Environment and Sustainability

Phil Allmendinger takes a critical approach to the role of ‘smart’ in future cities and the relationship with city development. Considering how technology can support active citizenship, he challenges the commercial drivers of big tech and warns that these, not developments for ‘social good’, may dominate.

Makes a significant contribution to the sustainable urbanisation agenda through authoritative interventions contextualising, assessing and explaining the relevance and importance of three central characteristics of sustainable towns and cities everywhere; that they be accessible, green and fair.

What’s wrong with work shows that how workers are treated has wide implications beyond the lives of workers themselves.

Recognising gender, race, class and global differences, the book considers the ways formal work is often dependent on informal work and concludes by considering what might make work better.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Reports on the innovative, transdisciplinary co-production on sustainable urbanisation undertaken by Mistra Urban Futures, a highly influential research centre based in Sweden (2010-19), this book makes a significant contribution to evolving theory about comparative urban research.

This book explores why climate is such a challenge for political systems, even when policy solutions exist. It argues that more democracy, not less, is needed to tackle the climate crisis, and suggests practical ways forward.

By providing a succinct evaluation of competing approaches to, and perspectives on, the idea and practice of international development, this book offers students across the social sciences a distinct and invaluable introduction to the field.

In this ground-breaking book, Trebeck and Williams challenge us to make ourselves at home with economic wealth, to ensure that everyone is included. They explore the possibility of ‘Arrival’, urging us to move from enlarging the economy to improving it, and the benefits this would bring for all.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This original volume brings together academics and activists from Europe to think creatively about the social and environmental imbalances of global production and how to reform the current economic system.

The Approaching Great Transformation is about the coming shift in how we act and think economically as the era of cheap oil comes to an end. It provides inspiration for those engaged in the ongoing global effort to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels and ceaseless growth, and towards a more sustainable, stable, and just system.

Human population growth is a serious biospheric problem, yet is largely overlooked. This book fills this gap with a concise review of world population growth, including the impact of over-population on the biosphere and government interventions addressing the frequency of childbearing and immigration.

An essential introduction for all those interested in how policies can address environmental problems, bringing together economic, sociological and social policy perspectives.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Illustrated by global case studies and empirical data, this book explores the history and current practises of food sharing, whilst exploring the impact and potential of such sharing for cities.