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Disrupting comfort: From low-carbon to low-impact cities

Authors

  • Alejandro De Castro Mazarro Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development
  • Neelakshi Joshi leibniz institute of ecological urban and regional development
  • Lasare Samartzidis Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14512/rur.2567

Keywords:

Low-carbon city, Low-impact city, Resource efficiency, Resource sufficiency, ecomodernism, Ecological economics

Abstract

In this commentary, we argue for the low-impact city as an alternative to the dominant urban imaginary of the low-carbon city. We adopt an ecological economics lens to expose the limitations of the urban resource efficiency paradigm when tackling environmental degradation beyond city boundaries. Based on the interpretation of urbanisation as a material practice, we urge for a fundamental recalibration of sustainability paradigms in urban planning. To integrate the impacts of urbanisation on non-urban landscapes within the framework of urban sustainability science, we furthermore stress the urgent need for frugality, resource reduction, and inclusiveness in urban planning practice.

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Published

2024-07-11

Versions

Issue

Vol. 82 No. 4 (2024)

Section

Commentary

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Alejandro De Castro Mazarro, Neelakshi Joshi, Lasare Samartzidis

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Articles in Raumforschung und Raumordnung – Spatial Research and Planning are published under a Creative Commons license. From Vol. 79 No. 2 (2021), the license applied is CC BY 4.0. From Vol. 77 No. 1 to Vol. 79 No.1, articles were published under a CC BY-SA license. Earlier volumes have been re-published by oekom 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC BY 4.0. 

How to Cite

1.
De Castro Mazarro A, Joshi N, Samartzidis L. Disrupting comfort: From low-carbon to low-impact cities. RuR [Internet]. 2024 Jul. 11 [cited 2026 Jan. 19];82(4). Available from: https://rur.oekom.de/index.php/rur/article/view/2567
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