Strategizing sustainability: The case of River City, Gothenburg
Journal article, 2015

This article deals with how sustainable initiatives enfolds in practice by a rich empirical case of the city of Gothenburg in western Sweden. Here a two-year project of drafting vision and strategies for the city was completed with the aim to create a sustainable future city. The article highlights the hidden side of sustainability work and contributes to the growing literature of critical engagement with sustainability practice. The article demonstrates that, despite good intentions to create a sustainable city, practical considerations can hinder agreement on how to act, where one problem is the strive for consensus in a setting in which consensus is not, and should not be, possible. Instead, the risk is that the sustainability work will become mired in symbolic battles as the deadline approaches.

City visions

Ethnography

City conflicts

Politics

Sustainability practice

Strategies

Author

Sara Brorström

University of Gothenburg

Mistra Urban Futures

Cities

0264-2751 (ISSN)

Vol. 42 PartA 25-30

Subject Categories

Public Administration Studies

Business Administration

DOI

10.1016/j.cities.2014.08.005

More information

Created

10/8/2017