I am looking for ideas on interesting case studies on the green economy in urban areas which meet the following criteria: improve urban labour conditions, decarbonise the economy, and provide strong local governance.
About Philip Monaghan:
One of my current research interests relates to a concern about the governance arrangements for big business leading major public urban infrastructure projects (e.g. rapid transport, smarts grids, water stewardship etc) – all under the green economy and CSR banners (e.g. Cisco Systems Connected Urban Development Initiative, IBM Smarter Cities Initiative etc) – but which may just mean business as usual, multi-century, monopolistic, non-decarbonised and anti-labour rights supply contracts. And especially so in a new age of austerity when cities are financially broke, but account for half the world’s population and emit 80% of the planet’s GHG emissions, and so may be entering into unhealthy deals which may undermine our social and environmental resilience for generations.
Many thanks Saboor, yes please do. This topic is also one of the key focuses of my new book, so it will be very interesting to compare notes.
Dear Philip,
Very interesting topic indeed. Incidentally, Ed and I happen to be working on a joint article along the same lines and would be happy to share it with you when/if it ever gets published. We’ll keep you posted.
Also, I wonder if other members of ULN have anything to say on this.
Best,
Saboor