Environment

Citizen Partisanship, Local Government, and Environmental Policy Implementation

February 15, 2019 // 0 Comments

David Switzer | Early on in the Trump administration, it was clear that the role of the federal government in environmental protection would be lessened, with then Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, suggesting that the Trump administration would focus on “cooperative federalism,” emphasizing the role of states in environmental regulation. The developments at the federal level have led scholars and journalists alike to question how this prioritization of state administration in environmental policy will impact implementation. Read More

New UAR Disasters Issue

January 23, 2018 // 0 Comments

In response to recent natural disasters around the globe, urban scholars have looked to the pages of Urban Affairs Review to understand the causes and consequences of these Read More

Hurricanes, Climate Change, and Urban Growth Machines

October 20, 2017 // 0 Comments

Richardson Dilworth | During this latest and most brutal of hurricane seasons, the real estate website Zillow.com offered that hurricanes typically had no impact on property values in the coastal areas most often impacted by such storms. Yet the website also cautioned that “Whether or not this holds true in the wake of Harvey and Irma remains to be seen.” Indeed, what ostensibly might affect coastal property values is not hurricanes per se, but rather the fact that increasingly severe storms are just one of the more obvious facets of the multiple impacts climate change will have on coastal communities. Read More

The Politics of Urban Climate Change

January 15, 2017 // 0 Comments

By Sara Hughes | Cities are becoming an important focal point for climate change policy: they are responsible for a large portion of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and have shown tremendous leadership in committing to GHG emissions reductions, even as many national governments fail to do so. Indeed, Scientific American recently claimed that, “Climate Change Will be Solved in Cities – Or Not at All” and more than one thousand city leaders attended the recent international climate change negotiations in Paris. But, despite the growth in policy attention to climate change in cities, we have a relatively poor understanding of the political dynamics that underpin urban climate change solutions. Read More