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- Conceptual Framework -

The conceptual framework required to support the integration of science, technology and environmental considerations throughout all urban and municipal activity may be outlined as follows:

Whilst the need for the development of "environmental sound technologies"(EST’s) is paramount this must be underpinned by the concomitant development of urban environmental management strategies and tactics. Only then will it be possible to generate the wealth that is necessary for the restoration of the environment and at the same time improve the "quality of life" of the citizens of this planet in a sustainable manner.

Without the research and development of new urban environmental management methods and styles there is a great danger that by pursuing and using "new" technologies the same problems of environmental degradation and ecological impoverishment will continue. Given that the past environmental problems have primarily arisen because of "inappropriate" management and lack of understanding of management practices upon the environment, it is essential that "new" management methods are researched and implemented. There is clear evidence that unless Cities change their management practices then any resources they expend on "protecting" the environment will be wasted. This will be due to the failure to recognize the underlying importance of management in the causation of the problems in the first place and the continued (and erroneous) belief that the "techno-fix" (and the "end-of-the-pipe") solution is the only and, therefore by default, the most efficient solution.

Recognizing the fact that "Global" environmental issues are now a reality rather than just an idea, it is important to understand the basis of these issues that Cities face. Generally speaking it is asserted that there exists a North-South situation in which "Northern" countries consume 80% of the global commodities and resources and yet are only 20% of the global population. Thus the "Southern" countries are faced with supporting 80% of the worlds population using only 20% of the commodities and resources. This could and in some cases will lead to conflict situations in the future, particularly as certain key resources are depleted or become scarce. To alleviate and develop solution to this impending problem a whole new approach to resource acquisition, production and consumption is required. This problem was the basis of the "Earth Summit" in Rio in 1992. The result of this summit was the development and endorsement of the "Declaration on Sustainable Development". This declaration mandates that the signatories will develop policies and practices that will lead to economic activities that are congruent and compatible with the realization that the Earth is "finite" in terms of its resources and its assimilative capacity to sustain a human population into the future.

Sustainable development is traditionally defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

It is worthy vision, but is inherently ambiguous, and inescapably expressed in value-laden terms subject to different ideological interpretation somewhat value-laden as well, implying for some people, for example, redistribution of wealth or a need to restrict current consumption. Accordingly, while it provides a useful direction, it is almost impossible to operationalize. Standing alone, therefore, it cannot guide either technology development or policy formulation.

CASE is the objective, multidisciplinary study of urban and economic systems and their linkages with fundamental natural systems. It incorporates, among other things, research involving energy supply and use, new materials, new technologies and technological systems, basic sciences, economics, law, management, and social sciences. Although still in the development stage, it provides the theoretical scientific basis upon which understanding, and reasoned improvement, of current practices can be based.

It is important to emphasize that CASE is an objective field of study based on the integration of existing scientific, technological and management disciplines, not a form of urban policy or planning system.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of CASE.

In Figure 1 the "Sustainable Development" includes the legal, economic and other incentive systems, methodologies and tools, and data and information resources by which society provides the necessary and appropriate support for efforts by individuals and Cities to implement the principles of CASE.

The "Urban" component of the programme is the implementation of the principles of CASE in the near term at the City or Municipality level. Examples might include the development of materials databases, based on CASE R&D, which would provide simple, easily-accessed rankings of the environmental preferability of materials in traditional uses.

This Programme may be broken-down further into two separate sets of activities, at least at the firm level.

1. "Management" includes the development of competencies, organizations, methodologies, and rules and tools across the City, which generally improve the City's environmental performance regardless of specific design and production activities. Examples might include the development and deployment of "green accounting systems", "green planning practices", and "green procurement, specifications and standards."
1. "Planning" includes the development and deployment of rules, tools, and data sets intended to directly improve the environmental preferability of policies, planning processes, design and operation. Examples might include development of process checklists, and software to be included in GIS and/or CAD/CAP systems. In all cases, CASE activities require inclusion of life-cycle considerations in the analytical process.

Basic research and development in CASE is necessary to provide the objective understanding and support required for the integration of environmental considerations throughout the economy of the City. It is also a necessary prerequisite for the development and implementation of economically and environmentally efficient regulatory structures, currently a critical policy deficiency. What this research might entail will include:

• Planning and implementing a series of studies to understand and model stocks, flows, and logistics of material movements throughout city for all major materials, including both renewables and non-renewables, and wastes.
• Environmental impacts and human/ecosystem exposure data could be mapped onto these models, providing the basis for developing environmentally preferable processes, and helping the urban and civil sectors and labour markets adjust gracefully to an environmentally preferable world. Such knowledge, by the way, is also critical to support the development of valid, efficient, risk- based environmental regulations, indeed, it is difficult to see how environmental regulation can be effective in the long term without such data and models.
• Developing integrated "Urban Metabolism" using Environmental Risk Assessment (EnRA) and Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA) models of

1. energy production and use,
2. water usage and conservation,
3. waste production and disposal,
4. transportation systems

linked where possible to technology, demographic and other systems, with risk assessment and technology option overlays. As above, this will facilitate the identification of optimal national and local strategies and tactical programmes to produce environmentally and economically preferable (and, hopefully, eventually sustainable) energy, water, waste, transportation, and other EST systems.

• Developing integrated models of urban communities, including perhaps small relatively self-contained cities, larger cities with surrounding suburbs, and large megalopolises with decayed centres and most business activity decentralized throughout the suburbs. Such models would include transportation, physical infrastructure, food, energy and other systems. This would facilitate identification of major sources of environmental impacts; patterns of activities, which give, rise to them, and potential environmentally preferable EST or mitigation options.
• Developing integrated models of specific urban sectors of particular economic, environmental, or cultural importance - including, for example, the agriculture, forestry, waste and water management - which could then be used to understand how they might be affected by an increasingly environmentally sensitive world. Such an approach could be particularly important in mitigating potential economic and employment shocks of discontinuous environmental, and/or related economic and regulatory, changes, and in supporting continued improvement in quality of life while reducing attendant environmental impacts.

One of the more robust hypotheses of CASE is that rapid evolution of environmentally sound technological (EST) systems is a prerequisite for improvement of quality-of-life in an environmentally sensitive world. The fundamentals of technological evolution and diffusion throughout the economy are, however, poorly understood, still less do we know what optimum, or maximum, rates of technological evolution might be, what associated economic and labour costs and benefits might be (and how they could be optimized), and how such variables differ by class of EST. (For example, it is apparent that moving to a solar-hydrogen based energy economy will be significantly more difficult, and a far more lengthy process, than substituting for CFC-based cleaning systems in electronics manufacture.)

The CASE approach to such issues may well produce valuable insights into:

• Investigating the interdependency of legal, economic, cultural, scientific and technological activities and policies as they affect environmental protection and the evolution of EST systems.
• Studies of different regulatory tools and approaches in terms of how cities and citizens behavior subsequently shift, for example, could be quite useful in developing efficient public environmental management structures and the adoption of appropriate EST systems.

Already there are vast amounts of data available in buried, essentially inaccessible, files and databases across all levels of government, including both developed and developing nations. These data resources should be identified and prioritized, then made publicly available in a useful form.

Clearly, Cities are able to develop on their own the overarching legal, regulatory and economic incentive structures, which will be necessary to support the integration of environment into all urban activity. They are also able to restructure existing regulatory systems - including environmental, but also including such apparently unrelated regulatory regimes as consumer protection and government procurement - so that they avoid unnecessary interference with the achievement of environmental quality while still meeting their original purposes.

Similarly, some prioritization and reordering of environmental values, both among themselves (e.g., is ecotoxicity, human carcinogenicity, or global climate change more important?) and in the broader context of other social values (e.g., employment, private property rights) can only be accomplished through the political process. While it is doubtful that an unambiguous, uncontentious prioritization of values is possible, some broader consensus is necessary to provide support for further progress: How, for example, can an urban planner be expected to design a "green" residential area when what is environmentally preferable cannot be made clear? This will not be a trivial task. It will require, for example, the development of comprehensive environmental risk assessment (EnRA) methodologies, which evaluate and balance risks and possible benefits on a systems-wide basis. While such approaches have been suggested, no such methodologies yet exist, nor is it clear that the data or organizational structure necessary to support implementation of CEnRAs are currently available.

In a world where environmental perturbations are not restricted to political boundaries, it is obvious that such the CASE programme, and others like it around the world, must be linked together in a collaborative international network. Existing international organizations, both quasi-governmental and private, must assume increased responsibility in this area, where these parties can be technologically sophisticated and proactively interested in supporting the integration of science, technology and environment in all urban activities.

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