Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development

As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet’s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a pathway to maintain and improve human life now while also ensuring that future generations will have the resources that they need. The long-term success of sustainability efforts rests on understanding the interplay between human actions and ecological systems.

Local Anesthetics: Mechanism of Action

Local Anesthetics: Mechanism of Action

Local anesthetics (LAs) block sensory and motor impulses by inhibiting the sodium channels on the nerve cell membranes. This induces temporary loss of sensation, relieving pain in a specific body area.
Local anesthetics are amphiphilic molecules consisting of a hydrophobic aromatic part linked to a hydrophilic group by an ester or amide linkage. They are weak bases and are usually available as salts, which increases their solubility and stability. Once administered, LAs exist in the body either...

Lung Capacity

Lung Capacity

The air in the lungs is measured in volumes and capacities. Lung volume measures reflect the amount of air taken in, released, or left over after a lung function, like a single inhalation. Lung capacity measures are sums of two or more lung volume measures.

Design Example: Sustainability in Concrete Building

Design Example: Sustainability in Concrete Building

As the construction industry moves towards more eco-friendly practices, concrete's adaptability and its ability to incorporate sustainable features make it a key material in the drive towards greener building solutions.
There are multiple approaches to achieve sustainability in a commercial concrete building. For instance, construct a concrete parking area under the building, utilizing pervious concrete paver blocks in open areas to facilitate rainwater collection through an underground...

Bacterial Transformation

Bacterial Transformation

In 1928, bacteriologist Frederick Griffith worked on a vaccine for pneumonia, which is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. Griffith studied two pneumonia strains in mice: one pathogenic and one non-pathogenic. Only the pathogenic strain killed host mice.
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...

Fixed Action Patterns

Fixed Action Patterns

A fixed action pattern (FAP) is a specific, hard-wired sequence of behaviors that occurs in response to an external stimulus, called a sign stimulus. The behavior is “fixed” because it is essentially unchangeable—proceeding similarly across individuals of a species every time it occurs.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Decline by design: Assessing decline policies as a decarbonisation strategy under the Paris Agreement.

PloS one·2025

Same author

Carbon credits are failing to help with climate change - here's why.

Nature·2025

Same author

Demand for low-quality offsets by major companies undermines climate integrity of the voluntary carbon market.

Nature communications·2024

Same author

Conceptualizing the potential of entrepreneurship to shape urban sustainability transformations.

Urban transformations·2024

Same author

Forecasting coal power plant retirement ages and lock-in with random forest regression.

Patterns (New York, N.Y.)·2023

Same author

Integration of urban science and urban climate adaptation research: opportunities to advance climate action.

npj urban sustainability·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Published on: August 8, 2014

Transformative capacity and local action for urban sustainability.

Vanesa Castán Broto¹, Gregory Trencher², Ewa Iwaszuk³

¹Interdisciplinary Centre for the Social Sciences, Urban Institute and Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, 219 Portobello, Sheffield, S2 4DP, UK. v.castanbroto@sheffield.ac.uk.

|September 13, 2018

Summary

Urban sustainability initiatives rarely demonstrate transformative capacity. Evidence suggests this capacity emerges from social learning and city-wide planning, but such instances are uncommon in practice.

Keywords:

Cities Evaluation Transformative capacity Urban sustainability Urban transformations

More Related Videos

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs

Published on: April 9, 2021

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Published on: January 20, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Published on: August 8, 2014

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs

Published on: April 9, 2021

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Published on: January 20, 2023

Area of Science:

Urban Studies
Sustainability Science
Environmental Policy

Background:

Cities are crucial for global sustainability transformations.
Interest is growing in urban transformative capacity, but empirical evidence is scarce.
Understanding the systemic properties of urban sustainability is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess the extent to which local government sustainability initiatives exhibit transformative capacity.
To identify components of transformative capacity within urban sustainability projects.
To examine the interrelations between these components.

Main Methods:

An evaluative framework with ten components of transformative capacity and indicators was developed.
Analysis of 400 sustainability initiatives led by local governments and partners.
Pattern identification regarding the presence and interrelations of transformative capacity components.

Main Results:

Limited evidence of transformative capacity was found across the analyzed initiatives.
Transformative capacity, when present, was linked to institutional and social learning processes.
Initiatives connecting outcomes to a city-wide vision showed some evidence of transformative capacity, but were rare.

Conclusions:

Widespread lack of transformative capacity in urban sustainability initiatives is a significant concern.
The attributes of transformative capacity, often discussed in literature, appear infrequently in real-world sustainability actions.
Further research is needed to understand how to foster genuine transformative capacity in urban settings.