Geography Reference
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and social dimensions of sustainability) and be distributional (i.e., should
measure intra-generational equity in addition to inter-generational equity)
(Maclaren, 1996). Many sustainability indicators are global or national in
scope; fewer have been developed at the community level. Research
recognizes that developing sustainability indicators at the community level
involves collaborative and adaptive learning processes (Valentin &
Spangenberg, 2000; Reed et al., 2006). Little research examines the role of
technology (such as GIS) in this process.
Sustainability indicators can be organized into natural capital, built/human
capital, and human/social capital according to Daly (1973). An advantage of
organizing sustainability indicators this way is that the framework can be tied
to the capital theory discussed above (UN, 2007). Humans have modified
natural ecosystems by exploiting resource
stocks
and depositing waste into
sinks
. At the same time, technology and political economy, the realm of
human dimensions, can be deployed to minimize detrimental environmental
effects. Sustainability indicators can be organized so that the dynamics of
human-environmental interaction can be monitored and examined. The
framework is
hierarchical
in that it acknowledges the fundamental quality of
natural capital as the foundation of human economy, and is
integrative
in that
it emphasizes the interaction between natural capital and man-made capital in
relation to sustainability of the planet.
The Daly Triangle (Daly, 1973) provides an idealized view of the capital
framework (Figure 17). The triangle is premised on the idea that the economy
is ultimately built to fulfill human well-being and all other forms of capital
ultimately rest on natural capital. Therefore, well-being can be seen as ultimate
ends and natural capital can be seen as ultimate means. Built capital, human
capital, and social capital play a crucial role in rendering the ultimate means to
be sustainably used and the ultimate ends to be sufficiently satisfied
(Meadows, 1998). The commonly held view of economic growth overlooks
environmental costs and the productive nature of well-functioning governance.
In other words, the Daly Triangle attempts to revise the economic system from
the system that only accounts for built and human capital as means; to the
system also accounts for human/social capital as ends that need be in balance
with natural capital.
