Adrian Atkinson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3696469 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Adrian Atkinson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Adrian |
| FAMILY NAME | Atkinson |
| SIGNATURE | ATKINSON A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Asian urbanisation
Urbanisation is progressing in Asia at breakneck speed, producing almost overnight city-regions sprawling vast distances into the peri-urban countryside. As they grow, in unplanned ways, so the problems deepen. The provision of all manner of infrastructure lags increasingly behind with consequent problems of traffic gridlock, seriously inadequate sanitation and, in coastal cities, increasing flooding where the impact of climate change threatens t…
Urbanisation
This paper paints an altogether broader canvas building upon earlier debates in City concerning the decline of cities over the coming decades and the changed states of mind and understanding of what life is about that can be expected to unfold under these circumstances. There is already considerable preliminary experience of this, analysed in the paper, that has resulted from ‘economic shocks' over the past two decades and, on the positive side, …
Readjusting to reality
Modern civilisation has been driven by the notion that things can but go onwards and upwards with two versions of the vision being one of urbanisation in the context of technological and economic progress contrasted with another that saw the eventual achievement of a society of easy living and social equality. Over the past three decades, drowned out by the sheer noise of the modern consumer society, the optimism has ebbed away and the future see…
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
I n this issue of City we come to the fourth and last instalment of the Special Feature on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA). First, we take a brief look at the final paper of the series which
Readjusting to reality 2
This is a sequel to another paper-also entitled 'Readjusting to Reality', published in City 17 (1)-that focused on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) as a vital component of the downward passage from our energy-intensive modern world to one where we will have to live more in tune with our ecological context, with re-localised economies that live on local resources and production. This paper focuses on the Transition Movement that is growing r…
Where do we stand? Progress in acknowledging and confronting climate change and ‘peak oil’
This paper reviews the current state of public debate concerning the problems of ‘climate change’ and ‘peak oil’. Following a short analysis of what is at stake, a number of documents are reviewed, together with the public reception which some of these have encountered. There is still almost no admission that effective action to halt global warming will mean putting the global economy into sharp reverse and that peak oil will in any case have the…
Two world urban forums. What happened in Rio? Where does it lead? A discussion
In the history of radical movements, of social movements, the process of cooptation is well known, and this ... is perhaps what is happening to forums to the ideals of forums, when they become forums for all stakeholders alike - as if all stakeholders were equal. But they are not all equal. The task is to make them equal. © 2010 Taylor & Francis
Cities after oil (one more time)
Thanks for circulating the Introduction to City 13(2/3) and asking for comment. However, I feel as if just to open my mouth is insulting the spirit of the piece by writing the following remarks. Bu
Cities after oil—3
In this third and last instalment of 'Cities after Oil’, I envision the stages through which 'modern’ civilisation will collapse over the coming decades. The first essay analysed the discourse on sustainability and how this has abjectly failed to deflect what has become a fatal global development trajectory. The essay focused on the coming decline in available energy and the inability of our civilisation to function without vast and increasing en…
Cities after oil—1
One facet of City over the years has been a rather dark foreboding that the trajectory of urbanisation around the world is accumulating problems that refuse to be solved and that in the foreseeable future we will see some kind of apocalyptic collapse. In New Orleans we saw one version of this, in other cities there may be others yet to reveal themselves. This paper is one of a trilogy that focus on the ‘sustainable development’ of cities and that…
Cities after oil—2
In line with a general foreboding emerging from the analysis of the future of our cities—and indeed concerning our civilisations as such—that has made its appearance in the pages of CITY, this paper investigates in detail how civilisations collapse. It looks at the systemic forces that produce the general self‐consciousness of civilisations that leads to their relinquishing responsibility for their own future. In the case of our civilisation we c…
African Urban Economies
Urban development
‘Perhaps the planning process is inherently “out of control”’, writes Adrian Atkinson in this article (see City 8(1), pp.89–108 for a related discussion). A refusal to take responsibility for our settlements as they grow in uncontrolled ways, alongside unsustainable inputs of non‐renewable fuels sets the tone for this deeply questioning article. Atkinson laments that in our ‘post‐modern’ world we ‘avoid looking at the larger picture and thus the …
Urbanization in a neo‐liberal world
Europe and North America—the Occident—have adopted the role of the bearers of civilization for a long time, assuming the task to enlightening (or imposing it on) others. 'Development’ in its current form derives from ideas and practices, as Atkinson accurately describes, that have their ideological roots in the rise of capitalism and Christian ethics, and finds their expression and reproduction in the constant obsession with power and wealth. In …
Surabaya, Indonesia
Against a background of unrest and violent demonstrations and the demise of the Suharto regime in Indonesia, Adrian Atkinson highlights the activities of the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Project (MEIP) in the city of Surabaya. He discusses, how through this project, the Surabaya Urban Forum was established, which in contrast to many Local Agenda 21 forums in the UK, genuinely encouraged "more profound discussions on the nature of politi…
International cooperation in pursuit of sustainable cities
Past international cooperation in support of urban projects and programmes, while focusing almost entirely on actions through government agencies, has been based upon major misunderstandings of the limited possibilities of government intervention and with a weak link to academic attempts to conceptualise the processes of urbanisation. The main international urban cooperation programmes, such as in transport, sanitation, and water supply, have bee…
Information, urbanism and identity
Manuel Castells: The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford
Taking sides
Environmentalism and Cultural Theory: Exploring the Role of Anthropology in Environmental Discourse by Kay Milton (Environment and Society Series) London: Routledge, 1996. Pp.ix + 266; index. £40 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0415 11529 9 and 11530 2
Sustainable cities dilemmas and options
Because of the urgency of narrowly defined environmental problems in the cities of the South‐e.g. contaminated water supplies, inadequate waste management, air pollution, etc. — much of the literature concerning the solutions to these problems loses sight of the wider problem of the unsustainability of modern cities. Atkinson starts by looking at this more restricted agenda for environmental problems but then broadens the discussion to encompass …
From left to green
Alain Lipietz, Green Hopes: The Future of Political Ecology. Polity Press, 1995. ISBN 0 7456 1327 6
Sustainable cities Dilemmas and options
A systematic approach to urban environmental planning and management
This paper describes an initiative to introduce an urban environmental planning and management system into Thailand as part of a broader "decentralization" agenda. Its main emphasis was on enhancing cooperation between local community organizations and municipal authorities in identifying problems and developing plans to address them. But it also encouraged provincial and national authorities to facilitate self-organized action at municipal and c…
A systematic approach to urban environmental planning and management
This paper describes an initiative to introduce an urban environmental planning and management system into Thailand as part of a broader “decentralization” agenda. Its main emphasis was on enhancing cooperation between local community organizations and municipal authorities in identifying problems and developing plans to address them. But it also encouraged provincial and national authorities to facilitate self-organized action at municipal and c…
Book notes
Weaving a Bower Against Endless Night... : An Illustrated History of the UK Green Party by Derek Wall; Foreword by David Taylor. London: Green Party, 1994. Pp.80. £3 (paperback). ISBN 1 873557 08 6 Trees, People and Power: Social Dimensions of Deforestation and Forest Protection in Central America by Peter Utting. London: Earthscan, 1993. Pp.xv + 206; index. £14.95. ISBN 185383 162 X The Green Alternative: Creating an Ecological Future (2nd editi…
Cities after oil—2
In line with a general foreboding emerging from the analysis of the future of our cities—and indeed concerning our civilisations as such—that has made its appearance in the pages of CITY, this paper investigates in detail how civilisations collapse. It looks at the systemic forces that produce the general self‐consciousness of civilisations that leads to their relinquishing responsibility for their own future. In the case of our civilisation we c…
Urbanisation
This paper paints an altogether broader canvas building upon earlier debates in City concerning the decline of cities over the coming decades and the changed states of mind and understanding of what life is about that can be expected to unfold under these circumstances. There is already considerable preliminary experience of this, analysed in the paper, that has resulted from ‘economic shocks' over the past two decades and, on the positive side, …
Cities after oil—3
In this third and last instalment of 'Cities after Oil’, I envision the stages through which 'modern’ civilisation will collapse over the coming decades. The first essay analysed the discourse on sustainability and how this has abjectly failed to deflect what has become a fatal global development trajectory. The essay focused on the coming decline in available energy and the inability of our civilisation to function without vast and increasing en…
Cities after oil—1
One facet of City over the years has been a rather dark foreboding that the trajectory of urbanisation around the world is accumulating problems that refuse to be solved and that in the foreseeable future we will see some kind of apocalyptic collapse. In New Orleans we saw one version of this, in other cities there may be others yet to reveal themselves. This paper is one of a trilogy that focus on the ‘sustainable development’ of cities and that…
Cities after oil (one more time)
Thanks for circulating the Introduction to City 13(2/3) and asking for comment. However, I feel as if just to open my mouth is insulting the spirit of the piece by writing the following remarks. Bu
Readjusting to reality
Modern civilisation has been driven by the notion that things can but go onwards and upwards with two versions of the vision being one of urbanisation in the context of technological and economic progress contrasted with another that saw the eventual achievement of a society of easy living and social equality. Over the past three decades, drowned out by the sheer noise of the modern consumer society, the optimism has ebbed away and the future see…
Readjusting to reality 2
This is a sequel to another paper-also entitled 'Readjusting to Reality', published in City 17 (1)-that focused on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) as a vital component of the downward passage from our energy-intensive modern world to one where we will have to live more in tune with our ecological context, with re-localised economies that live on local resources and production. This paper focuses on the Transition Movement that is growing r…
Where do we stand? Progress in acknowledging and confronting climate change and ‘peak oil’
This paper reviews the current state of public debate concerning the problems of ‘climate change’ and ‘peak oil’. Following a short analysis of what is at stake, a number of documents are reviewed, together with the public reception which some of these have encountered. There is still almost no admission that effective action to halt global warming will mean putting the global economy into sharp reverse and that peak oil will in any case have the…
Urban development
‘Perhaps the planning process is inherently “out of control”’, writes Adrian Atkinson in this article (see City 8(1), pp.89–108 for a related discussion). A refusal to take responsibility for our settlements as they grow in uncontrolled ways, alongside unsustainable inputs of non‐renewable fuels sets the tone for this deeply questioning article. Atkinson laments that in our ‘post‐modern’ world we ‘avoid looking at the larger picture and thus the …
Urbanization in a neo‐liberal world
Europe and North America—the Occident—have adopted the role of the bearers of civilization for a long time, assuming the task to enlightening (or imposing it on) others. 'Development’ in its current form derives from ideas and practices, as Atkinson accurately describes, that have their ideological roots in the rise of capitalism and Christian ethics, and finds their expression and reproduction in the constant obsession with power and wealth. In …
Sustainable cities dilemmas and options
Because of the urgency of narrowly defined environmental problems in the cities of the South‐e.g. contaminated water supplies, inadequate waste management, air pollution, etc. — much of the literature concerning the solutions to these problems loses sight of the wider problem of the unsustainability of modern cities. Atkinson starts by looking at this more restricted agenda for environmental problems but then broadens the discussion to encompass …
Asian urbanisation
Urbanisation is progressing in Asia at breakneck speed, producing almost overnight city-regions sprawling vast distances into the peri-urban countryside. As they grow, in unplanned ways, so the problems deepen. The provision of all manner of infrastructure lags increasingly behind with consequent problems of traffic gridlock, seriously inadequate sanitation and, in coastal cities, increasing flooding where the impact of climate change threatens t…
Surabaya, Indonesia
Against a background of unrest and violent demonstrations and the demise of the Suharto regime in Indonesia, Adrian Atkinson highlights the activities of the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Project (MEIP) in the city of Surabaya. He discusses, how through this project, the Surabaya Urban Forum was established, which in contrast to many Local Agenda 21 forums in the UK, genuinely encouraged "more profound discussions on the nature of politi…
A systematic approach to urban environmental planning and management
This paper describes an initiative to introduce an urban environmental planning and management system into Thailand as part of a broader “decentralization” agenda. Its main emphasis was on enhancing cooperation between local community organizations and municipal authorities in identifying problems and developing plans to address them. But it also encouraged provincial and national authorities to facilitate self-organized action at municipal and c…
Book notes
Weaving a Bower Against Endless Night... : An Illustrated History of the UK Green Party by Derek Wall; Foreword by David Taylor. London: Green Party, 1994. Pp.80. £3 (paperback). ISBN 1 873557 08 6 Trees, People and Power: Social Dimensions of Deforestation and Forest Protection in Central America by Peter Utting. London: Earthscan, 1993. Pp.xv + 206; index. £14.95. ISBN 185383 162 X The Green Alternative: Creating an Ecological Future (2nd editi…
Sustainable cities dilemmas and options
Because of the urgency of narrowly defined environmental problems in the cities of the South‐e.g. contaminated water supplies, inadequate waste management, air pollution, etc. — much of the literature concerning the solutions to these problems loses sight of the wider problem of the unsustainability of modern cities. Atkinson starts by looking at this more restricted agenda for environmental problems but then broadens the discussion to encompass …
From left to green
Alain Lipietz, Green Hopes: The Future of Political Ecology. Polity Press, 1995. ISBN 0 7456 1327 6
Sustainable cities Dilemmas and options
A systematic approach to urban environmental planning and management
This paper describes an initiative to introduce an urban environmental planning and management system into Thailand as part of a broader "decentralization" agenda. Its main emphasis was on enhancing cooperation between local community organizations and municipal authorities in identifying problems and developing plans to address them. But it also encouraged provincial and national authorities to facilitate self-organized action at municipal and c…
A systematic approach to urban environmental planning and management
This paper describes an initiative to introduce an urban environmental planning and management system into Thailand as part of a broader “decentralization” agenda. Its main emphasis was on enhancing cooperation between local community organizations and municipal authorities in identifying problems and developing plans to address them. But it also encouraged provincial and national authorities to facilitate self-organized action at municipal and c…
Information, urbanism and identity
Manuel Castells: The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford
Taking sides
Environmentalism and Cultural Theory: Exploring the Role of Anthropology in Environmental Discourse by Kay Milton (Environment and Society Series) London: Routledge, 1996. Pp.ix + 266; index. £40 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0415 11529 9 and 11530 2
Surabaya, Indonesia
Against a background of unrest and violent demonstrations and the demise of the Suharto regime in Indonesia, Adrian Atkinson highlights the activities of the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Project (MEIP) in the city of Surabaya. He discusses, how through this project, the Surabaya Urban Forum was established, which in contrast to many Local Agenda 21 forums in the UK, genuinely encouraged "more profound discussions on the nature of politi…
International cooperation in pursuit of sustainable cities
Past international cooperation in support of urban projects and programmes, while focusing almost entirely on actions through government agencies, has been based upon major misunderstandings of the limited possibilities of government intervention and with a weak link to academic attempts to conceptualise the processes of urbanisation. The main international urban cooperation programmes, such as in transport, sanitation, and water supply, have bee…
Urbanization in a neo‐liberal world
Europe and North America—the Occident—have adopted the role of the bearers of civilization for a long time, assuming the task to enlightening (or imposing it on) others. 'Development’ in its current form derives from ideas and practices, as Atkinson accurately describes, that have their ideological roots in the rise of capitalism and Christian ethics, and finds their expression and reproduction in the constant obsession with power and wealth. In …
Urban development
‘Perhaps the planning process is inherently “out of control”’, writes Adrian Atkinson in this article (see City 8(1), pp.89–108 for a related discussion). A refusal to take responsibility for our settlements as they grow in uncontrolled ways, alongside unsustainable inputs of non‐renewable fuels sets the tone for this deeply questioning article. Atkinson laments that in our ‘post‐modern’ world we ‘avoid looking at the larger picture and thus the …
African Urban Economies
Cities after oil—1
One facet of City over the years has been a rather dark foreboding that the trajectory of urbanisation around the world is accumulating problems that refuse to be solved and that in the foreseeable future we will see some kind of apocalyptic collapse. In New Orleans we saw one version of this, in other cities there may be others yet to reveal themselves. This paper is one of a trilogy that focus on the ‘sustainable development’ of cities and that…
Cities after oil—2
In line with a general foreboding emerging from the analysis of the future of our cities—and indeed concerning our civilisations as such—that has made its appearance in the pages of CITY, this paper investigates in detail how civilisations collapse. It looks at the systemic forces that produce the general self‐consciousness of civilisations that leads to their relinquishing responsibility for their own future. In the case of our civilisation we c…
Cities after oil—3
In this third and last instalment of 'Cities after Oil’, I envision the stages through which 'modern’ civilisation will collapse over the coming decades. The first essay analysed the discourse on sustainability and how this has abjectly failed to deflect what has become a fatal global development trajectory. The essay focused on the coming decline in available energy and the inability of our civilisation to function without vast and increasing en…
Cities after oil (one more time)
Thanks for circulating the Introduction to City 13(2/3) and asking for comment. However, I feel as if just to open my mouth is insulting the spirit of the piece by writing the following remarks. Bu
Where do we stand? Progress in acknowledging and confronting climate change and ‘peak oil’
This paper reviews the current state of public debate concerning the problems of ‘climate change’ and ‘peak oil’. Following a short analysis of what is at stake, a number of documents are reviewed, together with the public reception which some of these have encountered. There is still almost no admission that effective action to halt global warming will mean putting the global economy into sharp reverse and that peak oil will in any case have the…
Two world urban forums. What happened in Rio? Where does it lead? A discussion
In the history of radical movements, of social movements, the process of cooptation is well known, and this ... is perhaps what is happening to forums to the ideals of forums, when they become forums for all stakeholders alike - as if all stakeholders were equal. But they are not all equal. The task is to make them equal. © 2010 Taylor & Francis
Readjusting to reality
Modern civilisation has been driven by the notion that things can but go onwards and upwards with two versions of the vision being one of urbanisation in the context of technological and economic progress contrasted with another that saw the eventual achievement of a society of easy living and social equality. Over the past three decades, drowned out by the sheer noise of the modern consumer society, the optimism has ebbed away and the future see…
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
I n this issue of City we come to the fourth and last instalment of the Special Feature on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA). First, we take a brief look at the final paper of the series which
Readjusting to reality 2
This is a sequel to another paper-also entitled 'Readjusting to Reality', published in City 17 (1)-that focused on Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) as a vital component of the downward passage from our energy-intensive modern world to one where we will have to live more in tune with our ecological context, with re-localised economies that live on local resources and production. This paper focuses on the Transition Movement that is growing r…
Urbanisation
This paper paints an altogether broader canvas building upon earlier debates in City concerning the decline of cities over the coming decades and the changed states of mind and understanding of what life is about that can be expected to unfold under these circumstances. There is already considerable preliminary experience of this, analysed in the paper, that has resulted from ‘economic shocks' over the past two decades and, on the positive side, …
Asian urbanisation
Urbanisation is progressing in Asia at breakneck speed, producing almost overnight city-regions sprawling vast distances into the peri-urban countryside. As they grow, in unplanned ways, so the problems deepen. The provision of all manner of infrastructure lags increasingly behind with consequent problems of traffic gridlock, seriously inadequate sanitation and, in coastal cities, increasing flooding where the impact of climate change threatens t…
Political science (19 works) · Law (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Geography (12 works) · Economics (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Environmental ethics (9 works) · Environmental planning (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Political economy (7 works)