Sustainable Development

Global Indicators of Unsustainability

1. *Global warming*. Over the past century, the land surface temperature worldwide has risen an average of 0.8 -1.0 degrees. Ave precipitation has increased about 1% while the worldwide sea level has risen about 6-8 inches. 2. *Soil Degradation*. Erosion is most common type. Wind and water erosion ranges from 10-20 tons/hectare in North, Central, and South America and 30 tons/hectare in Asia. 3. *Deforestation*. Disappearing at 2.4 acres per second, 214,000 acres per day, and 78,000,000 acres per year. 4. *Species Extinction*. 100 to 1,000 times higher than pre-human levels. 5. *Declining Fisheries*. Tonnage of seafood harvested peaked in 1989 and has plateaued since. 6. *Economic Inequity.*

Contributing Factors to Unsustainability

1. *Over-consumption.* Our present consumption level is exceeding the Earth's carrying capacity by 30%. 2. *Population Growth.* Human population is growing at a rate of 385,000 per day, 98% of which is in developing countries. 3.* Dependence upon Non-Renewable Resources* 4. *Pollution.* CO2 has increased 30% over its natural occurrence in our atmosphere. Cadmium and lead are found at five and eight times their natural rates in the ecosphere. Over 70,000 chemical compounds are now present and accumulating in the ecosphere. 5. *Environmentally and Socially Destructive Development Patterns.* 6. *Inequities in Resource Distribution*. Between 1960 and 1994, the disparity in per capita income between the richest and poorest fifth of the world's nations rose from 30:1 to 78:1. 7. *Limited Public Participation.*

U.S. Indicators of Community Unsustainability

1. *Suburban Sprawl.*Current growth in urban and suburban land use far exceeds the population growth in many major metropolitan centers in the U.S. 2. *Segregation/Unequal Opportunity.* Nationwide, nearly 28% of people of color live below the poverty level, as compared to about 11% of whites. 3. *Loss of Agricultural Land and Open Space.* From 1970 to 1990, more than 19 million acres (30,000 square miles) of rural lands were developed. Every year, construction transforms 400,000 acres of high quality farmland = 45.6 acres every hour of every day. 4. *Depletion and Degradation of Water Resources.* In California, groundwater overdraft averages 1.6 billion cm per year = 15% of the state's annual groundwater use. 5. *Loss of Wetlands.* Wetlands on non-federal lands are disappearing at a rate of 70,000 to 90,000 acres annually. From 220 million acres In the 1600s to 103 million acres in 1980s. 6. *Traffic Congestion and Air Pollution.* Since 1970, vehicle miles traveled have increased by 121%, more than four times the population growth over that same period. Costs the nation $168 billion in lost productivity. 7. *Disproportionate Exposure to Environmental Hazards.*

Planning Processes for Sustainability

- Making planning decisions in a holistic and fully-informed manner that involves all segments of the community and the public and private sectors. - Educating all age groups to raise public understanding of and regard for the future consequences of current planning decisions and ultimately change human behavior.

Local Govt Approaches to Sustainability

- Promote conservation techs and practices - Develop local, nonpolluting, renewable energy, water and material resources. - Expand recycling techs - Minimize alternative forms of transportation - Limit paved areas - Implement work schedules that reduce number of employee commuter days - Advocate public trans systems. - Minimize levels of pollutions - Promote growth of local business providing local employment.

Roots of Sustainability

1. Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich (1968) - Predicts humanity's expanding population and consumption will exhaust earths resources. 2. Limits of Growth (1972) - States that Ehrlich's prediction will come true within a century. 3. Steady State Economics by Herman Daly (1977) - Endorses minimization of production and consumption. - Recognizes limits to growth in "human economy" dictated by finite world. - "Enough is best"

Federal Action on Sustainability

1. President's Council on Sustainable Developemt. 2. EPA created the Office of Sustainable Ecosystems and Communities. Most publicized action was the Brownfields Action Agenda. 3. Dept of Energy created the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development. - Planning for Community Energy, Economic, and Enviro Sustainability (PLACES). A computer model to help communities.

Planning for Sustainability Objectives

1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels, extracted underground metals, and minerals. 2. Reduce dependence on chemicals and other manufactured substances. 3. Reduce dependence on activities that harm life-sustaining ecosystems. 4. Meet the hierarchy of present and future human needs fairly and efficiently.

Sustainable Development Principles

1. The creation and maintenance of health environments, featuring clean air and water; 2. The conservation of energy, soils, and water supplies; The reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste; 3. The requirement for polluters to pay for cleaning up the pollution they create; 4. Clean-up of brownfield sites; 5. An emphasis on the reuse of existing buildings and infill development rather than building on open greenfields in the outer suburbs; 6. The promotion of mass transit and compact, transit-oriented development; 7. The construction of mixed-use commercial and residential development that includes public parks and emphasizes walking and biking; 8. The practice of environmental justice in the siting of controversial land uses; 9. The designation of compact growth areas that have services available to support development; 10. The separation of developing areas from sensitive natural areas, to avoid natural hazards and to protect wilderness areas and wildlife habitats; 11. The creation of greenways to connect site is and towns to the countryside and to each other.

Rio Earth Summit

1992. This summit produced Agenda 21, AKA the Rio Accord. - Adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), but not the US

Dimensions to Sustainability Issue

A sustainable community is one that is consistent with these dimensions: 1. We want to sustain communities as good places to live, and that offer economic and other opportunities to their inhabitant. 2. We want to sustain the values of our society. 3. We want to sustain the biodiversity of the natural environment. 4. We want to sustain the ability of natural systems to provide life-supporting services.

United Nations and Sustainability

Addressed sustainability through the: - Brundtland Commission (1987), - The Rio Earth Summit (1992), - Woman's Summit in Beijing (1995), and the - Habitat Conference in Istanbul (1996)

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2002) affirmed UN commitment to 'full implementation' of Agenda 21, alongside achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other international agreements.

Planning Practices for Sustainability

Develop a future-oriented vision. - Fostering projects that promote economic development by: efficiently and equitably distributing resource sand goods, minimizing waste, protecting natural ecosystems. - Upholding a widely held ethic of stewardship that strongly encourages individuals and orgs to take full responsibility for the economic, environmental, and social consequences. - Taking leadership in drafting and implementing local, regional, and state policies.

Planning for Sustainability

It requires a democratic process of planning to achieve the greatest common good for all segments of our population, protect the health of the environment and assure future generations of the resources they will need to survive and progress. Specifically, planning for sustainability includes the following processes, practices and outcomes

Planning Outcomes for Sustainability

Local and regional development patterns that expand choice and opportunity for all persons, recognizing a special responsibility to address the needs of the disadvantaged. - Resilient, diverse and self-sufficient local economies that meet the needs of residents and build on unique characteristics of the community. - Communities with a healthy economy, environment, and social climate.

Smart Growth

Means using comprehensive planning to guide, design, develop, revitalize, and build communities that: - Have a unique sense of place. - Preserve and enhance valuable natural and cultural resources. - Equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development. - Expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices in a fiscally responsible manner. - value long -range, regional considerations of sustainability over short term incremental geographically isolated actions. - Compact transit accessible, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development.