City Development Strategies and the Transition Towards a Green Urban Economy

Abstract

This chapter discusses the potential role of City Development Strategies (CDS) in accelerating the transition towards a green urban economy. It first examines different definitions, scopes and key issues of a green economy. It then addresses the question of how CDS could accelerate this transition by examining the challenges and potential of the green economy, the dynamics of the transition, and the nature of CDS. The chapter has three main arguments. First, although the green economy is expected to achieve a balance between economic growth, social equity and environmental sustainability, the driving force lies in the growth of green economic activities, which should therefore be prioritized. Second, the transition to the green urban economy is not a narrow technical change, but a change of a broad and all-encompassing socio-technical regime. Therefore, it requires a strong articulation of the vision, mobilization of resources, and coordinated actions. Third, the CDS has the potential to meet these requirements. However, to fulfill this role CDS’s current practice has to become more effective in developing a shared vision and mobilizing support, and be more focused on strategies that develop the urban economy. Moreover, city managers have to become more entrepreneurial.