SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE

Unit 1 :

Concept Of Sustainability
Carrying Capacity
Sustainable Development
Bruntland Report
Ethics And Vision Of Sustainability
 Basic Definitions

 Sustain - to keep in existence without diminishing, to provide

sustenance and nourishment

 Develop - to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of, to

bring to a more advanced or effective state

 Community - a group of any size whose members reside in a

specific locality and share resources needed to survive
 Defining sustainability
Traditional View of Community

SOCIETY

bearable equitable
Sustainable

ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY
viable
Sustainable View of Community

Environment

Society

Economy
Traditional Thinking

Environment Economy Society

Water Quality Stockholder Education

Profits
Health
Air Quality Materials for
Production Poverty
Natural
Resources Jobs Crime
Interconnected Thinking
 What is sustainable?
1. We only take what nature
replaces.
2. We make only what nature
can process.
3. We avoid breaking nature’s
systems.
4. We ensure that globally
people are able to meet their
basic needs.
Sustainability is:

"..development that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs"
Brundtland Commission

Sustainable Measures
History of SD
1. THE BEGINNING

– 1962; “Silent spring” – Rachel Carson

– 1963 International biological programme initiated

– 1967 Environment defense fund pursues legal options to protect environment

– 1968: Conference for conservation of the biosphere

– UN GA authorizes the Human Environment conference in Stockholm

– 1969 NEPA formed – EPA established

– 1970 - 71 Natural Resources Defense Council formed, earth day, Greenpeace

established, IIED

– 1971 Founex Report

– 1972 Club of Rome report published “Limits to Growth”

FIRST CONFERENCE – FIRST MILESTONE
1972 Stockholm, United Nations Conference on Human Environment
 First international recognition of environmental problems and the link
between human behavior and environmental issues
 Focus on environment vs development
 Concept Sustainable development argued as the solution to this dilemma
 Led to creation of UNEP

Conference themes
 The interdependence of human beings and the natural environment;
 The links between economic and social development and environmental
protection; and
 The need for a global vision and common principles.
THE ROAD TO RIO
2.Towards Rio
 1972 Oil Crisis
 Evidence mounts for increasing scarcity
 1980 World Conservation strategy released (IUCN)
 Towards Sustainable development
 Poverty, population pressure, inequity, trade
 Global 2000 commissioned
 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development formed
 Gro Harlem Brundtland (chair)
 1984 Worldwatch publishes the first State of the World Report
 1985 Antarctic ozone hole found
 1985 Villach Austria, climate change predicted
 1986 IUCN Conference on Environment and Development
 1987 “Our Common Future “Published
 Prompts the Earth Summit in Rio
 Sustainable Development

“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
“Our common future” 1987 after its chair,
Norwegian diplomat Gro Harlem Brundtland
OUR COMMON FUTURE – SECOND MILESTONE

• Argue for a new era of economic growth,

• Growth that is forceful, and at the same time environmentally and socially sustainable.

• Three dimensions of SD

– Environment

– Economics

– Social

• Not clear on specifics

THE EARTH SUMMIT – THIRD MILESTONE

1992, The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

Unparalleled emphasis and interest in the environment – and how to achieve
balanced solutions
OUTCOMES
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
Agenda 21-The task is to balance economic development with social and
environmental objectives
Convention on Biological Diversity
Forest Principles
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Establishing the CSD – began operating in 1993
 SUSTAINABILITY.…

• …IS NOT ABOUT A DESTINATION

• …IT IS SIMPLY A DIRECTION

Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of

natural systems with the social challenges facing humanity.
• SUSTAINABILITY IS A TRANSITION

• From: To:
• short-term thinking long-term thinking

• an economy economy integrated

outside of nature with nature

• a linear flow A system of Flows

• of resources

• fossil fuels Solar-derived Fuels

TWO GENERAL CONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY

-- Weak Sustainability:
1. Depletion of resources, breaking down of ecosystems and species extinction can be
compensated for if this takes place in a process that supports opportunities for
continued maintenance or expansion of economic opportunities.
2. Nature, in this respect, is a form of capital, which can be substituted with other
kinds of capital.
3. Development is sustainable for as long as it does not harm the prospects of the
continued fulfilment of economic necessity.

-- Strong Sustainability:
1. Development not leading to irretrievable loss of resources.
2. Plants and animal species, ecosystems and raw materials have a value in themselves
and not just as input in the economic process.
 Back-casting
The Natural Step to planning for success!

Future

Present 1. Begin with the end in mind

2. Plan backwards from the vision to the present
3. Move step by step towards the vision

© 2010 The Natural Step

 Sustainability Concepts

1. Long-term balance between economic, social and environmental goals

(look ahead 20-50 years, understand the connections)

2. Limits to natural, social, and built systems

(live off the interest of community capital, don’t degrade or use it up)

3. Inter- and intra- generational equity

(share with future generations and current inhabitants, local
sustainability in harmony with global sustainability rather than at
expense of others)

Sustainable Measures
 Sustainability objectives

WHAT WE TAKE into our mind

Continually reduce and eliminate our dependence on mined metals, minerals and
fossil fuels - extract less, reuse, recycle, use renewable resources
WHAT WE MAKE as a practice
Continually reduce and eliminate our use of manufactured non-degradable
chemicals and substances - use natural alternatives and recyclable materials
WHAT WE DESTROY
Continually reduce and eliminate our dependence on activities that cause physical
encroachment upon the natural environment - draw resources from sustainably
managed eco-systems, restore nature, protect biodiversity

HOW WE SHARE
Ensure that people everywhere are treated fairly and with respect to enable them
to meet their needs efficiently – look after people, share resources fairly

Adapted from The Natural Step Framework 4 System Conditions

Carrying Capacity

The population that can be supported indefinitely by the

resources of its surrounding ecosystem without degrading
or destroying that ecosystem.

"…carrying capacity is determined jointly by human choices and natural constraints. Consequently,
the question, how many people can the Earth support, does not have a single numerical answer,
now or ever. Human choices about the Earth's human carrying capacity are constrained by facts of
nature which we understand poorly. So any estimates of human carrying capacity are only
conditional on future human choices and natural events." Joel Cohen
 The earth could not indefinitely support an ever-increasing human population.
 The planet, would check population growth through famine if humans didn't check
themselves.
 There is a certain population number above which a species starts to damage its habitat, and
life as it stands at that moment cannot go on.
 Typically, it's starvation that kicks in to cull the herds down to a manageable number. This
limit is called the Carrying Capacity.
 A sustainable habitat is one in which supply of and demand for these resources are
balanced.
 It's a very basic idea -- sustainability requires balance.
 Sustainability is about finding the balance point among population, consumption, and waste
assimilation.
 The theory publicized by Malthus is known
as the Carrying Capacity of Earth
Imagine a field of grass shared by 6 farmers, each with one cow…
A few facts: Each cow currently produces 20 liters of milk per day The carrying capacity of the
commons is 8 cows. For each cow above 8, the milk production declines by 2 liters (due to
overgrazing, there is less grass for each cow: less grass, less milk!).

20 liters 20 liters

20 liters
20 liters

20 liters 20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 120 liters

Do the farmers sit back and stay at 6 cows? Not if they are individual profit maximizers (here
simplified as milk production maximizers)

20 liters 20 liters

20 liters
20 liters

20 liters 20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 120 liters (6 cows)
Do the farmers sit back and stay at 6 cows? Not if they are individual profit maximizers (here
simplified as milk production maximizers)

“I’ll get another cow”

40 liters 20 liters

20 liters
20 liters

20 liters 20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 140 liters (7 cows)
We are now at the carrying capacity -- do they stop? No.

“Then I’ll get another cow too”

40 liters 40 liters

20 liters
20 liters

20 liters 20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 160 liters (8 cows)
They are now at the maximum total milk production. But do they stop? No…

36 liters 36 liters
“I’ll get another cow”

18 liters
36 liters

18 liters 18 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 162 liters (9 cows)
 32 liters 32 liters

16 liters
32 liters

16 liters “My cow is now less productive, but 2

32 liters
will improve my situation”

Total daily milk production for the commons: 160 liters (10 cows)
 28 liters 28 liters

14 liters
28 liters

“I’ll get another cow”

28 liters 28 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 154 liters (11 cows)
“Well, everyone else is getting one,
24 liters 24 liters
so me too!”

24 liters
24 liters

24 liters 24 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 144 liters (12 cows)
“Well, I can still increase milk production if
I get a third cow”

30 liters 20 liters

20 liters
20 liters

20 liters 20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 130 liters (10 cows)
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

 The term ‘sustainable development’ was first given currency by the World Conservation
Strategy (IUCN, UNEP, WWF 1980) and
 Later reinforced by the Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment and
Development 1987). However, it is an evolving concept.
 The World Conservation Strategy primarily sought to protect essential ecological processes,
life-support systems and genetic diversity through the sustainable utilisation of natural
resources. The Strategy linked poverty, development and environment by drawing attention
to the dilemmas facing rural people in some developing countries who are sometimes
compelled to over-utilise natural resources in order to free themselves from starvation and
poverty.
 It gave increased prominence to the root social, political and economic causes of the
environmental crisis.
 These ideas were to inform the development of the framework for the recommendations in
the Brundtland Report.
Three essential aspects of Sustainable Development:

•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. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
•Social:
A socially sustainable system must achieve fairness in distribution and opportunity,
adequate provision of social services including health and education, gender equity, and political
accountability and participation
TWO KEY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS:

 EQUITY
the concept of needs, particularly the essential needs of the world’s poor

 LIMITS TO GROWTH
 the idea of limitations (ecological, technological, and social) which affect the
environment’s ability to meet present and future needs

 quantitative and qualitative limits

- living within the regenerative and assimilative capacities of the planet
BRUNTLAND REPORT

“The report that called for a strategy that united development and the environment –
described by the now common term « SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”.

The definition:
Development that meets the needs of the present without Compromising
the ability of the future generations to meet their needs.(WCED-1987)

KEY ISSUES
1. Development is not just about bigger profits and higher standards of living for a
minority. It should be about making life better for everyone and

2. It should not involve destroying or recklessly using up our natural resources, nor
should it involve polluting the environment.
OBJECTIVES

 The report is one of the seminal environmental

documents of the 20th century.
 It is representative of the growing global awareness in
the second half of the century of the enormous
environmental problems facing the planet,
 Its a growing shift towards global environmental action.
 The Commission's brief was to re-examine the critical
environment and development problems on the planet
and to formulate realistic proposals to solve them; to

create a 'global agenda for change'.

 It was to work within the principle of Environmentally
Sustainable Development (ESD).
THE REPORT
 The report approaches the environmental and development issues which were (and
still are) facing the world as one common challenge, to be solved by collective
multilateral action rather than through the pursuit of national self-interest.

 It examines population and human resources, food security, species and

ecosystems, energy, industry, and 'the urban challenge' of humans in their built
environment.

 The report illustrates how the problems of poverty and population are
interconnected. By examining the interactions between the problems facing the

world, the report develops common approaches to peace, security,

development and the environment.

 The report called for increased co-operation with industry. The bruntland report has
often been subject to criticism, on the grounds that many of its 'forecasts' did not
come true.
KEY ISSUES

1. Reviving economic growth

2. Changing the quality of growth (Growth that is forceful, and at the same
time environmentally and socially sustainable.)
3. Meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water and sanitation
4. Ensuring a sustainable level of population
5. Reorienting technology and managing risk
6. Merging environment and economics in decision-making processes
ETHICS AND VISION OF SUSTAINABILITY

1. Ethics of sustainability makes clear why the sustainability framework is not only an
approach to addressing and solving the many difficult problems facing us, but why
it is in fact the right approach, the right thing to do.
2. It is holistic, in theory, in so far as it is guided by a vision in which social,
economic, and environmental values not only coexist but, in many cases,
reinforce each other.
To clarify some of the specific ethical fields and approaches that are most directly relevant for the ethics of sustainability
the three “legs” of sustainability as often defined: the social, the economic, and the environmental.

Social equity:

 Places the priority on satisfying the diversified needs of the population, such as food, health and

education being among the most basic.

 Self-reliance is also often perceived as a desirable goal of social development, which goes against

economic concepts such as comparative advantages and globalization.. It implies aid mechanisms to help

nations/regions to cope with temporary crisis such as a drought

Economic efficiency

 Promotes significant improvements in the welfare of populations.

 Related to achieve or sustain economic growth, maximize profits and expand markets.

 Globalization enabled an extended range for comparative advantages to be exploited. And

 promotes growth in a differential manner as regions or nations capture its opportunities differently.

Environmental responsibility

Tries to respect the carrying capacity of environmental systems, to conserve and recycle resources and

to reduce the generation of wastes.