Author:

Paul James, Liam Magee, and Thomas Honeck

Publisher:

Sustainable Cities Collaboratory, a Metropolis initiative

Description:

We are now living through a period during which we are both struggling to find adequate ways to characterize the dominant urban challenges and to respond adequately to those challenges. It is indicative of this complexity that we live in a period that is simultaneously being criticized as ‘the Anthropocene’ and, more optimistically, called ‘the Urban Age’. This is the era in which humans have had a profound impact upon the earth’s ecological systems. It is also the period during which the planet has become overwhelmingly urbanized. Likewise, social relations are ever more global, and thus, at one level, diffuse. To address local challenges, global targets have been set up to inspire and guide common efforts in sustainable development.

Arguably, responding well to the current challenges is best achieved by a set of integrated principles that firstly link highlevel aspirations to on-the-ground practical guidelines. Secondly, it is best realized through recognizing global and generalizing patterns while being sensitive to local particularities and priorities. Thirdly, it requires simple and aspirational principles at the top level but, at the same time, a grounding in more complex detail as the process goes deeper.

Principles for Better Cities is a collective response to that set of tensions. The document attempts to meet those contradictory needs by outlining a set of layered principles (Part I) while providing a method for translating between other existing charters, frameworks and sets of principles such as the Sustainable Development Goals (Part II).

Language:

English

Page count:

64

Source:

www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/resources/Principles-for-Better-Cities.pdf

Copyright:

Sustainable Cities Collaboratory, a Metropolis initiative