Urban Sustainability and Justice presents an
innovative yet practical approach to incorporate equity and social justice into
sustainable development in urban areas, in line with the commitments of the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. This work proposes a
feminist reading of just sustainabilities' principles to reclaim sustainability
as a progressive discourse which informs action on the ground. This work will help the committed
activist (whether they are on the ground, working in a community, in a non-governmental
organization (NGO), in a business, at a university, in any sphere in
government) to connect their work to international efforts to deliver environmental
justice in cities around the world.
Drawing
on a comparative, international analysis of sustainability initiatives in over
200 cities, Castán Broto and Westman find limited evidence of the
implementation of just sustainabilities principles in practice, but they argue
that there is considerable potential to develop a justice-oriented
sustainability agenda. Highlighting current successes while also assessing
prospects for the future, the authors show that just sustainabilities is not merely
an aspirational discourse, but a frame of reference to support radical action
on the ground.
