Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
of their principles in the Inter-Generational Equity and Social Justice, are also cov-
ered by the Natural Step and Ecocity ideas. But their third category, Trans-Frontier
Responsibility, does seem sufficiently different and important enough to be added
as a fifth Basic Dimension in Fig.
5.1
, since it focuses not simply on the
content
of sustainability, but upon the
spatial and temporal effects
of development that lie
beyond the places where unsustainable practices are generated. Since the empha-
sis of Haughton and Hunter's work is on urban issues it is not surprising that the
ecological issues of water, air, energy, food in the IEFS movement were not ef-
fectively covered in their list of sustainability principles. However, their interest in
management
issues, although primarily described in a set of their guiding principle
categories, does seem worth elevating to a sixth Basic Dimension. This means that
the summary in Fig.
5.1
does not just deal with the content dimensions and their
spatial-temporal impacts but includes a management dimension, summaries of how
to implement and manage policies that will create sustainable development.
The sustainable principles, standards and indicators derived from the various
sources described in Fig.
5.1
provide a useful first stage in understanding the range
of features that are now considered to be part of the sustainability concept, as well
as showing its multi-dimensional character. However these dimensions do have dif-
ferent emphases and degrees of generality. For example, the ECI set provides quite
specific indicators in some areas, such as the school journeys of children, and noise
pollution, but are often less precise because they use the term 'sustainability' in
various indicators to define part of the concept they are trying to measure, which is
confusing. In addition, it is worth noting that not all of the dimensions are neutral or
easily measurable entities, especially in the human and management categories. In
the Human Capacity Domain, the Ecocity movement in particular identifies a series
of concepts not found in other sustainability schemes. These concepts are more gen-
eral than those used in the Just City and Capabilities literature discussed in Chap. 3
and do not lead to precise and easily measurable indicators, or at least measures
that are universally accepted, unlike the more easily defined physical indicators.
In any case different groups and governments of various political persuasions may
take exception to the inclusion of particular dimensions. For example, it is well
known that improvement in the less developed countries is enhanced if women are
educated and emancipated. Yet none of the four sources shown in Fig.
5.1
initially
included a dimension that measures the degree of 'individual choice'—particularly
in the case of women's rights and their control over reproduction. Many delegates
to the Rio + 20 conference in June 2012 wanted this principle in their final com-
muniquï¿©, but it was blocked by conservative governments, especially those from
Roman Catholic and Muslim countries because of their negative views on abortion
and contraception. Given its importance, it has been added in the Human Capacity
domain. In addition the focus on urban issues in this chapter means that the issues
linked to the accelerating decrease in bio-diversity and number of life forms de-
scribed in a recent review in Nature (Bradley et al
2013
) is not dealt with. Even in
our food supplies the U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency has estimated that 75 % of
our crop biodiversity has been lost from our fields within a century. For example,
India had over 10,000 varieties of rice, a figure now reduced to a few thousand,
