Urban Sustainability
Additional References—“Grey Literature”
August 2010
ICLEI
STAR Community Development Index Development Plan (2008) and STAR Community
Index Progress Report for June 2008- August 2009
-Overview of plan to develop a rating (not ranking) system to provide local governments with a
framework to evaluate their own progress and allow cross-comparisons
-Hypothesis: this will engage stakeholders in the consensus-based development process
(implication that stakeholder involvement is good)
-Framework allows for third-party verification
Hypothesis: cities lack a common framework for evaluation, which prevents them from easily
comparing programs and learning from one another. A national framework will “help create a
unified vernacular and facilitate the dissemination of knowledge.” (page 2 of the update)
Peterson, Thor, Synthesis Consultants. 2008. A Comparative Analysis of Sustainable
Community Frameworks. Prepared for ICLEI, September 14, 2008.
Available: designactivism.net/wp-content/.../06/sustainability-framework-analysis.pdf
-Literature review and survey of sustainable community framework staff
-Sustainable community framework: approach to evaluate sustainability (3 E definition)
programs
-Existing frameworks use different definitions and terms, leading to confusion
-Existing frameworks include: ecological economics, Genuine Progress Indicator, ecological
footprint, ranking projects (e.g. SustainLane), indicators
Hypothesis: one national framework would help coordinate efforts and make sharing among
cities easier (also potential cost savings)
Fact Sheet on Sustainable Cities and Counties. (2010?)
-ICLEI survey in the fall of 2008: of the top priorities cities identified for their climate
protection work, 95% cite cost savings, 90% GHG reductions and 75% are interested in green
jobs creation
-ICLEI members (~600 in US) represent about 30% of the US population
ICLEI. Measuring Up: A Detailed Look at the Impressive Goals and Climate Action
Progress of US Cites and Counties (2009)
-25% growth in membership in 2009, up to 600 members
-Many cities have targets for GHG reductions, both for municipal emissions and citywide; in
total (summing the targets from all cities) it adds up to 1.36 billion metric tons CO2e by 2020,
equal to taking 25 million passenger vehicles off the road for 10 years
[Most of this report is a list of ICLEI’s accomplishments for the year]
ICLEI in association with the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.
The Process Behind PLaNYC: How the City of New York Developed its Comprehensive
Long-Term Sustainability Plan. April 2010.
-PlaNYC—sustainability plan including 127 initiatives to improve the infrastructure,
environment and quality of life in the city, released April 2007
-Success because its an “action-oriented agenda that provided the City with a framework for
implementing bold changes”
-Contributing factors to the success of PlaNYC (they list 10, but they can be condensed to
these):
1. Strong leadership (especially from the mayor and the Office of Long-Term Planning and
Sustainability)—buy-in from the top and central coordination
2. An inclusive planning process, including comprehensive public outreach
3. Coordination with other stakeholders, including city agencies and an external Sustainability
Advisory Board
3. The plan included an implementation plan (timeline and a funded budget), this allowed for a
swift transition from planning to action (NYC is actively implementing all 127 initiatives)
Hypothesis: Creating a plan does not automatically translate into action; plans are more
effective if they have details on implementation
Hypothesis: Outreach is important to education the public and gain support for new initiatives
Hypothesis: Sustainability initiatives need a leader (in NYC’s case it came from the mayor, but I
don’t think this is always true—the case study talks about Bloomberg as an independent leader
and businessman)
-The government should be held accountable for its actions, so PlaNYC includes progress
reporting
Hypothesis: regular reporting (e.g. annual) is important to keep sustainability programs on
track, both as a way to measure progress and as a way to communicate about the issues and
keep the topic in the minds of the local officials (mayor and council) and public
-NYC partnered with the Earth Institute at Columbia University to gather data related to
climate change
Hypothesis: partnering with universities, NGO’s and other organizations can help bring in
expertise to help launch city sustainability programs
ICLEI Success Stories
Available: http://www.icleiusa.org/success-stories
-Generally, these are very simple (unhelpful)—they seem to only describe the achievement and
the benefits (no how or why)
-One interesting one: Boston’s Green Building Zoning Code: Mayor Menino initiated a Green
Building Task Force, which made recommendations, including the green buildings zoning
change; rather than trying to change the state building codes, Boston used the zoning code to
require that major construction projects mete LEED requires (if over 50,000 sq ft)
Hypothesis (or really an interesting note): With the political will/ leadership, cities will find
ways around constraints to work within their power
Using the Appreciative Inquiry Process: Lessons Learned from Sustainable Cleveland
2019
-Mayor Jackson was exposed to new type of planning (appreciative inquiry), he had his staff
meet with Case Western Reserve, they used this model for the Sustainable Cleveland 2019
Summit (to create a 10-yr action plan for sustainable economic development)
-They were able to bring over 1000 participates to create a vision for the city
Energy Efficiency Meets Fiscal Responsibility in Jackson, Wyoming
-Jackson was the first city in Wyoming to have their mayor sign the US Mayors Climate
Protection Agreement
-To sell energy efficiency retrofits, the focused on the fiscal responsibility aspect since the area
is a big coal mining area and concepts of climate change and CO2 emissions are met with
resistance
A Successful Comprehensive Environmental Agenda in Morgan Hill, California
-In September 2007, the city council adopted a comprehensive environmental agenda; the
council had directed staff to create the agenda with oversight from the city counsel’s Utilities
and Environment Committee
-They found it challenging for a small city—residents were more involved in the process, but it
pulled the staff in too many directions (they had limited resources due to their size)
-Since most residents are not very supportive of environmental initiatives, the city tied most the
environmental agenda to community health, which is important to the community
-Morgan Hill attributes its success to adopting ideas from other cities, such as Santa Monica
Julia Parzen. Lessons Learned: Creating the Chicago Climate Action Plan. July 2009.
-Key factors that drove the Climate Action Planning process were: leadership from Mayor
Daley (he wanted to make Chicago the greenest city in the country), input from the Chicago
Department of the Environment (they wanted to comprehensively address adaptation and
mitigation), expertise of nonprofit community and local universities, support from unions and
businesses, and funding from local foundations (more than $1.5 million)
-Critical factor: partnership between the city and the Global Philanthropy Partnership (local
nonprofit); this also helped city agencies think outside of just city operations and provided staff
to help move the process along
Hypothesis: A successful planning process should have both strong leadership from the city
(likely from the mayor) and widespread support from the community (nonprofits, businesses,
funding from foundations etc.)
-Dedicated city staff is essential; Chicago had 2 FTE
-Research helped them figure out what the best ways to cut emissions would be, provided a
credible basis for the city’s goals and plans; and research needs continue, Chicago has leaned on
CNT and others for research inputs
-Important to be clear about whose plan it is—initially they were going to release the plan as
the DOE’s, but then decided to make it a City plan; they had a process to allow other city
departments to weigh in (and made sure to build on existing initiatives)
-Tracking progress is essential; Chicago has a performance management system to ensure that
the plan stays on course
Hypothesis: a tracking and reporting system is essential to ensure that the plan is implemented
-Even with planning, big initiatives were difficult to move forward; funds had to be raised to
research and pilots, it was difficult to keep stakeholders motivated throughout the whole process
LIVING CITIES
Living Cities. Green Cities: How Urban Sustainability Efforts Can and Must Drive
America’s Climate Change Policies. May 2009.
Available: http://www.livingcities.org/leadership/trends/green/
-Survey of the 40 largest cities in the US: 4 of 5 cities say that sustainability is among their top
5 priorities; 1/2 cities are creating or finished a sustainability plan within the last year, ¼
already had one
-How much cities are investing in this varies—some cities have 1 staff person, others have
dozens—a typical big city has between3 and 10 staff members; though cities found it difficult to
calculate funding, reports about budgets fell between $75,000 and $15 million, with most cities
between $150,000 and $500,000
-2/3 report that state and federal government have little or no impact on their work
-Evidence of commitment by cities: as of April 2009, 935 mayors signed with US Conference of
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
-Survey question: which part of sustainability agenda is further along: 40% green building, 25%
recycling, water conservation and greening fleet, 30% energy conservation
NRDC
NRDC, American Cities Get Smart about Energy,2010
http://smartercities.nrdc.org/articles/american-cities-get-smart-about-energy
-NRDC named 22 cities “2010 Smarter Cities” for their investment in green power and energy
efficiency and conservation
-They conducted a survey of 655 cities (fewer responded, but I’m not sure how many) and
looked at existing sources to determine which cities had the lowest electricity consumption per
capita, most green power and other indicators
CENTER FOR CLEAN AIR POLICY
Urban Leaders Adaptation Initiative
-Working with government leaders in 10 counties and cities to implement specific policies and
programs on climate change adaptation, and develop national policies
Center for Clean Air Policy, Ask the Climate Question: Adapting to Climate Change
Impacts in Urban Regions, June 2009
-Best practices for climate change adaptation
[I didn’t look closely at this one since its focus is adaptation]
ICMA (INTERNATIONAL COUNTY/CITY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION)
http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/topics/topic/253
They are conducting a survey about sustainability (Julia emailed about this)—I emailed Tad
McGalliard about this and he said that they would be happy to share results, but they aren’t
done yet.
ICMA, Getting Smart about Climate Change, 2010
-Some cities are integrating smart growth into their climate change action plans
-This report describes strategies to address smart growth (e.g. green building, preserving green
space, planning for climate adaptation, TOD) and lists case studies
-Santa Monica case study: they have found that there is a strong fiscal case for most of what
governments are trying to do to address climate change because they will save the city money
(e.g. energy efficiency projects)
-Carbondale, CO: community engagement can help build public support; a volunteer citizen
group developed the energy and climate protection plan