Doctoral Dissertation Research: Governing Sustainability through Place-making

这一博士论文研究项目评估了社区倡议使城市在环境和社会上更可持续的潜力。它审查了旨在通过社区共享自行车、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它们出现和参与的地方的影响，这项研究考察了当地社区倡议和治理过程在哪里以及如何塑造向城市可持续发展的过渡。这项研究的重点是生态区规划倡议，在这些倡议中，公民、私人和政府利益攸关方合作开发和测试更具环境弹性和社会责任感的机制，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、报告和演示文稿向学者、政策制定者和社区成员传播。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)生态区治理的特点是什么关系、价值观和实践，以及这些关系、价值观和实践是如何发展的？(2)生态区的建立如何受到这些治理过程的影响，在多大范围内？(3)生态区治理与区域可持续治理有何关系？将使用混合方法收集数据，包括参与者观察、访谈和审查档案文件，并进行分析，以解释不同利益攸关方对促进可持续发展的影响。这项研究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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.