Sustainable development in growth has gained steam over the last past decade with the heightened awareness of our ability to pollute, waste, and diminish our natural surrounding environment. The concept of sustainable development includes a host of things which can prevent or decrease such problems in our communities. These entail dealing with proper land use and management tactics, curbing our transportation habits, limiting and conserving our energy resource use, and addressing the problems of inequality among the wealthy and low-income. According to Wheeler, “planners in the past often abandoned holistic understanding of urban environments and ignored the realities of political and economic power within society” (Wheeler, 12).
The foundation of sustainable development to some degree originates with the idea of “land ethic” which is a human responsibility to care for particular lands and ecosystems (Wheeler, 20). Coupled with the previous term of land ethic, the thought of this type of emerging development seeks to not add any more distress environmentally on the area that could eventually affect future residents and the community in a negative manner. There are also several different methods to accomplish this such as maintaining natural capital, sustaining human livelihood, and maintenance and improvement of systems within development (Wheeler, 24-25).
With the planning that goes along with sustainable development there are key elements that are present in each project such as long-term goals and objectives, focusing on location and place, realization of environmental limitations, and ongoing community involvement and problem-solving. Additionally, there are what’s called the “three Es” of sustainable planning which include the environment, economics, and equity. Each is critical in having a successful and healthy project for the community and its benefactors. Also, it seeks for social responsibility, a critical factor, in development to allow for accountability of planners, participants, and local entities in the process (Wheeler, 53-62).
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I wonder what things would be like today if sustainability was a goal after WWII? Even with moderate goals of "environment, economics, and equity", perhaps our economy today would not be so reliant on fossil fuels, or at least more self producing. A good example is Hoover Dam. The the primary purpose is to regulate water flows, it also serves as a generator which produces more electricity than it needs to run. This is a great example of a sustainable, large scale, public project.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great point that perhaps needs to made. I assume that we probably would not be in this precarious environmental situation, however we may not be as economically successful by not producing as much pollution.
ReplyDeleteThe Hoover Dam is a great example, the manner in which it was built allows for the system to continue production without negative externalities well after human beings cease to exist. Within the next couple of decades I think we might see more of this efficient, more sustainable innovation in order to maintain a decent "bottom-line" and prevent further damage to our collective environment.