Category Archives: Working papers

Climate Emergency and Cities: An urban-led mobilisation?

14 October 2019

LSE Cities has published a new discussion paper titled ‘Climate Emergency and Cities: An urban-led mobilisation?’ by LSE Cities’ executive director and associate professorial research fellow, Philipp Rode, which unpacks the Climate Decade’s priorities for urban climate action, policy and research.

In the past 12 months, we have seen an acceleration in climate policy debates, consciousness and activism that had long seemed unimaginable. Some might argue that this new momentum is “beyond politics” – that is open for debate. What is undisputable is that over the past year, particularly since the release of the 2018 IPCC report, the global climate policy community has been confronted with a powerful new narrative, put forth by an increasingly vocal and effective global “climate emergency” movement. A new generation alarmed by the climate impacts already before us has found its voice, eclipsing long-used arguments for sustainable development and future generations.

This discussion paper unpacks the climate emergency movement from the perspective of cities, examining what has changed over the last year, what the climate emergency framing adds to the well-established climate action narrative, and how cities and local governments fit into the climate emergency agenda. It concludes with priorities for policy-oriented research on climate and cities.

Click here to read the full paper

New working paper highlights disconnect between national policies and building more compact cities

14 December 2017

A new working paper on Integrating national policies to deliver compact, connected cities: a horizon scan into transport and housing has been released by the Coalition for Urban Transitions. The paper, authored by LSE Cities and the OECD, explores the ways in which urban policy sectors are integrated—or fragmented—in ten case study countries: China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. A central finding is that a lack of coordination between national economic policy, and housing and transport policy, undermines both the economic potential and environmental sustainability of cities.

New LSE Cities Working Paper by Nuno Ferreira da Cruz

21 April 2016

LSE Cities Research Fellow and the Coordinator of the New Urban Governance project, Nuno Ferreira da Cruz, has released a new working paper, “A brief inquiry into the uses of measurement and benchmarking in local governance.” The paper briefly reviews the potential, limitations and unintended consequences of measuring and comparing performance in the context of local governance. It can be downloaded here.