The degrowth transition of infrastructures in the urbanised periphery. Mapping processes and uncovering socio-economic impacts in Southern Europe

城市化外围基础设施的去增长转型。

• 批准号: ES/Y008456/1
• 金额: $ 15.87万
• 依托单位: King's College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FY008456%2F1
• 关键词: degrowth; transition; infrastructures; urbanised; periphery.

According to the UN, 2.5 billion people will join the world's urban population by 2050, and, as per Europe's own demographic projection, 83.7% of its population will live in urban areas by then. However, most will not settle in consolidated, high-density, and compact cities, but rather in the urbanised periphery or suburbs. In this increasing suburbanised world, infrastructures are stuck in a threefold crisis scenario. First, financial, given the difficulties to maintain and repair existing infrastructures, as well as to meet the expected new demand. Second, social, as the lack of access or access to poor quality basic services will hinder social cohesion, equality, and inclusion (UN, 2017). Third, environmental, as current consumption patterns are causing the qualitative and quantitative deterioration of resources, further aggravating the climate cirisis. This infrastructure crises will only become more acute, as it is estimated that, to accommodate the urban population expected by 2050, 60% of urban infrastructure remains to be built (UNEP, 2013). And it is particularly in the urbanised periphery where the demand for infrastructures is greater and, therefore, where the above-described crises will be experienced more severely (Filion, Keil & Pulver, 2019).The urgency of this task has recently been incorporated into the top of the European agenda, as part of the 2018 IPCC report and the 2019 European Green Deal. These point to, on the one hand, the importance of decoupling economic growth from infrastructures' energy demand, and on the other hand, the need for infrastructures to adopt more carbon neutral technologies, such as decentralised and non-networked forms of provision.In light of this suburban infrastructure crisis and European policy initiatives, it is a fundamental piece of work to study first, how the crisis is experienced on an everyday basis by residents and other stakeholders involved in the provision and production of infrastructures; and second, understanding the local and multiple initiatives they are taking to transform the system. These insights can inform future regional and local policy, as well as contribute to academic debates.Therefore the aim of the Fellowship is (a) to uncover the socio-technical underpinning of water and sanitation in the urbanised periphery; (b) to identify the bottom-up and top-down processes of transformation across models of supply; and (c) to assess the unequal socio-economic impacts these might have across communities. The Fellowship articulates this through six areas of action. The first is to develope two solo-authored peer-reviewed publications and a policy-facing report. These publications will engage with interdisciplinary discussions in urban studies, water studies and just sustainability transitions. The second, is to carry out further limited research into the transformations of water infrastructures (and their socio-economic impacts) in a second city in Spain, to compliment my earlier PhD fieldwork and bring to the fore underlying structures. Additional fieldwork will deploy the methodology designed for my PhD. The third is to visit an international institution in Spain that has both access to data and experience in assessing the impacts of sustainability transformations in South Europe. The fourth action is to disseminate my findings and to extend my professional networks both in Spain and the UK. I will do so through forums at KCL (Urban Futures and King's Water groups, Plumbing Poverty lab); the GRATS in Barcelona; and two international conferences. The fifth is to consolidate my role as the AESOP YA Ambassador for South Europe and to extend my professional network through the production of three podcasts that will bring together representatives working on the field in this peripheral region. The sixth is to develop a funding proposal for a subsequent postdoc to expand the work on sustainability transitions across peripheral regions in Europe.

根据联合国的数据，到2050年，有25亿人将加入世界城市人口，根据欧洲自己的人口预测，到那时，其人口中有83.7％将居住在城市地区。但是，大多数人不会在合并，高密度和紧凑的城市中定居，而是在城市化的外围或郊区中定居。在这个日益增加的郊区化世界中，基础设施处于三倍的危机情况下。首先，财务，鉴于难以维护和维修现有的基础设施，并满足了预期的新需求。其次，社会，由于缺乏访问或获得较差的基本服务的访问将阻碍社会凝聚力，平等和包容性（联合国，2017年）。第三，由于当前的消费模式导致了资源的定性和定量恶化，从而进一步加剧了气候cirisis。这种基础设施危机只会变得更加急剧，据估计，为了适应到2050年预期的城市人口，城市基础设施的60％尚待建立（UNEP，2013年）。尤其是在城市化的外围，对基础设施的需求更大，因此，上述危机将更严重地经历（Filion，Keil＆Pulver，2019年）。作为2018年IPCC报告和2019年欧洲绿色的一部分，最近已将此任务的紧迫性纳入了欧洲议程。一方面，这些表明，将经济增长与基础设施的能源需求解耦的重要性，另一方面，基础设施需要采用更多的碳中性技术，例如分散和非网络的供应形式。以及其他参与基础设施提供和生产的利益相关者；其次，了解他们正在采取的改变系统的本地和多个计划。这些见解可以为未来的地区和地方政策提供依据，并为学术辩论做出贡献。因此，奖学金的目的是（a）在城市化外围地区揭示水和卫生的社会技术基础； （b）确定跨供应模型的自下而上和自上而下的转换过程； （c）评估这些社区可能对这些社区产生的不平等社会经济影响。研究金通过六个行动领域表达了这一点。首先是开发两个由独奏的同行评审出版物和一个面向政策的报告。这些出版物将参与城市研究，水研究和公正可持续性过渡中的跨学科讨论。第二个是对西班牙第二个城市中水基础设施（及其社会经济影响）的转变进行进一步有限的研究，以补充我较早的博士学位现场工作，并将其引起基础结构。其他现场工作将部署为我的博士学位设计的方法。第三个是参观西班牙的国际机构，该机构既可以访问数据和评估南欧可持续性转型影响的经验。第四个行动是传播我的发现，并在西班牙和英国扩展我的专业网络。我将通过KCL的论坛（城市期货和国王的水集团，管道贫困实验室）来做到这一点；巴塞罗那的格拉斯；和两个国际会议。第五个是巩固我作为南欧大使的角色，并通过生产三个播客来扩展我的专业网络，这些播客将聚集在这个外围地区的该领域的代表。第六个是为随后的后DOC制定一项资金建议，以扩大欧洲外围地区可持续性过渡的工作。