Abstract
Urban development bestows a great opportunity to increase sustainability in the built environment as cities are responsible for the majority of environmental impacts. However, the urban development process is fragmented and sub-optimization leads to unsustainable life cycle outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the urban development process from a life cycle perspective and identify how different actors understand life cycle management. By utilizing an inductive qualitative research design, 38 in-depth thematic interviews were conducted within the Finnish urban development industry including a case study and independent interviews from different phases of the urban development life cycle. The theoretical perspective is a combination of the ecosystem construct and life cycle management. Results show that there is no clear responsible actor for life cycle management in urban development. All actors claim that there is value to be added, mostly in economic, but also environmental and social terms. This study reveals that investors should be the responsible actor in the urban development process. By claiming responsibility and focusing on life cycle leadership we can improve sustainability in urban development, and respond to the urban sustainability challenge, thus improving the quality of life and welfare in our urban society.
Highlights
Cities and the built environment have significant potential to mitigate global warming
The results of this study reveal that all actors within urban development see that there is definitely more value to be created by enhancing life cycle management (Appendix 4—questionnaire results)
Sustainable urban development presents a grand opportunity to mitigate climate change and improve sustainability, as cities and the global building stock are responsible for the majority of carbon emissions and energy consumption
Summary
Cities and the built environment have significant potential to mitigate global warming. Cities generate about 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions, consume 75% of energy globally, and 30%–40% of all energy consumption and carbon emissions are caused by the current building stock [1,2]. In addition to the sustainability challenge, our cities are growing faster than ever. The trend of global urbanization is increasing. Urban areas comprise 2% of the terrestrial surface, and future projections imply that by 2050 around 70% of the global population will live in cities [3]. The urban sustainability challenges question the future efficiency and viability of our cities [4], challenging our existing urban development practices and forcing us to modify and develop our approach
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