Compound urban crises

Linda Westman; James Patterson; Rachel Macrorie; Christopher Orr; Catherine Ashcraft; Vanesa Castan Broto; Dana  Dolan; Mukesh Gupta; Jeroen van der Heijden; Thomas Hickmann; Robert Hobbins; Marielle Papin; Enora Robin; Christina Rosan; Jonas Colen Ladeia Torrens; Robert Webb

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01697-6

Compound urban crises

Linda Westman^*, James Patterson, Rachel Macrorie, Christopher Orr, Catherine Ashcraft, Vanesa Castan Broto, Dana Dolan, Mukesh Gupta, Jeroen van der Heijden, Thomas Hickmann, Robert Hobbins, Marielle Papin, Enora Robin, Christina Rosan, Jonas Colen Ladeia Torrens, Robert Webb

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Sheffield

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The crises that cities face—such as climate change, pandemics, economic downturn, and racism—are tightly interlinked and cannot be addressed in isolation. This paper addresses compound urban crises as a unique type of problem, in which discrete solutions that tackle each crisis independently are insufficient. Few scholarly debates address compound urban crises and there is, to date, a lack of interdisciplinary insights to inform urban governance responses. Combining ideas from complex adaptive systems and critical urban studies, we develop a set of boundary concepts (unsettlement, unevenness, and unbounding) to understand the complexities of compound urban crises from an interdisciplinary perspective. We employ these concepts to set a research agenda on compound urban crises, highlighting multiple interconnections between urban politics and global dynamics. We conclude by suggesting how these entry points provide a theoretical anchor to develop practical insights to inform and reform urban governance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1402-1415
Number of pages	14
Journal	Ambio
Volume	51
Issue number	6
Early online date	2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01697-6
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Funding

We appreciate the support of the Earth System Governance network and their assistance in arranging the inaugural meeting of the ESG Urban Working Group at the 2020 Earth System Governance. The contributions of Linda Westman, James Patterson and Vanesa Castán Broto have been funded by the project Low Carbon Action in Ordinary Cities (LO-ACT), that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Grant Agreement No 804051 — LO-ACT — ERC-2018-STG (PI: Castán Broto).

Funders	Funder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	804051 — LO-ACT — ERC-2018-STG
European Research Council

Keywords

Cities
Complex adaptive systems
Compound urban crises
Critical urban studies
Governance

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Westman2022_Article_CompoundUrbanCrisesFinal published version, 2 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Compound urban crises",

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AU - Orr, Christopher

AU - Ashcraft, Catherine

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AU - Dolan, Dana

AU - Gupta, Mukesh

AU - van der Heijden, Jeroen

AU - Hickmann, Thomas

AU - Hobbins, Robert

AU - Papin, Marielle

AU - Robin, Enora

AU - Rosan, Christina

AU - Colen Ladeia Torrens, Jonas

AU - Webb, Robert

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Compound urban crises

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this