Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents leading scholars and practitioners of sustainable development from all across the globe. It explains the willingness of local planners and local authorities to act, but many reflect the limited understanding by local decision-makers of the options available to them. Sustainable urban development has become a powerful framework for developing solutions that improve the quality of life on a local level and can also be an important component of responding to the broader global environmental crises. The book provides the readers some clear examples and methods of how to think about, implement, and evaluate sustainable development practices in ways that make sense at the local level. For urban planning to succeed in fostering sustainable development requires interdisciplinary approaches that reach across political borders and make sense at the local levels of implementation.