Seattle is one of the most politically progressive and economically dynamic cities in the contemporary United States. This book explores Seattle’s current climate policy agenda and future climate challenges within the context of its historical, bio-regional, and metropolitan settings. While practitioners and academics have lauded Seattle’s urban sustainability and climate action efforts for many years, the analysis here focuses especially on mounting political concerns with social equity, income polarization, and racial justice in a “high-tech” city-region already experiencing the deleterious effects of global climate change. Drawing on a framework first suggested by the Urban Climate Change Research Network, the discussion considers major research themes like mitigation and adaptation policies; Seattle’s regional, national and international participation in climate action networks; disaster risk reduction and risk assessment; and the impacts of climate change and climate policy formation on the city’s most disadvantaged populations. Climate Change and the Future of Seattle will, therefore, be of wider interest to scholars and students at all levels in urban planning, human geography, political science, urban studies, public administration, and sustainability studies.
Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations; List of Abbreviations; 1 Introduction: Changing Seattle; 2. Background: Seattle’s Green Development Story; 3. Current Situation: Building a “Climate-Friendly” City in an Unsustainable World; 4. The Future: Climate Change, Social Vulnerabilities, and the Transformational Agenda; 5. Conclusion: Seattle’s Lessons; References; Index.
About the Author :
Yonn Dierwechter is Professor of Geography and Planning in the School of Urban Studies at the University of Washington, Tacoma. His research interests include spatial planning systems, city-regionalism, and new urban geographies of sustainability.
Review :
Dr. Dierwechter provides a compelling and comprehensive analysis of climate governance in Seattle. Through a rich and detailed case study, the book offers several conceptual interventions that allow us to better evaluate the possibilities and advances made by municipal action on climate change, as well as the inequalities that can result. This is a fantastic read for anyone interested in more socially and ecologically just urban futures under climate change. — Jennifer L. Rice, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Georgia
Seattle has long been celebrated as a global exemplar of sustainable urban development. Dierwechter’s engaging and timely study of the Emerald City’s climate policies and pressures reveals the contradictions and contestations in the pursuit of resilient, progressive, and just futures. — Andrew Karvonen, Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
