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When cities in the global north are considered environmental sustainable, this largely depends on how one measures emissions and understands space. Production-based and consumption-based approaches are two different ways of measuring emissions, but they are not simply measuring techniques: they relate also to different interests, they hide and reveal power relations, and they come with very different spatial implications. In this paper, we examine the Swedish city of Malmö, and the city district of Western Harbour in particular, which is often considered an environmental 'role model'. We argue that this reputation depends precisely upon how we understand space and measure emissions. We argue that so-called sustainable cities and city districts in the global north can only be considered environmental role models if one chose to ignore the fact that they completely depend upon emissions being emitted elsewhere, and ignore any relation between affluence and emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity and poverty must increasingly be tackled in cities. While cities can be significant contributors to climate change and resource scarcity, and face considerable risks as a consequence of these, they are also central to the solutions for these challenges. The quality of infrastructure, reliability of service provision and other economic and political conditions in urban areas shape levels of resource use by, and exposure to risks for, residents. This paper – which introduces a special issue on resilience and resource efficiency at the city scale – introduces these two concepts and explores the nexus between them. It uses several case studies from different contexts to illustrate the relationship between these ideas, and describes how the papers in the issue engage with them.  [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]