IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/urbpla/v2y2017i3p18-32.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Viable: Private Choices, Public Support, and Systems Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas Noonan

    (School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, USA)

  • Shan Zhou

    (School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

  • Robert Kirkman

    (School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

Abstract

Sustainable cities will require major infrastructure investments coupled with widespread behavioral change. Examples of smart, green technologies abound, but evidence for actual use lags. This partly owes to the tension between public support and private choices: individuals thinking as members of the public may see solutions as smart for the city, but thinking of their private interests may see those same solutions as not smart for themselves. This also owes to the disconnect between private and public choices, on the one hand, and the workings of complex systems, on the other. Even if public and private interests align, existing built environment systems may resist change. This article examines public perception and use of the Atlanta BeltLine, a pioneering sustainability initiative to transform the auto-dependent city into a greener, denser city. Analyzing a general public survey reveals widespread support for the BeltLine alongside reticence from residents to change their commute or greenspace use. The findings also show that drivers of public support and prospective use of the BeltLine differ. Public support may be insufficient if individual use decisions do not follow. Yet, private adoption decisions may not follow until and unless the systems in which they are embedded are already changing.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas Noonan & Shan Zhou & Robert Kirkman, 2017. "Making Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Viable: Private Choices, Public Support, and Systems Constraints," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(3), pages 18-32.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v:2:y:2017:i:3:p:18-32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/999
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria Kaika & Erik Swyngedouw, 2000. "Fetishizing the modern city: the phantasmagoria of urban technological networks," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 120-138, March.
    2. Kalamas, Maria & Cleveland, Mark & Laroche, Michel, 2014. "Pro-environmental behaviors for thee but not for me: Green giants, green Gods, and external environmental locus of control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 12-22.
    3. Richard Florida & Charlotta Mellander & Peter J. Rentfrow, 2013. "The Happiness of Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 613-627, April.
    4. Hodson, Mike & Marvin, Simon, 2010. "Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 477-485, May.
    5. Nasri, Arefeh & Zhang, Lei, 2014. "The analysis of transit-oriented development (TOD) in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan areas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 172-179.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hasan Fehmi Topal & Dexter V. L. Hunt & Christopher D. F. Rogers, 2021. "Exploring Urban Sustainability Understanding and Behaviour: A Systematic Review towards a Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-33, January.
    2. Hasan Fehmi Topal & Dexter V. L. Hunt & Christopher D. F. Rogers, 2021. "Sustainability Understanding and Behaviors across Urban Areas: A Case Study on Istanbul City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-38, July.
    3. Hasan Fehmi Topal & Dexter V.L. Hunt & Christopher D.F. Rogers, 2020. "Urban Sustainability and Smartness Understanding (USSU)—Identifying Influencing Factors: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-30, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Griet Juwet & Michael Ryckewaert, 2018. "Energy Transition in the Nebular City: Connecting Transition Thinking, Metabolism Studies, and Urban Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Ji Seong Chae & Chang Hyun Choi & Jeong Hoon Oh & Young Tae Chae & Jae-Weon Jeong & Dongkyu Lee, 2021. "Urban Public Service Analysis by GIS-MCDA for Sustainable Redevelopment: A Case Study of a Megacity in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.
    4. Wuryanti Kuncoro & Hanifah Azhar Windyasari, 2021. "Consumer Purchasing Decision Improvement Model through Brand Image, Religiosity, Brand Ambassador and Brand Awareness," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(8), pages 1-42, August.
    5. Barbanente, Angela & Grassini, Laura, 2022. "Fostering transitions in landscape policies: A multi-level perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    6. Hall, Stephen & Foxon, Timothy J., 2014. "Values in the Smart Grid: The co-evolving political economy of smart distribution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 600-609.
    7. Neij, Lena & Heiskanen, Eva & Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "The deployment of new energy technologies and the need for local learning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 274-283.
    8. Ramesh, Niranjana, 2022. "An experiment with the minor geographies of major cities: infrastructural relations among the fragments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114952, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Xu, Xiaojing & Chen, Chien-fei & Zhu, Xiaojuan & Hu, Qinran, 2018. "Promoting acceptance of direct load control programs in the United States: Financial incentive versus control option," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 1278-1287.
    10. David Gibbs & Kirstie O'Neill, 2014. "Rethinking Sociotechnical Transitions and Green Entrepreneurship: The Potential for Transformative Change in the Green Building Sector," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1088-1107, May.
    11. Leslie Quitzow & Friederike Rohde, 2022. "Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359, February.
    12. Chamaret, Cécile & Steyer, Véronique & Mayer, Julie C., 2020. "“Hands off my meter!” when municipalities resist smart meters: Linking arguments and degrees of resistance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    13. Ibraeva, Anna & Correia, Gonçalo Homem de Almeida & Silva, Cecília & Antunes, António Pais, 2020. "Transit-oriented development: A review of research achievements and challenges," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 110-130.
    14. Schäffler, Alexis & Swilling, Mark, 2013. "Valuing green infrastructure in an urban environment under pressure — The Johannesburg case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 246-257.
    15. Li, Jiajia & Li, Houjian, 2022. "Spiritual support or living support: Which alleviates solid fuel use for rural households in ethnical minority regions of China?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 479-491.
    16. Antoine Fontaine & Laurence Rocher, 2024. "Cities looking for waste heat: The dilemmas of energy and industry nexuses in French metropolitan areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(2), pages 254-272, February.
    17. André Sorensen & Anna-Katharina Brenner, 2021. "Cities, Urban Property Systems, and Sustainability Transitions: Contested Processes of Institutional Change and the Regulation of Urban Property Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Geels, Frank W., 2012. "A socio-technical analysis of low-carbon transitions: introducing the multi-level perspective into transport studies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 471-482.
    19. Fredrik Carlsen & Stefan Leknes, 2022. "For whom are cities good places to live?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2177-2190, December.
    20. Anthony McLean & Harriet Bulkeley & Mike Crang, 2016. "Negotiating the urban smart grid: Socio-technical experimentation in the city of Austin," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(15), pages 3246-3263, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v:2:y:2017:i:3:p:18-32. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.