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What is "urban"? How can it be described and contextualised? How is
it used in theory and practice? Urban processes feature in key
international policy and practice discourses. They are at the core
of research agendas across traditional academic disciplines and
emerging interdisciplinary fields. However, the concept of "the
urban" remains highly contested, both as material reality and
imaginary construct. The urban remains imprecisely defined.
Defining the Urban is an indispensable guide for the urban
transdisciplinary thinker and practitioner. Parts I and II focus on
how "Academic Disciplines" and "Professional Practices,"
respectively, understand and engage with the urban. Included, among
others, are Architecture, Ecology, Governance and Sociology. Part
III, "Emerging Approaches," outlines how elements from theory and
practice combine to form transdisciplinary tools and perspectives.
Written by eminent experts in their respective fields, Defining the
Urban provides a stepping stone for the development of a common
language-a shared ontology-in the disjointed fields of urban
research and practice. It is a comprehensive and accessible
resource for anyone with an interest in understanding how urban
scholars and practitioners can work together on this complex theme.
What is "urban"? How can it be described and contextualised? How is
it used in theory and practice? Urban processes feature in key
international policy and practice discourses. They are at the core
of research agendas across traditional academic disciplines and
emerging interdisciplinary fields. However, the concept of "the
urban" remains highly contested, both as material reality and
imaginary construct. The urban remains imprecisely defined.
Defining the Urban is an indispensable guide for the urban
transdisciplinary thinker and practitioner. Parts I and II focus on
how "Academic Disciplines" and "Professional Practices,"
respectively, understand and engage with the urban. Included, among
others, are Architecture, Ecology, Governance and Sociology. Part
III, "Emerging Approaches," outlines how elements from theory and
practice combine to form transdisciplinary tools and perspectives.
Written by eminent experts in their respective fields, Defining the
Urban provides a stepping stone for the development of a common
language-a shared ontology-in the disjointed fields of urban
research and practice. It is a comprehensive and accessible
resource for anyone with an interest in understanding how urban
scholars and practitioners can work together on this complex theme.
This book employs a political ecology lens to unravel how
industrial crops catalyse ecological, agrarian, socioeconomic, and
institutional transformation. Using the conceptual tools and
perspectives of political ecology, namely multi-scalar analysis and
attention to marginalisation, social difference, and discourses and
narratives, this volume provides a critical and comprehensive
assessment of the transformative power of industrial cropping
systems. It presents a truly international overview by drawing on a
range of case studies from the global South, including soybeans in
South America, cashew nuts in Guinea Bissau, cotton in India, maize
in China, jatropha in Ghana, sugarcane in Peru and Eswatini, and
oil palm in Ghana and Peru. The unique case studies are put into
perspective with chapters introducing the key concepts of political
ecology and critical dimensions of industrial cropping systems
related to large-scale land acquisitions, land grabbing, and
marginal land. The individual chapters employ different approaches
all rooted in political ecology, thus offering a rich overview of
how the field engages with such cropping systems. Overall, this
volume contains valuable propositions for improving current
policies and practices in industrial crop settings in both
developed and developing countries. Through its comprehensive and
interdisciplinary outlook, this volume will be of great interest to
students and scholars of political ecology, agrarian studies,
development studies, and ecological economics.
In the past decade, the growing realization that biodiversity and
human wellbeing are inextricably linked has led to the adoption of
numerous environmental policies. The concept of the Green Economy
has gained particular attention as an economic system where growth
is possible within environmental limits. The preservation of
ecosystem services and the halt of biodiversity loss are identified
as key pillars of the Green Economy. Despite the concept's momentum
there is still no clear understanding of how biodiversity fits
within a Green Economy. In the current debate, biodiversity is
rarely acknowledged in economic sectors other than agriculture,
forestry, fisheries and tourism, and when it is acknowledged
biodiversity and its conservation feature more as buzzwords than as
concrete and tangible components of the Green Economy. This book
aims to identify, understand and offer pragmatic recommendations of
how biodiversity conservation can become an agent of green economic
development. This book establishes ways to assess biodiversity's
contributions to the economy and to meaningfully integrate
biodiversity concerns in green-economy policies.
In the past decade, the growing realization that biodiversity and
human wellbeing are inextricably linked has led to the adoption of
numerous environmental policies. The concept of the Green Economy
has gained particular attention as an economic system where growth
is possible within environmental limits. The preservation of
ecosystem services and the halt of biodiversity loss are identified
as key pillars of the Green Economy. Despite the concept's momentum
there is still no clear understanding of how biodiversity fits
within a Green Economy. In the current debate, biodiversity is
rarely acknowledged in economic sectors other than agriculture,
forestry, fisheries and tourism, and when it is acknowledged
biodiversity and its conservation feature more as buzzwords than as
concrete and tangible components of the Green Economy. This book
aims to identify, understand and offer pragmatic recommendations of
how biodiversity conservation can become an agent of green economic
development. This book establishes ways to assess biodiversity's
contributions to the economy and to meaningfully integrate
biodiversity concerns in green-economy policies.
This book is about urban infrastructuring as the processes linking
infrastructural configurations and their components with other
social, ecological, political, or otherwise defined systems as part
of urbanisation and globalisation in the Global South. It suggests
that infrastructuring is essential to urbanisation and that it is
entangled with socio-spatio-ecological transformations that often
have negative outcomes over time. Furthermore, it argues that
infrastructuring requires an ethical positioning in research and
practice in order to enhance infrastructural sustainability in the
face of intersecting environmental, social and economic crises.
“Urban Infrastructuring” is developed in three parts. First, it
identifies infrastructural entanglements across various urban and
urbanising settings in the Global South. Second, it highlights some
of the damaging processes and outcomes of urban infrastructuring
and argues that the absence, presence and transformation of
infrastructure in the Global South (re-)produces socioecological
injustice in the short- and long term. Third, the book argues for a
shift of infrastructuring agendas towards more just and sustainable
interventions. It suggests that an ethico-politics of care should
be embedded in systems approaches to infrastructuring in both
research and practice. The edited volume contains contributions
from authors with backgrounds in a variety of academic disciplines
from the natural and social sciences, engineering and the
humanities. It provides valuable insights for anyone concerned with
the study, design, planning, implementation and maintenance of
urban infrastructures to enhance human well-being and
sustainability. It will be of interest to researchers and urban
decision-makers alike.
Biofuels are currently in the middle of a heated academic and
public policy debate. Biofuel production has increased fivefold in
the past decade and is expected to further double by 2020. Most of
this expansion will happen in developing nations. This volume is
the first of its kind, providing a comprehensive overview of the
biofuel debate in developing countries. The chapters are written by
a multidisciplinary team of experts, exposing the key drivers and
impacts of biofuel production and use. The book covers impacts as
diverse as air pollution, biodiversity loss, deforestation, energy
security, food security, greenhouse gas emissions, land use change,
rural development, water consumption and other socioeconomic
issues. Its wide focus accommodates examples from countries in
Africa, America and Asia. As such, this book will become an
indispensable companion to academics, practitioners and policy
makers who wish to know more about biofuel issues in the developing
world.
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