In an introduction to Sustain Lane's webpage on their sustainable city rankings, these excerpts from Paul Hawkin's introduction provide an instructive rationale and inspiring vision for the role, need, and possibility of sustainable cities.
. . . Rather than perceive the city as an ecological sink sucking up the resources of the countryside, which cities can do [are now designed to do], cities can also be [designed as] a kind of ecological ark, places where humanity gathers while we peak in population and develop ecological intelligence for a new civilization. There is wisdom in this that is rather extraordinary. It was not predicted that cities might be the best strategy for our long-term survival and well-being. Yet, that is exactly what is happening.
The viability of the urban environments, however, is not a given. Population is still increasing, demand on resources is growing faster than the population, and our climate, oceans, and ecosystems are perilously close to disaster. In other words, while we grow we must use less resources. We must build urban arks that are equipped to navigate the uncertainties and demands of the coming decades; cities have to be redesigned, reimagined, and reconsidered. The sustainable city is a place that interacts with its region and resources in a symbiotic way so as to increase the quality of both environments.
The SustainLane US City Rankings is the first systematic report card measuring city quality of life combined with resource impacts. For too long, we believed that more meant better, that energy-, concrete-, and automobile-intensive cities would bring us a better life. That tall tale is being replaced by common sense understanding that what makes for a fulfilling urban existence is neighborhoods, farmer’s markets, parks, mobility, quiet, greenery, and meaningful livelihoods, all of which require less resources and better design.
Urban sustainability is not an option. It represents prudent governance and provident management by and for the people. A carbon-constrained world is upon us. While international action is required to prevent global climatic catastrophe, cities must lead the way in creating a post carbon environment where people can thrive. What we do in the United States and other developed nations can help far-away cities. Our level of consumption and its attendant wastefulness has set an unfortunate example the world strives to emulate. Now we must set a different example because how people live in India and China will have a direct effect upon our children’s futures and vice versa. The upper stratosphere has no national boundaries; nor do jet streams and climate. By creating cities that address the future bravely, brilliantly, and humanely, we create examples and possibility for all cities everywhere.
The worldwide diaspora of immigrants, refugees, and peasants to urban slums is growing. The World Bank has predicted that more than five billion people will be receiving less than $2/day by 2030 in today’s dollars. The future of the world is being cultivated in the despair, anger and bleakness in the chawls of Mumbai, the favelas of Rio, in the kampungs of Jakarta , the shammasas of Khartoum , in the pueblos jovenes in Lima , and in the umjundolos of Durban . In Darwinian terms, the slums and squatter cities are a rapid breeding pool for human evolution. Leaders, activists, and scholars will emerge from these places, but so too will demagogues, jihadists, thieves, and mobs. That famous lyric “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” may be true for seekers and monks, but it is not true for the bulk of humanity. Freedom and the rule of law are valued and honored when people have something to lose. Neighborhoods work, and are safe and livable because there is a “we” there. The greening of the world’s cities is a profound act of social healing and justice, because sustainability addresses whether people feel hope or despair, are secure or threatened, want to cooperate or compete.
. . . In the end, there is only one ark, the earth. Cities, like individuals, are passengers on this miracle. All cities must work together in this green and just enterprise to insure that the journey continues. . . .
These thoughts are excerpted from SustainLane's 2007 Book: How Green Is Your City?, The SustainLane US City Rankings, published by New Society Publishers. Of SustainLane's sustainable city assessment, Paul Hawken's says, "I believe the SustainLane methodology will become international, and none too soon. Providing and analyzing the metrics for sustainability is critical to humanity’s future. . . . I believe SustainLane’s work reflected in this website is a critical tool in that pursuit."