Urban Centers: An Assessment of Sustainability was one of the first articles that I read in preparation for my concentration. This article proposes a way in which sustainability should be used in urban planning and how it has or has not been successful in certain contexts. Surprisingly, I found that I disagreed with many of the suggestions in which sustainability should be practiced. When introducing city planning through a sustainability context, the article states:
The key ecological issue for urban centers is not sustainable cities but cities and smaller urban centers that have production systems and inhabitants with patterns of consumption that are compatible with sustainable development within their region (encompassing both rural and urban areas) and globally. (McGranahan et al. 2003)
The distinction that I agree with here is the shift away from the idea of “sustainable cities.” The article suggests looking at systems, such as production, which allows both rural and urban areas to be connected. However, I disagree with the way in which sustainability is used to individualize sustainable development through consumption patterns. This introduces classic environmental approaches like Think Global, Act Local.
Although the article emphasizes individual environmentalism, so to speak, it also highlights the importance of urban governance and the how authorities implement sustainable goals (2003). I agreed with this, particularly if the goals of sustainability (or similar concepts) are to be applied to urban centers and surrounding rural areas. When attempting to implement ecological protection systems that span urban-urban as well as urban-rural relationships, these systems “require more competent, effective city and municipal governments” (2003). When using this article to help direct me towards other material, I found myself searching for publications that corresponded with the management of sustainable development described in McGranahan et al., but that approached the sustenance and goals of sustainability in other ways.
McGranahan, Gordon, and Satterthwaite, David. “URBAN CENTERS: An Assessment of Sustainability.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28, no. 1 (2003): 243–74.