UNDERSTANDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

This paper discusses major themes and perspectives in the ongoing debate over sustainable development. The aim is to contribute a conceptual framework that will assist academic and professional planners to assess how emerging ideas in sustainable development should inform planning theory and practice in the decades ahead. Interpretations of sustainable development and its implications for planning vary as widely as the ideologies of its various proponents. However, rather than dwell on ideological differences, the paper focuses on certain ecological realities that must be accommodated by any realistic approach to sustainable development. It assumes a global perspective on the grounds that if the basic argument is correct, the success of sustainable development initiatives anywhere are dependent on sustainable development everywhere. With this in mind, the paper concludes with an assessment of current global directions. Ultimately, and despite current emphasis on deregulation, it is maintained that the need for positive governance and proactive planning can only escalate in an increasingly populous world demanding ever more of an increasingly unstable ecosphere. Planners will acquire maximum leverage by shifting the focus of their efforts from changing the environment to changing human minds and redesigning social institutions. The need is more for appropriate philosophy than for appropriate technology.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/1853394521
• Corporate Authors:

  Intermediate Technology Publications Limited

  9 King Street
  London WC2E 8HW,   United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Rees, W E
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 19-42
• Serial:
  • Sustainable Development and the Future of Cities
  • Publisher: Intermediate Technology Publications Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: City planning; Ecology; Economics; Environmental quality; Governments; Human beings; Philosophy; Politics; Regulations; Sustainable development; Technology; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Economics; Environment; Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00768922
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 1853394521
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 23 1999 12:00AM