Approaches to sustainable community development

The reasons why sustainability has become a leading theme worldwide are well known. Concerns such as climate change, resource depletion, pollution, loss of species and ecosystems, poverty, inequality, traffic congestion, inadequate housing, and loss of community and social capital are ubiquitous. These problems are interrelated; for example, global warming emissions are caused in part by inefficient transportation systems and land-use patterns, poorly designed and energy-intensive housing, and economic systems that do not internalize the costs of resource depletion and pollution.

Despite the extraordinary influence of the sustainable development concept, no perfect definition of the term has emerged. The most widely used formulation is that issued by the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (the “Brundtland Commission”) in 1987, which defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission 1987). However, this definition is problematic, since it raises the difficult to-define concept of “needs” and is anthropocentric, discussing the needs of humans rather than those of ecosystems or the planet as a whole.

Readings

Wheeler, S. M. (2009). Sustainability in community development. In R. Phillips & R. H. Pittman (Eds.), An introduction to community development (pp. 339–351). Routledge.