Is the European Green Capital Award showcasing appropriate models of best practice for transition? The land use indicator.

Ruiz Del Portal Sanz, Angela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9662-3936 2015. Is the European Green Capital Award showcasing appropriate models of best practice for transition? The land use indicator. Presented at: 52nd International Making Cities Livable Conference on Achieving Green, Healthy Cities, Bristol, UK, June 29 - July 3, 2015. Fighting Climate Change through Sustainable Urban Design. International Making Cities Liveable, p. 9.

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Abstract

The European Green Capital Award (EGCA) rewards the efforts and commitment of European cities that tackle the environmental challenges of urban areas. These efforts are expected to have a positive impact on social and economic aspects, ultimately improving the overall sustainability of the city. Awarded cities are expected to act as a model and inspire other European cities by promoting best practice. This paper focus on the land use indicator. Reviewed literature in the field distinguishes between urban form and urban development. Urban form is a snapshot in time while urban development refers to the processes that change and adapt the form over time. The analysis of the award’s relevant indicator ‘Green urban areas incorporating sustainable land use’ points towards the significance of historical development to the current sustainability of cities’ urban form. This paper reviews recent urban development strategies for Bristol, the EGCA winner for 2015, and compares them to Stockholm and Barcelona; which achieved highest scores for the relevant indicator in earlier rounds of the award. While the strategies may be similar in all the cases, this study suggests that the two latter cities haven’t shown a significant transition from unsustainability to sustainable land use in their recent development, but a maintenance of an already privileged urban environment. With a less favourable starting point, Bristol may represent a better model of best practice for other aspiring cities in transition by showcasing its recent and current positive results.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Architecture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races N Fine Arts > NA Architecture
Publisher:	International Making Cities Liveable
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2022 11:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/85626

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