486
impossible. Nevertheless, it is certainly the case that in all cities, food, and energy
and water are characterized by the five criteria of criticality, infrastructure, footprint, affordability, and policy (Sect. 1.3).
It is important, however, to distinguish cities (urban areas) as being different
from rural areas that have lower population density and smaller population aggregates and that usually are characterized by significant primary production (farming,
fishing, forestry, mining) and tourism. Areas immediately surrounding a city, which
have mixed urban and rural characteristics are termed peri-urban.
As discussed in this chapter, the dynamics and drivers in urban systems that are
largely physically separated from the agricultural resources needed to support them
are inherently different from those in rural systems. The purpose of this chapter is,
therefore, to discuss the FEW Nexus in cities—and their associated non-agricultural
population centers and metropolitan areas—and to provide examples of Nexus
innovation in several specific cities, rather than to draw general conclusions about
cities as a whole.
18.2 Context: The Sociopolitical-Economic Drivers
In this section, we will discuss the sociopolitical-economic drivers of the FEW
nexus in cities. Our approach will emphasize that drivers of the nexus are situated in
multiple sectors of the socio-ecological system (see Sect. 9.1.1) and at multiple
interacting levels of social organization (international and national, state and
regional, local, facility, household, and individual). Acknowledging that the drivers
of the FEW nexus depend on the overall structure, organization, and culture of the
society, a neoliberal society like the USA will exhibit different drivers from those in
a communist society like Cuba. In essence, the drivers of the FEW nexus form a
multi-level, multi-sectoral system (see Sect. 2.2) wherein the forces interact continuously with feedback to produce particular nexus outcomes. Those outcomes
may be characteristic of a society as a whole or of particular scales such as cities or
industries, depending on the drivers.
In analyzing the drivers of the FEW nexus, we take a social organizational or
macrostructural approach that views the nexus as being driven by the three types of
institutions:
1. private sector institutions;
2. the state and the public sector institutions; and
3. social impact organizations or civil society (also known as nongovernmental
organizations).
These three fundamental types of institutions, in turn, generate systems of science and technology, regimes of demography, and the knowledge, attitudes, and
practices of human behavior, with feedback loops, as human actions influence the
paths of these institutions.
C. Harris et al.
impossible. Nevertheless, it is certainly the case that in all cities, food, and energy
and water are characterized by the five criteria of criticality, infrastructure, footprint, affordability, and policy (Sect. 1.3).
It is important, however, to distinguish cities (urban areas) as being different
from rural areas that have lower population density and smaller population aggregates and that usually are characterized by significant primary production (farming,
fishing, forestry, mining) and tourism. Areas immediately surrounding a city, which
have mixed urban and rural characteristics are termed peri-urban.
As discussed in this chapter, the dynamics and drivers in urban systems that are
largely physically separated from the agricultural resources needed to support them
are inherently different from those in rural systems. The purpose of this chapter is,
therefore, to discuss the FEW Nexus in cities—and their associated non-agricultural
population centers and metropolitan areas—and to provide examples of Nexus
innovation in several specific cities, rather than to draw general conclusions about
cities as a whole.
18.2 Context: The Sociopolitical-Economic Drivers
In this section, we will discuss the sociopolitical-economic drivers of the FEW
nexus in cities. Our approach will emphasize that drivers of the nexus are situated in
multiple sectors of the socio-ecological system (see Sect. 9.1.1) and at multiple
interacting levels of social organization (international and national, state and
regional, local, facility, household, and individual). Acknowledging that the drivers
of the FEW nexus depend on the overall structure, organization, and culture of the
society, a neoliberal society like the USA will exhibit different drivers from those in
a communist society like Cuba. In essence, the drivers of the FEW nexus form a
multi-level, multi-sectoral system (see Sect. 2.2) wherein the forces interact continuously with feedback to produce particular nexus outcomes. Those outcomes
may be characteristic of a society as a whole or of particular scales such as cities or
industries, depending on the drivers.
In analyzing the drivers of the FEW nexus, we take a social organizational or
macrostructural approach that views the nexus as being driven by the three types of
institutions:
1. private sector institutions;
2. the state and the public sector institutions; and
3. social impact organizations or civil society (also known as nongovernmental
organizations).
These three fundamental types of institutions, in turn, generate systems of science and technology, regimes of demography, and the knowledge, attitudes, and
practices of human behavior, with feedback loops, as human actions influence the
paths of these institutions.
C. Harris et al.