ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the development of the sustainable imaginary as "a society's understanding and vision of how resources are being used and should be used to ensure socio-environmental reproduction". It explains the first part of the sustainable imaginary: how the existing socio-environment has been produced based on available resources. The book then describes recent, abrupt changes in both the experience of natural hazards and governance structures and how those have shaped the sustainable imaginary. It considers how the imaginary of the city as a garden incorporates future visions. The book includes quite literally, visions and images of what the socio-environment is and should be, along with the balance between dealing with disamenities from past decisions and providing amenities for the future. It also considers how existing resources should be brought to bear to produce that vision.
