Global Cities and Climate Change
In Global Cities and Climate Change, Taedong Lee turns our attention to a critical but often neglected translocal dimension of the urban response to climate change. At the heart of the book is the question of what shapes the participation of cities in transnational climate networks and how this shapes their capacity to act. In this detailed account, by connecting urban responses to the role of cities in the global economy Global Cities and Climate Change offers us an important new way to bring the local into the study of international climate politics.
Harriet Bulkeley, Professor of Geography, Durham University, UK
Cities have led the way to combat climate change by planning and implementing climate mitigation and adaptation policies. These local efforts go beyond national boundaries. Cities are forming transnational networks to enhance their understandings and practices for climate policies. In contrast to national governments that have numerous obstacles to cope with global climate change at the international and national levels, cities have become significant international actors in the field of international relations and environmental governance.
Global Cities and Climate Change examines the translocal relations of cities that have made an international effort to collectively tackle climate change. Compared to state-centric terms, international or transnational relations, translocal relations look at policies, politics, and interactions of local governments in the globalized world. Using multiple methods such as multilevel analysis, comparative case studies, regression analysis, and network analysis, Taedong Lee illustrates why some cities participate in transnational climate networks; under what conditions cities internationally cooperate with other cities; and which factors influence climate policy performance.
This book is an essential read for all those who wish to understand the driving factors for local governments engagement in global climate governance from a theoretical as well as practical point of view. Lee makes a valuable contribution to the fields of international relations, environmental policies, and urban studies.
Taedong Lee is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yonsei University, Korea.
Cities and Global Governance
Edited by Noah J. Toly, Wheaton College
The Routledge series Cities and Global Governance is composed of contributed volumes covering key areas of study at the intersection of urbanism and global governance. Each title explores dimensions of the relationship between the local and the global, between urban landscapes and global dynamics. Authors in the series make empirical and theoretical contributions that advance our understanding of the role of cities as sites and actors in global governance.
1 Cities, Networks, and Global Environmental Governance
Spaces of Innovation, Places of Leadership
Sofie Bouteligier
2 The Power of Cities in International Relations
Edited by Simon Curtis
3 Global Cities and Climate Change
The Translocal Relations of Environmental Governance
Taedong Lee
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Taedong Lee to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lee, Taedong.
Global cities and climate change : the translocal relations of environmental
governance / Taedong Lee.
pages cm. (Cities and global governance ; 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Urban ecology (Sociology) 2. UrbanizationEnvironmental
aspects. 3. Cities and townsGrowthEnvironmental aspects.
4. Urban policyEnvironmental aspects. 5. Sustainable development
International cooperation. 6. Environmental protectionGovernment
policy. 7. City planningEnvironmental aspects. 8. Environmental
policyInternational cooperation. I. Title.
HT241.L437 2014
307.76dc23
2014012085
ISBN: 978-0-415-73737-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-81807-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Minkyoung
Contents
Writing an acknowledgment reminds me of all the help I received from my colleagues and family in writing this book about global cities and climate change. Without support from faculty members at my PhD program at the University of Washington, and colleagues at the City University of Hong Kong and currently Yonsei University, I may not have been able to accomplish this project.
This book project is based on my doctoral dissertation. Thus, first of all, I would like to thank Aseem Prakash for being a great advisor in my doctoral program in the political science department at the University of Washington. His ideas and tremendous support had a major influence on this book. Aseem introduced me to the idea of the global city and theoretical accounts to provide better answers to questions in political science. He also guided me to prepare journal article publications through every stage. His prompt and precise responses always helped me to move forward. Peter May also gave me constructive comments and asked questions that made me think harder. He taught me policy process and organizational politics/policy which I enjoy and apply to my research. Karen Litfins enthusiasm toward sustainable society and her global environmental political class gave me insights for studying environmental issues at the global level and motivations for acting at the local level. Yong-Chool Ha encourages me to study environmental politics and its implications in the Korean context. I am grateful to Sangmin Nam for giving me an opportunity to work at the United Nations as an intern in the summer of 2007. From the political economy of climate change project, I came up with an idea for my book project on global cities and climate change.
I feel that I owe so much to many colleagues and friends. Hsiao-chi Hsu, Chris Heurlin, Jeff Wolf, Nimah Mazaheri, Chris Roberts, Jennifer Fredette, and John Buchanan are good cohorts as well as good friends in the program. I am especially thankful to Hsiao-chi for reading my chapters and giving me constructive comments. I also thank Kathy Banks and Christi Siver for improving my writing. Erica Johnson and Brad Epperly are excellent collaborators for developing some research projects. Chris Koski and Rachel Krause also gave me excellent feedback for the title of this book. I also wish for the bright future of my Korean colleagues Sooenn Park, Hyowon Lee, Kyoung Jun Choi, Sijeong Lim, and Youngjin Yang.
Support and constructive comments from Graeme Lang, Susan van de Meene, and Bo Miao at City University of Hong Kong improved my ideas and writing. I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of GARC (Governance of Asia Research Center) members, including Martin Painter, Maria Francesch-Huidobro, Thomas Johnson, Wanxin Li, Richard Walker, Han Shi, Julia Tao, and Xiaohu Wang, for a series of brown bag lunch seminars.
