Sustainability Planning and Its Theory and Practice: An Introduction

To begin with, the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report’s statement that “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987) may arouse little passion but it is necessary for resuscitating the origins of associating urban planning with modern values of sustainability. For over three decades, planning for sustainable urban development has been an attempt to monitor runaway and seemingly uncontrollable rates of urban expansion with particular relevance to developing countries. Not only that, but planning for the upper circuit global cities in the developed world has turned out to be equally critical as globalization and city competition intensify. What has characterized city competition is that it requires entrepreneurship and economic growth to support job creation, professional and skills training as well as research and development to enable further reinvestment. Accompanying growth are nevertheless the reward and outcome of tangible material incentives and motivation leading to rising automobile use, consumerism and waste, environmental damage, and greater commuting distances. Cities are increasingly designed primarily for car users, much less for pedestrians or cyclists. Globalization has also resulted in social polarization, exasperating the drive towards equity and wealth redistribution. Social sustainability is being challenged