title: Livability for all? Conceptual limits and practical implications.
abstract: Livability has risen, alongside sustainability, as a guiding principle for planning and policy. Promoted as the more tangible of the two concepts, livability shapes public perception and infrastructure investments in cities, as well as competition among cities for the attention of the public, investment communities, and potentially fickle and mobile human capital. This paper takes stock of the current discourse on livability, identifies two central elements that have yet to shape the assessments of livability and policies to promote it, and explores strategies for research and practice to transform the livability concept, and with it the places in which the lives and livelihoods of people unfold.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.affiliation: Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA ; Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Franklin
keywords: Climate adaptation; Life course; Livability; Urban planning