2. Sustainability and Autodependency Norman W. Garrick Lecture 8 CE 4710/5710

3. What is Sustainability? Sustainability is the stewardship of natural and human-made resources so that the quality of living and the health of our cities, countryside and open space do not deteriorate from one generation to the next Cervero, The Transit Metropolis: Transit and the Changing World

4. Talking the Talk Politicians in Jamaica and many other third world countries are very aware of the need to ‘talk’ sustainability but the policies often don’t add up to changes that support environmental sustainability. Environmental and health sustainability is often compromised in the interest of economic growth. The situation in the USA is slightly different – often technological fixes are offered up as the solution that will cause us to achieve environmental health without changing any of the economic or social issues that impact sustainability So how do we convert the seemingly vague concept of sustainability into a concrete framework for guiding policy and design?

5. The Three-Legged Stool The common model of sustainability is made up of a triad of economic, social, and environmental sustainability Sustainability Environment Society Economy

6. The Problem with the Three-legged Stool Model The three-legged stool model does not help us address seemingly hard questions like How do we improve people’s quality of life without necessarily increasing consumption to levels that might cause environmental degradation? Can we have a sustainable economy without the need for constantly increasing levels of consumption? Can we satisfy people’s desire for access without environmentally damaging levels of mobility?

7. The Starting Place for Understanding Sustainability Source: http://www.spacetoday.org/images/SolSys/Earth/EarthBlueMarbleWestTerra.jpg

8. Why Protecting the Biosphere is the Bottom-line for Sustainability We only have the one biosphere – this biosphere consists of natural ecosystems at different scales. It is a closed system with only one energy input and no output for waste Human activities have a big impact on the biosphere We need to re-structure these activities so that we can satisfy our needs and desires without continuing to cause harm to the biosphere

9. The Three-Legged Stool Sustainability Environment Society Economy

10. The Problem with the Three-Legged Stool The triad model of sustainability is considered by some to be flawed because it does not explicitly recognize that environmental sustainability requires changes to social and economic institutions – instead, it talks about balance It is universally acknowledged that the three dimensions of sustainability - environmental, social and economic – are a useful and valid way of conceptualizing this issue What is in dispute is the order in which they are considered. The three-legged stool does not imply any order or priority

11. The Appropriate Order for the Three Domains The important shift is to recognize that the economy is the creation of society, and not the other way around. The economy is thus framed by the social context in which it occurs. Further, both society and the economy operate within the context of a natural environment of limited capacity. This lead to the nested box model of sustainability in which the order of priority is environment, social, and economy sustainability

12. Environment Society Economy (LOW AND GLEESON 2003, HART 2006)

13. It is important not to take this model to mean that the economy, or economic considerations, are not important Rather it should be interpreted as saying that growth should serve the interest of the society and be environmentally sustainable. The most extreme examples of economic growth without social or environmental sustainability can be found in many “oil rich” countries around the world. The Nested box model also contains echoes of Littman's point about striving for ‘development’ not just ‘growth’ Interpreting the Nested Box Model of Sustainability

14. From an article by McGranahan and Satterthwaite in Pugh, Sustainable Cities in Developing Countries, Earthscan, pg. 73-87

21. Ref: Low and Gleeson, Making Urban Transportation Sustainable, Palgrave MacMillan, pg. 25 - 41.

23. Biloxi c2004 Roads Slated for Expansion

24. 8 lanes6 lanes5 lanes4 lanes Biloxi 2025 With Road Expansion

25. Gulfport c2004 Roads Slated for Expansion

26. 8 lanes6 lanes5 lanes4 lanes Gulfport 2025 With Road Expansion

27. 254 miles

34. EnvironmentSocietyEconomy Level 1 3 Domains Level 2 12 Elements (Goals) 0102 0304 0506 07 0910 1112 Level 3 19 Indicators ** * * ** * ** ** Level 4 22 Variables Each indicator is measured by one or more variables

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38. Best Dist. of Columbia17.4% Alaska22.1% New York22.6% Connecticut22.7% Massachusetts22.8% Worst Mississippi44.2% Wyoming38.2% Alabama38.1% Montana38.0% Kentucky37.7%

39. Best Oregon6.7 Indiana4.7 Dist. of Columbia3.9 Massachusetts3.8 South Dakota3.4 Worst Michigan0.3 Mississippi0.4 Alaska0.5 Louisiana0.7 Hawaii0.7 Connecticut: Ranked 19th, 23 % Growth in GDP, 12% Growth in VMT

40. Best New York12.5% Washington13.4% Massachusetts14.1% Virginia14.1% California15.1% Worst Mississippi45.4% Montana40.8% Rhode Island40.3% North Dakota37.3% South Carolina37.1% Connecticut: Ranked 40th, 32.9 % Federal Sources

41. Best Dist. of Columbia0.2% New York1.1% Connecticut1.4% Delaware1.4% Rhode Island1.5% Worst Alaska6.0% Mississippi4.5% Montana4.0% Wyoming3.9% North Dakota3.8% Percentage spent on transportation petroleum shown

42. Best Dist. of Columbia90 New York75 Massachusetts73 Oregon65 Washington65 Worst Mississippi7 Montana21 Arkansas28 Wyoming29 South Carolina29 Connecticut: Ranked 16th, Score 55

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