Campbell 1996 Green cities, growing cities, just cities

What are the three fundamental aims that generate tension in urban planning?

Environmental protection, economic development (or growth), and social equity1. These are collectively called the "planner's triangle"

What model does the author, Scott Campbell, use to understand the divergent priorities of planning?

A simple triangular model, called the "planner's triangle"

Where is sustainable development located in the planner's triangle model?

At the center of the triangle, representing the balance of the three goals: economic growth, environmental protection, and social justice

According to the text, can the center of the triangle (sustainable development) be reached directly?

No, it can only be reached approximately and indirectly, through a sustained period of confronting and resolving the triangle's conflicts

What is one major criticism leveled against the current concept of sustainability in the text?

Its current formulation romanticizes our sustainable past and is considered too vaguely holistic

What does the author suggest planners would benefit from integrating to better confront economic and environmental injustice?

Integrating social theory with environmental thinking and combining substantive skills with techniques for community conflict resolution

According to the text, are the conflicts among the three goals (green city, growing city, just city) superficial or temporary?

No, they are not superficial and not temporary; they go to the historic core of planning

Does the concept of sustainable development, as currently often presented, offer an easy way to evade these conflicts?

No, although it aspires to be a holistic way of evading conflicts, they cannot be shaken off so easily

What widely accepted view of nature is challenged by the socially constructed view of nature presented in the text?

The view of conflicts as a classic battle of "man versus nature" or its variation, "jobs versus the environment"

What criticism is made against the current concept of sustainability regarding its practical application, similar to past critiques of comprehensive planning?

It is vulnerable to the same criticism of vague idealism

How can sustainability become a powerful and useful organizing principle for planning according to the author?

If redefined and incorporated into a broader understanding of political conflicts in industrial society

What active role is suggested for the idea of sustainability in relation to conflicting interests?

It should act as a lightening rod to focus conflicting economic, environmental, and social interests5. The more it stirs up conflict and sharpens debate, the more effective it will be

Besides showing conflicts, what potential does the planner's triangle model also illustrate?

The potential complementarity of interests

In the area of complementarity, what creative role can planners play?

They can be especially creative in building coalitions between once-separated interest groups, such as labor and environmentalists

Historically, what has been a common tendency in planning's approach to the natural environment?

To promote the development of cities at the cost of natural destruction, such as clearing forests and fouling rivers

Describe the historical stance of planners between the goals of economic growth and economic justice.

The planner has often taken an ambivalent stance

Why does classifying battles (like environmental racism or pollution-producing jobs) solely as clashes between economic growth and environmental protection miss a crucial issue?

It misses the third issue, of social justice

How does the "jobs versus environment" dichotomy (e.g., spotted owl vs. timber jobs) oversimplify conflicts?

It crudely collapses the often differing interests of workers, corporations, community members, and the national public under the "economy" banner

What is the ideal goal for planners in relation to the three aims of the triangle?

To strive to achieve a balance of all three goals: grow the economy, distribute this growth fairly, and in the process not degrade the ecosystem

What often restricts the reality of planning practice from achieving the ideal goal of balancing all three aims?

Professional and fiscal constraints drastically limit leeway, often restricting planners to serving the narrower interests of their clients (authorities and bureaucracies)

Using the triangle figure, how can one illustrate the gap between the call for integrative sustainable development planning and the current fragmentation of professional practice?

Integrative sustainable development is at the center, while the fragmentation of professional practice is represented by focusing on just one corner or edge of the triangle

How does the economic development planner view the city and its space?

As a location for production, consumption, distribution, and innovation, in competition with other cities11. Space is viewed as economic space (highways, market areas)

How does the environmental planner view the city and its space?

As a consumer of resources and a producer of wastes, in competition with nature12. Space is viewed as ecological space (greenways, river basins)

How does the equity planner view the city and its space?

As a location of conflict over the distribution of resources, services, and opportunities, with competition among different social groups13. Space is viewed as social space (communities, neighborhoods)

Describe the "property conflict," the first axis of the triangle.

It is the conflict between economic growth and equity, arising from competing claims on and uses of property (e.g., between management and labor)

Describe the "resource conflict," the second axis of the triangle.

It is the conflict between economic growth and environmental preservation, stemming from the tension between the economic utility and ecological utility of natural resources

Describe the "development conflict," the third axis of the triangle.

It is the conflict between social equity and environmental preservation16. The text calls it the most elusive axis

Give an example from the text illustrating the development conflict at the local level

Poor urban communities often face the choice between economic survival (e.g., jobs from incinerators or landfills) and environmental quality, forced to make a "no-win choice"

How is environmental racism explained in relation to the development conflict?

If environmental protection is considered a luxury of the wealthy, environmental racism lies at the heart of this conflict, showing how economic segregation leads to environmental segregation

What does the example of Norman Krumholz's choice in Cleveland between building regional rail lines and improving local bus lines illustrate?

The tension between reducing pollution (regional rail for suburbanites) and achieving transportation equity (bus service for the inner-city poor), demonstrating how bias toward social inequity can be embedded in proposals

How is a "trickle-down" argument sometimes applied to resolving the resource conflict (economic growth vs. environment)?

The idea that the best way to improve environmental quality is to expand the economy, thus having more money available to buy environmental protection

What is a key challenge for planners when dealing with conflicts among competing interests?

To discover and implement complementary uses

What is a major problem identified with searching for sustainable development in pre-industrial or non-western cultures?

It taps into a myth that salvation lies in the pre-industrial past, which is considered problematical, based on a romanticized view, and of limited modern applicability

What is a crucial difference between indigenous sustainable communities and modern society in terms of sustainability practice?

Indigenous communities had no choice – failure to be sustainable meant dying out. Modern society has options like trade, storage, and synthetic replacements

Why might modern society need to voluntarily choose sustainable practices, unlike indigenous communities?

Because the feedback mechanisms for non-sustainable economic practices are too long-term to provide an immediate survival or market imperative

What is a frequent concern expressed about a sustainable future, particularly one involving steady-state or no-growth economics?

It is likely to relegate much of the developing world and the poor within industrialized countries to a state of persistent poverty

How does the author propose redefining sustainability to make it more useful for planners?

View society as a hybrid, moving evolutionarily towards sustainability23. Broaden it to the long-term ability of ecological, economic, AND political systems to reproduce simultaneously and in balance24. Distinguish between achieving specific (local/sector) sustainability and comprehensive general (global) sustainability

What are two key procedural paths suggested for planners seeking sustainable development within the context of conflicts?

Conflict Negotiation and Redefining the Language of the Conflict (acting as a translator)

What does the planner's role as a "translator" involve?

Assisting groups (economists, ecologists, equity advocates) to understand the priorities and reasoning of others, bridging linguistic and value chasms29. The challenge is creating equal two-way translations to prevent one viewpoint from dominating

According to the text, where is the area "where the real action for planners will be" regarding conflicts, representing the profession's unique contribution?

The development conflict (Equity vs. Environment), focusing on resolving both environmental and economic equity issues simultaneously31. This links community development and environmental planning