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Constructed around the work of Manuel Castells on the space of places, the space of flows and the networked city, nine contributors focus on the transformation of the fabric of the networked city in terms of policies and social practices.
The Connected City explores how thinking about networks helps make sense of modern cities: what they are, how they work, and where they are headed. Cities and urban life can be examined as networks, and these urban networks can be examined at many different levels. The book focuses on three levels of urban networks: micro, meso, and macro. These levels build upon one another, and require distinctive analytical approaches that make it possible to consider different types of questions. At one extreme, micro-urban networks focus on the networks that exist within cities, like the social relationships among neighbors that generate a sense of community and belonging. At the opposite extreme, macro...
This book examines the issues at stake in transboundary water governance, it spotlights the Rhône River, a biophysical entity of enormous historical, political and economic importance. The Rhône has long been viewed essentially as a tool for energy production, heavily canalized and exploited by a series of dams and nuclear power plants – with the result that those who live along this great river have simply turned away. Basing their work on a detailed analysis of the history and the current management of the Rhône, the authors explore the challenges linked with transboundary river basin governance including relevant international water law, appropriation of river and river resources by Nation States. Finally, they discuss a diverse range of institutional architectures and outlines several solutions that might cope with the growing complexity of transboundary management of a major river. The book will be of interest to scholars in fields such as environment studies, water policy and Natural Resource Management, it also has relevance to water managers and entrepreneurs concerned with staying abreast of developments in water policy and governance.
Water is a matter of life and death. Advanced technology and engineering enable humans to gain better access to it. Nonetheless, the conditions and effort required to reach this goal remain colossal in many countries. Building a lasting infrastructure for adequate treatment before and after use is costly. Therefore, the author believes that a radical change of thinking among people around the world, from the domestic to the large-scale users, becomes a priority. Even if the United Nations entitles all people to justice for water, more responsible and ethical use of it by all interested parties is more important than the spreading of promises, which, in practice, may turn out to be a sham. Only a better understanding that access to water rests on the efforts of everyone, without exception, will reduce overuse, waste, and pollution of the indispensable resource. This volume, while written from a theological, philosophical, and legal perspective (focusing on John Calvin, John Rawls, and Paul Ricoeur), demonstrates that water cannot be merely understood as a human right, but also has to be dealt with from an economic point of view as well as under the authority of the Golden Rule.
This edited volume provides a critical discussion of particular trends that are widely recognised to influence water management by comparing them with what is actually happening in the field. Among others, these trends include water security, adaptive or integrative management, and the water-energy-food nexus, which are often presented as essential means to reaching more sustainable and resilient water use. However, the extent to which these trends have managed to structure concrete practices in water management remains uncertain. Informed by empirically grounded research, each chapter of this work engages with a particular approach, concept or theory. Together, they provide a nuanced picture of trends in water management that require universal remedies and global norms.
Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning, Volume 4 is a selection of some of the best scholarship in urban and regional planning from around the world. The internationally recognized authors of these award-winning papers take up a range of salient issues from the theory and practice of planning. The topics they address include planning and governance in Zimbabwe, rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, safety issues in urban spaces, and an analysis of French transportation policies. The breadth of the topics covered in this book will appeal to all those with an interest in urban and regional planning, providing a springboard for further debate and research. The papers focus particularly on how planning institutions can meet contemporary environmental, demographic, economic, and socio-spatial challenges. The Dialogues books are published in association with the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) and its member planning schools associations. These associations represent 360 planning schools in nearly fifty countries around the globe. They have selected these papers based on regional competitions.
Neoclassical economics, the intellectual bedrock of modern capitalism, faces growing criticisms, as many of its key assumptions and policy prescriptions are systematically challenged. Yet, there remains one field of economics where these limitations continue virtually unchallenged: the study of cities and regions in built-environment economics. In this book, Franklin Obeng-Odoom draws on institutional, Georgist and Marxist economics to clearly but comprehensively show what the key issues are today in thinking about urban economics. In doing so, he demonstrates the widespread tensions and contradictions in the status quo, showing how to reconstruct urban economics in order to create a more just society and environment.
The book presents detailed case studies examining the Rhône Basin in the Canton Valais, Switzerland and the Aconcagua Basin in Valparaiso, Chile. In order to understand and assess the interplay of complex and interlinked environmental and socio-economic issues, the author looks beyond the technology, modelling, engineering and infrastructure associated with water resources management and climate change adaptation, to assess the decision-making environment within which water and adaptation policy and practices are devised and executed.
Globalized Water presents a compilation of voices that forms a unique scientific exploration of contemporary water management models and governance issues. The book describes the water paradox—how a local resource has become a global product—and the implications of this in how we identify challenges and make policy in the water sector. Over the last 20 years, the foundations of local and national water systems have been rocked by a wave of changes. The authors in this book, experts in a wide range of disciplines, address the resulting debates and issues: water as a commodity and patrimony, technological rent, liberalization and privatization, the continuing evolution of water management ...
Global Environmental Institutions provides the most accessible and succinct overview of the major global institutions attempting to protect the natural environment, describing their creation and operation, decision-making processes, interactions with other institutions, and impact. Fully updated throughout, this third edition maintains the clear structure of previous editions, examining the underlying causes of global environmental problems creation of global environmental institutions effectiveness of action undertaken by these institutions Providing an overview of the United Nations Environment Programme alongside other entities that play important roles in global environmental governance, this book examines institutions by issue area and introduces organizations with a specific focus on protecting endangered species and biodiversity, the atmosphere, the ocean environment, and regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous substances. Drawing on the latest scholarship, and written by an acknowledged expert in the field, this study is essential reading for students of environmental politics and international organizations.