Cities – a synthesis of literature on the topic , and the identification of Big Ideas Change

This paper is Friends of the Earth's synthesis of literature regarding cities and the future of cities, carried out for the purpose of identifying key opportunities or interventions as part of our Big Ideas Change the World project. The literature search was conducted through a key world search of Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar, identifying publications by think-tanks, government, and other NGOs, and through eliciting recommended reading from a range of experts in the area. From the literature review, and following consultations with experts in the field a , we concluded that the following three interventions were most critical in order to get cities driving positive social, environmental and economic change b : 1. Providing enhanced economic and administrative/regulatory autonomy for cities (defined as functional city regions), adequate for them to innovate, experiment and collaborate (with other a We would like to acknowledge the advice and feedback received at all stages of this research by: We would also acknowledge the feedback from participants at a seminar organised by the Centre for Urban Research at York University. We also received excellent feedback from a number of staff at Friends of the Earth. The content of this review does not necessarily reflect these people's views and opinions. b This objective was defined through an earlier consultative scoping process which identified ten key areas for investigation. More information can be found in the project prospectus at