| Abstrakt: |
Over the past decades there has been a struggle to create decent living conditions for poor urban majorities in conditions of rampant urbanisation and in the face of neo-liberal development rules. ‘Peak oil’ is, however, upon us, which we may expect will fundamentally change the context of urban development. Whilst conceding that there are a range of scenarios as to how policymakers will address the problem of declining energy resources and hence what the net results will be, the view taken in this article based on substantial research over recent years is that ‘economic growth’ and development that has been built upon the growing consumption of fossil fuels will go radically into decline. This article looks at different dimensions of what this might mean for cities everywhere, with a focus particularly on cities in the South. It concludes with proposed measures that need to be taken, starting today and growing out of emerging initiatives – such as the ‘transition towns’ movement, to start the process of rebuilding viable urban life post fossil fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
