Transitional measures include identifying the highest-risk urban zones (for example, waterfronts, low-lying communities and vulnerable buildings) and developing interim multiscale infrastructure solutions – based on existing technologies and nature-based solutions that can be incrementally funded – to deal with flooding, monitor and reduce air pollution (Air Quality Expert Group 2018) and mitigate the urban heat island effect (Tan, Lau and Ng 2016). These solutions can range from regional levee systems and city seawalls through to neighbourhood bioswales. They will need to be adjusted and redirected as new patterns of climate change risks emerge, as exemplified by the Cloudburst Management Plan in Copenhagen (Lerer et al. 2017).


d) Resilient urban societies and communities The fourth and final area of work involves resilient urban societies and communities, reflecting the fact that social resilience is just as important as the resilience of urban physical infrastructure. Approaches include:


v Social infrastructure investment programmes to build neighbourhood social capital and entrepreneurial and institutional capacity, expand participation in citywide infrastructure investment programmes and strengthen local organizations and networks;


v Local climate adaptation, disaster and recovery plans, and local capacities to implement them, helping create networks for mutual support in the face of extreme events (Grimmond, Xu and Baklanov 2014; Davidson et al. 2019; Fu 2019; Saja et al. 2019; WMO 2019; ITU 2020);


v Targeted assistance programmes to support marginalized social groups and communities, including women, ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, children and youth, the elderly, and migrants and refugees by building genuinely inclusive social resilience mechanisms to deal with ongoing stressors and the ability to deal with unexpected extreme events (Wijsman and Feagan 2019).


Transitional measures include explicitly identifying the communities most vulnerable to risk and creating neighbourhood relief and recovery centres that can mobilize quickly, listen to the broad range of needs voiced by residents and meet immediate needs through participatory decision-making processes (Oluoko-Odingo and Mutisya 2018). Early warning systems for floods, hurricanes and other extreme events that provide advanced warning are also critical. Collaboration between different levels of government, academia and local populations can be an important factor, as shown by the AlertaBlu system in Blumenau, Brazil (Delgado Ramos et al. 2020).


Dimension two actively contributes to the first dimension through its focus on low-emission transportation systems linked to more efficient urban forms. It also supports the third dimension by creating living-wage employment opportunities, improving living conditions, ensuring the health of socioecological systems and prioritizing social resilience through inclusive planning and governance. Moreover, interactions across these dimensions argue for transformative models for economies, markets and


investments, highlighting the need for enterprise as service, work as participation, investment as commitment and money as a social good. This aspect relates to the third dimension, since it requires this renewed economic perspective to deliver lasting prosperity, community well- being, robust social life and the rights of nature (Royal Government of Bhutan 2012: Jackson 2016; International Panel on Social Progress [IPSP] 2018). These economic models will require a paradigm shift (Sandberg, Klockars and Wilén 2019; Hanaček et al. 2020; Khmara and Kronenberg 2020; Jackson 2021). While they will not be free from constraints and contradictions, we must recall that “prosperity today means little if it undermines prosperity tomorrow” (Jackson 2016, p. 150).


4.2.3 Dimension 3: Inclusive and just cities


If cities can envision and achieve a circular economy, build sustainable and resilient urban forms and develop their social fabric in the ways best-suited to their specific context, this should translate into reduced inequality, additional livelihood opportunities and new pathways for upward mobility. However, without an explicit vision for social inclusion and justice, these strategies may still fall short. This means it is vital to ask just what characterizes an inclusive and just city on a finite planet.


The first dimension shows that achieving net-zero circular urban systems depends on a set of profound changes in the structure of the global and local economies that both drive the change and react to its dynamics. More importantly, the priorities of people, businesses and governments need to be reshaped so that value can still be obtained from these circular systems, helping overcome the lock-ins discussed in chapter 2. This means moving away from the current emphasis on the “financial economy” (stock markets, financial speculation and wealth generation), which primarily benefits its actors and institutions, and instead enabling economies aligned with the planetary boundaries, while focusing on the “real” economy. This involves the sustainable production of goods and services, alongside the value they create for workers and households, communities, society and life in general (Mazzucato 2018; Fonteneau and Pollet 2019; Serrano et al. 2019). It also means targeting consumption to meet collective needs – as well as individual ones – and to better protect the planet. Collaborative mapping of alternative economies can inform this process (Labaeye 2017; Labaeye 2019). Specifically, circular urban production and consumption that emphasize qualitative rather than quantitative growth (discussed further below), requires not only the ideas and knowledge that can be put into practice but also a rethinking of governance (Kovacic et al. 2021).


Building circular economies should focus on what we expect them to deliver, which in turn should connect to our understanding of development and the importance we place on supporting human capacities for all on a finite planet (Jackson 2016). The material basis of human life is critical for eradicating poverty and advancing social equity. Yet, if resilience and sustainability are to be equally addressed,


Cities that Work for People and Planet 77


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