Table 1 Perspectives on urban transformations
From: Perspectives on urban transformation research: transformations in, of, and by cities
Descriptor of urban transformation | Transformation in cities | Transformation of cities | Transformation by cities |
|---|---|---|---|
Key overarching questions guiding research and knowledge translation to policy and practice | How do urban transformations unfold, and how can urban transformations be supported towards sustainable and resilient urban systems? | ||
Which factors, processes and dynamics drive place-based transformations in cities? Why do transformations occur and are supported in a specific context? | How do transformations affect urban (sub-)systems? What are synergies, trade-offs, vulnerabilities and thresholds? | How do change dynamics in cities impact their hinterland and other distant territories? How do transformations travel between places and across scales? | |
System focus | Cities are complex, adaptive and open social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) | ||
Focus on cities as spaces and places of transformations that are geolocated and socially constructed, heterogeneous, multi-regime entities | Focus on functional urban (sub-)systems (e.g. economy, energy, transport, food, healthcare, housing) as the foci or the cogs of transformative changes | Focus on cities as agents of change due to being open systems and networks of global resource flows, commodities, communication and governance | |
System dynamics | Multi-dimensional, cross-sectoral and cross-scale factors and dynamics drive urban transformations, causing risk, uncertainty, inertia, break-down and innovation | ||
Focus on (social construction of) local and translocal driving forces and barriers of place-based urban transformations | Focus on outcomes of system dynamics in urban (sub-)systems, including synergies, trade-offs, vulnerabilities and thresholds | Focus on dynamics and outcomes between cities and their hinterland or other distant territories (e.g. teleconnections, urban ecological footprint) | |
Agency and governance | Urban transformations are multi-actor, contested processes. Urban governance targets cities as geographical and administrative entities, but is embedded within multi-level governance structures and networks. | ||
Transformative capacity of urban actors to develop and scale innovations Experimental, place-based governance approaches (e.g. living labs) | Orchestration of multi-actor activities and cross-sectoral and cross-scale partnerships | Polycentric and multilevel governance approaches, including transnational city networks | |