Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City

Carijn Beumer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

A broader perspective on the role of cities and their relation to their inhabitants and the planet is essential to effectively answer urgent sustainability questions that emerge in and beyond cities. This essay provides a critical reflection on the notion of the sustainable city. The central question discussed is: how can the ideal of a sustainable city be best conceptualised? Through exploring historic and contemporary theories on the urban-nature-people relationship and analysing some current sustainable city projects with the help of Cultural Theory, it is argued that creating a sustainable city paradoxically means parting with Sustopia. Sustopia often turns into Dystopia when a single perspective on constructing a sustainable city becomes dominant. In order to assist the process of meaningfully conceptualising the sustainable city, the notion of Cosmopolis is re-explored. This notion of a city embraces creativity, critical practice, adaptation, and it places urban development and planning in a context of multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Original languageEnglish
Article number845
Number of pages14
JournalSustainability
Volume9
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017

Keywords

  • urban sustainability
  • cultural theory
  • perspectives
  • urban-nature relationship
  • urban development
  • critical theory
  • ECO-CITY
  • URBAN AGRICULTURE
  • CITIES
  • WORLD
  • BIODIVERSITY
  • NEOLIBERALISM
  • URBANIZATION
  • CONSERVATION
  • RESILIENCE
  • ECOSYSTEM

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