Cities and the environment

Cities are growing more quickly than ever. As centers of economic, political and social life, urban areas are responsible for the vast majority of the world’s energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; they are the main contributors to air, noise, water and land pollution; they generate large quantities of waste; they are voracious consumers of natural resources; and they are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. Given the current rates of urbanization, the environmental impacts of cities are giving rise to urgent concerns.How can city managers develop and deploy innovative initiatives and programs that can mitigate the negative environmental effects of urbanization? Can cities be part of the solution to overcome the current environmental challenges? Due to the higher population density and more effi cient allocation of resources in cities, can urban areas even be environmental pluses?This volume is part of a book series called “IESE Cities in Motion: International urban best practices.” Cities and the Environment focuses on the effects of urbanization on our planet, and it aims to be:• an insightful analysis of the main environmental challenges that city governments face,• a catalog of international urban best practices on environmental issues,• a tool to help city managers and policy makers around the world develop innovative ideas and groundbreaking strategies in their endeavor to create green, sustainable and resilient urban areas that can improve people’s quality of life.

Pascual Berrone (BA, B.Sc., Ph.D.) is associate professor of strategic management and holder of the Chair of Sustainability and Business Strategy Schneider Electric at IESE Business School. He is a multi-award-winning researcher whose work on sustainable innovation, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility has been published in over a dozen international journals. Professor Berrone is Associate Editor of research outlet Organization & Environment and founder of the "Strategic Madrid Group," an initiative that gathers world-class scholars and practitioners around strategic issues. He is also the academic co-director of the research platform IESE Cities in Motion. Joan E. Ricart, Fellow of the SMS and EURAM, is the Carl Schrøder Professor of Strategic Management and Chairman of the Strategic Management Department at the IESE Business School, University of Navarra. He was Director of the Doctoral Program (1995-2006), Associate Dean for Research (2001-2006), and Associate Director for Faculty and Research (2006-2014). He is also Vice-president of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management. He was the Founding president of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) and President of the Strategic Management Society (SMS). He was the academic director of the EIASM and member of the research committee of the EFMD. He has published several books and articles in leading journals as Strategic Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Econometrica or Quarterly Journal of Economics. He is co-academic director of IESE Cities in Motion and academic director of the UN center of excellence of PPP for Cities. His current work focuses on cities, business models, and offshoring. Ana Isabel Duch is a research assistant at IESE Business School. She holds a Master's in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and a Bachelor's in Business Management and Administration from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Previously to IESE, she has worked in research and consultancy projects related to socio-economic development and international trade at the European Commission (DG Trade), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and at ACCIÓ Berlin (Government of Catalonia). Her areas of research interest include sustainable development, global and local governance, and international political economy.