Sustainability Policy and Rapid Natural Change
by
David Ludlow
University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Coauthors: Paola Mauri, EURONET Rome, Italy

The most recent evolution of EU level urban policy has explicitly recognized the need to separate natural causes from man induced ones, as the basis for understanding the causality of events, and so providing the foundations for the most appropriate and effective policy responses to attain sustainability.

The perspective of the policy maker and the urban manager is also shaped by the drive to advance the sustainability (social, economic and environmental) of urban areas, aware that they are the places where the vast majority of the population of Europe (80%+) live, where social issues are resolved, and in which the prime motors of economic development are generated. Urban areas are also the principal sources of emissions and pollutants that lie at the heart of the problems of environmental sustainability and global warming at both local and global levels.

In this context the prime focus is on the interrelations of human activity and urban development on the one hand, and on the other, the apparent increase of extreme climatological events that have been linked to global warming effects. In particular, the interrelationships between urban growth and green house gas emissions, soil sealing, and the incidence of flood risk across a wide range of localities in Europe is notable, and a major concern for policy makers.

At the same time, it is necessary to integrate all individual causal influences in order to attain a more sustainable approach to urban management based on coherent policy responses. In particular, both horizontal and vertical integration is viewed as essential if efforts to secure horizontal integration of the sectoral interests at the local level are to be effectively communicated via the vertical coordination of all levels of government from local to national and EU levels.

The above considerations form the key ingredients of the intellectual drive of emerging policy for urban sustainability at the European level promoted by the EU, and based on a substantial body of EU funded research undertaken over the past ten years. The new policy frameworks for urban sustainability are currently evolving via the implementation of the EU 6th Environmental Action Programme over the period to 2010. Specific impetus is provided by the EU Urban Thematic Strategy with it's new requirements for the preparation of environmental plans and associated management systems for the 1000 cities of Europe with a population of 100, 000 or more.

The significance of the above may be summarised as follows:

• increasing importance of the integrated approach to policy making and implementation at the urban level as an essential basis for the delivery of urban sustainability;

• enhanced need for multidisciplinary working and tools to support policy integration, plan implementation, and the assessment of policy effectiveness;

• clear shift in policy perspectives to incorporate natural risk elements in the portfolio of policy priorities at the urban level, providing new challenges for policy integration, interdisciplinary working and the development of the necessary skills and tools to deliver effective policy.

Date received: July 15, 2005

Copyright © 2005 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caqy-38.