ABSTRACT
As we enter the twenty-first century, the environmental concerns and values that began to take root in the 1960s have brought into sharp focus an acute awareness of the earth’s fragility as a natural system. We have begun to understand human beings as biological creatures immersed in vital ecological relationships within the biosphere; with the need to live within its limits, sharing the planet with non-human life. These perceptions are leading us to a view that there must be a transition from a society preoccupied with consumerism and exploitation, to one that gives priority to a more sustainable future. The Bruntland Commission interprets sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own’. The World Business Council on Sustainable Development defines it as (involving) ‘the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity.’1 Such essentially homocentric interpretations, however, indicate the ultimate need for an ethic that recognizes the interdependence of all life forms and the maintenance of biological diversity. In this sense, therefore, sustainability becomes everyone’s concern. When we consider a world population projected to be a possible 10 billion by the middle of this century; the relentless migration of people in developing countries to urban areas; and the massive impacts of human activities on world terrestrial and marine ecosystems, then it is clear that there are inseparable links between nature, cities and sustainability. The Ecological Footprint2 of every facet of human activity has profound implications for survival.
