Governing the City of Flows: How Urban Metabolism Approaches May Strengthen Accountability in Strategic Planning

Cathrin Zengerling

doi:10.17645/up.v4i1.1750

Abstract

The article aims to provide an initial insight into if and how urban metabolism perspectives and approaches may strengthen accountability in urban environmental strategic planning. It argues that many of the challenges in governing urban environmental flows successfully result from accountability gaps in strategic planning. The aim of the research is to test the assumption that urban metabolism perspectives and approaches strengthen accountability in urban environmental strategic planning. Applying a four-pillar accountability analysis to the strategic climate and resource plans of New York and Zurich, two cities which put environmental sustainability high on their political agenda, the study traces the role of urban metabolism perspectives and approaches and discusses the benefits these may have for accountable strategic planning with a focus on carbon and material flows. The interim results show on the one hand that implicit urban metabolism approaches are vital for both cities’ strategic planning and that they contribute to strengthened accountability in all four pillars of the analysis: responsibility, transparency, assessment and participation. On the other hand, the analysis highlights further potential benefits of urban metabolism perspectives and approaches in urban strategic climate and resource planning.

Highlights

Cities are becoming increasingly engaged and recognized actors in multi-level and polycentric environmental governance
The study inserts urban strategic environmental planning and urban metabolism approaches into the wider context of accountable environmental governance
On the one hand the analysis shows that in both cities the use of urban metabolism approaches in strategic plans and related documents strengthens accountability in all four pillars

Summary

Introduction

Cities are becoming increasingly engaged and recognized actors in multi-level and polycentric environmental governance. Research by the International Resource Panel has shown that in 2010 cities consumed about 75% of global energy and material flows (IRP, 2013) and that urban material consumption is expected to more than double from 40 billion tons in 2010 to approximately 90 billion tons in 2050 (IRP, 2018). Recognizing this key role, international political mandates, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, task cities to work towards (environmentally) sustainable urban systems. With this growing political importance of cities in environmental governance, there is a growing body of research, especially in the field of urban climate governance

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