Doctoral Dissertation Research: Governing Sustainability through Place-making

本博士论文研究项目评估社区倡议的潜力，使城市更具环境和社会可持续性。它考察了旨在通过社区自行车共享、可再生能源合作社等以更可持续的方式创建、管理和治理城市的倡议。随着城市在解决全球环境问题方面发挥越来越重要的作用，这些倡议正在激增。这些倡议在很大程度上受到其出现和参与的地方的影响，本研究考察了当地社区倡议和治理过程在何处以及如何塑造城市可持续性的转变。研究的重点是生态区规划倡议，公民、私人和政府利益相关者合作开发和测试更具环境弹性和社会责任的机制，以提供重要的社区服务。项目成果将通过学术和专业出版物、报告和演示文稿的形式传播给学者、决策者和社区成员。该项目还为培养一名博士生提供支持。这个项目提出了三个相互关联的问题。(1)生态区治理的关系、价值观和实践特征是什么？它们是如何发展的？(2)这些治理过程如何影响生态区的建立，影响程度如何？(3)生态区治理与区域可持续性治理的关系如何？将采用混合方法收集数据，包括参与观察、访谈和审查档案文件，并分析解释各利益攸关方对促进可持续发展的影响。从这项研究中得出的见解可以为美国和其他地方的城市的经济和基础设施发展、社会公平和环境福祉提供信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This doctoral dissertation research project assesses the potential for neighborhood initiatives to make cities more environmentally and socially sustainable. It examines initiatives that aim to create, manage, and govern cities in more sustainable ways through community bike-shares, renewable energy cooperatives, etc. These initiatives are proliferating as cities play an increasingly significant role in addressing global environmental issues. These initiatives are significantly shaped by the places in which they emerge and are engaged with and this research examines where and how local neighborhood initiatives and governance processes shape transitions to urban sustainability. The research focuses on ecodistrict planning initiatives where civic, private, and government stakeholders collaborate to develop and test more environmentally resilient and socially responsible mechanisms for delivering vital community services. Project findings will be disseminated to scholars, policy makers, and community members through academic and professional publications, reports, and presentations. The project also provides support for the training of a doctoral student. This project asks three interrelated questions. (1) What relationships, values, and practices characterize ecodistrict governance, and how do these develop?; (2) How is the establishment of ecodistricts impacted by these governance processes, and at what scales?; and (3) How is the governance of ecodistricts related to regional sustainability governance? Data will be collected using a mixed methods approach, including participant observation, interviews, and review of archival documents and analyze to explain the influence of various stakeholders to foster sustainable development. The insights resulting from this research can inform economic and infrastructural development, social equity, and environmental well-being of cities in the United States and elsewhere.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.