Local Economic Development and the Environment

Concerns about the impact of economic development upon the global environment have increased in recent years. Sustainable development has been proposed as a means of reconciling the pressures between the two, allowing the integration of economic, environmental and social concerns. While policy makers at international, national and local levels have rapidly adopted sustainable development as a key aim, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to what it means in practice. This book focuses upon the potential to integrate economic and environmental policies at the local and regional scale. Local initiatives are investigated within their wider economic and environmental policy contexts in order to illustrate both the constraints and opportunities for local policy makers. Attention is given to global economic trends, as well as to the specific policy contexts of the European Union and the national contexts of the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Sweden. The key principles for designing integrative policies and descriptions of initiatives and projects in a variety of locations are also considered. This book will be of vital interest not only to students and academics working in the field of local development, but also to policy makers and planners seeking guidelines for the role of local government in the local economy, sustainable development and the implementation of policies.