Munir Morad

Crying Over Spilt Milk: A Critical Assessment of the Ecological Modernization of New Zealand's Dairy Industry

Ecological modernization theory holds that capitalist economic structures can be transformed to avoid long-term environmental damage, through the introduction of modern environmental technologies and reforming modern institutions. Empirical evidence, drawing on ecological modernization practices in some European and North American contexts, lends support to this view. However, it is not clear yet whether the practices of ecological modernization can be applied with equal success to agricultural industries (such New Zealands dairy sector), based on farmers as multiple producers. The New Zealand dairy industry faces political and commercial pressure to improve its environmental performance while maintaining commercial competitiveness in a global marketplace. In response to such pressures, the industrys main umbrella organization (Fonterra) has taken steps to improve the environmental management practices of the farmers who supply milk. The New Zealand dairy industry offers an example from which to assess the relevance of economical modernization theory.

An Exploratory Review of the Role of Ecological Modernisation in Supporting Local Economies’ Green Drive

This paper will explore how the principles of Ecological Modernisation (EM) can help reconcile local economies with rising environmental costs and threats, especially for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). The author will also identify the contexts of current business concerns, vis-a` -vis environmental costs, and the prospects of adapting to climate change; and will highlight the EM principles and policies that are aimed at mitigating the ecological footprints of local economic activities.

Taming the metropolis: Revisiting the prospect of achieving compact sustainable cities

In recent years, cities have often been studied in two different ways: as the spaces of culture, economic opportunity and innovation; but also as centres of consumption, pollution and as places rife with social injustice (Blowers and Pain, 1999: 248; Breheny, 1992a: 2; Jenks, 2000: 2). In the latter context, cities are viewed as inherently unsustainable; and the term ‘sustainable city’ has been characterized widely as an oxymoron. However, with the promotion of the sustainable development model, new strategies have emerged that promote cities as being capable of progressively attaining a sustainable status. For some commentators, the key to achieving more sustainable cities lies in the creation of a compact urban form, which constitutes a departure from the lowdensity, high-energy-use sprawling city. This article begins with a discussion of the notion of sustainable city, outlining new contributions to the literature, and will consider the compact city model and its influence on UK government policy in recent years. The concept of the ‘sustainable city’ has emerged within the development of the principles of ‘sustainable development’, following the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. At that conference, attention was drawn to the need for solutions to environmental problems in urban settlements that will have greater concern for people and their wider habitat. This debate led to the Habitat I Forum in 1976, which focused on the idea that the growth of cities should be moderated (slowed down or reversed) and that urban problems could be mitigated by interventions relating to their physical form (Blowers and Pain, 1999: 268).

Surviving the Economic Crisis: Can Eco-Towns Aid Economic Development?

Like most major economies aiming to attract knowledge-based industries, the UK has sought (prior to the onset of the global economic crisis) to address chronic real estate shortages by planning for more housing, built to modern environmental standards. In June 2008, the UK Governments National Housing and Planning Advice Unit called for 297,700 new homes delivered per annum. However, the credit crunch has thwarted this ambition, at least in the short term. With a mere 75,000 new homes built in 2008, and a possibly lower number in 2009, this target will almost certainly be missed for the 2016 finish date. The UK Governments eco-town programme has invited considerable controversy. Advocates argue that this programme is a necessary step to help kick-start an economy where one-fifth of the GDP is tied to real estate activities; and to lead the way towards low-carbon sustainable living. In contrast, opponents see eco-towns as another socio-economic experiment with uncertain outcomes. Drawing comparisons with the legacy of the post-war ‘new towns’ programme in the UK, this paper will examine the organisation and finance structure of the current eco-town programme. The paper concludes that, whilst the eco-towns programme may eventually succeed, the UK has missed an opportunity to maximise the projected benefits from the programme, by opting entirely for new settlements, and not including existing housing stock. A more serious concern raised in this paper focuses on the low level of public-sector involvement in financing eco-town developments. How realistic is it to facilitate private-sector engagement in the development of new settlements, without significant public co-funding, especially when trying to achieve sustainable communities? A private-sector led development will naturally seek to vary the scale and pace of development to suit market conditions; and the profit margins of the bidding developers will be the most decisive determinant in the development process, especially under limited credit availability. In the current economic climate, raising capital will be a massive challenge to developers because no matter how buoyant the eventual market might be, both banks and the Real Estate sector are still afraid that a repeat disaster may not be far away. There is little dispute that the financial cost of developing an eco-town will be enormous, so there must be sufficient public financial backing. Higher levels of public–private partnership, similar to those employed in the past (following the Town Development Act 1952, for example, in the UK) may be the best way forward. Experience from Singapore and other countries points to this model of investment as potentially the best way forward for the Real Estate industry, especially where social and environmental agendas are also involved.

Sustainable Communities: a Conceited Metaphor or an Achievable Aim?

Abstract The obvious problem with our modern lifestyles is that we have seemingly grown accustomed to living beyond our ecological and socio-economic means. This ‘excess’ has manifested itself in a variety of forms, ranging from environmental disasters and ‘credit crunch’ to breakdown in community cohesion.

Future imperfect? Insights from the challenging and changing context of planning

In 2010, the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference brought together academics and practitioners from a mix of discipline to debate the challenging and changing context of planning today. The Conference theme ‘Diversity and Convergence: Planning in a World of Change’ hints at some of these challenges. For example, the experiences of recession and recovery are now familiar global phenomena, with a characteristic range of divergent outcomes and responses, and these have shaped attitudes and approaches to the mitigation of climate change, and to the interpretation of and moves towards just and sustainable communities. Whilst the key challenges may be recognized, the ‘how’, ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘when’ may be many and varied, with effective responses requiring perspectives from a number of disciplines. This special issue of Local Economy includes selected papers, mostly presented at the Conference, and illustrates the multiplicity of issues and responses. There emerge several common themes: defining and interpreting the problem; collaboration and co-operation; looking outside traditional boundaries, be they territorial, organizational or theoretical; responsive governance; assessing and framing innovative, integrative and inclusive solutions. In a Feature article entitled ‘Older people in unfamiliar environments: Assimilating a multi-disciplinary literature to a planning problem’, Martin Spaul and Ann Hockey consider some aspects of the assimilation of academic research to planning guidelines and policies. They make the important observation that increasingly a different realm has a claim to primacy in planning research: the flux of urban life, and its practices and discourses. In the months since the Conference took place, planning in the UK has undergone fundamental changes. The change of government in May 2010 brought with it a stated change of emphasis, from central control to local control. Out went the strategic functions of the regional planning and development organisations and regional government offices; in came the

Democratic Deficit, Decentralisation and the Quest for Sustainable Communities: A Case Study of Peckham Community Council

Abstract This study explores the impact of decentralisation and the concept of democratic deficit. The focus of the research is Peckham Community Council which is an area committee set up under the provisions of the 2000 Local Government Act (2000). The central question of this study is: can decentralisation address the democratic deficit and the quest for sustainable communities? As will be discussed, a democratic deficit is often assumed where the local community has little direct influence on local policy decisions and where regeneration is unresponsive to the communitys needs, thus fostering a sense of alienation from the political system. More specifically, this research aims to examine (1) whether Peckham Community Council signifies a high level of community power and political participation (and thus a low level of alienation) and (2) plays a significant role in militating against democratic deficit by steering a regeneration agenda which responds to community needs.

Local property taxation as a strategic planning tool in UK: can 'landvaluescape' play a role at local levels?

Abstract In common with many countries of the world, there are concerns within planning and regeneration circles regarding the very slow progress towards sustainable development and a realization that for progress to be achieved there is a need for government to act. Consequently, the UK government is seeking, through a variety of instruments, including the land use planning system, to mitigate the environmental impact of development. Indeed the overarching aim of the extant land use legislation (in particular, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Sustainable Communities Act 2007) is the promotion of sustainable communities, across the so-called ‘triple bottom line’ of economic well-being, social justice and environmental protection. This paper discusses geo-political developments in the approach to funding local and regional government and how the UK is affected by these. The paper considers research in Britain into the potential for using aggregated property valuations as a method of monitoring economic health at a national and local scale, by applying geo-spatial modelling and display techniques. Given advances in the application of modern information systems (including the capture, management and display of geo-spatial data), the authors assess the potential of such systems for the status of relevant datasets in the UK.

Special issue: Education for sustainable development

Education is a fundamental right and the basis for progress in every country. The challenges of conquering poverty, combatting climate change and achieving truly sustainable development in the coming decades compel us to work together. With partnership, leadership and wise investments in education, we can transform individual lives, national economies and our world. (Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, quoted in UNESCO, 2014)

Owen Jones, Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class:

range of educational services. Schools should collaborate, not compete, and teachers should be trusted with greater freedom in the curriculum. Business and employers can have a role, but as equal partners not as the dominant influence. Of course, this will all be dismissed as Leftwing idealism by those who also believe, like the Secretary of State, that opponents of the new academies are ‘Trots’, the description he charmingly applied to the parents of Downhills School. Interestingly it is in Wales, where the first comprehensive was opened in 1947, that the flame of comprehensive education still burns bright. No free schools or academies for the Principality and even though the Welsh Assembly has been berated for presiding over a decline in relative educational standards (itself a dubious argument based as it is on the deeply formulaic PISA data) the Welsh political establishment has stuck to its guns. By contrast, England is experiencing a melt-down; in 1996, a survey by Benn and Chitty found that 90% of children were educated in comprehensive schools, a far cry from today. In the end, it comes down to money. A high quality education cannot be delivered cheaply. It is ironic that at a time of significant public expenditure reductions, the Coalition Government is embarking on radical reorganisations in health and education, in both of which the private sector is seen as a key player but with the taxpayer waiting in the wings to pick up any pieces which may fall off the new structures. Melissa Benn passionately believes that the new direction in English education is not only dangerous but frightening, leading, potentially, not to better-educated citizens prospering in a cohesive and equitable society but to an ‘increasingly fragmented, mistrustful and divided nation, controlled rather than enlightened, dependent on the unstable whim of private or religious enterprise’ (p. 204). This is both a timely analysis and a serious warning.