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What Is Sustainable Development

Sustainable development aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It refers to a model of human development that uses resources to meet needs while preserving the environment for future generations. The term was coined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 and includes four pillars - economic development, social development, environmental protection, and indigenous people and culture. Critics argue that current developed countries polluted significantly during their own development but now discourage developing countries from doing the same.

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54 views

What Is Sustainable Development

Sustainable development aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It refers to a model of human development that uses resources to meet needs while preserving the environment for future generations. The term was coined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 and includes four pillars - economic development, social development, environmental protection, and indigenous people and culture. Critics argue that current developed countries polluted significantly during their own development but now discourage developing countries from doing the same.

Uploaded by

Mike T
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development (SD) has become a popular catchphrase in contemporary development


discourse. However, in spite of its pervasiveness and the massive popularity it has garnered over
the years, the concept still seems unclear as many people continue to ask questions about its
meaning and history. But, the most frequently quoted definition says that

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Sustainable development (SD) refers to a model of human development in which resource use
aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not
only in the present, but also for generations to come.
The term ‘sustainable development’ was used by the Brundtland Commission (1987) which
coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development which was
written above.

Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. The United Nations
2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers to the four ‘interdependent and mutually
reinforcing pillars’ of sustainable development as including: economic development, social
development and environmental protection. The fourth pillar is indigenous people and culture.
Proponents of Sustainable Development argue that it provides a context in which overall
sustainability is improved where cutting edge Green development is unattainable. For example, a
cutting edge treatment plant with extremely high maintenance costs may not be sustainable in
regions of the world with fewer financial resources.

An environmentally ideal plant that is shut down due to bankruptcy is obviously less sustainable
than one that is maintainable by the community, even if it is somewhat less effective from an
environmental standpoint.

During the last ten years, different organizations have tried to measure and monitor the proximity
to what they consider sustainability by implementing what has been called sustainability metric
and indices. Sustainable development is said to set limits on the developing world. While current
developed countries pollute significantly during their development, the same countries encourage
developing countries to reduce pollution, which sometimes impedes growth.

Sustainability requires that human activity only use nature’s resources at a rate, which they can
be replenished naturally. Inherently, the concept of sustainable development is intertwined with
the concept of carrying capacity. Theoretically, the long-term result of environmental
degradation is the inability to sustain human life. Such degradation on a global scale could imply
extinction for humanity.
Domains of Sustainability
Since the beginning of the concepts and the language (i.e., the Bruntland Commission of the
United Nations, 1987) sustainable development has consistently been represented as having three
domains “the environment, economics, and the socio-cultural context” and, that they must be
treated interdependently for a sustainable balance to occur. Many business and governmental
leaders have been skeptical about placing any domain on a par with economics. Even those who,
sooner or later, will adopt the values of living in balance with nature often find the tools within
these three domains to be limited.

The limitations in achieving real sustainability exist whether the scale of the development is at
the micro level (such as an individual building or neighborhood), or at the macro scale of habitat
(such as a city or a region of urban habitats). The designer, the planner, the developer, the civic
official, or the NGO leader who is genuinely interested in facilitating a sustainable solution in the
urban context will not find all the networks or ingredients, or all the information, or all the tools
and alternatives for solutions within only these three domains.

Consider, for example, a proposed new development which has all the finance necessary, a good
environmental plan which protects and restores critical natural ecosystems, and it enhances and
improves scores of lives of prospective occupants; but, it provides no dependable means of
affordable transportation to places of employment for the residents. The three domains of
economics, environment and socio-cultural criteria have been provided, but a fourth domain “the
technology of transportation” is missing.

Within these two additional domains “technologies and policy” there are numerous examples of
human invention and/or intervention that can be noted to have either facilitated, or retarded
community progress toward sustainability. Two extreme, and debatable, examples are the
automobile (technology) and the consequences of its use resulting in threats to the natural
systems, and, the principle of humans “owning” land (policy) and the consequential effect of
economic speculation on the earth’s natural systems. Whether we individually value these
conditions, or not, is not the key consideration.

Thus, the recommended Five Domains of Sustainability are Environment, Social/Culture,


Technology, Economics, and Public Policy. Further, these domains should be the organizing
principles for urban administration, urban design and planning, urban growth management, and
regional and urban sustainable development.

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