The Journal of Environment & Development http://jed.sagepub.com

Book Review: Kahn, M. E. (2006). Green CitiesUrban Growth and the Environment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 160 pp. US$44.95 (cloth) (ISBN 0815748167), US$18.95 (paper) (ISBN 0815748159) Ronnie D. Lipschutz The Journal of Environment Development 2007; 16; 348 DOI: 10.1177/1070496507306808 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jed.sagepub.com

Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com

Additional services and information for The Journal of Environment & Development can be found at: Email Alerts: http://jed.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://jed.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

Downloaded from http://jed.sagepub.com at UCLA COLLEGE SERIALS/YRL on September 3, 2007 © 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.

348 The Journal of Environment & Development

Notwithstanding these contributions, the potential of this book is not fully realized, and there are several significant shortcomings. For a start, sustainability is seen primarily as an environmental agenda despite occasional reference to social and economic issues. “SBD has its roots in environmental management and the concepts of pollution prevention and waste minimisation” (p. 19). This results in, among other things, ignoring a rich literature on corporate social responsibility and related terms, which is more than 50 years old and has provided important discussions on issues such as stakeholder engagement (which has obvious pertinence to the extended enterprise notion mentioned above). The environmental bias also means that important issues linked to the business sustainability agenda are left out or treated too superficially. These include, for instance, human and labor rights, anticorruption, and the role of business in weak governance zones. There is a dearth of discussion on doing business in emerging markets or the developing world, where the challenge of sustainable business is arguably most pressing. Even high-profile concepts such as doing business at the “bottom of the pyramid” are scantily considered (in a section on innovation). Even some of the book’s core concepts are treated too superficially. For instance, although the book’s definition of sustainable development involves “integrating… social, economic, and environmental objectives” (p. 1), the crucial inter-linkages between these dimensions, including tradeoffs and synergies, and the implications for corporations are hardly considered. Sustainability reporting is another core concept that is given relatively scant treatment, without an effective overview of what reporting actually entails in terms of management systems and stakeholder engagement. More generally, the book avoids talking about controversies or debates, even if these are essential (and interesting) aspects of the topic. Finally, the book is quite long. It is repetitive in places and the text could be more concise. In sum, this is not the definitive textbook on business and sustainable development. Indeed, my sense is that such a textbook still needs to be written, despite the existence of some other good contenders. Ralph Hamann University of Cape Town

Kahn, M. E. (2006). Green Cities—Urban Growth and the Environment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 160 pp. US$44.95 (cloth) (ISBN 0815748167), US$18.95 (paper) (ISBN 0815748159). DOI: 10.1177/1070496507306808

This is a valuable book, but its title is somewhat misleading. Matthew E. Kahn, a professor of economics at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, references many

Downloaded from http://jed.sagepub.com at UCLA COLLEGE SERIALS/YRL on September 3, 2007 © 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.

Book Reviews 349

studies about “urban growth and the environment,” including those by the author, and provides a wealth of discussion and information. Readers expecting a program for “greening” cities, or a description and analysis of such projects, should look elsewhere. Kahn’s concern is less about what “could be” achieved through policy and planning than what “has been” accomplished through markets and consumer choices. As a result, much of this book focuses on the relationship between urban incomes and environmental quality, expressed through the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). What is the EKC? Based on data sets of environmental quality across different societies, people are tolerant of high levels of environmental externalities (e.g., air pollution) when their per-capita incomes are low. As incomes rise to the range of $8,000 per capita, they become more willing to pay for a clean environment by buying more efficient or cleaner goods, such as high-mileage automobiles or low-energy appliances. Some economists conclude from such data that income growth will take care of environmental degradation and that “free market environmentalism” is the best answer to problems ranging from excessive automobile exhaust to inadequate water supplies to the problem of global climate change. This conclusion mistakes, however, correlation for causality—something about which economists should know better. To be fair, Kahn is not so naïve as to make a causal claim for the EKC or to argue that the “free market” can solve all problems, although he appears to believe that, once they have sufficient income, consumers will make rational green choices. But the EKC is nothing more than a form of preference curve that maps individuals’ willingness to trade off rising income against environmental quality. It says nothing about how those preferences might arise or how they might be altered, which is what is of greatest interest to policy makers and others. Kahn also has an odd view of what he calls “green cities,” categorizing them in terms of reductions in material consumption rather than as complex, integrated social systems in which reduction of some forms of waste reduction may lead to growth in others. He acknowledges that elimination of externalities in one part of a city may lead to their increase in another and that this hardly constitutes “greening,” but he argues largely for individual choice rather than any kind of serious, concerted citywide programs, suggesting that such programs tend toward economic inefficiency and waste. A good example of this approach can be seen in Kahn’s discussion of the costs and benefits of light-rail transit systems. In recent decades, these have been built by a growing number of cities facing major traffic congestion problems. The statistics and analyses marshaled by Kahn illustrate quite clearly that ridership is low, per-passenger costs are high. and, all else being equal, commuters in the suburbs would rather drive and can do so with lower expenditures. All of this may be too true, but why should short-term consumer preferences be a guide to long-term policy? In Europe, governments are willing to provide heavy subsidies to transit and transportation systems and to impose heavy taxes on those who would rather drive. Few would argue for shifting to Kahn’s apparent preference for letting individuals decide how to deal with environmental problems.1

Downloaded from http://jed.sagepub.com at UCLA COLLEGE SERIALS/YRL on September 3, 2007 © 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.

350 The Journal of Environment & Development

Indeed, Kahn’s rational choice perspective leads to a singular focus on economic incentives and disincentives as means of influencing consumer preferences and choice. Citing Garrett Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons,” Kahn argues that social goals can best be accomplished by a clearer distribution of property rights so that each individual bears responsibility for the condition of his or her property. Proper pricing and enforcement of norms can ensure that both upstanding citizens and violators of the law will clean up after themselves. There is something to this argument, but taken to its logical conclusion, citizens are left with responsibilities to no one but their immediate neighbors and are free to make a mess of their own spaces. Of greater concern, as the residents of cities become richer, they tend to consume more, travel more, spread out more, and pollute more. Kahn’s answer to the urban waste issue is to be found in pricing schemes that motivate consumers to choose goods that generate less waste, even when these cost more. That problems might simply be shifted to other points in the commodity chain does not enter his calculus. At the end of the day (and the review), therefore, this is a book that will leave many readers looking for more. Green Cities offers an excellent introduction to some of the basic economic principles of resource use, a wealth of data addressing the relationship between income and environmental externalities, and a strong argument for the benefits of the market, despite how limited they may be. This book will not, however, satisfy those who are seeking the accumulated wisdom of city planners, ecological designers, and urban sociologists. That will have to be found elsewhere. Ronnie D. Lipschutz University of California, Santa Cruz

NOTE 1. I am reminded of a cartoon from the early 1980s, in which a couple proudly stands outside of a supermarket and tells a reporter, “Margerie and I bought this store, and now we are entirely self-sufficient!”

Downloaded from http://jed.sagepub.com at UCLA COLLEGE SERIALS/YRL on September 3, 2007 © 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.