Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustainable Development: A Question of ‘Modernization’ or ‘Degrowth’?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Innovation in Public Planning

Abstract

Using urban spatial development as a case, this chapter argues that we are in dire need of profound societal innovation to address the two-pronged crises of ecological unsustainability and growing inequality. The dominant understanding in contemporary sustainability discourse is that concerns about ‘planet, people and profit’ must be balanced against each other if development is to be sustainable. However, there is growing evidence that only a partial ‘decoupling’ between growth and negative environmental impacts is achievable. Policies and planning necessary for a transition to equitable environmental sustainability are often deemed unrealistic and impossible. This impossibility of the strongly desirable calls for transformative societal change. Radical innovation is needed to outline a new, democratic social order that supports ecological responsibility and social justice. Radical innovation is also needed to explore strategies and pathways for transitioning to societal conditions that are conducive to sustainability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Boulding, K. E. (1966). The economics of the coming spaceship Earth. In H. Jarrett (Ed.), Environmental quality in a growing economy (pp. 3–14). Baltimore, MD: Resources for the Future/Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development). (1987). Our common future. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colby, M. E. (1991). Environmental management in development: The evolution of paradigms. Ecological Economics, 3(3), 193–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkington, J. (1999). Cannibals with forks. The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engebretsen, Ø. (1993). Arealbruk i tettsteder 1955–1992. TØI Report 177/1993. Oslo: Institute of Transport Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2006). Language and globalization. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. (2019). The state of the world’s biodiversity for food and agriculture. Rome: FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Assessments.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann, J. (1966). Planning as innovation: The Chilean case. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 32(4), 194–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. J., & Rosenthal, J. S. (2003). Capitalism’s growth imperative. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 27(1), 25–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiskanen, E., & Jalas, M. (2000). Dematerialisation through services: A review and evaluation of the debate. Helsinki: Ministry of the Environment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higdem, U., & Hagen, A. (2020). Calculate, communicate and innovate. Innovative planning – an upcoming field of interest. In A. Hagen & U. Higdem (Eds.), Calculate, communicate and innovate. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Høyer, K. G. (1997). Sustainable development. In D. Brune, D. Chapman, M. O. Gwynne, & J. M. Pacyna (Eds.), The global environment. Science, technology and management (Vol. 2, pp. 1185–1208). Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Høyer, K. G., & Næss, P. (2001). The ecological traces of growth: Economic growth, liberalization, increased consumption – and sustainable urban development? Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 3(3), 177–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R. (1995). Public support for environmental protection: Objective problems and subjective values in 43 societies. Political Science and Politics, 28, 57–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund. (2019). World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. (2019). Climate change and land. Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. (2014). Synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a finite planet. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovel, J. (2002). The enemy of nature: The end of capitalism or the end of the World? London: Zed Books/Fernwood Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, G. R. (2019). Opposisjonen i Oslo på krigsstien etter egen snuoperasjon: – Byrådet gir blaffen i de som bor her. ABC nyheter, June 14, 2019, https://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/norge/2019/06/13/195585591/byradet-gir-blaffen-i-de-som-bor-her

  • Lassen, C. (2006). Aeromobility and work. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 38(2), 301–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machan, T. S. (1984). Pollution and political theory. In T. Regan (Ed.), Earthbound: New introductory essays in environmental ethics. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Alier, J. (2009). Socially sustainable economic de-growth. Development and Change, 40, 1099–1119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Alier, J., Pasqual, U., Vivien, F.-D., & Zaccai, E. (2010). Sustainable de-growth: Mapping the context, criticisms and future prospects of an emergent paradigm. Ecological Economics, 69, 1741–1747.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we make things. New York: North Point Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Finance [Norway]. (2017). Perspektivmeldingen 2017. Oslo: Ministry of Finance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Local Government and Modernization [Norway]. (2018). Regionale utviklingstrekk 2018. Oslo: Ministry of Local Government and Modernization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mol, A. (1995). The refinement of production. Ecological modernization theory and the chemical industry. Dublin: International Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Municipality of Oslo. (2013). Statistisk årbok 2013. Oslo: The Municipality of Oslo, Development and improvement authority.

    Google Scholar 

  • Municipality of Oslo. (2019). Statistikkbanken Oslo. Retrieved August 2019, from http://statistikkbanken.oslo.kommune.no/webview/

  • Næss, P., & Høyer, K. G. (2009). The emperor’s green clothes: Growth, decoupling and capitalism. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 20(3), 74–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., Næss, T., & Strand, A. (2011). Oslo’s farewell to urban sprawl. European Planning Studies, 19(1), 113–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., Saglie, I.-L., & Richardson, T. (2019). Urban sustainability: Is densification sufficient? European Planning Studies, published online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2019.1604633.

  • Næss, P., Strand, A., Næss, T., & Nicolaisen, M. (2011). On their road to sustainability? The challenge of sustainable mobility in urban planning and development in two Scandinavian capital regions. Town Planning Review, 82(3), 287–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., Strand, A., Wolday, F., & Stefansdottir, H. (2019). Residential location, commuting and non-work travel in two urban areas of different size and with different center structures. Progress in Planning, 128, 1–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., & Vogel, N. (2012). Sustainable urban development and the multilevel transition perspective. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 4, 36–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., & Xue, J. (2016). Housing standards, environmental sustainability and social welfare. In P. Næss & L. Price (Eds.), Crisis System: A critical realist and environmental critique of economics and the economy (pp. 130–148). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordic Council of Ministers. (1999). Factors 4 and 10 in the Nordic countries: The transport sector, the forest sector, the building and real estate sector, the food supply chain. TemaNord. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riksrevisjonen. (2007). Riksrevisjonens undersøkelse av bærekraftig arealplanlegging og arealdisponering i Norge. Dokument nr. 3:11 (2006–2007). Oslo: Norwegian National Auditing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, A. A., Freedgood, J., Dempsey, J., & Theobald, D. M. (2018). Farms under threat: The state of America’s farmland. Washington, DC: American Farmland Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spangenberg, J. H. (2010). The growth discourse, growth policy and sustainable development: Two thought experiments. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18, 561–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Norway. (2019). Areal og befolkning i tettsteder, etter tettsted, statistikkvariabel og år. Retrieved from https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/04859/?rxid=5a5561ea-67b0-4bed-937bfbb177ba3b82

  • Strand, A., Tennøy, A., Næss, P., & Steinsland, C. (2009). Gir bedre veger mindre klimagassutslipp? TØI Rapport 1027/2009. Oslo: Institute of Transport Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strannegård, L. (1999). Black-boxing eco-modernization. Nature and Market discourses in leadership practice. Stockholm: Centre for Advanced Studies in Leadership.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (2015). The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor, A. P. (2008). Managing without growth: Slower by design, not disaster. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum/PwC. (2018). Circular economy in cities evolving the model for a sustainable urban future. White paper. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xue, J. (2014). Economic growth and sustainable housing: An uneasy relationship. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, S. C. (Ed.). (2000). The emergence of ecological modernization: Integrating the environment and the economy? London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Petter Næss

Authors
  1. Petter Næss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petter Næss .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway

    Aksel Hagen

  2. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway

    Ulla Higdem

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Næss, P. (2020). Sustainable Development: A Question of ‘Modernization’ or ‘Degrowth’?. In: Hagen, A., Higdem, U. (eds) Innovation in Public Planning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46136-2_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation