Description:
Offering a uniquely global perspective, Just Sustainabilities in Practice provides an innovative yet practical new approach to urban development, one which responds to the challenges posed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to the "New Urban Agenda" put forward at the Habitat III Conference. Assessing sustainability initiatives in more than two hundred cities, Vanesa Castán Broto and Linda Westman argue that the essential principles of just sustainability are already present in many of the local environmental programs being implemented in cities across the globe. For the wider international agenda to succeed, we must therefore empower local governments so as to link global aspirations with effective, locally-engaged action.
Highlighting current successes while also assessing prospects for the future, Castán Broto and Westman show us that just sustainability is not simply an aspirational discourse, but is already having a positive impact on environmental efforts around the world.
Brief description: Linda Westman is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, whose work engages with the governance of sustainability and climate change, urban sustainability transformations, and justice.
Review Quotes:
"This is the ultimate book for thinking what just and sustainable cities in the 21st century could look like." --Giorgos Kallis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
"Castán Broto and Westman provide a thoughtful, multi-pronged assessment of urban sustainability. Drawing on rich experience of diverse urban settings, this is a must-read for those who seek a morally just, empirically grounded and theoretically sound framework that can help us transition to a more equitable, sustainable urban future." --Harini Nagendra, Azim Premji University "A convincing treatise on why social justice is central to achieving urban sustainability. Castán Broto and Westman present just sustainability initiatives of urban activists around the world that support emancipatory goals and principles." --Robert D. Bullard, Texas Southern University "A thought-provoking piece on the political dimensions of sustainability discourse, Castán Broto and Westman's book is an essential reference for scholars and activists interested in urban transformations that matter for people and nature." --Urban Geography