The IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (2014) has highlighted the importance of urban areas in mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases. Urban centres are also subject to the impacts of climate change. Hence governance for urban sustainability and resilience needs to be developed to deal with the challenge of climate change in the future and its impacts on urban locations. This book is a rich repository of knowledge and information on this subject of growing relevance.' - Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Professor, Yale Climate and Energy Institute, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, US'This book provides a timely overview of the range of government intervention models in the policy domain of urban sustainability. Combining the two closely related, but usually separated, policy objectives of Sustainability and Resilience has particular utility. Having good ideas about how to save the planet are necessary but if we can't use governance tools to deliver them, we have no hope.' - Peter Newman, Curtin University, Australia Cities, and the built environment more broadly, are key in the global response to climate change. This groundbreaking book seeks to understand what governance tools are best suited for achieving cities that are less harmful to the natural environment, are less dependent on finite resources, and can better withstand human-made hazards and climate risks. In mapping, describing and evaluating nearly 70 traditional and highly innovative governance tools from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, Jeroen van der Heijden uncovers the five most eminent contemporary trends in governance for urban sustainability and resilience. He also develops a series of 12 design principles that will help to develop better governance tools for improving the sustainability and resilience of today's cities and those of the future. The book is unique in drawing lessons from the theoretical literature on environmental and hazard governance into a broad empirical study. The book will be of great interest to scholars in the field of urban governance, urban planning, sustainable development and resilience, environmental and hazard governance, and climate risk adaptation and mitigation. It will also appeal to students, policymakers and organizations involved with environmental policy and governance. Contents: 1. Where We are Today 2. Direct Regulatory Interventions 3. Collaborative Governance 4. Voluntary Programmes and Market-driven Governance 5. Trends in and Design Principles for Governance for Urban Sustainability and Resilience 6. Conclusion: In Search of an Answer to the Key-Question, Appendix - Methods Index

Since the 1990s, a burgeoning literature has emerged on the politics and governance of urban climate. It is now evident that urban responses to climate change involve a diverse range of actors as well as forms of agency that cross traditional boundaries, and which have diverse consequences for (dis)empowering different social groups. This book provides an overview of the forms of agency in urban climate politics, discussing the friction and power dynamics between them. Written by renowned scholars, it critically assesses the advantages and limitations of increasing agency in urban climate governance. In doing so, it sheds critical new light on the existing literature, advances the state of knowledge of urban climate governance and discusses ways to accelerate urban climate action. With chapters building on case studies from across the world, it is ideal for scholars and practitioners working in the area of urban climate politics and governance. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

Building on unique data, this book analyses the efficacy of a prominent climate change mitigation strategy: voluntary programs for sustainable buildings and cities. It evaluates the performance of thirty-five voluntary programs from the global north and south, including certification programs, knowledge networks, and novel forms of financing. The author examines them through the lens of club theory, urban transformation theory, and diffusion of innovations theory. Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) the book points out the opportunities and constraints of voluntary programs for decarbonising the built environment, and argues for a transformation of their use in climate change mitigation. The book will appeal to readers interested in sustainable city planning, climate change mitigation, and voluntarism as an alternative governance mechanism for achieving socially and environmentally desirable outcomes. The wide diversity of cases from the global north and south generate new insights, and offers practical guidelines for designing effective programs.