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Critical Commentary. Waking from the Dream: An Australian Perspective on Urban Resilience

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  • Brendan Gleeson

    (Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Kessels Road, Queensland, 4111, Australia, brendan.gleeson@griffith.edu.au.)

Abstract

Climate change and energy insecurity are grave threats to the stability and sustainability of human society. This paper considers the meaning of this globally manifest, yet regionally differentiated, ecological threat for Australia's urban system. It also considers the twin ecological peril of oil depletion, whose impacts may intensify to great effect the social stresses likely to emerge as climates warm. The paper intervenes in the debate that transfixes contemporary Australian urbanism: the sustainability of the suburban form in which most Australians live. A similar if not identical debate exists in North America and parts of western Europe. These discussions may be overemphasising the environmental significance of urban form and failing to apprehend the deeper socio-cultural forces that drive the (over)consumption of nature. Planning thought and practice need to loosen the grip of physical determinism on their environmental comprehension if they are to comprehend accurately the sources of, and solutions to, ecological threat. New urban scientific evidence suggests that planning's principal role in the fight against warming will be one of adaptation not mitigation. That is to say, there is no simple `spatial fix' for overconsumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Brendan Gleeson, 2008. "Critical Commentary. Waking from the Dream: An Australian Perspective on Urban Resilience," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(13), pages 2653-2668, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:45:y:2008:i:13:p:2653-2668
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098008098198
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Gordon & Harry W. Richardson, 2001. "The Sprawl Debate:Let Markets Plan," Working Paper 8638, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    2. Peter Gordon & Harry W. Richardson, 0. "The Sprawl Debate: Let Markets Plan," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 31(3), pages 131-149.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michèle Pezzagno & Barbara M. Frigione & Carla S. S. Ferreira, 2021. "Reading Urban Green Morphology to Enhance Urban Resilience: A Case Study of Six Southern European Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Kevin Keenan, 2018. "Rethinking place in the study of societal responses to terrorism: Insights from Boston, Massachusetts (USA)," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(2), pages 461-480, February.
    3. Stephan Leixnering & Markus Höllerer, 2022. "‘Remaining the same or becoming another?’ Adaptive resilience versus transformative urban change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(6), pages 1300-1310, May.
    4. Laurence Troy, 2018. "The politics of urban renewal in Sydney’s residential apartment market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1329-1345, May.
    5. Daquan Huang & Yue Lang & Tao Liu, 2021. "The Evolving Structure of Rural Construction Land in Urbanizing China: Case Study of Tai’an Prefecture," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Iain White & Paul O'Hare, 2014. "From Rhetoric to Reality: Which Resilience, Why Resilience, and Whose Resilience in Spatial Planning?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(5), pages 934-950, October.
    7. Paul O'Hare & Iain White & Angela Connelly, 2016. "Insurance as maladaptation: Resilience and the ‘business as usual’ paradox," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(6), pages 1175-1193, September.
    8. Gordon Waitt & Theresa Harada, 2012. "Driving, Cities and Changing Climates," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(15), pages 3307-3325, November.
    9. Jago Dodson, 2014. "Suburbia under an Energy Transition: A Socio-technical Perspective," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(7), pages 1487-1505, May.
    10. Ziyi Wang & Zengqiao Chen & Cuiping Ma & Ronald Wennersten & Qie Sun, 2022. "Nationwide Evaluation of Urban Energy System Resilience in China Using a Comprehensive Index Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-36, February.
    11. Ulrich Kriese & Roland W. Scholz, 2011. "The Positioning of Sustainability within Residential Property Marketing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(7), pages 1503-1527, May.

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