An urban perspective on the sustainability and peace link
Institutional Affiliation
Georgetown University
Start Date
3-11-2023 9:30 AM
End Date
3-11-2023 11:00 AM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
Virtual
Proposal Description
A growing body of scholarly literature has brought peacebuilding into conversation with sustainability, often through a focus on the environment and climate as the foundation for both. In practice, “sustaining peace” has become one of the foremost goals of the United Nations, just as peace has been integrated into the list of Sustainable Development Goals. Despite global rapid urbanization and the accumulation of urban risk especially in the Global South, cities have remained largely absent from the sustainability-peace debate. This is surprising because cities might not only experience the largest challenges due to conflict and unsustainable development but also constitute key actors in fostering social cohesion and equitable development, and climate adaptation and mitigation. This article addresses this limited theoretical attention by, first, synthesizing the findings of the well-established urban sustainability scholarship and contextualizing them in the context of violent conflict and peacebuilding. Second, the article highlights the intersections of conflict with barriers to sustainable development in cities across five planning domains. Finally, the article discusses opportunities but also cautionary tales about linking sustainability and peace, based on critical urban sustainability literature. The article proposes that sustainable urban development challenges the practice of urban peacebuilding and its contemporary theorization, prompting new questions about how urban peacebuilding is understood theoretically and framed for practice.
An urban perspective on the sustainability and peace link
A growing body of scholarly literature has brought peacebuilding into conversation with sustainability, often through a focus on the environment and climate as the foundation for both. In practice, “sustaining peace” has become one of the foremost goals of the United Nations, just as peace has been integrated into the list of Sustainable Development Goals. Despite global rapid urbanization and the accumulation of urban risk especially in the Global South, cities have remained largely absent from the sustainability-peace debate. This is surprising because cities might not only experience the largest challenges due to conflict and unsustainable development but also constitute key actors in fostering social cohesion and equitable development, and climate adaptation and mitigation. This article addresses this limited theoretical attention by, first, synthesizing the findings of the well-established urban sustainability scholarship and contextualizing them in the context of violent conflict and peacebuilding. Second, the article highlights the intersections of conflict with barriers to sustainable development in cities across five planning domains. Finally, the article discusses opportunities but also cautionary tales about linking sustainability and peace, based on critical urban sustainability literature. The article proposes that sustainable urban development challenges the practice of urban peacebuilding and its contemporary theorization, prompting new questions about how urban peacebuilding is understood theoretically and framed for practice.