Dilemmas of Sustainable Urban Development: A View from Practice

Dilemmas of Sustainable Urban Development offers valuable insights into a difficult line of work whose practice inevitably requires a confrontation with fundamental conflicts between divergent goals, and therefore also demands difficult choices and compromises. With contributions from leading academics and expert practitioners, this book provides readers with diverse international case studies which highlight and examine the concrete challenges of practicing sustainable urban development.

The examples in this book touch upon all aspects of sustainable urban development work, from City Hall to the local park. All of the cases unfold in their own specific contexts under particular circumstances―but from each one of them there are general lessons that can be used to inform practice. This book is essential reading for anyone who is active as a student, researcher, or practitioner in the field of urban development.

Jonathan Metzger is Professor in Urban and Regional Studies at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Most of his research deals with decision making concerning complex environmental issues―often (but not exclusively) with a focus on urban and regional policy and politics. In his work he relates to, and finds inspiration in, research debates within the subject areas of planning studies, human geography, science and technology studies, and organization studies.​

Jenny Lindblad is a PhD candidate in Urban and Regional Studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Her dissertation explores bureaucratic practices in French urban planning, and particularly the implications of contexts as a setting for, and product of, planning. Broadly, her research inquires how material infrastructures shape urban geographies. Jenny is trained in social anthropology, and an associated member of the research center Profession, Architecture, Ville et Environnement (PAVE) of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux.