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Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City

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  • Carijn Beumer

    (Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Maastricht University, 6200MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

A broader perspective on the role of cities and their relation to their inhabitants and the planet is essential to effectively answer urgent sustainability questions that emerge in and beyond cities. This essay provides a critical reflection on the notion of the sustainable city. The central question discussed is: how can the ideal of a sustainable city be best conceptualised? Through exploring historic and contemporary theories on the urban-nature-people relationship and analysing some current sustainable city projects with the help of Cultural Theory, it is argued that creating a sustainable city paradoxically means parting with Sustopia. Sustopia often turns into Dystopia when a single perspective on constructing a sustainable city becomes dominant. In order to assist the process of meaningfully conceptualising the sustainable city, the notion of Cosmopolis is re-explored. This notion of a city embraces creativity, critical practice, adaptation, and it places urban development and planning in a context of multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Suggested Citation

  • Carijn Beumer, 2017. "Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:5:p:845-:d:99051
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Anthony McCosker & Anne Matan & Dora Marinova, 2018. "Policies, Politics, and Paradigms: Healthy Planning in Australian Local Government," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Valeria Saiu, 2017. "The Three Pitfalls of Sustainable City: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating the Theory-Practice Gap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.

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