Sustainability 2015, 7(7), 9417-9443; https://doi.org/10.3390/su7079417
Critical Connections: The Role of the Built Environment Sector in Delivering Green Cities and a Green Economy
Peter Newton 1,* and Peter Newman 2
1
Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia
2
The CUSP Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Tan Yigitcanlar and Md. Kamruzzaman
Received: 3 March 2015 / Revised: 9 July 2015 / Accepted: 10 July 2015 / Published: 17 July 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities)
Abstract
The green agenda for cities and the economy in general is a major focus of global institutions and is increasingly a major national and urban priority. Core issues and best practice for built environment businesses were collated from published studies and used in a survey of Australian firms to see how committed they were to the green economy. The results show high awareness of the challenges and opportunities with 85% of firms having sustainability as an established agenda with senior management and over 20% of built environment firms deriving more than 50% of their sales from green products and services. This is much higher in design firms and is globally high. Whilst recognizing the scope for more engagement by industry in transitioning to a low carbon green economy, there is doubt within the built environment sector about how to create a business case for innovative green ventures and a lack of certainty or encouragement from government about how to proceed. View Full-TextKeywords:
green economy; built environment sector; eco-cities; sustainable urban development; green innovation; low carbon economy; socio-technical transition
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Newton, P.; Newman, P. Critical Connections: The Role of the Built Environment Sector in Delivering Green Cities and a Green Economy. Sustainability 2015, 7, 9417-9443.
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