Abstract
City-led ‘low carbon enterprise zones’ are rapidly on the rise across the globe – from Canada (energy efficient lighting in Toronto) and China (solar energy in Baoding) through to Spain (water efficiency in Zaragoza) and the UK (marine energy in Liverpool). For political leaders these designated areas of green growth are a silver bullet solution to the twin perils of unsuccessful climate deal negotiations and surviving an economic depression that lingers in many parts of the world. Whilst such zoning should ‘in principle’ be welcomed, it is vital that local leaders devise a suitable framework to govern such schemes. This chapter offers a critical analysis of the latest insights from this fast emerging practice and puts forward new thinking to assist cities in their decision-making process, and ultimately to make our societies more resilient. For instance, who owns the intellectual property rights for co-produced schemes that go to commercial success? Are the technologies involved in a genuine move toward renewable energy? Does it alleviate poverty and local unemployment? Is this low carbon trade displacing high carbon trade? Are their innovative ways to finance the setup of these zones in the current economic climate?
Keywords
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AccountAbility and UNEP (2010) Climate change competitiveness index. AccountAbility, London
ENDS (2010) Cancun progress disguises post-Kyoto tensions. ENDS Report 431, p 6
Goldenberg J (2011) Too little, too late: UN chief rejects summits and seeks new way to beat global warming. The Guardian (28 January 2011: 31)
Harvey F (2011) UK left behind in race to in the green economy, Says Report. The Guardian, 29 March, p 15
LGA (Local Government Association) (2009) The climate challenge: local solutions through global learning. LGA, London
McNeil C, Thomas H (2011) Green expectations: lessons from the US green jobs market. IPPR, London
Monaghan P (2010) Sustainability in austerity: how local government can deliver during times of crisis. Greenleaf, Sheffield
Monaghan P (2012) How local resilience creates sustainable societies: hard to make, hard to break. Earthscan, London
Regeneris and Quantum (2009) The economic impact of EU and UK climate change legislation on Liverpool and Liverpool city region. Regeneris, Liverpool
Watts J (2010) China counts £130bn cost of economic growth. The Guardian, 13 May, p 7
Zinnae (2011) Urban cluster for the efficient use of water. Available via: http://www.zinnae.org/en/who-are-we/presentation. Cited 31 Dec 2011
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Monaghan, P. (2013). Low Carbon Enterprise Zones: Towards a Fossil Fuel Free City Economy. In: Simpson, R., Zimmermann, M. (eds) The Economy of Green Cities. Local Sustainability, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1969-9_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1969-9_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1968-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1969-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)