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WHY THE SUSTAINABLE CITY?

By Malene Freudendal-Pedersen, knowledge analyst in Sustainable Cities™

In recent years the climate issue has become increasingly urgent, receiving again a prominent place on the political agenda. Roughly speaking climate changes constitute the problem and sustainability provides the solution, this being a holistic approach to and an understanding of global interdependence of social, economic and environmental development.

The start of sustainability

The concept of sustainability began as a political process, but during the last 30 years it has developed into something that is increasingly relevant to all spheres of society. The theoretical basis of sustainability is simple: all global development, be it economic or social, must improve and not harm the environment. Simultaneously sustainability is an incredibly complex concept, which is used in many different ways in different contexts by different professions.

The concept of sustainability, as it is mostly used today, was developed by the Brundtland Commission in the report “Our Common Future” published in 1987. It was the first report to focus on global sustainability and launched a comprehensive approach to sustainability that included the social, economic, political/institutional and environmental aspects. The aim of the Brundtland Commission was to point the way to a future development “that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (the Brundtland Report 1987).

Sustainability is looking at the whole picture

The Brundtland Commission’s holistic concept of sustainability thus implies that environmental, social and economic issues are to be perceived as interdependent dimensions. In this way the concept of sustainability excludes the possibility of focusing only on the environment, for instance, as the point is to use a holistic approach.

The sustainability concept is characterised by its concern with the interplay of different processes and recognises the fact that the world is a complex system of interdependences. In practice however, there are spheres where the economic, the environmental or the social dimension will be given specific emphasis.

An understanding of the whole

Since 1987 the holistic sustainability concept has been used and developed further. There has been a worldwide shift from a narrow approach to sustainability, which mainly focused on global warming, to a more general concern about the state of city environment, global environment, lack of resources etc.

The definition of sustainability in the Brundtland Report formulates a philosophy that presupposes a more comprehensive understanding and principles that allow for efficacious subordinate definitions to be developed within this broad framework. Sustainability is thus a complex concept where in practice there is agreement only on overall and very general principles.

The Rio Declaration

The Brundtland Report made an issue of the interaction between human societies and natural environment, focusing on the institutional, economic, ecological and social aspects. This formed the basis of the Earth Summit in 1992 in Rio, where the Rio Declaration was launched. It also includes Agenda 21, which is implemented as Local Agenda 21.

In 2002 the Johannesburg Declaration, which begins where the Brundtland Report and the Rio Declaration leave off, focuses particularly on the fight against poverty,.

Sustainability principles with the focus on city development

The issue of a concrete approach to sustainable city development has been on the agenda for the last 20 years. Consequently there are several suggestions as how to interlink sustainability and town development. One example is the Aalborg Charter, which was drawn up in 1994 when the City of Aalborg and the European Commission took the initiative for the first common European conference on sustainable cities.

The Aalborg Charter is a set of shared visions and intentions for sustainable development at local level, specifying a European approach to the implementation of Local Agenda 21. Another example is the Hannover Principles that were conceived as the theoretical foundation for the international design competition at EXPO 2000. The Hannover Principles reformulated the question of sustainability and related it to the built environment in nine statements about values and guidelines for design.

Moreover there are the Melbourne Principles that were formulated in 2002 during an international UNEP workshop in Melbourne, Australia. The vision statement of the Melbourne Principles is to promote the creation of environmentally healthy, vibrant and sustainable cities, where people respect one another and nature, to the benefit of all. The common denominator of all the declarations and principles is the fact that they provide a foundation to be used by local government officials to understand the strategic implications of decisions taken at state level, and implement them in their particular city.

The principles mentioned above are intended to assist cities and local authorities all over the world in creating sustainable cities. They provide a framework for co-operation on different levels and for involving local communities. These are just a few of the initiatives to be found in the field of sustainability. The variation and change of focus in these initiatives are in themselves proof of the difficulty of using sustainability as a specific, concrete concept. The use of the term varies according to the speaker’s conceptual universe and social, economic and environmental focus.

Consequently sustainability is not a homogenous, unambiguous concept, but complex and difficult to handle. What sustainability will do, on the other hand, is to bring the various interdependences of the city into focus. Our notions of what the city should contain depend on economic, social and environmental factors.

Cities of the future

In Copenhagen there have been projects on how to plan cities and city districts, adopting an integrated, unified approach. These attempts, where planners, architects and politicians try to create new cities from a holistically sustainable perspective, could be considered beacons of hope.

An excellent example of this is the Carlsberg area in Copenhagen, where a large, former industrial area in the centre of Copenhagen will be converted into residential areas, sport and recreational areas and light industry. The actual plans foresee a city district where cars are not a top priority, whereas slow-speed, quality city spaces are high on the list of priorities. Full use is made of the fact that most facilities are within walking or cycling distance (less than 5 km), and there are plans for urban spaces that may function as free zones and create a framework for communal life. This paves the way for an everyday existence that puts less pressure on the individual, where sustainable initiatives become normal community projects.

Carlsberg has been designed adopting a planning strategy that recognises that man is not simply a rational being who wishes to move through life efficiently, smoothly and speedily, but also wants to live a life shared with others in the spaces that the city offers. The general idea is to create a living urban space, where efficiency and practicability are not necessarily the key parameters.

There is little sense in talking sustainability unless the social, environmental and economic perspectives are part and parcel of the discussion. A city with good, dynamic urban spaces, and traffic mobility in keeping with this, is sustainable – also from an economic viewpoint. In the concept of sustainability there is moreover a potential solidarity level – a “common good” – which constitutes both a meeting point and a platform for action. The qualities of freedom, solidarity and perhaps even happiness provided by good urban spaces may compensate for the momentary annoyance at having to change non-sustainable behaviour.

And how do we do that, exactly…?

Well, that is the difficult question, which basically has to do with adopting a holistic approach to the city. Highlighting the various elements that it takes to create a good urban space or residential area, and focusing on the social processes in and around the urban spaces, will tend towards a better understanding of the significance of urban spaces and their interplay with everyday life.

In most European cities 25% of all urban space is used to facilitate transport in the form of roads and parking places. The new plans for sustainable city districts often emphasise life between the buildings. The idea behind this is that only necessary traffic should be led through residential areas. The obvious, difficult question is: who defines what is necessary? This is a question few really want to answer, and the result is that traffic is diverted from the district, causing new barriers and enclaves for those who do not live “within”.

This is not good enough. We absolutely have to make up our minds about the impact of traffic on our city areas and spaces, and at the same time take responsibility for what lies outside, take responsibility for the people who lead their lives there. This is indeed aiming high and the word impossible will inevitably spring to mind. However, if we are to talk about sustainable cities, of vibrant urban spaces and sustainable behaviour and if we really wish to try and bring climate change under control before it is too late, then we will be forced to seek the possible impossibilities. The rest is half measures which at best only serve to shift the problems rather than solving them.

There is great scope for the implementation of a more sustainable behaviour and many people are prepared to be a part of such solutions, but they are in need of help. It is a question of priorities at the planning level, priorities that will point the way as to how this can be done and highlight the resulting benefits to the city spaces and to the people inhabiting them.