Eco-Districts as a Transition Pathway to Low-Carbon Cities

Climate change requires the urgent adoption of low-carbon practices to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Nowhere is this more relevant than in cities, which hold over half of the world’s population and produce 70 % of all GHGs. This chapter examines whether eco-districts, a growing urban development phenomenon, can serve as a transition pathway to enable low-carbon practices. Using the case of Malmö, Sweden, we assess what role eco-districts can play to enable cities to achieve their climate goals, including whether the lessons of eco-district development are applied to other parts of the city. We also observe how planners and elected officials in Malmö enacted a deliberative process of organisational learning when implementing their eco-district, namely their openness to experimentation with new technologies and planning approaches. We identify how double-loop learning served as a mechanism to support Malmö’s eco-district development, in particular when addressing unforeseen barriers to new planning practices. This chapter is based on “Eco-districts: Can they accelerate urban climate planning”, published in Environment and Planning C in December 2015.