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Ethical Cities: Navigating the Anthropocene
The story of the Bristol Pound is fascinating and illustrates the challenges encountered when trying to innovate with a social purpose to bring about positive change.
Should be we optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our climate? Will impacts of climate change increase in intensity in the near future, or can we rapidly decarbonize?
How would you feel if your every moment was monitored? How do we ensure that our data is protected and not used for private profit? These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed when developing smart cities.
How would we know an ethical city when we see it? There is no simple answer. However, it is important to check if the city exhibits an orientation based on ethical principles and engaging in ethical processes.
I have lived in some of the best cities in the world. One of the most interesting aspects of my urban experience has been how each city gradually changes over time, more rapidly in some places compared to others.
What if you did a bad thing and you got a good result? Did you do a bad thing? An age old question that ethicists struggle to answer.
Can you recall the last time you read or were told that we need to wake up to the climate crisis? What is stopping people from waking up?
A small town in Japan has been playing host to an on-going conversation on ethical futures for rural communities.
As post-COVID cities build back better, tackling the corruption that impedes progress on urban issues will require a sustained ethos of care, community spirit, and selflessness that emerged during the pandemic.
The post-pandemic recovery represents a unique opportunity for our cities to emerge more ethical, equitable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient.
Recent public opinion surveys spotlight overwhelming support for climate action and indicate the shared values of urban communities that could shape equitable, ethical development.
Cities are searching for ethical futures through a range of citizen-led initiatives. Photo of the work of Louise Soloway Chan.
The ethical city contrasts with both the livable city and the neoliberal city.
“an ethic of care has really surfaced as a rallying point for action in the Anthropocene.” Professor Wendy Steele.
Ethical Cities online course to commence from 29 March 2021.
Our new book on Ethical Cities is now available for pre-order from Routledge.
Typhoon Faxai left many people without power and other services for several days when it hit the greater Tokyo region in September.
Totnes shows how a small, rural town can build community resilience at a time when local budgets are under strain.
The city where the Kyoto Protocol was signed resolved some years ago to move away from cars and towards low-emission alternatives for getting around. And it's making real progress towards that goal.
Remnants of the tram system can be found across Kyoto. Japan’s oldest tram is in the gardens of Heian Shrine in central Kyoto.
Across Japan, towns and villages are vanishing as the population ages and young people move to the cities. How the country manages this holds lessons for other developed nations facing a similar fate.
City mayors have taken on a prominent role in committing to action on climate change. But what progress have they made so far?
Population growth has profound impacts and sorting myths from facts can be difficult. This article was originally published in The Conversation as part of a series, Is Australia Full?, which aims to help inform a wide-ranging and often emotive debate.
Two years of marathon negotiations have finally yielded agreement on the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at the Habitat III summit in Quito in October.
Urban planning was once an Olympic event, although the first gold medal – awarded to Germany’s Alfred Hensel for the Nuremberg stadium – turned out to be an unfortunate choice. The Rio games, while a great achievement for Brazil, highlighted some of the challenges associated with hosting the Olympics.
Edo, which gave rise to Tokyo, was also the world's largest city three centuries ago. Facing ecological collapse, Edo developed a culture and ethic designed to protect the environment.
The values and principles that determine urban ethics are vital considerations as the global community prepares for the HABITAT III summit in October 2016.
Across the globe people are marching to show their support for the international community's efforts to tackle climate change. Time to get out there and join them.
We all love rankings. There are city ranking indexes that show which cities are the most liveable, sustainable, economically influential and so on. However, what do these rankings mean for the people who live in these cities and what kind of liveable city ranking do we actually need?
Encouraging the local business community to adopt more ethical practices in the workplace, to promote local sustainability, and to make the city a better place to live in.