IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i12p2311-d123073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Three Pitfalls of Sustainable City: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating the Theory-Practice Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Valeria Saiu

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Cagliari 09123, Italy)

Abstract

Over the last three decades the environmental, economic and social crisis and the challenges and possibilities offered by new technologies have become the drivers of plans and projects for sustainable cities. In the face of a wide experimentation, the aim of this paper is to answer the question: what progress is implemented by the goal of sustainable city? To this end, I hold it is important point at the watershed between the declared intended goals of the projects realized to date and the results on the ground. To analyze this discrepancy, I have identified a common theory-practice gap in the form of the three pitfalls of sustainable city, which bring about economic and ethical conflicts and risks creating socio-spatial utopias. The three pitfalls are: (1) the idea of the city as a business; (2) the oversimplification of urban complexity; (3) the quest for the ideal community. This conceptual framework has two purposes. First, it helps to systematize the existing literature on the sustainable city project, focusing on few selected issues. Second, it offers a project evaluation framework, useful both for the management of resources and for the planning of urban space. To pinpoint these pitfalls in projects for sustainable cities could allow us to adopt a holistic approach to the city project and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Valeria Saiu, 2017. "The Three Pitfalls of Sustainable City: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating the Theory-Practice Gap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2311-:d:123073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2311/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2311/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ayona Datta, 2012. "India's Ecocity? Environment, Urbanisation, and Mobility in the Making of Lavasa," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(6), pages 982-996, December.
    2. Laurence Crot, 2013. "Planning for Sustainability in Non-democratic Polities: The Case of Masdar City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(13), pages 2809-2825, October.
    3. Scott D. Campbell, 2016. "The Planner's Triangle Revisited: Sustainability and the Evolution of a Planning Ideal That Can't Stand Still," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(4), pages 388-397, October.
    4. Simon Joss & Arthur P. Molella, 2013. "The Eco-City as Urban Technology: Perspectives on Caofeidian International Eco-City (China)," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 115-137, January.
    5. Robert G. Hollands, 2008. "Will the real smart city please stand up?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 303-320, December.
    6. Anna Hult, 2013. "Swedish Production of Sustainable Urban Imaginaries in China," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 77-94, January.
    7. Joaquim Rius-Ulldemolins & Gil-Manuel Hernàndez I Martí & Francisco Torres, 2016. "Urban Development and Cultural Policy "White Elephants": Barcelona and Valencia," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 61-75, January.
    8. Alberto Vanolo, 2014. "Smartmentality: The Smart City as Disciplinary Strategy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(5), pages 883-898, April.
    9. Carijn Beumer, 2017. "Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Gyberg, Per & Palm, Jenny, 2009. "Influencing households' energy behaviour--how is this done and on what premises?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2807-2813, July.
    11. Federico Cugurullo, 2013. "How to Build a Sandcastle: An Analysis of the Genesis and Development of Masdar City," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 23-37, January.
    12. David Brain, 2005. "From Good Neighborhoods to Sustainable Cities: Social Science and the Social Agenda of the New Urbanism," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 28(2), pages 217-238, April.
    13. Federico Cugurullo, 2016. "Urban eco-modernisation and the policy context of new eco-city projects: Where Masdar City fails and why," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(11), pages 2417-2433, August.
    14. Federico Caprotti & Cecilia Springer & Nichola Harmer, 2015. "‘Eco’ For Whom? Envisioning Eco-urbanism in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 495-517, May.
    15. Shove, Elizabeth, 1998. "Gaps, barriers and conceptual chasms: theories of technology transfer and energy in buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(15), pages 1105-1112, December.
    16. Scott Prudham, 2009. "Pimping Climate Change: Richard Branson, Global Warming, and the Performance of Green Capitalism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(7), pages 1594-1613, July.
    17. I-Chun Catherine Chang, 2017. "Failure matters: Reassembling eco-urbanism in a globalizing China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1719-1742, August.
    18. Owens, Susan & Driffill, Louise, 2008. "How to change attitudes and behaviours in the context of energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4412-4418, December.
    19. Mike Hodson & Simon Marvin, 2010. "Urbanism in the anthropocene: Ecological urbanism or premium ecological enclaves?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 298-313, June.
    20. Beniamino Murgante & Giuseppe Borruso, 2015. "Smart Cities in a Smart World," Springer Optimization and Its Applications, in: Stamatina Th. Rassia & Panos M. Pardalos (ed.), Future City Architecture for Optimal Living, edition 127, pages 13-35, Springer.
    21. Robinson, John B., 1991. "The proof of the pudding : Making energy efficiency work," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 631-645, September.
    22. Changjie Zhan & Martin De Jong, 2017. "Financing Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: What Lessons Can Be Drawn for Other Large-Scale Sustainable City-Projects?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, February.
    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. Valeria Saiu, 2020. "Evaluating Outwards Regeneration Effects (OREs) in Neighborhood-Based Projects: A Reversal of Perspective and the Proposal for a New Tool," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Francesco Pinna & Valeria Saiu, 2021. "Greenways as Integrated Systems: A Proposal for Planning and Design Guidelines Based on Case Studies Evaluation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2022. "Bibliometric review about eco-cites and urban sustainable development: trend topics," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 13683-13704, December.
    4. Federica Banchiero & Ivan Blečić & Valeria Saiu & Giuseppe A. Trunfio, 2020. "Neighbourhood Park Vitality Potential: From Jane Jacobs’s Theory to Evaluation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, July.
    5. Valentin Mihaylov & Stanisław Sala, 2022. "Planning “the Future of the City” or Imagining “the City of the Future”? In Search of Sustainable Urban Utopianism in Katowice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.

    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. Mora, Luca & Deakin, Mark & Reid, Alasdair, 2019. "Strategic principles for smart city development: A multiple case study analysis of European best practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 70-97.
    2. Federico Caprotti & Cecilia Springer & Nichola Harmer, 2015. "‘Eco’ For Whom? Envisioning Eco-urbanism in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 495-517, May.
    3. Kitchin, Rob & Cardullo, Paolo & Di Feliciantonio, Cesare, 2018. "Citizenship, Justice and the Right to the Smart City," SocArXiv b8aq5, Center for Open Science.
    4. Changjie Zhan & Martin De Jong, 2017. "Financing Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: What Lessons Can Be Drawn for Other Large-Scale Sustainable City-Projects?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Federico Cugurullo, 2016. "Urban eco-modernisation and the policy context of new eco-city projects: Where Masdar City fails and why," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(11), pages 2417-2433, August.
    6. Coletta, Claudio & Heaphy, Liam & Kitchin, Rob, 2017. "From the accidental to articulated smart city: The creation and work of ‘Smart Dublin’," SocArXiv 93ga5, Center for Open Science.
    7. Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko, 2016. "City-as-a-Platform: The Rise of Participatory Innovation Platforms in Finnish Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-31, September.
    8. Lill Sarv & Ralf-Martin Soe, 2021. "Transition towards Smart City: The Case of Tallinn," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Marit Rosol & Vincent Béal & Samuel Mössner, 2017. "Greenest cities? The (post-)politics of new urban environmental regimes," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1710-1718, August.
    10. I-Chun Catherine Chang, 2017. "Failure matters: Reassembling eco-urbanism in a globalizing China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1719-1742, August.
    11. Seema Mundoli & Hita Unnikrishnan & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "The “Sustainable” in smart cities: ignoring the importance of urban ecosystems," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 44(2), pages 103-120, June.
    12. Jiang Xu, 2016. "Environmental discourses in China’s urban planning system: A scaled discourse-analytical perspective," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(5), pages 978-999, April.
    13. Cardullo, Paolo, 2018. "Commoning the smart city: A case for a public Internet provision," SocArXiv u8dk2, Center for Open Science.
    14. Malene Freudendal-Pedersen & Sven Kesselring & Eriketti Servou, 2019. "What is Smart for the Future City? Mobilities and Automation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, January.
    15. van den Buuse, Daniel & Kolk, Ans, 2019. "An exploration of smart city approaches by international ICT firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 220-234.
    16. Trencher, Gregory, 2019. "Towards the smart city 2.0: Empirical evidence of using smartness as a tool for tackling social challenges," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 117-128.
    17. Yigitcanlar, Tan & Lee, Sang Ho, 2014. "Korean ubiquitous-eco-city: A smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 100-114.
    18. Si-Ying Tan & Araz Taeihagh & Kritika Sha, 2021. "How Transboundary Learning Occurs: Case Study of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    19. Anna D’Auria & Marco Tregua & Manuel Carlos Vallejo-Martos, 2018. "Modern Conceptions of Cities as Smart and Sustainable and Their Commonalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, July.
    20. Yue, Ting & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong, 2013. "Factors influencing energy-saving behavior of urban households in Jiangsu Province," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 665-675.

    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:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2311-:d:123073. 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.