The Urbanising Degrowth Approach
I’ve recently been researching the concept of ‘urbanising degrowth’ to think about ways in which sustainable development can be decoupled from economic growth. The idea of degrowth arises from the critique of eco- or environmentally-focused plans that also prioritise the inherently capitalistic approach of economic growth. In these initiatives, economic growth often takes precedence over the actual sustainability of an initiative, creating new ‘green markets’ that allow buzzwords to be capitalised on.
More recently, ‘urbanising degrowth’ has arisen as a method of applying this approach to urban design. I’ve been researching this concept for my eco-cities essay, using it to critique flagship eco-city models such as Masdar and Neom in the Middle East. These projects use technological innovation to shift away from fossil fuel use (although they are largely funded by oil money), however, centre the market value of these designs as the main priority, thus tapping into these ‘green markets’ in an attempt to monopolise the shift to eco-urbanism. Further to this capitalist approach, these projects are largely unjust in that they are envisioned as enclaves for the elite to shelter them from the impacts of climate change (partially caused by the burning of the oil they’ve used to fund these projects), whilst excluding anyone who cannot afford to buy property there, including the migrant workers who have been largely exploited and mistreated to build these projects.
What I really like about the urbanising degrowth approach is that its name makes the prioritisation of economic growth incompatible with true sustainability, arguing that perpetually pursuing capital gain will only work to deplete the planet of natural resources. The idea behind urbanising this approach is that municipal leaders will incorporate this framework into their sustainability plans, developing tangible methods to address the climate emergency. Additionally, the spatial dimension of degrowth invites engagement from professionals across various sectors such as architects, planners, educators, healthcare workers, tech developers etc., who are all key to creating conceptions of the city and can thus be transformative in creating the city of the future.
In my project, I plan to use this approach to potentially analyse a city’s current strategies for mitigating climate change, aiming to suggest how they can relegate economic growth as their key priority in mitigating climate change. Additionally, I think this approach could be really useful in urbanising environmental justice pursuits through its prioritisation of sustainability over profit, which would centre the well-being of humans as well as the natural environment.
