THE SUSTAINABLE CITY

Because a city is a human settlement that is designed for human rather than ecological well-being, it may seem inconsistent to be defining a sustainable city. With more than seven billion people on the planet and a likely maximal population of nine billion or 10 billion, it is not possible to design and build human settlements that are in perfect harmony with nature. According to ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability (2016), “sustainable cities work towards an environmentally, socially, and economically healthy and resilient habitat for existing populations, without compromising the ability of future generations to experience the same.” T he goal of the sustainable city is to build human settlements that have the least possible impact on the environment. Although some may question the ethics of this, our definition of impact is to ensure that the natural systems central to human well-being are maintained and damaged as little as possible. The sustainable city minimizes its emissions of conventional air pollutants and greenhouse gases; uses as few nonrenewable resources as possible; discharges effluents into waterways after treatment that removes the most harmful pollutants; uses energy and water as efficiently as possible; and attempts to reduce and recycle waste and minimize the impact of whatever waste disposal is needed. T here is no clear, agreed-to definition of a sustainable city in the literature, though such definitions often include a range of environmental, economic, social, political, demographic, institutional, and cultural goals (Satterthwaite 1997). In 1997, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Sustainable Cities Programme defined a sustainable city as one “where achievements in social, economic and physical development are made to last” (UN-Habitat 2002, 6). A 2013 report by the United Nations stated that sustainable cities can be achieved when integrating four pillars: social development, economic development, environmental management, and urban governance (United Nations 2013). The World Bank (2013 b) defines sustainable cities as those that are “resilient cities that are able to adapt to, mitigate, and promote economic, social and environmental change.”

source :

http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/46877/1/The%20Sustainable%20City.pdf