ABSTRACT
The definition of types of sustainability states has made it clear beyond any doubt that the essence of urban sustainability is a balance of biospheric and anthropocentric requirements. The sustainability of a city depends accordingly on the maintenance of a viable bioproductive hinterland and a symbiotic relationship of the city with this hinterland that provides it with all it needs to function and enables its inhabitants to maintain their standard of urban living. A brief analysis of settlement forms that emerged during the process of urbanisation will make clear that the types of sustainability defined in Chapter 2 coincide with different levels of urban development at which sustainability can be and has been achieved in full or in parts but has also been lost.
