Table 1.1 The Eco2 Cities: Principles and Pathways

Table 1.1 The Eco² Cities: Principles and Pathways

PRINCIPLES CORE ELEMENTS STEPPING STONES

A city-based approach A development program that supports cities in making good decisions and implementing these decisions using all levers of city infl uence and control

A planning philosophy that recognizes the fundamental role played by local ecological assets in the health and wealth of cities and their surrounding rural communities An action-oriented network that provides city leaders with the full support of national governments, the international development community (including the World Bank), and global best practice cities A decision support system with methods and tools that adapt to varying levels of knowledge and skill and provide cities with the technical, administrative, and fi nancial capacity to develop an Eco2 pathway Review the Eco2 Cities Initiative, and adapt the Eco2 principles to the local context, especially current issues of concern and the local political constraints.

Identify champion(s) and the specifi c groups or individuals who are vital to success.

Obtain commitments from city councils and infl uential groups and people. Work closely with national governments and, where possible, dovetail the Eco2 elements so they clearly fi t within national priorities. Seek a partnership with the international development community (including the World Bank), best practice cities, and Eco2 Cities Initiative partners. Outline a process for building capacity, and enhance the skills and knowledge of local professional staff. Develop fl uency of concepts among local decision makers using case studies from this book and other supporting materials.

Initiate a process for collaborative decision making and integrated design to develop the Eco2 approach as a corporation, as a provider of services, and as a leader within the larger urban area.

Prepare a mandate and budget for a secretariat that can support collaborative committees through background research on cross-cutting issues and the facilitation of regular meetings, communications products, and event planning. Prepare a long-term planning framework, in collaboration with others, and seek consensus on common goals and indicators of performance, an overarching growth management strategy, and an adaptive management approach. Select a catalyst project suitable for demonstrating the Eco2 principles, aligned with the goals and strategies identifi ed in the long-term planning framework.

An expanded platform for A three-tier platform that enables a city to collaborative design and collaborate (1) as a model corporation, engaging decision making all city departments; (2) as a provider of services, engaging residents, businesses, and contractors; and (3) as a leader and partner within the urban region, engaging senior government offi cials, utilities, rural settlements, private sector stakeholders, nongovernmental organizations, and academia A shared long-term planning framework for aligning and strengthening the policies of the city administration and key stakeholders and for guiding future work on Eco2 projects

Table 1.1, continued

PRINCIPLES CORE ELEMENTS STEPPING STONES

A one-system approach Integrated infrastructure system design and management that focuses on enhancing the effi ciency of resource fl ows in an urban area Coordinated spatial development that integrates urban forms with urban fl ows, combining land use, urban design, urban density, and other spatial attributes with infrastructure scenarios

Integrated implementation by (1) correctly sequencing investments, (2) creating a policy environment that enables an integrated approach, (3) coordinating a full range of policy tools, (4) collaborating with stakeholders to align key policies with long-term goals, (5) targeting new policies to refl ect the differing circumstances involved in urbanization in new areas and in improving existing urban areas

An investment framework that values sustainability and resiliency Incorporation of life-cycle costing in all fi nancial decision making Equal attention to protecting and enhancing all capital assets: manufactured capital, natural capital, social capital, and human capital Proactive attention to managing all kinds of risk: fi nancial risk, sudden disruptions to systems, and rapid socioeconomic environmental change Provide just-in-time training and capacity building, arrange for multiple opportunities for local professionals to become comfortable with the one-system approach, and make the best use of technical support so it may be truly transformative and valuable.

Conduct a series of integrated design workshops to create important opportunities for planners, designers, and engineers to come together and use new methods and information: a series of short workshops can clarify goals and set targets; and the long-term planning framework can guide, design, and stimulate creative solutions. Explore design solutions and prepare a concept plan for review: an integrated design process should be used to generate alternative proposals on ways to design, construct, and manage the project; an intensive, multiday urban systems design charrette (see part 2) can facilitate the integrated design process; and the integrated design process should culminate in a recommended concept plan for implementation, including any policy reforms. Align a full set of policy tools to ensure successful implementation, in collaboration with stakeholders, to sequence and enable a one-system approach and to coordinate actions across sectors: a strategic action plan can be prepared to clarify who is responsible for what tasks and to show how policies interact.

Use a life-cycle costing method or tool to understand the life-cycle costs and cash fl ows. Develop and adopt indicators for assessing the four types of capital and for benchmarking performance. Forecast the impacts of plausible changes in climate, markets, resource availability, demographics, and technology by hosting a forecast workshop. Implement a catalyst project in ways that protect and enhance capital assets and reduce vulnerabilities: the best way to learn the accounting methods is in practice in a catalyst project, and a base case scenario may be developed as a benchmark for comparing alternative approaches. Monitor feedback results, learn, and adapt to improve performance.

Source: Author compilation.

Notes

1. In contrast, in July 2005, hundreds of people were killed, and fi nancial losses of about US$100 million were incurred in Mumbai, largely because of the loss of natural mangrove ecosystems and an unplanned speculation-driven construction frenzy in the northern suburbs. The new investments required in drainage to compensate for bad planning will be exorbitant. Much of this cost might have been avoided. 2. The Eco2 Cities Initiative will make full use of innovative fi nancial products off ered by the

World Bank, such as the new Climate Investment

Funds that provide clients with strong fi nancial incentives for transformative changes in energy effi ciency and clean technologies. Carbon fi nance will also be leveraged.

References

Gharajedaghi, Jamshid. 2006. Systems Thinking;

Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for

Designing Business Architecture, 2nd ed. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Revi, Aromar, Sanjay Prakash, Rahul Mehrotra,

G. K. Bhat, Kapil Gupta, and Rahul Gore. 2006.

“Goa 2100: The Transition to a Sustainable

RUrban Design.” Environment and Urbanization 18 (1): 51–65. Unruh, Gregory C. 2000. “Understanding Carbon

Lock-In.” Energy Policy 28 (12): 817–30.

CHAPTER 3

A City-Based Approach

The fi rst step toward a city-based approach is to appreciate and apply the philosophy at all levels, from local councils to national governments to the international community. One should recognize that local governments, working in collaboration with stakeholders, are now on the front line in dealing with some of the most pressing development challenges and that, most often, they hold the key to solutions. It is this philosophy that motivates the Eco2 initiative. The core elements and stepping stones of a city-based approach are designed to enable local governments to lead a development process that accounts for their specifi c circumstances, including local ecology.

The Core Elements of a City-Based Approach

A development program that supports cities

Cities have a wide range of powers that they may use to infl uence their development trajectories. In addition, many countries are now pursuing processes of fi scal and administrative decentralization. This approach has generated additional important decision-making and management responsibilities for local governments. Often, the impact of initiatives depends on the eff ectiveness and creativity with which city leaders cultivate and use these powers. A development program that supports cities in their decision-making process and, more critically, in the implementation of decisions is needed to enable cities to use their powers to exercise meaningful proactive leadership more eff ectively.

After assessing 25 successful cases of sustainable urbanization in different European cities, Timothy Beatley (2000: 423) has concluded that the role of city leadership is crucial to success: Government in these cities is not seen as laissez-faire or caretaking in nature, but as an entity exercising important proactive leadership; it is a pacesetter, not a follower or spectator.

A planning philosophy that recognizes the fundamental role of local ecological assets

Local ecological assets provide all kinds of services to cities, from sand and gravel for concrete to renewable sources of energy, supplies of drinking water, the assimilation of waste products, the pollination of market gardens, pleasant views, and recreational environments. The list of services for a typical city is long. These services are increasingly critical to the viability of the local economy and to the health, safety, and quality of the lives of residents. Because we lack a systems perspective and comprehensive accounting methods, the real quantity and value of such assets are rarely recognized. New accounting methods should help fi ll this gap. So will a new philosophy of planning that assigns priority to these assets in reaching decisions about urban form and land use.

A city-based approach alters the mind-set of the urban planner and civil engineer. Urban development moves from big-architecture industrial engineering and environmental management (coping with externalities) to the stewardship of landscapes and the integration of social and ecological values into land use planning and infrastructure design and management. This is a change from the traditional city-centric view whereby natural systems are valued only as economic inputs or amenities and wherein the rural and natural fringe of lands surrounding a city is most often ignored or treated as an urban preserve for future expansion.

The Eco2 approach to planning begins with understanding the opportunities and constraints of local ecologies. How do we fi t into the topography of the area so that water may be provided by gravity? How do we protect the water recharge areas and the wetlands so that water capacity and quality are sustained? How do we distribute populations so that local renewable energy—windy sites, forests, solar access—is suffi cient to meet our basic needs? These types of questions are the place to start and may ultimately provide urban professionals with their most exciting design challenge: how to fi t cities into the landscape in ways that respect and complement our natural capital and that ensure the availability of ecological services for present and future generations. In theory, all the constructed elements that make up a city may contribute to and benefi t from the health and productivity of local ecologies and natural resources.

An action-oriented network

The city-based approach requires an actionoriented network that knits together cities, their senior or national governments, and their supporters at all levels. The composition of supporting players will vary from place to place, but should be broad enough to include local stakeholders, academic institutions, private corporations, international agencies and organizations, and best-practice cities. Each player in the network will bring diff erent yet complementary strengths. Some will bring strong technical expertise, while others might bring fi nancing or educational programs. It is this mix of players and resources that makes a sustainable transformation possible. However, the agenda may become confusing and problematic unless the players in the network share an understanding of their respective roles. In a city-based approach, the role for all players is primarily to support the city in a bottom-up process. Why do we look to cities to lead? Because the local level is often where the greatest opportunity exists for truly creative solutions and for maximizing the benefi ts of an investment across many sectors (see box 1.1). Instead of promoting a one-size-fi ts-all solution, the network provides the city with enabling policies, information fl ows, targets and guidelines, and the freedom to create and adapt. Local self-reliance is explored before investigating possible solutions at higher levels. When an action-oriented network is aligned in support of a city, it is often surprising just how much can be achieved locally.