The Role of Cities in Sustainability Transitions: New Perspectives for Science and Policy
Sustainable development at a global and local scale heavily depends upon the pathways taken by cities in the near future. Within scientific research, this frequently identified “urban challenge” has been recognized and addressed increasingly in urban stud
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Abstract Sustainable development at a global and local scale heavily depends upon the pathways taken by cities in the near future. Within scientific research, this frequently identified “urban challenge” has been recognized and addressed increasingly in urban studies, as well as in transformation studies. However, while both fields clearly overlap and effectively complement each other in this regard, the respective epistemic communities have largely remained separate so far. Therefore, this paper elaborates on the core concepts and approaches that dominate the emerging scientific debate on the role of cities in sustainability transitions. Based on a methodic literature review, it delineates the progressive convergence of the diverse disciplines involved over four major research perspectives. It equally derives key conclusions for future research and policy, highlighting the urgent need to connect the four fields identified, to link socio-technical and socialecological system (SES) perspectives, to conceive of holistic innovations for developing new planning approaches, and to fully embrace transdisciplinarity by practicing science in society. Keywords Urban studies • Transformation Epistemology • Transdisciplinarity
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1 Introduction For about a decade, a gradual convergence has taken place between the two interdisciplinary research fields of urban studies and transformation studies. While the former is dedicated to the understanding of cities and their development, the latter explores and explains profound societal and environmental change. With the steady growth of sustainability problems and under the pressure of complex challenges such as climate change and post-fossil energy supply, this convergence of the two research fields increasingly reflects what may turn out to be a necessary M. Wolfram (*) Department of Urban Planning and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 E. Kim, B.H.S. Kim (eds.), Quantitative Regional Economic and Environmental Analysis for Sustainability in Korea, New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives 25, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0300-4_1
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symbiosis: urban studies need to conceive of transformation dynamics, while transformation studies in turn require a better understanding of the role of cities. In order to underpin this basic hypothesis, the essential features of both research fields will first be briefly outlined.
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Understanding Cities: Urban Studies
Constituted only by its shared subject – cities – the scientific field of “urban studies” is a highly interdisciplinary one with fuzzy edges. It comprises all scientific perspectives on cities, examining their condition and development across time and space. Thus, there has been a corresponding epistemological and methodological diversity from the outset, since the discursive construction of cities as a subject of science was driven by individual disciplines. This included not only a concern f
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