Eco-Cities and the Transition to Low Carbon Economies

Eco-cities are increasingly being marketed as solutions to a range of pressing global concerns, such as environmental and climate change, hyper-urbanization, demographic shifts, energy security, and the Peak Oil scenario. In response to these issues, eco-cities are being conceptualized as 'experimental cities', new urban areas in which new technologies and ways of organizing urban and economic life can be trialled, and where transition pathways towards low-carbon economies can be tested. The author examines the two most advanced eco-city projects under construction at the time of writing – the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City in China, and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These are the largest and most notable attempts at building new eco-cities to both face up to the 'crises' of the modern world and to use the city as an engine for transition to a low-carbon economy.

Federico Caprotti is Senior Lecturer in Cities and Sustainability at the Department of Geography, King's College London, UK. His main interests lie in the links between nature and the city. He has carried out historical research, as well as more contemporary work, on eco-cities in China and the Gulf. Federico's research has been funded by the British Academy, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Nuffield Foundation. In 2013 he was an academic writing fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, working on eco-cities. Federico has previously been a member of faculty at various UK institutions, including Oxford University, University College London (UCL), the University of Leicester, and Plymouth University. He holds a bachelor's degree and a DPhil from Oxford University.

1. Eco-Cities in the Age of Crisis
2. Experimental Eco-Cities in China
3. Peak Oil and Eco-Urbanism in Abu Dhabi
4. Conclusion: Re-Thinking the Eco-City?