City-Level Decoupling-Full Report

City-Level Decoupling: Urban resource flows and the governance of infrastructure transitions

The development of these urban targets is a response to a complex set of ecological and economic pressures that become intertwined against a context of competitive pressures between cities. For example, the transition of the Japanese city Kitakyushu to sustainability was driven by public outcry over excessive pollution of land, air and water by the city’s industries, and Singapore faced significant increases in the cost of water when its purchasing agreements with Malaysia expired.

and resource constraint. They are usually underpinned by wider social visions about the type of city that is being constructed and wider forms of engagement with stakeholders about the construction of the vision, although the depth and scope of this may be variable. The cultivation of a strategic orientation for the reconfiguration of socio-technical systems – infrastructure, buildings, and social relations – also requires the purposive, strategic development of new forms of knowledge, capacity and capability to translate these into action. Promoting systemic urban transitions is often undertaken in pursuit of ambitious targets adopted in reaction to city concerns. Many cities have recognised their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and have set ambitious targets for reducing this at the city scale. For example, Portland, Oregon, USA, has long-term aspirations to reduce the carbon emissions of the city and the wider region by 80% by 2050, the city of Melbourne, Australia, aims to be carbon neutral by 2020 and Finnish municipalities belonging to the Carbon Neutral Municipalities project aim to reduce their emissions by 80% between 2020 and 2030. Some cities have set targets, like Växjö, Sweden’s aim for a 55% decrease in carbon emissions per capita by 2015, and a 100% decrease per capita by 2030. While emission reductions have become an important goal, a combination of sustainability goals can also be incorporated into city strategies. Singapore, for example, aims to achieve a 35% improvement in energy efficiency from 2005 levels, a recycling rate of 70% and a reduction in domestic water consumption to 140 litres per person per day by 2030. In order to achieve these ambitious targets, most of these cities have developed plans to systematically apply new technologies to their existing critical energy, water, waste, transport, and food systems. While most responses focus primarily on the role of technologies, alternatives include localised efforts to undertake social and cultural change in the use of resources that are driven and developed from within communities. 6.5.1. Pressures and visions

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Melbourne faces serious problems associated with rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns that could lead to potential drought and flooding. Existing power supplies and food and water sources are vulnerable to local risks and the challenges posed by increasing oil prices. These ecological pressures potentially affect the ability of Melbourne to ensure its continued economic development – particularly maintaining its high levels of international tourism. Melbourne has positioned itself in the international race between cities to be a 'first mover' in the development of low carbon responses which could support the development and implementation of new technologies and the economic and commercial possibilities these can create. These economic drivers and the competitive race are challenges faced by most cities. Frequently the aims of systemic urban transitions are multiple: to secure economic competitiveness, to develop more efficient and reconfigured resource flows of energy, water, waste, and food; and to address new

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