Faculty
Social Science
Supervisor Name
Godwin Arku
Keywords
economic, sustainability, economic development, climate change, pollution, geography
Description
Economic development has traditionally involved a trade-off between economic growth and the environmental quality. It is important to research how growth and development can be achieved in a way that preserves the natural environment. This research studies how cities in Ontario conceptualize sustainability, the challenges in its implementation, and examples of policies. Using a content analysis of economic development strategy documents of 48 Ontario cities, themes will emerge that can be used to draw conclusions about perceptions on sustainability in the province. The results of the content analysis show that sustainability is a low priority, with cities often referring to sustainability with an economic or financial perspective, rather than environmental. It is clear that environmental sustainability is not reflected in economic development strategies for Ontario cities.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Dr. Isaac Luginaah, Dr. Godwin Arku, and PhD candidate Jesse Sutton for their guidance and support. I'd also like to thank the many people involved with the USRI program.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Environmental Studies Commons, Growth and Development Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons
How Do Ontario Cities View Environmental Sustainability?
Economic development has traditionally involved a trade-off between economic growth and the environmental quality. It is important to research how growth and development can be achieved in a way that preserves the natural environment. This research studies how cities in Ontario conceptualize sustainability, the challenges in its implementation, and examples of policies. Using a content analysis of economic development strategy documents of 48 Ontario cities, themes will emerge that can be used to draw conclusions about perceptions on sustainability in the province. The results of the content analysis show that sustainability is a low priority, with cities often referring to sustainability with an economic or financial perspective, rather than environmental. It is clear that environmental sustainability is not reflected in economic development strategies for Ontario cities.