressed. Thus, much remains to be done for eco-social policy integration to materialize at the urban level.

Suggested Citation

  • Jamil Khan & Roger Hildingsson & Lisa Garting, 2020. "Sustainable Welfare in Swedish Cities: Challenges of Eco-Social Integration in Urban Sustainability Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:383-:d:304760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/383/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/383/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Underdal, Arild, 1980. "Integrated marine policy : What? Why? How?," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 159-169, July.
    2. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Linden, Anna-Lisa, 1999. "Travel patterns and environmental effects now and in the future:: implications of differences in energy consumption among socio-economic groups," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 405-417, September.
    3. Hens Runhaar & Peter P J Driessen & Laila Soer, 2009. "Sustainable Urban Development and the Challenge of Policy Integration: An Assessment of Planning Tools for Integrating Spatial and Environmental Planning in the Netherlands," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 36(3), pages 417-431, June.
    4. Hildingsson, Roger & Johansson, Bengt, 2016. "Governing low-carbon energy transitions in sustainable ways: Potential synergies and conflicts between climate and environmental policy objectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 245-252.
    5. Brand, Christian & Goodman, Anna & Rutter, Harry & Song, Yena & Ogilvie, David, 2013. "Associations of individual, household and environmental characteristics with carbon dioxide emissions from motorised passenger travel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 158-169.
    6. Andersson, David & Nässén, Jonas & Larsson, Jörgen & Holmberg, John, 2014. "Greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well-being: An analysis of Swedish households," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 75-82.
    7. Ysé Serret & Nick Johnstone (ed.), 2006. "The Distributional Effects of Environmental Policy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3800.
    8. Ian Gough, 2017. "Heat, Greed and Human Need," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16991.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bibri, Simon Elias, 2022. "Eco-districts and data-driven smart eco-cities: Emerging approaches to strategic planning by design and spatial scaling and evaluation by technology," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    2. Adams, Clare & Frantzeskaki, Niki & Moglia, Magnus, 2023. "Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in cities: A systematic literature review and a proposal for facilitating urban transitions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    3. Rosa M. Muñoz & Yolanda Salinero & M. Valle Fernández, 2020. "Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, and Disability: A New Challenge for Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Felipe Teixeira Dias & Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra & Anelise Leal Vieira Cubas & Matheus Frederico Ferreira Henckmaier & Max Courval & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2023. "Sustainable development with environmental, social and governance: Strategies for urban sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 528-539, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lena Kilian & Anne Owen & Andy Newing & Diana Ivanova, 2022. "Exploring Transport Consumption-Based Emissions: Spatial Patterns, Social Factors, Well-Being, and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    2. Liu Yang & Yuanqing Wang & Yujun Lian & Xin Dong & Jianhong Liu & Yuanyuan Liu & Zhouhao Wu, 2023. "Rational planning strategies of urban structure, metro, and car use for reducing transport carbon dioxide emissions in developing cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6987-7010, July.
    3. Li, Jun & Zhang, Dayong & Su, Bin, 2019. "The Impact of Social Awareness and Lifestyles on Household Carbon Emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 145-155.
    4. Yuanqing Wang & Liu Yang & Sunsheng Han & Chao Li & T. V. Ramachandra, 2017. "Urban CO2 emissions in Xi’an and Bangalore by commuters: implications for controlling urban transportation carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 993-1019, October.
    5. Eloi Laurent, 2010. "Environmental justice and environmental inequalities: A European perspective," Working Papers hal-01069412, HAL.
    6. Eloi Laurent & Jean Jouzel, 2018. "The Well-being Transition: Measuring what counts to protect what matters," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03458057, HAL.
    7. MÃ¥ns Nilsson, 2005. "Learning, Frames, and Environmental Policy Integration: The Case of Swedish Energy Policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 23(2), pages 207-226, April.
    8. Gough, Ian, 2020. "The case for Universal Basic Services," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107815, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Schipper, E.L.F. & Tanner, T. & Dube, O.P. & Adams, K.M. & Huq, S., 2020. "The debate: Is global development adapting to climate change?," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    10. Andrés Pazmiño & Silvia Serrao-Neumann & Darryl Low Choy, 2018. "Towards Comprehensive Policy Integration for the Sustainability of Small Islands: A Landscape-Scale Planning Approach for the Galápagos Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-29, April.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7cu18nukj78u8bq89s295bup4f is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Scarborough, Helen & Burton, Michael P. & Bennett, Jeffrey W., 2009. "Decision-Making in a Social Welfare Context," 2009 Conference (53rd), February 11-13, 2009, Cairns, Australia 47622, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    13. Lakner, Sebastian & Schmitt, Jonas & Schüler, Stefan & Zinngrebe, Yves, 2016. "Naturschutzpolitik In Der Landwirtschaft: Erfahrungen Aus Der Umsetzung Von Greening Und Der Ökologischen Vorrangfläche 2015," 56th Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany, September 28-30, 2016 244768, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    14. Liu Yang & Yuanqing Wang & Yujun Lian & Zhongming Guo & Yuanyuan Liu & Zhouhao Wu & Tieyue Zhang, 2022. "Key Factors, Planning Strategy and Policy for Low-Carbon Transport Development in Developing Cities of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-14, October.
    15. Éloi Laurent, 2009. "Écologie et inégalités," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(2), pages 33-57.
    16. Creutzig, Felix, 2020. "Limits to Liberalism: Considerations for the Anthropocene," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    17. Robbert Biesbroek & Jeroen J. L. Candel, 2020. "Mechanisms for policy (dis)integration: explaining food policy and climate change adaptation policy in the Netherlands," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(1), pages 61-84, March.
    18. Claborn, Kelly A. & Brooks, Jeremy S., 2019. "Can We Consume Less and Gain More? Environmental Efficiency of Well-being at the Individual Level," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 110-120.
    19. Herziger, Atar & Claborn, Kelly A. & Brooks, Jeremy S., 2020. "Is There Hope for the Double Dividend? How Social Context Can Shape Synergies and Tradeoffs between Sustainable Consumption and Well-Being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. Røpke, Inge, 2020. "Econ 101—In need of a sustainability transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    21. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5lge9h8e809258uvvpjn34ekm4 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Nessa Winston, 2021. "Sustainable community development: Integrating social and environmental sustainability for sustainable housing and communities," Working Papers 202106, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:383-:d:304760. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.