Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously
Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life in American Cities
Click Here to Buy This Book Now! Synopsis: Today at least twenty-five major U.S. cities have pursued some form of sustainability initiative. Although many case studies and "how-to" manuals have been published, there has been little systematic comparison of these cities' programs and initiatives. In this book Kent Portney lays the theoretical groundwork for research on what works and what does not, and why. Distinguishing cities on the basis of population characteristics and region for his analysis, Portney shows how cities use the broad rubric of sustainability to achieve particular political ends. Cities that take sustainability seriously, such as Portland, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle, use broad definitions that go well beyond concern for the physical environment or creating jobs. They pursue sustainability at many levels and integrate concern for economic development, the environment, and quality of life across all activities of city government. Cities that take sustainability less seriously, such as Cleveland, Boston, Chattanooga, and Orlando, confine it to such issues as solid waste disposal, brownfields, redevelopment, and neighborhood beautification. Still other cities, such as New Haven, Brownsville, and Milwaukee, do considerably less to work toward sustainability. Portney begins by reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of sustainable development and sustainable communities. The comparisons that follow provide a foundation for assessing the range of what is possible and desirable for sustainability initiatives. In the book's conclusion, Portney assesses the extent to which cities can use the pursuit of sustainability either to foster change in public values or merely to reinforce values that are already reflected in systems of governance. Kent E. Portney is professor of political science at Tufts University. The MIT Press January 2003 ISBN 0-262-16213-X paper. Click Here to Buy This Book Now!
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Siting Hazardous Waste Treatment Facilities: The NIMBY Syndrome
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Synopsis:
Since the 1960's and 1970's, a wave of environmental awareness has swept the United States. News reports of oil spills, DDT damage to wildlife, and the nuclear near disaster at Three Mile Island have, along with other incidents, contributed to a widespread distrust of industry and a collective fear of all chemical processing facilities. This fear has been translated, according to Kent Portney, into local political opposition to the sitting of much needed hazardous waste treatment plants-the NIMBY("not in my backyard") syndrome. The failure of federal, state, and local governments to effectively control improper hazardous waste disposal has further strengthened the NIMBY syndrome. Portney argues that once it is understood what motivates the array of local attitudes toward hazardous waste treatment facilities, and the political constraints placed on the search for solutions, effective compromises can be reached.
The book begins by focusing on the facility siting dilemma and what can be done to find new policies that work. Chapter two analyzes what does and doesn't work in easing the effects of the NIMBY syndrome. Democratic political processes are investigated in chapter three, especially those that contribute to the development of NIMBY opposition. Chapters four and five present empirical correlates of changes in peoples' attitudes and explain how people can ultimately be convinced to support local hazardous waste treatment facilities. Social, cultural, and psychological construction of opposition to facility siting is studied in chapter six. Portney presents viable solutions to the facility siting problem, in light of the NIMBY syndrome, in the concluding chapter. This important book will be of great value to practitioners facing actual siting decisions, members of statewide boards, private sector parties wishing to site facilities, and those teaching courses in environmental policy or politics.
AUBURN HOUSE
ISBN: 0-86569-016-2 Click here to Buy This Book Now!
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