The 19, 145᎐161Ž. 1999 ᮊ 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers, . Manufactured in the .

Economic, social, and environmental in and urban practice

A. D. BASIAGO* P.O. Box 4222, Chatsworth, CA 91313-4222, USA

Summary. In ten years, more than half the world’s will be living in . The United NationsŽ. UN has stated that this will threaten cities with social conflict, environmental degradation and the collapse of basic services. The economic, social, and practices of embodying ‘urban sustainability’ have been proposed as antidotes to these negative urban trends. ‘Urban sustainability’ is a doctrine with diverse origins. The author believes that the alternative models of cultural development in , , Kerala, , and Nayarit, embody the integration and interlinkage of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Curitiba has become a more livable by an efficient intra-urban bus , expanding , and meeting the basic needs of the urban poor. Kerala has attained social harmony by emphasizing equitable distribution rather than , by restraining , and by attacking divisions of race, caste, religion, and gender. Nayarit has sought to balance development with the environment by framing a -friendly development plan that protects natural from urban development and that involves the public in the development process. A detailed examination of these alternative cultural development models reveals a myriad of possible means by which economic, social, and environmental sustainability might be advanced in practice. The author concludes that while these examples from the developing world cannot be directly translated to cities in the developed world, they do indicate in a general sense the imaginative that any must foster if it is to achieve ‘urban sustainability’.

Introduction ble cities’, for each city has unique historical, cultural, political, and environmental circum- In May 1996, the Population Fund stances. However, planning regimes oriented to- reported that in the year 2006 more than half the wards ‘urban sustainability’ can be adapted from world’s projected 6.6 billion people will be living approaches formulated in cities and regions where in urban areas. This raises the prospect of problems of , social equity, and ur- crowded, violent and unhealthy cities threatened banization of the environment have been cre- by the escalation of social conflict, and intolera- atively addressed. ble environmental degradation, and the collapse Visionary planner Jaime Lerner has designed of basic services Ž.Los Angeles Times, 1996 . As an solutions for the Brazilian city of antidote to these economic, social, and environ- Curitiba that meet the service needs of the gen- mental ills, city and regimes eral public while enhancing the naturalness of the embodying ‘urban sustainability’ must be consti- urban environment. He has given particular at- tuted. There is no universal archetype, ‘the sus- tention to designing an efficient and desirable tainable city’, but thousands of possible ‘sustaina- intra-urban bus system, to expanding urban green space, and to meeting the basic needs of the * Andrew Basiago, an American lawyer, holds two advanced urban poor. Curitiba demonstrates that the goal degrees in environmental planning. of making cities more ‘green’ to mitigate their 146 A. D. Basiago impact on the environment can be embodied in metic progression, is destined infrastructure projects which make cities more to be checked by depletion and livable for . inevitable want and miseryŽ see Eblen and The communitarian culture of Kerala, a state Eblen, 1994. . in India, has reduced social conflict by empha- Since the days of Malthus, economists have sizing the equitable distribution of economic tended to ignore the dilemma of resource deple- rather than merely their production. tion. Traditionally, economists have been con- Kerala strives for low rates of reproduction and cerned with the efficiency of resource use. They consumption, manufactures only that which is have been slow in developing economic models necessary and does so in a deliberate manner, that adequately account for resource scarcity and and has tried to eliminate discrimination based . Only rarely have economists worried upon race, caste, religion, and gender. Kerala that some resources may be in short supply, and shows that a society characterized by a high de- that if these resources are used indiscriminately, gree of mutuality can be very resource efficient they may become exhausted and constrain the and attain a high quality of . very growth for which they are developed. Hence, The conservation group The Cousteau Society economic theories explaining long-term growth has proposed a nature friendly development plan and technical have remained unsettled for the Mexican state of Nayarit that allows for into the modern eraŽ. see Freeman, 1973 . while protecting the integrity of In recent decades, global concern has emerged natural systems. The Nayarit plan begins the de- about the non-renewability of natural resources velopment process by asking which aspects of the as a factor limiting production and the threat to should be saved from devel- long-term economic growth caused by environ- opment, and contains effective provisions for pub- mental destabilization and pollution. Economists lic participation. The Nayarit plan reveals how have begun to address the question first posed by the natural environment, placed in its proper Malthus whether exponential growth in popula- perspective, should act as both an opportunity for tion and in resource use but only linear growth in development and a constraint upon development. and in subsistence is bound to lead to In this paper, the author grapples with the a social catastropheᎏin a word, whether the con- question of how an integrated paradigm of social, temporary course of is economic and environmental sustainability sug- ‘sustainable’. gested by these models might inform the practice The first influential work examining whether of city and regional planning throughout the the current paradigm of world economic develop- world. ment is ‘sustainable’ was Ž.The , 1972 . A team led by Donald and at the Massachusetts Insti- Historical background tute of Technology simulated a computerized world modelŽ. ‘World 3’ and entered into it data The doctrine of ‘’ derives assuming that population, industrial production from a discipline in that has been and pollution would continue to grow exponen- evolving for almost two centuries. The debate tially in the futureŽ. as they have in the past . The about whether ’s limited natural resources Meadows’ team concluded that since the world is will continue to provide life support for humanity’s physically finite, exponential growth of these three burgeoning population began with the work of key phenomena must eventually hit a limit. They the English political economist Malthus predicted that as of 1972, the limit was only a in the early 1800’sŽ. see Dixon and Fallon, 1989 . away. Absent an emergency mobiliza- In An Essay on the Principle of Population tion, it would likely be reached not through a Ž.1798 , Malthus framed the fundamental tenet of smooth transition to more frugal lifestyles, but by environmentalismᎏnamely, that because human a crash from good to very bad conditionsᎏa population tends to grow in a geometric progres- poor, crowded, hungry, and polluted planet. They sion while subsistence can grow in only an arith- advised that averting catastrophe would require Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 147 radical ‘ changes’, such as policies to recycle dard economics, ever-growing cycles of produc- resources, to put birth rates into parity with death tion and consumption are addressed, but not the rates, to hold capital investment equal to depreci- limits of the supporting . This view can ation, and to both reduce consumption and change strain the environment. In ‘steady-state eco- its emphasis from the consumption of goods to nomics’, the is viewed as but a sub- the consumption of servicesŽ Krier and Gillette, system of a closed, finite ecosystem. A ‘steady- 1985. . This controversial study, distributed in mil- state economy’ neither depletes the environment lions of copy worldwide, made many fear a loom- beyond its regenerative capacity nor pollutes it ing Malthusian crisis of the environment and beyond its absorptive capacity, but instead, tries development. to achieve a state of equilibrium with itŽ Daly, The concerns expressed in The Limits to Growth 1973; Daly, 1974; Daly, 1991; Alexander, 1994. . It were echoed internationally. In A Blueprint for is this ‘holistic’ view of economics upon which all Sur¨i¨al Ž.Editors of The Ecologist, 1972 , a distin- modern ‘sustainability’ thinking is based. guished British panel wrote that our ‘industrial In the late and early 1980s, Brown, way of life with its ethos of expansion’ is not founder and president of the Worldwatch Insti- ‘sustainable’. Rates of growth in population and tute, championed the theme of a ‘sustainable’ consumption are undermining human survival world society in many learned writings addressing prospects by disrupting and depleting such problems as , non-renewable resources. The panel concluded that a stable soci- sources, and harms done by industrial ety would cause minimum ecological disruption, production to natural systems. practice maximum conservation, and maintain a The term, ‘sustainable development’, first ap- constant population. ‘Our task is to create a soci- peared in the World Conser¨ation Strategy drafted ety which is sustainable and which will give the by the United Nations Environment Programme fullest possible satisfaction of its members’, they Ž.UNEP and the International Union for the wrote. Conservation of NatureŽ. IUCN in 1980. It should The apprehension that industrial production is be advanced through ‘conservation’, defined as eroding the natural resource base upon which ‘the of human use of the economic development depends led to the UN so that it may yield the greatest sustainable bene- Conference on the Human Environment at fit to present while maintaining its Stockholm in 1972. The Stockholm conference potential to meet the needs and aspirations of brought representatives of developed and devel- ’Ž. Eblen and Eblen, 1994 . oping nations together for the first time to debate During the 1980s, the results of international humanity’s right to ‘a healthy and productive en- development policies caused many to question vironment’. Participants addressed transboundary basic assumptions about economics, society, and pollution, cooperative management of shared re- the environment. In the post- era, the conven- sources and the global , and agreed to tional development strategy had been unitary, open their courts to transboundary proceedings primarily concerned with the alleviation of Ž.Boyle, 1995 . through economic growth. International develop- Stockholm set the stage for later treaties pro- ment organizations, led by the and tecting the , for example, the the International Monetary Fund, had financed World Heritage Convention, the Whaling Con- substantial improvements in developing nations vention, and the Montreal Protocol on to better their economic conditions, including Depletion. These agreements created the doc- roads, power plants, and hydroelectric . trine of ‘global trusteeship’ upon which the doc- However, the social and environmental conse- trine of ‘sustainable development’ would later be quences of this approach, embodied in the Third foundedŽ. Boyle, 1995 . World debt crisis and environmental In the early 1970s, Daly proposed a ‘steady- caused by large projects, became evi- state economics’ challenging prevailing dogmas dent in the 1980s. A global consensus formed that based on the efficiency of resource use. In stan- development had aggravated social disparities in 148 A. D. Basiago developing nations and accelerated the loss of Theoretical framework of urban sustainability . Hence, in the future, economic de- velopment would have to be constrained by social The advent of ‘sustainability’ in development sci- and environmental considerations. ence has led planners to apply evolving notions of The UN’s World Commission on Environment ‘sustainability’ to the contemporary debate over and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem how cities and regions should be revitalized, rede- Brundtland of Norway, renewed the call for ‘sus- veloped, and reformed. ‘Sustainability’ is regarded tainable development’ to alleviate poverty, safe- alternatively as either the proper means or the guard the environment, and feed the world in proper end of urban development. 1987. The Report, Our Today, it is common in planning circles for Common Future, defined ‘sustainable develop- urban planners to describe efforts to reverse ment’ as ‘development that meets the needs of problems of , congestion, and decline the present without compromising the ability of as a search for ‘urban sustainability’Ž see Basiago, future generations to meet their own needs’ 1996. . This is the case even though in urban Ž.WCED, 1987 . This definition has been widely theory no consensus exists as to which human circulated and is accepted as authoritative. settlements embody ‘sustainability’. ‘Urban sus- At the UN’s Conference on Environment and tainability’ might imply the vitality of a city as a DevelopmentŽ. or ‘’ held in Rio de complex system, the of its citizens, Janeiro in 1992, diplomats from over 120 nations or the capacity of nature to support its activities. signed five pacts framing ‘sustainable develop- Some commentators define this concept narrowly ment’ as the overarching of the 21st cen- in terms of the economic ‘sustainability’ of a city, tury. The 27 principles of The Rio Declaration on its potential ‘to reach qualitatively a new level of En¨ironment and De¨elopment ‘define the rights socio-economic, demographic and technological and responsibilities of nations as they pursue output which in the long run reinforces the foun- human development and well-being’. Its many dations of the urban system’Ž see Ewers and Nij- references to ‘sustainable development’ suggest a kamp, 1990. . Others, notably environmental ac- form of development that integrates economic tivists, link ‘urban sustainability’ to broader social growth and . principles of futurity, equity, and participation, is ‘a blueprint on how to make development so- especially involvement of public citizens in the cially, economically and environmentally sustain- development processŽ. see FoE, 1994 . When able’. The Statement of Principles on avows en¨ironmental planners speak of urban ‘sustaina- the responsibility of countries to manage, con- bility’, they mean the pursuit of urban form that serve, and develop world forests in a sustainable synthesizes and nature preser- manner. The United Nations Framework Con¨en- vation. Hence, for environmental planners, the tion on Change seeks ‘to stabilize green- pursuit of ‘urban sustainability’ becomes a matter gases in the at levels that will of placing the development of land into cities and not dangerously upset the global climate system’. the protection of natural systems into a state of The Con¨ention on Biological Di¨ersity implores vital equipoiseŽ. see Lyle, 1994 . It is as if city and nations to ‘adopt ways and means to conserve the regional planners have seized upon the ideal of variety of living ’Ž. Keating, 1993 . ‘sustainability’ as a tangible goal, a particular The ‘Earth Summit’ was the largest gathering societal end-state, rather than properly viewing it of world leaders in human . Thus, its en- as an organizing principle governing activity at all shrinement of the doctrine of ‘sustainable devel- levels of an urban system, a process for selecting opment’ in public international is significant. urban alternatives that will yield vitalityŽ see Basi- While it is unclear whether or not ‘sustainable ago, 1995. . development’ will remain the prevailing paradigm Perhaps this confusion in planning circles about of world economic development, it is certain to what ‘urban sustainability’ will require stems from greatly influence future discourse in development the fact that Agenda 21, the ‘Earth Summit’ pact . that addresses the ‘sustainable development’ of Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 149 cities, both mandates concrete planning measures development. It is this paradigm, rather than the and implies abstract concepts that should guide litany of urban reform proposals recited above, planning generally. This is not inconsistent; that relates ‘sustainability’ in development theory nonetheless, the tumult over ‘sustainability’ in to ‘sustainability’ in city planning practice. A lack planning circles has tended to conflate planning of understanding in planning circles as to what guidelines, which are specific in nature and appli- this urban development paradigm entails may ex- cable on a case-by-case basisŽ see Calthorpe et al., plain why ‘urban sustainability’ is so often mis- 1991. and planning principles, which, by defini- construed as merely an environmental doctrine. tion, must be general and of universal applicabil- KahnŽ. 1995 writes that the paradigm of ‘sus- ityŽ. see McDonough, 1992 . tainable development’ described in Agenda 21, In terms of practical planning guidance, in fact, rests on three conceptual pillars. These Agenda 21 proposes a number of concrete mea- pillars are ‘economic sustainability’, ‘social sus- sures to achieve ‘sustainability’ in the socio- tainability’, and ‘environmental sustainability’ economic realm. These include equity, en- Ž.Table 1 . trepreneurship and technology transfer. Agenda Economic sustainability, by way of growth, de- 21 ties access to land, security of , velopment, and , has guided conven- tenants’ rights, liberalized credit policies, and tional development science in the past. low-cost programs to ‘sustaina- allocation of resources, sustained levels of growth ble’ urban living for the homeless and for the and consumption, an assumption that natural re- urban poor. It calls upon developing countries to sources are unlimited and a belief that economic foster small businesses in the informal economic growth will ‘trickle down’ to the poor have been sector and developed countries to provide devel- its hallmarks. ‘Sustainable development’ expands oping countries monetary and technical aid to development’s concern with monetary capital to educate environmental managers. Within nations, consider natural, social and human capital. Re- wealthy districts are asked to provide clean , straint upon economic growth and consumption , and collection services to poorer which deplete these is favoredŽ. Kahn, 1995 . onesŽ. Keating, 1993 . encompasses notions of eq- Agenda 21 also proposes a number of tangible uity, empowerment, accessibility, participation, strategies to bring about ‘sustainability’ in the sharing, cultural identity, and institutional stabil- environmental realm. Agenda 21 calls for appro- ity. It seeks to preserve the environment through priate technology, reform, and urban economic growth and the alleviation of poverty. renewal. Governments are asked to improve rural areas and urban slums, to build moderately sized cities that promote job creation and , and to build cities invulnerable to natural disasters. Table 1. The paradigm of sustainable development National construction programs based on tech- in Agenda 21 as elaborated by KahnŽ. 1995 nologies that utilize local materials and are en- Element Criteria ergy-efficient, non-polluting and labor-intensive, as well as action programs in Economic Sustainability Growth and , such as wind, solar, Development hydro-electric and , are urged. Transport Productivity Trickle Down policies that favor public, , and foot trans- Social Sustainability Equity over automobiles, municipal development Empowerment designed to reduce commuting, and that Accessibility contains urban sprawl and prevents it from en- Participation croaching upon agricultural land and environ- Sharing Cultural Identity mentally sensitive areas are enunciatedŽ Keating, Institutional Stability 1993. . Environmental Sustainability Eco-System Integrity In terms of planning principle, however, Agenda 21 introduces a new paradigm of urban Biodiversity 150 A. D. Basiago

Some commentators have suggested that poor people will be less likely to cut down trees out of countries must accept environmental degradation necessity. This will help preserve the soilŽ en- as a short term consequence of economic devel- vironmental. , and thereby sustain productivity opment. Others have argued that an enabling Ž.economic , et cetera. environment that optimizes resource allocation Only by ‘integrating’ and ‘interlinking’ eco- can obviate the need for such a trade-offŽ Kahn, nomic, social and environmental ‘sustainability’ 1995. . can negative synergies be arrested, positive syner- En¨ironmental sustainability involves ecosystem gies fostered, and real development encouraged. integrity, carrying capacity and biodiversity. It re- Economic, social, and environmental ‘sustainabil- quires that be maintained as a ity’ form elements of a dynamic system. They source of economic inputs and as a sink for cannot be pursued in isolation for ‘sustainable . Resources must be harvested no faster development’ to flourish. than they can be regenerated. Wastes must be emitted no faster than they can be assimilated by the environmentŽ. Kahn, 1995 . Economic sustainability The theoretical framework elaborated by Kahn posits that economic, social and environmental Economic sustainability in de¨elopment theory ‘sustainability’ must be ‘integrated’ and ‘inter- linked’. They must be coordinated in a compre- ‘Economic sustainability’ implies a system of pro- hensive manner. A hypothetical case of deforesta- duction that satisfies present consumption levels tion in a context follows to without compromising future needs. The ‘sus- illustrate this ‘integration’ and ‘interlinkage’. This tainability’ that ‘economic sustainability’ seeks is example amounts to a gross oversimplification, the ‘sustainability’ of the itself. but it nonetheless describes how the economic, The notion of ‘economic sustainability’ was origi- the social, and the environmental substrates of nated by Hicks. In his classic work Value and ‘sustainability’ relate to one another. Capital Ž.1939; second edition 1946 , Hicks defined If a man in a rural area lacks a jobŽ. economic , ‘income’ as ‘the amount one can consume during he is likely to be poor and disenfranchisedŽ. social . a period and still be as well off at the end of the If he is poor and disenfranchised, he has an period’. incentive to engage in practices that harm ecol- Traditionally, economists, assuming that the ogy, for example, by cutting down trees for fire- supply of natural resources was unlimited, placed wood to cook his meals and warm his undue emphasis on the capacity of the market to Ž.environmental . As his actions are aggregated allocate resources efficiently. They also believed with those of others in his region cutting down that economic growth would bring the technologi- trees, will cause vital minerals to be cal capacity to replenish natural resources de- lost from the soilŽ. environmental . If vital miner- stroyed in the production process. Today, how- als are lost from the , regional inhabitants will ever, a realization has emerged that natural be deprived of the dietary nutrients required to resources are not infinite. The growing scale of sustain the intellectual performance needed to the economic system has strained the natural learn new , for example, how to oper- resource base. ate a computer, and this will cause productivity to This has caused many commentators, such as stagnateŽ. economic . If productivity stagnates Goodland, to question the feasibility of uncon- Ž.economic , poor people will remain poor Ž. social , trolled growth and exponential consumption. and so on. GoodlandŽ. 1995 writes that to speak accurately On the contrary, if a man in a rural area is in terms of ‘economic sustainability’, it is neces- given a job, he has a greater opportunity to accu- sary to ‘extrapolate the definition of Hicksian mulate capitalŽ. economic . If he accumulates cap- income fromŽ. its sole focus on human-made cap- ital, he can spend it by employing other poor ital and its surrogateŽ. money ...to embrace the people or buying their products, thereby alleviat- other three forms of capitalŽ natural, social and ing povertyŽ. social . If poverty is alleviated, poor human. ’. Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 151

An economic system designed in light of the ings near its major bus lines, and in the bottom theory of ‘economic sustainability’ is one con- two floors of these are located stores. With stores strained by the requirements of ‘environmental nearby, residents need to travel less. The proxim- sustainability’. It restrains resource use to ensure ity of the major complexes to the buses the ‘sustainability’ of natural capital. It does not gives a large number of commuters convenient seek to achieve ‘economic sustainability’ at the access to transportation. The bus system is the cost of ‘environmental sustainability’. right mix of red express buses on special lanes In the literature of sustainable development, it that speed past slower traffic, local feeder buses, has become commonplace to call for supplanting and buses that allow riders to circulate in the the prevailing doctrine of economic growth with a downtown area. Riders insert tokens to enter ¨ ᎏ new doctrine of economic de elopment for pur- giant, steel-and-glass boarding tubes located at suing a form of qualitative growth rather than bus stops, and then wait for the buses to dock. quantitative growth. This increases the efficiency of the bus system by saving time usually wasted in fare-paying. The Economic sustainability in planning practice specially designed buses themselves are faster, cheaper, and more comfortable than automobiles, A way to implement the theory of ‘economic which may explain why more than 900 000 riders a sustainability’ in a practical sense is to fashion a day, or two-thirds of Curitiba’s population, rely method of that meets the urban on them. As a result of its popularity, Curitiba’s service needs of the general public, particularly public transit system pays for itselfŽ. Moore, 1994 . the urban poor, while enhancing the naturalness Curitiba is also a ‘green city’. Lerner has pro- of the urban environment. This planning ap- moted the creation of public , placed a lush proach is found in Lerner’s work for the Brazilian downtown, and established city of CuritibaŽ. Table 2 . ‘green zones’ to safeguard its open space. Busy The centerpiece of Lerner’s revitalization pro- downtown avenues have been converted into gram for Curitiba is its bus system. The city of pedestrian malls, causing businesses there to Curitiba permits only high-rise apartment build- flourish. The law protects every tree in the city. A

Table 2. Substrates of economic sustainability in planning practiceᎏCuritiba, Brazil

Element Criteria Means

Economic Growth 1. Launch program to reduce automobile use Sustainability Development 2. Establish a modern bus mass transit scheme Productivity 3. Enhance bus system efficiency to draw riders Trickle Down 4. Make bus transit fast, cheap and comfortable 5. Place high density living near major arterials 6. Zone for mixed residentialrcommercial use 7. Make downtown streets pedestrian malls 8. Expand green zones to safeguard open space 9. Enlarge the amount of per capita green space 10. Enact regulations to protect every urban tree 11. Allow poor to swap their garbage for 12. Encourage residents to separate their garbage 13. Set up programs to recycle recyclables 14. Produce civic theater to promote 15. Enlist the aid of children in recycling efforts 16. Develop a low emissions industrial zone 17. Enact policies to give the poor basic services 18. Give poor free medical and dental care 19. Give poor free child care so they can work 20. Nurture civic enthusiasm, brightness and zest 152 A. D. Basiago tree, once planted, can be cut down only with a decline by 60 percent in 20 years. Improved special permit, and substantial fines are imposed and the availability of child care has allowed the upon those who fell trees illegally. Two trees must poor to work more and to be more productive be planted for every tree cut down. By favoring members of society. A policy of investing in ‘hu- urban gardens, open space, and trees, Curitiba man capital’ has given the people of Curitiba ‘a has increased its amount of green space per per- palpable enthusiasm, a brightness and zest’ son a hundredfold in 30 yearsŽ. Moore, 1994 . Ž.Moore, 1994 . The population of Curitiba has grown five-fold in 20 years, as displaced rural farmers have flocked to its shantytowns, called ‘favelas’. In many Social sustainability Brazilian cities, the narrow, dirt roads of the ‘favelas’ are strewn with rotting garbage. This is Social sustainability in de¨elopment theory not the case in Curitiba. Lerner convinced the city that it would be more cost effective to divert In the most basic sense, ‘social sustainability’ money from garbage collection and use it to buy implies a system of social organization that allevi- food to distribute to the poor of the ‘favelas’. In ates poverty. In a more fundamental sense, how- exchange for six bags of trash, residents are given ever, ‘social sustainability’ establishes the nexus one bag of groceries consisting of dietary staples between social conditionsŽ. such as poverty and such as rice, beans, eggs, bananas, and onions. environmental decayŽ. see Ruttan, 1991 . This innovative program, which feeds over 100 000 This theory of social organization identifies a people and collects 400 t of garbage per month, negative linkage between sustained colonization, has made the streets of the ‘favelas’ cleanŽ Moore, sustained poverty levels, and sustained natural 1994; see also Goodstein, 1992, Kepp, 1992 and resource exploitation. There is a divergence of Margolis, 1992. . opinion in development theory whether ‘environ- Lerner’s approach to recycling was similarly mental sustainability’ is a prerequisite of eco- clever. Rather than ordering residents to recycle, nomic growth and poverty alleviation, or eco- Curitiba simply asked them to separate dry trash nomic growth and poverty alleviation are needed Ž.such as , paper, metal, and glass from wet before ‘environmental sustainability’ can even be trashŽ. such as potato peels and orange rinds . addressed. Lerner toured the public schools with an inexpen- There is some evidence that ‘environmental sive stage play in which actors dressed as sustainability’ may be a necessary pre-condition leavesᎏ‘the Family’ᎏeducated children of sustained economic growth. For example, the why recycling is important and how to sort trash. United States has been expanding the amount of Soon, children became the leaders of its land area covered by trees since the 1920s and recycling efforts, teaching parents how to prepare actively managing its since the 1930s. These trash for collection by the specially equipped measures have greatly improved America’s pro- green trucks that began appearing on their streets. ductivity in paper products and foodstuffs since To recycle even more thoroughly, Curitiba allows the Great Depression. On the other hand, some private cadres of cart people and street sweepers developing countries, for example, , to buy recyclables from residents and groom the are jeopardizing their long-term socio-economic streets. Curitiba now recycles 70 percent of its prospects by engaging in rapacious resource de- paper and 60 percent of its plastic, metal, and pletion. Net losses of natural capital in these glassᎏa rate better than that of JapanŽ Moore, nations imperil social gains from improvements in 1994. . financial, technical and human capitalŽ see Curitiba has not only become more livable by Repetto, 1992. . improving its environment, but by enhancing the The latter position was defended by the late vitality of its citizens. It provides free medical Indian Prime Minister , on the care, dental care, and child care for the poor. grounds that very poor countries must accept This has caused Curitiba’s infant mortality rate to temporary environmental degradation in order to Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 153 meet immediate needs of food and shelter before pants in society; and how citizens complete tasks they can pursue permanent economic and envi- in a relaxed manner, building a society that is ronmental improvements. Her view was that de- both beautiful and efficient. Kerala seems to have veloping countries simply cannot afford to put passed through ‘the ’ in a environmental protection before economic devel- remarkable way. opment. In contrast to this view, the theory of AlexanderŽ. 1994 writes that Kerala may pre- ‘social sustainability’ posits that the alleviation of sent the best example of how can cope poverty need not entail environmental decline. It with burgeoning human population in an era of aims to alleviate poverty within the existing re- dwindling natural resources. Kerala’s fertility rate source base of a society. of two children per female and very low consump- tion levels, he suggests, characterize the prudence that will permit human society to attain a high Social sustainability in planning practice quality of life in the . Historically, most human societies were organized around large The theory of ‘social sustainability’ calls for eco- families and low consumption levels. This remains nomic growth constrained by the requirements of the norm in the developing world. Societies in the social equity. In order to link these, an enabling developed world have made a transition to small environment must be created that optimizes re- families and high consumption levels. A few ex- source use, prioritizes resource allocation, and ceptions to this pattern exist in the modern world, fosters equitable resource distribution. This form for example, resource-rich countries like Saudi of social organization has emerged in the Indian Arabia, which can afford large families and high State of KeralaŽ. Table 3 . consumption levels. What distinguishes Kerala as Visitors to Kerala cannot help but notice how a possible future world norm, among other things, housing there is of a higher quality than in the is its small families and low consumption levels. rest of India; how beggars are generally absent; Of probably even greater significance than its how women are strong and independent partici- small family formation is that Kerala has achieved

Table 3. Substrates of social sustainability in planning practiceᎏKerala, India

Element Criteria Means

Social Equity 1. View natural resources as limited in nature Sustainability Empowerment 2. Cultivate the lushness of the settlement area Accessibility 3. Stress equitable distribution over production Participation 4. Rely on information, not machinery Sharing 5. Establish deliberative decision process Cultural Identity 6. Value familyrcommunity over individuals Institutional Stability 7. Work for enjoyment rather than avoiding toil 8. Cherish folk life rather than entertainment 9. Reduce family size and resource use 10. Eliminate divisions of clan, caste, class 11. Practice gender-neutral opportunity policies 12. Strive for universal of population 13. Address disparities in economic attainment 14. Level the economic playing field for all 15. Make all citizens economic stake-holders 16. Sponsor to give land to its tillers 17. Subsidize food, health care, and education 18. Work deliberately to use resources efficiently 19. Address ‘wellness needs’ of the population 20. Meet ‘wellness needs’ on an all-for-one basis 154 A. D. Basiago high social development levelsᎏsuch as low in- from Western medicine. A visiting nurse system fant mortality rates, long life expectancy, and high maintains a high level of individual and house- rates of literacy, education and political participa- hold health. Education is focused upon the pri- tionᎏwithout emphasizing economic growth mary and secondary levels, where it is most so- Ž.Ratcliffe, 1978; Alexander, 1994 . Kerala’s Gross cially beneficialŽ. Alexander, 1994 . National Product of $350 per capita is very small, ‘Social sustainability’ in Kerala seems to have yet its rates of high school enrollment and life emerged as the result of both progressive political expectancy are almost as high as those in devel- reform and cultural factors. Kerala elected a oped countries. Almost 95 percent of females in communist regime in its first parliamentary elec- Kerala enroll in high school and life expectancy tions in 1957, but instead of dictatorship, the there is 72 years. By comparison, only 31 percent proletariat retained power over its leadership. of Indian females enroll in high school and life The result was an emphasis on land reform and a expectancy in India is only 59 years. These figures leveling of the economic playing field. Hence, suggest that Kerala citizens are attaining ‘well- Kerala avoided the political repression and eco- ness’ despite Kerala’s low rate of economic devel- nomic stagnation that has bedeviled other com- opmentŽ. Alexander, 1994 . munist statesŽ Franke and Chasin, 1989; Baird, AlexanderŽ. 1994 explains the high level of 1993; Alexander, 1994. . Instead, cooperation social attainment in Kerala as the result of both among a ‘synergistic mix’ of Muslims, Christians, efficiency and equity. He found that Kerala’s and Hindus emerged. A matrilineal cultural tradi- citizens demonstrate high skill in the application tion permitted gender equality to take hold. A of time to small amounts of available resources. Gandhian campaign against the caste system fos- Ž They have a slow, deliberate style of work. They tered the forces of communitarianism Alexander, 1994. . do not manufacture things that are unnecessary, When one contrasts social organization in Ker- but the things that they do manufacture they ala with social organization in the developed make with care and skill. In the interests of world, one finds a number of critical differences. equity, tasks that call for resources not available Kerala manages natural resources with a view in to all are usually not performed. Kerala has also that they are limited, whereas the dominant shifted its focus from the production of more ideology that has guided development science re- goods to the equitable distribution of those goods gards natural resources as unlimited. The eco- that are produced. This is a departure from the nomic objective in Kerala is not production but conventional development scheme, in which vary- equitable distribution. The technological empha- ing levels of skill are applied to both produce sis in Kerala is not machinery and equipment but more goods and waste more goods. information and organization. In this manner, Underlying ‘social sustainability’ in Kerala is Kerala has avoided heavy industry. The decision an emphasis upon satisfying human needs in such system in Kerala is not executive and hierarchical, essential areas as nutrition, health care, and edu- as in the West, but deliberate and lateral. Individ- cation. Each household receives a ration card ualism is de-emphasized and society is organized that allows them to buy limited amounts of basic around the family and community. The work atti- commoditiesŽ such as rice, wheat, sugar, palm oil, tude in Kerala is one of enjoyment rather than and kerosene. sold at ‘fair shops’ at con- avoidance, which afflicts industrial societies. trolled . Despite this subsidy, food intake Lastly, in the area of leisure, the people of Kerala Ž.except in Vitamin C and calcium is lower in have not forsaken traditional forms of amuse- Kerala than recommended. Yet, through equi- ment, such as talk and games, for their surrogates table food distribution and efficient use of avail- in the developed world, entertainment and travel able nutrients for child nutrition by women in a Ž.Alexander, 1994 . society in which 86 percent of females are liter- These differences may serve as indicators of ate, Kerala has virtually eliminated malnutrition. how other societies can foster social ‘wellness’ in In health care, Kerala practices the ayurvedic and an era of overpopulation and . homeopathic traditions while adopting methods The path to ‘social sustainability’, Kerala sug- Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 155 gests, involves a transition from the quantitative opment is simply that it is destroying the environ- to the qualitative pursuit of human betterment. ment. This view is superficial in the extreme, however, for it ignores the market forces and social inequalities that are driving environmental Environmental sustainability degradation. GoodlandŽ. 1995 has identified the overlap En¨ironmental sustainability in de¨elopment theory among economic, social, and environmental ‘sus- tainability’, particularly the strong linkage be- ‘Environmental sustainability’ requires maintain- tween ‘economic sustainability’ and ‘environmen- ing natural capital as both a provider of economic tal sustainability’. It is fitting that unprecedented inputsŽ. called ‘sources’ and an absorber Ž called attention has been given to ‘environmental sus- ‘sinks’.Ž. of economic outputs called ‘wastes’ tainability’ in recent years, given the fact that ŽDaly, 1973; 1974; World Bank, 1986; Pearce and development theory has focused on matters of Redclift, 1988; Pearce et al., 1990a; 1990b; Ser- economic underdevelopment and poverty allevia- ageldin, 1993. . At the ‘source site’, rates tion in developing countries, and was late in re- of resources must be kept within regeneration sponding to unprecedented threats to the global rates. At the ‘sink site’, waste emissions from environment. Nonetheless, it would be mistaken industrial production must be controlled so as to to conflate the doctrine of ‘sustainable develop- not exceed the capacity of the environment to ment’ into one of achieving ‘environmental sus- assimilate them without impairmentŽ Goodland, tainability’. The protection of natural systems 1995. . represents not an overarching panacea for achiev- It has become commonplace for ‘sustainable ing economic vitality and , but a development’ or ‘sustainability’ to be defined necessary component of an entire system for strictly in terms of ‘environmental sustainability’. achieving economic, social and environmental This misconception holds that what is wrong with ‘sustainability’, in which economic reforms and the contemporary pattern of international devel- social reforms are as important.

Table 4. Substrates of environmental sustainability in planning practiceᎏNayarit, Mexico

Element Criteria Means

Environmental Eco-System Integrity 1. Propose a plan to protect natural systems Sustainability Carrying Capacity 2. Form team of indigenous resource managers Biodiversity 3. Educate the team in environmental planning 4. Survey the ’s natural attributes 5. Identify natural opportunities and constraints 6. Identify sensitivities of plants and animals 7. Identify social opportunitiesrconstraints 8. Identify cultural opportunitiesrconstraints 9. Apply eco-principles from other regions 10. Adapt environmental from other regions 11. Draft a nature friendly development plan 12. Recommend land development suitabilities 13. Recommend land conservation suitabilities 14. Establish nature reserves and protected areas 15. Establish environmental protection council 16. Provide ‘one-stop’ development permission 17. Establish community participation committee 18. Hear local citizens affected by development 19. Host democratic fora of citizen participation 20. Integrate social and economic factors in plan 156 A. D. Basiago

Environmental sustainability in planning practice and sandbars. Mangroves provide a nursery for shrimp and other marine life, though in some In practical terms, the theory of ‘environmental areas the trees have been cut for firewood and sustainability’ suggests a planning process that construction or the lagoons excavated for aqua- allows human society to ‘live within the limita- culture ponds. Farther to the south, a neovolcanic tions of the ’Ž Goodland, zone is characterized by a narrow coastal plain 1995. . This requirement will be met in the plan- and relatively steep mountains supporting a sub- ning regime that has been proposed for the Mexi- deciduous . Behind the rugged coastline with can state of NayaritŽ. Table 4 . its beautiful beaches, many of the valleys and Puerto Vallarta, the famed resort south gently sloping hills support both irrigated and of Nayarit on Mexico’s western , has been non-irrigated . Even farther south, the impacted by growth, and has degraded mountainous Sierra Madre coastal zone gradually the natural beauty that attracted people to it gives way to the floodplain of the San Marcos initially. For this reason, Mexican and foreign , which supports intensive agriculture. The investors are looking to Nayarit for future devel- diverse ecosystems of this highly varied geograph- opment. But how is the development of Nayarit ical region support 16 to be balanced with the preservation of its natural Ž.Murphy, 1992; Basiago, 1994 . beauty, its 180 miles of nearly pristine beaches, its The University of Florida team studied the verdant mountains and vital ?Ž Murphy, attributes of Nayarit’s landscapeᎏits vegetation, 1992; Basiago, 1994. . land use, soils and geologyᎏidentifying them as Nayarit’s response was to ask The Cousteau either constraints on or as opportunities for de- Society, the international environmental group, to velopment. Based on this information, the sensi- draft a sustainable development plan. In the pro- tivities of the marine and terrestrial ecological cess, Nayarit and The Cousteau Society have be- communities were explored from the viewpoint of come what the ‘Earth Summit’ referred to as minimizing the eventual impacts of development. ‘partners for sustainable development’Ž Murphy, Social and cultural constraints and opportunities 1992; Basiago, 1994. . were also analyzed and integrated into the recom- First, the Cousteau Society assembled a team mendations. The primary goal was to foster a of Mexican resource managers. It felt that a team process of development that would not destroy of nationals, rather than ‘outsiders’, would pro- Nayarit’s environmentŽ Murphy, 1992; Basiago, duce the most culturally appropriate plan. They 1994. . would also be most qualified to adapt its sugges- The outcome of this process was a set of tions to changing conditions and see them imple- recommendations for Nayarit based on sound mentedŽ. Murphy, 1992; Basiago, 1994 . Second, ecological principles and legislation from other these managers were enrolled in an academic regions of the world. These guidelines identify the program at the University of Florida’s Center for suitability of lands in the coastal zone for differ- Wetlands. There they took courses in systems ent types of development, including tourism, , ecological , environmental aquaculture, , retail, marine commerce, economics, resource evaluation techniques, and housing, transportation, parks, public facilities and resource management. They studied resource recreation. However, they also identify the suit- management strategies pioneered by environ- ability of lands in the coastal zone for different mental H.T. Odum. The Odum method types of conservation, including natural areas to compares affected resources and development al- be protected from development, for economic, ternatives, using energy value as a common de- public safety, ecological and aesthetic reasons. nominatorŽ. Murphy, 1992; Basiago, 1994 . Third, Nine categories of reserves and protected areas the affected environment was considered. Na- have been proposed to protect Nayarit’s terres- yarit’s coastline is a region of remarkable geo- trial environment and marine resourcesŽ Murphy, graphic diversity and exceptional natural beauty. 1992; Basiago, 1994. . A broad coastal plain unrolls to the north, com- The Nayarit plan, if implemented as suggested prising a carpet of lagoons and wetlands, marshes by The Cousteau Society, will incorporate a num- Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 157 ber of creative political approaches. Believing dom been linked to environmental planning mea- that, too often, a distant and elite group within a suresŽ such as providing recycling opportunities country attempts to determine what is best for for the conscientious. . By linking equity planning local peopleŽ and that development programs in- measures with environmental onesŽ for example, tended to help them are then imposed from above public nutrition with refuse collection. , Curitiba without any local involvement. the Cousteau So- has shown that positive synergies result in a fun- ciety has suggested the founding of a Nayarit damental economic sense. Coastal Zone Environmental Protection Council. Hence, the implications of Curitiba for ‘urban This is proposed to act as ‘one-stop’ permitting sustainability’ are that social and environmental agency for anyone who intends to design or con- ‘sustainability’ are closely linked, and that by im- struct projects within Nayarit’s jurisdictional plementing imaginative policies to pursue both, boundaries. This Council will oversee the creation planners can nourish ‘economic sustainability’. and implementation of the management plan and With an average annual family income of $5,200, will approve projects for the state. Constituencies Curitiba is a relatively poor metropolis. However, affected by development Že.g., those of environ- by combining environment-based policies like mental, community, and local government. will be efficient public transportation, urban greening represented on the Council. In addition, a Com- and recycling schemes with equity-based policies munity Participation Committee will act as a liai- like free medical, dental and child care for the son between local citizens who may be affected by urban poor, Curitiba has shown how poor cities in a proposed development and the Council. This developing countries can be made livable and should guarantee, through a process of advising, affordable. reviewing and monitoring, involving town meet- The lesson of Curitiba is that its vision of the ings, media communiques´ and workshops, that ‘green city’ is not merely an Ecotopian one. Envi- local concerns and issues are adequately ad- ronmentally responsible policies in mass transit, dressedŽ. Murphy, 1992; Basiago, 1994 . urban greening, and recycling are ‘integrated’ and The Cousteau Society believes that the quality ‘interlinked’ to programs to foster the health and of life depends on the appropriate interplay of economic well-being of the urban poor. This nature and humanity. It hopes that the Nayarit widens the definition of the ‘livable city’. To coastal plan will be implemented, thereby estab- achieve ‘urban sustainability’, planners must not lishing an environmentally responsible policy, only address the ecological concerns of cities, but based on the integration of social, economic and the vitality of citizens. ecological factorsŽ. Murphy, 1992; Basiago, 1994 . Kerala, India

Implications for urban sustainability Kerala represents a unique cultural approach to sustainable development. The debate over how to Curitiba, Brazil achieve ‘sustainability’ has tended to focus on the economic, environmental, and technological di- Curitiba has been called ‘the most environmen- mensions of development. Moreover, these dis- tally advanced on Earth’ and Jaime cussions have emphasized ‘curative’ rather than Lerner ‘a figure of international interest among ‘preventive’ means. Kerala is a valuable case to green thinkers’Ž. Moore, 1994 . There is good cause study because it provides a model of ‘urban sus- for this assessment, because in Curitiba, Lerner tainability’ that is both social and preventive. has constructed one of the world’s leading labora- This is significant because the primary impedi- tories for achieving ‘urban sustainability’. Cu- ment to ‘sustainable development’ emanates from ritiba represents a fascinating synthesis of the the social realm. The ever more voracious habits equity planning model and the environmental of production and consumption are the greatest planning model. In the past, equity planning mea- threat to natural capital. The post-industrial phe- suresŽ such as providing mass transit for those nomena of and materialism, which who cannot afford private automobiles. have sel- began in the West, have been globalized by virtue 158 A. D. Basiago of mass media, notwithstanding the dangers they Hence, the implications of Kerala for ‘urban pose to cultural integrity and planetary ecology. sustainability’ are that planners must help society In the process, the very high quality of life at- make the transition from a ‘culture of maxima’ to tained in some non-European societies like Ker- a ‘culture of moderation’. While few societies can ala has been obscured. be transformed into communitarian enterprises, Paul Valery, the French poet, essayist, and most societies have available a myriad of means social critic, once described the European cul- to wrest individuals from the private realm of tural spirit as follows: maxima into the public realm of moderation. In Wherever the European spirit dominates one economic terms, planners must defend full em- sees the appearance of the maximum of needs, ployment policies, a shorter work week, and more the maximum of work, the maximum of capi- evenly distributed leisure hours to reform a mod- tal, the maximum of return, the maximum of ern economy plagued by systemic , ambition, the maximum of power, the maxi- , and overwork of the employed mum of alteration of external capital, the maxi- Ž.see Rifkin, 1994 . This will mitigate the excessive mum of relationships and exchanges. This set of competition that is destroying society in the de- maxima is or the image of Europe veloped world and remind individuals that the Ž.Valery, 1922 . economy is fundamentally a societal and not an It is this ‘culture of maxima’ of which the individual enterprise. Only in the wake of such entire world has become enamored. The contem- practical reforms can an ethos of cooperation like porary dominant world culture rushes towards an the one that exists in Kerala re-emerge. In social individualistic obsessed with personal terms, planners must organize public relations needs, work, income, accomplishment, and status. campaigns to make the ‘culture of moderation’ a The fact that this ‘culture of maxima’ carries in its more respectable way of life. These appeals can wake environmental destruction and social disin- be patterned after the television advertisements tegration practically goes unchallenged. It is produced by church groups urging parents to doubtful if it is even feasible to speak in terms of spend more time with their children. ‘Social sus- ‘sustainable development’ in such a culture. tainability’ requires a lifestyle lived as a search Kerala, and societies like it, testify to the fact for ‘goodness’. In terms of the urban environ- that at the very time that the ‘culture of maxima’ ment, this transition implies planning that pro- was advanced through the hegemony of Western motes public goods over private goods. Planners nations, there have existed other cultures, guided must recommend community parks rather than by such philosophies as Buddhism, Sufism, and destination super-stores, public schools for the Gandhism, that have professed as an many rather than private schools for the few, inspired way of life. With the rise of Eurocen- public transit systemsŽ. such as light rail rather trism, and the advent of Western societies as the than single-passenger automobile schemes, and world’s leading political, economic, and military public rather than private access to natural powers, these alternative cultures, which in the amenitiesŽ for example, enhancement of public past have attracted millions of adherents, have rather than private beaches. . This transition is been weakened or, sadly, become extinct. The rise already emerging in public ride-sharing and recy- of Reaganism in the 1980s, which made con- cling programs designed to reduce private energy sumerism, materialism, and greed not only ac- consumption and material waste. ceptable but respectable, further discredited the None of these measures taken alone will bring ‘culture of moderation’. However, it is apparent about ‘social sustainability’. However, even a that unless the demand side of dwindling re- planning approach as simple as re-establishing a sources, rising expectations and technological lim- town center with a community marketplace as an itations is confronted, and drastic and immediate inner-city traffic-calming measure has positive things to curb consumption are undertaken, no ramifications in the social realm. As individuals methodological or technological advances of any are drawn out of their automobiles and toward kind will enable ‘sustainable development’ to be such a venue, they save money on gasoline, they achieved. meet their neighbors, they produce less air pollu- Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 159 tionᎏthey are enveloped by society and are re- another, then natural capital could be totally minded of their connections to it. replaced. The two are complementary, how- The lesson of Kerala is that ‘sustainability’ has ever, which means that the short supply of one profoundly social substrates, for it depends upon imposes limits. What good are fishing boats individuals acting in regard to the interests of the without of fish? Once the number collective. The goal is a society in which people of fish sold at market was primarily limited by behave less selfishly. For ‘social sustainability’ to the number of boats that could be built and be achieved, therefore, planners must devise manned; not limited by the number of fish in methods to reach people in ways that change the seaŽ. Alexander, 1994 . their behavior, and do so permanently. Today, a societal consensus is forming that the development of the urban environment is a part Nayarit, Mexico of rather than apart from the natural environ- ment. The future economic and social ‘sustaina- The Nayarit plan is a thoughtful and well-crafted bility’ of cities has become more evidently, even example of the environmentally responsible mas- urgently, linked to the ‘sustainability’ of natural ter plan. Plans such as these give considerations systems. ‘The economy’, the American Undersec- of natural resource protection heretofore un- retary of State Timothy Wirth, has observed, ‘is a precedented priority at the outset of the develop- wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment’ ment process and view burdens placed on natural, Ž.Wirth, 1994 . particularly biological, systems as major limiting Hence, the implications of Nayarit for ‘urban factors on development. The emergence of devel- sustainability’ are that planners must view them- opment plans of this type is significant, because it selves as engaged not merely in environmental reveals a shift in the way Western civilization ‘development’, but in some measure of environ- views the development of nature. mental ‘undevelopment’, and plan with height- Traditionally, the West has tended to regard ened regard for the viability of natural systems. the economy as a total system and nature as its On the threshold level, this involves identifying sub-system. In this view, nature may be finite, but areas of outstanding natural value and ‘green- it is deemed just one sector of the economy, for lining’ these, ab initio, in the plan. The ‘urban which other sectors can be substituted without growth boundary’ enacted by Portland, Oregon to limiting overall growthŽ. Alexander, 1994 . The save the beautiful Willamette Valley from sprawl corollary of this philosophy in city and regional is an example of this approach. planning is that planners have tended to assume At a deeper level, however, this principle im- that the city is a total system, of which the envi- plies that planners must not merely draw bound- ronment, including its resources for economic aries around protected areas, but work with production and urban amenity, is but a sub- lawyers, officials, and resource economists system. to determine how access to such areas should be This view has gradually eroded as cities have granted and what uses should be permitted in spread geographically and extended their reach them. To be sensitive to the dynamic relationship into natural realms. Alexander, the American so- between built and natural systems, planners must cial scientist, was referring to this progression craft protocols of ‘use’ and ‘non-use’ of natural when he wrote: systems. Nash’s proposal that access to America’s Long ago the world was relatively empty of national parks be limited in order to save these human beings and their belongingsŽ man-made repositories of wildernessŽ. Nash, 1967 and the capital. and relatively full of other species and ‘limited access fisheries’ of Polynesia exemplify their habitatsŽ. natural capital . Years of eco- the types of protocols that must be included in nomic growth have changed that basic pattern. any environmentally responsible master plan. As a result, the limiting factor on future eco- To these passive measures, planners must add nomic growth has changed. If man-made and active ones. These include provisions in the plan natural capital were good substitutes for one to redevelop derelict land, to reclaim contami- 160 A. D. Basiago nated soils, to plant urban forests, to recultivate Kerala has attained social harmony by empha- devastated wetlands, to re-establish natural rela- sizing equitable resource distribution rather than tionships between the city and its waterways, to consumption, by restraining reproduction, and by logically relate development areas to natural pat- attacking divisions of race, caste, religion, and terns of resource availability, and so on. gender. It suggests that social sustainability re- The lesson of Nayarit is that ‘sustainability’ quires planning that encourages people’s cooper- depends upon managing the built and the natural ative rather than their competitive impulses. environments in light of their interdependence. Nayarit has sought to bring development and The ideal is a city with a ‘circular’ rather than a the environment into balance by framing a na- ‘linear’ . GirardetŽ. 1990; 1992 distin- ture-friendly development plan that protects nat- guishes the ‘circular metabolism’ of ‘sustainable’ ural systems from urban development and that cities from the ‘linear metabolism’ of modern involves the public in the development process. It cities. In the ‘linear metabolism’ of modern cities, suggests that environmental sustainability re- natural resources are converted to waste in a quires planning that provides for ecological con- wasteful input-output energy pattern. Food and servation in the formative stage of the develop- water, fuels and energy, processed goods, timber, ment plan. and , and building materials are imported A detailed examination of these alternative into the city. They are exported as sewage, ex- cultural development models reveals a myriad of haust gases, household and factory wastes, or possible means by which economic, social, and wanton refuse. For cities to be ‘sustainable’, ur- environmental sustainability might be advanced ban metabolism must be made ‘circular’. Food in practice. While these examples from the devel- production must be based on plant nutrient recy- oping world cannot be directly translated to cities cling. Clean energy technology and maximum ef- in the developed world, they do indicate in a ficiency must intercept and nitrates. Pro- general sense the types of imaginative policies cessed goods must use recycled materials. Forests that any society must foster if it is to achieve must be augmented with large-scale tree planting. ‘urban sustainability’. For ‘environmental sustainability’ to be attained, therefore, planners must seek patterns of urban form and resource use that synthesize with, rather than parasitize, surrounding natural systems. Acknowledgments

The author is indebted to Dr M. Adil Khan of the Conclusions United Nations Development Programme, Yan- gon, Myanmar, for providing the conceptual The alternative models of cultural development framework upon which this paper is based. The in Curitiba, Brazil, Kerala, India, and Nayarit, author also wishes to thank Curtis A. Moore, Mexico examined here embody the substrates of former counsel to the US Senate Committee on economic, social, and environmental sustainabil- Environment and , for his reportage ity. In light of the widespread pathology that on Curitiba; Emeritus Professor William M. characterizes urban development in many of the Alexander of the College of Liberal Arts of the world’s cities, these models are significant, as Polytechnic State University at San harbingers not merely of urban sustainability but Luis Obispo, for his research in Kerala initiated of urban vitality. by the Institute for Food and Development Policy Curitiba has thrived by building an efficient and sponsored by Earthwatch Expeditions; and intra-urban bus system, expanding urban green Dr Richard C. Murphy, Dr Javier Venegas, and space, and meeting the basic needs of the urban Agustin Gonzalez, M.Sc for their description of poor. It suggests that economic sustainability re- the Nayarit plan formulated by The Cousteau quires planning for people, making the city more Society and the State of Nayarit as ‘partners for ‘green’, and, hence, more livable, for people. sustainable development’. Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability 161

References Hicks, J. R.Ž. 1946 . Value and Capital Ž2nd ed. . . Oxford: Clarendon Press. Alexander, W. M.Ž. 1994 . Humans sharing the bounty of the Kahn, M.Ž. 1995 . Concepts, definitions, and key issues in Earth: hopeful lessons from Kerala. Proceedings of the sustainable development: the outlook for the future. Pro- International Congress on Kerala Studies, Kerala, India, Aug. ceedings of the 1995 International Sustainable De¨elopment 27᎐29, 1994. Research Conference, Manchester, England, Mar. 27᎐28, Baird, V.Ž. 1993 . Paradox in paradise: Kerala, India’s radical 1995, Keynote Paper, 2-13. success. , 241,4. Keating, M.Ž. 1993 . The Earth Summit’s agenda for change. Basiago, A. D.Ž. 1994 . Sustainable development in tropical Geneva: Centre for , viii, x, 12᎐13, forest ecosystems. The International Journal of Sustainable 63᎐67. ¨ ᎐ De elopment and World Ecology, 1Ž.1,34 40. Kepp, M.Ž. 1992 . Curitiba’s creative solutions: from Basiago, A. D.Ž. 1995 . Methods of defining ‘sustainability’. Lerner. Choices, 1:22᎐26. ¨ Ž. ᎐ Sustainable De elopment, 3 3 , 109 119. Krier, J. E. and Gillette, C. P.Ž. 1985 . The un-easy case for Ž. Basiago, A. D. 1996 . The search for the in technological optimism. Michigan Law Re¨iew, 405. ¨ urban planning. The En ironmentalist, 16, Los Angeles Times.Ž. 1996 . Big growth in cities projected for ᎐ 135 155. 2006. May 30. Boyle, A.Ž. 1995 . approaches to environmental Lyle, J. T.Ž. 1994 . Regenerati¨e design for sustainable de¨elop- protection: unnecessary, undesirable and unethical? Re- ment. : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. marks delivered at the Research Centre for International Margolis, M.Ž. 1992 . A third-world city that works. World Law, University of Cambridge, Febr. 17. Monitor, 5,42᎐46. Calthorpe, P., Corbett, M., Duany, A., Moule, E., Plater- McDonough, W.Ž. 1992 . The Hannover Principles. New York: Zyberk, E., Polyzoides, S.Ž. 1991 . Ahwahnee Principles for Self-Published, 1᎐2. Resource-Efficient Communities. Sacramento, CA: Local Moore, C. A.Ž. 1994 . Greenest city in the world! International Government Commission, 1᎐2. Wildlife, 24,38᎐43. Daly, H. E.Ž.Ž ed 1973 . . Towards a Steady State Economy. San Murphy, R. C.Ž. 1992 . Responsible coastal management for Francisco: Freeman. the State of Nayarit, Mexico. Calypso Log, 4, 6 Chesa- Daly, H. E.Ž.Ž ed 1974 . . The economics of the steady state. peake, VA: The Cousteau Society, Inc. American Economic Re¨iew, May,15᎐21. Ž.Ž. Daly, H. E.Ž. 1991 . Steady-State Economics. Washington, DC: Pearce, D. W. and Redclift, M. eds 1988 . Sustainable Ž. , 180. development. Futures, 20 Special Issue . Ž. Dixon, J. and Fallon, L. A.Ž. 1989 . The Concept of Sustainabil- Pearce, D. W., Barbier, E. and Markandya, A. 1990a . Sus- ¨ ¨ ity: Origins, Extensions and Usefulness for Policy. Environ- tainable De elopment: Economics and En ironment in the ment Division Working Paper No. 1. Washington, DC: . Aldershot: Elgar. World Bank. Pearce, D. W., Markyanda, A. and Barbier, A.Ž. 1990b . Eblen, R. and Eblen, R.Ž. 1994 . The Encyclopedia of the Blueprint for a . London: Earthscan. En¨ironment. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, Ratcliffe, J.Ž. 1978 . Social justice and the demographic transi- 432᎐433. tion: lessons from India’s Kerala state. International Jour- ¨ Editors of the Ecologist.Ž. 1972 . A Blueprint for Sur¨i¨al. nal of Health Ser ices, 8Ž.1. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 15᎐29. Repetto, R.Ž. 1992 . Accounting for environmental assets. Sci- Ewers, H. and Nijkamp, P.Ž. 1990 . Urban sustainability. In: entific American, June, 94᎐100. Nijkamp, P.Ž. ed , Urban Sustainability. Avebury: Gower, Rifkin, J.Ž. 1994 . The End of Work. New York: G. P. Putnam 8᎐10. & Sons. FoEŽ. 1994 . Planning for the planet: sustainable de¨elopment Ruttan, V. W.Ž. 1991 . Sustainable growth in agricultural pro- policies for local and strategic plans. London: Friends of the duction: poverty, policy and science. Unpublished paper Earth, 10. prepared for International Food Policy Research Institute Franke, R. and Chasin, B.Ž. 1989 . Kerala: radical reform as Seminar on Agricultural Sustainability, Growth, and de¨elopment in an Indian State. San Francisco: Institute for Poverty Alleviation, Feldafing, Germany, Sept. 23᎐27. Food and Development Policy. Serageldin, I.Ž. 1993 . De¨elopmental Partners: Aid and Cooper- Freeman, C.Ž. 1973 . Malthus with a computer. Futures, Feb.,5. ation in the 1990’s.Ž. Stockholm: SIDA . Girardet, H.Ž. 1990 . The metabolism of cities. In: Cadman, D. Wirth, T. E.Ž. 1994 . Sustainable development: a progress re- and Payne, G.Ž.Ž. eds 1990 . The Li¨ing City: Towards a port. Remarks delivered at the National Press Club, Wash- Sustainable Future London: Routledge. ington, DC July 12. Girardet, H.Ž. 1992 . Cities: New directions for sustainable urban World BankŽ. 1986 . En¨ironmental Aspects of Bank Work. The li¨ing.Ž. London: Gaia Books , 23. World Bank Operations Manual Statements, OMS 2.36. Goodland, R.Ž. 1995 . Environmental sustainability: universal Washington, DC: World Bank. and rigorous. Sustainable De¨elopment,Ž. under review . WCEDŽ. 1987 . Our Common Future. World Commission on Goodstein, C.Ž. 1992 . From Curitiba to the world. E: The Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University En¨ironmental Magazine, 3,10᎐11. Press.