1. Defining Sustainability / Sustainable Development
Week 1 – Lecture 3
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

2. What is sustainable development?
Defining Sustainability / Sustainable Development
What is sustainability?
What is sustainable development?
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

4. What is sustainability?
EPA’s Definition
What is sustainability?
Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival
and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.
Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature
can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other
requirements of present and future generations.
Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

5. Perspectives on Sustainability
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

6. Maintain Natural Capital Composite Approach
Definitions and more definitions
Meeting the Needs of Future Generations
Opposing Exponential Growth
Carrying Capacity of Ecosystems
Positive Change
Maintain Natural Capital
Composite Approach
Maintenance and Improvement of Systems
Sustaining Human Livelihood
Protecting and Restoring the Environment
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

7. Composite Approach Definitions (cont’d.)
“Sustainable development seeks… to respond to five broad requirements: (1) integration of conservation and development, (2) satisfaction of basic human needs, (3) achievement of equity and social justice, (4) provision of social self-determination and cultural diversity, and (5) maintenance of ecological integrity.”
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 1986
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

8. Meeting the Needs of Future Generations
Definitions (cont’d.)
Meeting the Needs of Future Generations
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Brundtland Commission, 1987
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

9. Maintain Natural Capital
Definitions (cont’d.)
Maintain Natural Capital
“Sustainability requires at least a constant stock of natural capital, construed as the set of all environmental assets.”
British Environmental Economist, David Pearce, 1988
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

10. Maintenance & Improvement of Systems
Definitions (cont’d.)
Maintenance & Improvement of Systems
“Sustainability… implies that overall level of diversity and overall productivity of components and relations in systems are maintained or enhanced.”
American Ecological Economist, Richard Norgaard, 1988
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

11. Positive Change Definitions (cont’d.)
Sustainable development is “any form of positive change which does not erode that ecological, social, or political systems upon which society is dependent.”
Canadian Planner, William Rees, 1988
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

12. Carrying Capacity of Ecosystems
Definitions (cont’d.)
Carrying Capacity of Ecosystems
Sustainable development means “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.”
World Conservation Union, 1991
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

13. Sustaining Human Livelihood
Definitions (cont’d.)
Sustaining Human Livelihood
Sustainability is “the ability of a system to sustain the livelihood of the people who depend on that system for an indefinite period.”
Indonesian Economist, Otto Soemarwoto, 1991
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

14. Oppose Exponential Growth
Definitions (cont’d.)
Oppose Exponential Growth
“Sustainability is the fundamental root metaphor that can oppose the notion of continued exponential material growth.”
Ecotopia Author, Ernest Callenbach, 1992
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

15. Protecting & Restoring the Environment
Definitions (cont’d.)
Protecting & Restoring the Environment
“Sustainability equals conservation plus stewardship plus restoration.”
Ecological Architect, Sim Van der Ryn, 1994
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

16. Frameworks for Sustainability
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17. Triple Bottom Line (Elkington 1999)
§ Economic: An economically sustainable system must be able to produce goods and services on a continuing basis, to maintain manageable levels of government and external debt, and to avoid extreme sectoral imbalances which damage agricultural or industrial production.
§ Environmental: An environmentally sustainable system must maintain a stable resource base, avoiding over-exploitation of renewable resource systems or environmental sink functions, and depleting non-renewable resources only to the extent that investment is made in adequate substitutes. This includes maintenance of biodiversity, atmospheric stability, and other ecosystem functions not ordinarily classed as economic resources.
§ Social: A socially sustainable system must achieve distributional equity, adequate provision of social services including health and education, political accountability and participation.’ (Harris2000, pp.5-6).
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

18. Threats to Sustainability:
Emerging Themes
Threats to Sustainability:
Climate Change
Resource Depletion
Energy Consumption
Population Growth
Species Extinction
Land Use/ Urban Sprawl
Technology/ Efficiency
Develop strategies for sustaining:
Human Health
Environmental Quality
Economic Productivity
Infrastructure Quality
Energy Accessibility
Social Systems
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability

19. Sustainability Models
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20. UIC Sustainability Model
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21. Redefining Definitions of Sustainability
Using the previously mentioned definitions, what is missing in each one?
Use one of the frameworks (i.e., Triple Bottom Line, UIC Framework, etc.) just noted, and explain why you chose that framework for your redefinition.
US 130 Principles of Urban Sustainability