"Transforming Cities in Times of Turmoil: Obduracy, Sustainability and Experimentation"
 

Cities are currently under great pressure to become more sustainable. They must quickly become more climate-resilient, emit less CO₂, improve the accessibility and affordability of public transport and housing and tackle air pollution and noise. To transform cities into more sustainable places, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying these socio-technical transformations. In my inaugural lecture, I will argue that research into urban sustainability should pay more attention to the complex dynamics of historical continuity and change. Using insights from historical and sociological research into technology development and infrastructure in cities, I will discuss three perspectives that can deepen our knowledge of urban sustainability transformations: 1) reviving sustainable technologies from the past, as a counterbalance to the dominant focus on innovation; 2) better understanding the relationship between crises and transformation; and 3) more insight into how we can transform cities through small-scale experimentation. In my lecture I explain how these three perspectives together, can form a new agenda for research into making cities more sustainable. 

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