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Understanding the Urban Context and Its Challenges

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Co-­creating Sustainable Urban Futures

Part of the book series: Future City ((FUCI,volume 11))

Abstract

This chapter introduces a particular understanding of the urban context against the background of on-going societal change and persistent problems that threaten to induce disastrous change. The urban context is presented in relation to urban challenges, scopes of urban sustainability and the governance of the urban. Understanding urban context and its dynamics is important for finding the right approaches to tap into the potentials of cities and reroute their development pathways towards sustainability and resilience. The governance of urban sustainability transitions requires new forms of strategic environmental planning processes that integrate diverse sources of knowledge and diverse perspectives. The new planning processes need also to set connections between urban challenges and global, national and regional developments. The challenge remains for urban practitioners and scientists alike to take up a process-content thinking and to reflect on how to navigate societal complexity while mobilizing transformative societal potential towards action for sustainability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dutch Research Institute For Transitions (DRIFT), Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Niki Frantzeskaki & Matthew Bach

  2. Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Patience Mguni

Authors
  1. Niki Frantzeskaki
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  2. Matthew Bach
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  3. Patience Mguni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Niki Frantzeskaki .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. DRIFT Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Niki Frantzeskaki

  2. DRIFT Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Katharina Hölscher

  3. DRIFT Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Matthew Bach

  4. DRIFT Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Flor Avelino

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Frantzeskaki, N., Bach, M., Mguni, P. (2018). Understanding the Urban Context and Its Challenges. In: Frantzeskaki, N., Hölscher, K., Bach, M., Avelino, F. (eds) Co-­creating Sustainable Urban Futures. Future City, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69273-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69273-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69271-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69273-9

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