Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
assets of the three richest people in the world
alone exceed the combined GNP of all leastdeveloped
countries and their 600 million
people (Capra 2002).
As Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter
Lovins argue in Natural Capitalism, there
is a better economy to be created that does
not depend on drawing down natural capital,
imposing costs on the poor or posterity,
confusing prosperity with growth, and
risking global catastrophe (1999). But the
development of that economy will require
clarity about the fair distribution of wealth and
risk shrewd public policies. It will require us to
relearn the art of frugality, sufficiency, sharing
and neighborliness. It will require a bit of
ingenuity to craft what Howard and Elisabeth
Odum call a “prosperous was down” (2001).
A shift is required from the goal of standard
of living to that of quality of life, transforming
the drive to simply get and consume into
the profoundly different one of pursuing
deep psychic fulfilment – a step forward,
not backwards as it is too often portrayed.
Achieving sustainability then requires attention
to psychology and even spiritual issues,
to satisfy values deeper than advertising
induced desire. Sustainability is not only
about curbing environmental abuse – it
is more about enjoying a saner and more
just way of life. The universe is not a dead
clockwork mechanism but a living process,
constantly unfolding and creative. A profound
psychological impact of such a shift could help
us to no longer feel alienated from the world,
nor compelled to defend against this feeling
through acquisitive consumption, but can
instead disencumber ourselves to open up
and feel an integral part of this astounding and
benevolent planet.
Perhaps in the end, it will not be a change in
technology that will bring is to a sustainable
future and to the development of a more
responsible society, but a change of heart,
a humbling that allows us to be attentive to
nature’s lessons. As author Bill McKibben has
pointed out, our tools are always deployed in
the service of some philosophy or ideology. If
we are to use our tools in the service of fitting
in on Earth, our basic relationship to nature -
even the story we tell ourselves about who we
are in the universe – has to change.
Environmentalism, architecture
and the role of designers - from
egosystem to ecosystem
The environmental design disciplines –
architecture along with urban design, regional
planning and landscape architecture – will
inevitably play a key role in the quest for
sustainability. It is after all an environmental
crisis that looms, and the design of the current
built environment contributes immensely to
the crisis, in its wastefulness of land, energy
and commuting time and in the lifestyles it
facilitates. It also constrains how much we can
change these lifestyles.
In terms of architecture and design,
Peter Buchanan (2008) describes it “as
sustainability’s greatest and exciting gift to
return the profession to its purpose and dignity
as it addresses very real and urgent issues so
that it will inspire influence in the shaping of
our environment and culture” (128).
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