Introduction: The Case For Sustainability. Backing Up The

This chapter helps to define some elements that may represent a city. For example, when

The Eco-City Charter serves as a document to guide City leaders and residents towards a more sustainable, holistic, and healthy environment (City of Alexandria, 2010). Ecologically, the charter ensures that all parts of the natural and built environments work together as a single ecological system; economically, it ensures a healthy economy that supports and sustains people and the environment in which they live over the long-term; and socially; it ensures that a community meets residents’ basic needs and has the resiliency to prevent and/or address problems in the future (City of Alexandria, 2010).

It is apparent that in David Orr’s essay, “Two Meanings of Sustainability,” his views of technological sustainability and ecological sustainability fall beneath two distinct archetypes, as defined by Robert Vos in “Defining sustainability: A conceptual orientation”. Textual evidence outlining Orr’s views and beliefs in regard to each type of sustainability can be found in both the assigned reading and additional works written by him. This evidence allows for a direct connection to be made between his views and one of the archetypes of Vos’ Matrix. His views on technological sustainability fall beneath the thin version of the archetype “role of technology” whilst his beliefs in regard to ecological sustainability fall beneath the thick

The first event is the publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987, which is commonly known as Our Common Future. Through this Report, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) made a decisive statement in support of sustainable development (WCSD 1987). The Brundtland Report is considered to be central to ecological modernization such that Mol and others (2010) argue that ecological modernization theory can be understood as the social scientific elaboration and formalisation of the undergirding philosophy pertaining to environmental reform enunciated in Our Common Future. Among other things, the Brundtland Report aimed to overcome the North-South divide on questions

Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure.(1) Though the idea of sustainability can be applied to most anything from a sustainable ecosystem that has survived thousands of years to a sustainable workplace that uses green technologies. Paul Hawken captured today’s connotation of sustainability in saying “Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world.” (2) There are countless ways to live, work, and produce sustainably. Sustainability not only needs to be practiced by citizens, but businesses need to join the green movement as well. Without creating, following, and enforcing green policies, negative effects will be evident and innumerable

City life involves not just the relations of people with one another or with the environment in some generic sense of spatiality or natural resources. People live

The term sustainability is one that been conceptualized since the early civilizations of humans inhabited the earth. During those primative times, everything that allowed civilizations to thrive came from the earth. Humans during those times were more more in touch with their reliance on the environment. In today's society, the reliance on our natural environment seems much further away due to our insulation from modern conveniences. Nevertheless, this conception could not be further from the truth; we are more reliant now on the world's renewable resources than ever before.

Cities, towns, and, more generally, places, are living organisms. Similar to those living within and outside it, a city interacts with other living beings, creating change and taking change. The symbiosis between the places and those within the place can be mutualistic or parasitic, beneficial to both or harmful to one.

When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.

Many theorists helped develop the ways that cities were viewed and what components they must have. Max Weber theorized that “. . . cities cannot be defined by one characteristic—such as population . . . A city, then as Weber argues, is recognized as a settlement embedded with strong economic and political institutions” (Monti, D. J., Borer, M. I., & Macgregor, L. C. 2015, p. 75). According to Weber, cities must have facilities where people can buy and sell, a government that runs the city, a fair and just legal system, and people who protect citizens and enforces laws. Cities must have diversity and multiple aspects that help it grow and thrive. Community connections are essential for city life, and to add the diversity of city life.

Within the last few centuries, cities as have evolved to take on the features that are used today to identify the makings of what is a great city. As cities shifted from the concept of the political city to the mercantile city and finally the industrial city, traditional political, economic and social patterns began to take on new forms and functions that transformed them to become the urbanized spaces they are now.

description of the construction of a good city. The good city is a relation to

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the

Cities are places which have huge amount of gathering of people, collection of economic activities and complex infrastructure for people which all together are supported by transport systems.