The Politics of Sustainable Urban Development

Session Submission Type: Pre-conference Short Course Half Day

Session Description

Scholars and policymakers advocate for sustainable urban development to accommodate the growing number of people across the world that now live in cities. This definition typically refers to a form of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations. Dominant scholarly approaches emphasize technical fixes like infrastructure improvements, resilient architecture, renewable energy, and technological advancements. Largely missing in this analysis is the politics of sustainable urban development, or the political conditions under which sustainable development outcomes are met in cities across the globe. How do political institutions shape the prospects of a sustainable future? What role does political participation play in the construction of sustainable cities? How do urban populations enable or constrain development interventions? What information and data are necessary to construct sustainable cities?

This short course draws from the unique set of theoretical and methodological approaches of political science to contribute to debates on sustainable urban development. Theoretically, we emphasize the importance of political behavior, social connectivity, governance processes, and citizenship for prospects of sustainable development. Methodologically, we draw from a range of social science research strategies, including surveys, field experiments, interviews, and participant observation. Importantly, we advocate new ways of estimating and analyzing mobile populations, as well as visualizing and representing urban neighborhoods in rapidly growing cities. Thematically, we advance important political perspectives on emerging policy debates around sustainable urban transport, climate change adaptation, sustainable resource governance, inclusive public service provision, and affordable housing. These insights will inform policies with the goal of constructing sustainable cities in the era of climate change.

The full-day short course includes papers that fit under the following research streams related to the politics of sustainable urban development:

• Analyzing and visualizing mobile populations and urban political constituencies

• Probing political behavior and social connectivity

• Clarifying citizenship claims and access to public services

• Challenging technical approaches to resilience

The short course will include a combination of lightning talks, research presentations, and paper workshops. The course will end with a conversation about a possible special issue or edited volume. The Comparative Urban Politics related group will host the short course.

Sub Unit

• APSA Panels and All Meetings and Receptions

Chair

• Jeffrey W. Paller University of San Francisco

Presenters

• Sean Fox University of Bristol

• Jacqueline Klopp Columbia University

• Yue Zhang University of Illinois - Chicago

• Alison E. Post University of California, Berkeley

• Maureen M. Donaghy Rutgers University, Camden

• Erum Aly Haider Georgetown University

• Christopher Gore Ryerson University

• Sara Hughes University of Michigan

• David Kaufmann ETH Zürich

• Jill Simone Gross CUNY-Hunter College

• Nicholas Goedeking UC Berkeley

• Chandan Deuskar University of Pennsylvania