11.1 The sustainable city  (Page 3/20)

Social equity

Perhaps the most significant development that separates sustainability from its conservation antecedents is the element of social equity. The environmental and conservation movements have been criticized in the past for being too "white collar" and promoting the interests of the “haves”; these movements have traditionally not dealt with the needs of the underclass in the U.S. and, especially, developing countries. In Agenda 21 , the manifesto of the Earth Summit conference on the environment held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development was viewed as the strategy that would be needed to increase the basic standard of living of the world's expanding population without unnecessarily depleting our finite natural resources and further degrading the environment upon which we all depend.

Sitarz, Daniel, editor; 1993; AGENDA 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet ; Earthpress; Boulder, Co; 1993; p.4

The challenge, as viewed at the Earth Summit, was posed in terms of asking humanity to collectively step back from the brink of environmental collapse and, at the same time, lift its poorest members up to the level of basic human health and dignity.

The concept of ecological footprint    asks each of us to limit resource use to our equitable share. Sitting on the apex of civilization the Western world is being asked to share the earth’s bounty with the masses of Asia, South America and Africa. If technology continues to advance we can do this without significant long-term degradation of our standard of living. Short-term economic dislocations are inevitable, however, as increasing demand from China and India bring us to peak oil and rising transportation costs will highlight the nexus between location efficiency and affordable housing. The Center for Neighborhood Technology , for instance, has mapped 337 metropolitan areas covering 80% of the United States population showing how efficient (near mass transit) locations reduce the cost of living (housing + utilities transportation) and vice versa. The reality of rising transportation costs could have a significant impact on the shape of the city. Lookin target-id="targetid"g backward we also realize that racial politics were one of the dynamics that fueled suburban expansion in the 50’s and 60’s decimating many of our urban centers. The Sustainable City of the future, if it works, will have stably integrated mixed income neighborhoods.

Technology

Computers brought intelligence to the Machine Age and transformed it into the Information Age. Markets run on information and better information will help the markets perform more efficiently. Whereas in the past surrogate measures were developed to guess at impacts, information technology can track actual use. For example, do we charge everyone the same fee for water and sewers or do we measure their use, charge proportionally, and thus encourage landowners to reduce their use? In Miami the (congestion pricing) charge for driving in the special lanes goes up instantaneously with actual traffic conditions. As the old adage goes, “What gets measured gets managed,” and as technology increases the precision to which environmental measures, consumption, and behavior increases, our ability to manage, and therefore reduce negative impacts, will increase.